File this one under: Never say never.

In my family, I am definitely not known as the creative one.  My grandmother was an amazing artist, a trait she passed on to my sister.  Both of my parents at least dabbled in music. Me, nada.  No musical talent, and though I enjoyed drawing as a child, I was not good at it.  To this day, my sister lovingly pokes fun at the drawings I made that still survive.  If you asked me, I would have said I don't have an artistic bone in my body.

Until about two years ago.  

I needed to create an anniversary gift for Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, the Broadway composing team, who are personal heroes of mine, and whom I am also lucky enough to call friends.  They were celebrating their 30th year of collaboration in the musical theater, and I wanted to give them something special.    For weeks, I agonized over what I could do that would be unique and meaningful.

Inspired by artist Michael Abert's collage of The Declaration of Independence, which I have in my apartment, I decided to create a collage for each of them containing titles of songs they've written during their career.  I found that I thoroughly enjoyed the project, and when it was done, I wanted to keep creating.  But the process of looking for words and letters was sometimes tedious, and I wanted to try something that was a little less intense.  At first, I thought I might "deconstruct" a cereal box, as Albert is famous for doing.

But then it hit me.  What if, instead of a cereal box, I deconstructed a Playbill, something I had tons of, and that spoke to my true passion for the theater?

So Broadway Glue was born!  

With the help of a mentor, I started learning more about color theory and composition.  She encouraged me to take my artistic endeavor seriously.   I  found that the more I learned, the more I began to grow and experiment.  I love  being able to create Broadway themed art that allows me to get out of my own head a bit, while making use of all the theater trivia I know.  The collages I have created are sometimes thematic, like this one, celebrating  composer Stephen Sondheim.  Sometimes, they commemorate just one show,  like this one for Wicked. I love that the possibilities are infinite!I am thrilled that my library life and my artistic life will be joined when some of my collages are on display at the Morningside Heights Branch from December 2-31.  If you are interested in the theater, I hope you'll stop by and let me know what you think!