Emma Cohen and Katie Couric
I met Katie Couric last Monday at Fiorello’s on 6th Avenue between 63rd and 64th. I spotted her right away. Well actually, I noticed her friend sitting across the table because she was wearing the new Tori Burch Chelsea ballet flats that I absolutely adore. And then I noticed her–blonde, laughing, completely confident, commanding the attention of the table without being the least bit abrasive. She was just as poised and elegant as she appears on TV, even more so.
My name is Emma Cohen, and I just finished my first year at the University of Virginia. I have lived my entire life in the same town that I currently attend college–Charlottesville, Virginia. And while I miss the mountains, driving my Toyota Camri through Route 29, and the downtown mall with its quaint stores and restaurants, I’m happy to say that I’ve traded it all for crowded subways, honking horns, and tap water that I no longer trust to drink.
I love New York and always have. I love the hustle and bustle of the streets and the food that is to die for. I love having my entire extended family in three of the five boroughs. I love feeling like I am a living part of a city that so many people look at in awe and admiration. But mostly, I love the theater.
If you’re looking for a blogger who knows every star, every show, every hotspot for musical attractions, then you’re in the wrong spot. I am by no means an expert when it comes to theater. But the fraction of theater that I have had the privilege to enjoy overwhelms me with emotion and memories. I’ve laughed through the entire first act of Fiddler on the Roof (especially the scene with Fruma Sarah) and cried from the pit orchestra where I played clarinet in our high school’s production of The Phantom of the Opera listening to one of my best friends sing “Music of the Night” in his final Sunday performance. Last summer my grandparents in New Jersey took me and my cousins to see Anything Goes in the city to celebrate my grandfather’s birthday. We all wore berets, my grandfather’s favorite hair accessory, that read “CUBBY’S 85th!” I’ve acted out “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago with my 16-year-old sister and seen the film RENT at least 10 times. I have the biggest girl crush on Idina Menzel.
I have a lot to learn–about the city, about theater, about life. And I’m well on my way as an Intern at the TheaterMania office in Manhattan. Like get this: I wrote an article last Wednesday about a play called Bell, Book, and Candle that I had never even heard of about a New York City witch who falls in love with a man in her apartment building. Think Breakfast at Tiffany’s free spirited, hopeless romantic Holly Golightly mixed with Nicole Kidman’s portrayal of Isabel Bigelow in the 2005 remake of Bewitched. Tickets please?
To whoever is reading this, I promise a blog filled with humor, intellect, and heart. I look forward to a summer in New York filled with adventures and challenges. Thank you for taking the time to read, and I hope you continue to follow my posts so that we can learn a little more about theater–together.
When I was leaving Fiorello’s, I worked up the courage to ask Katie for a picture. She smiled and said yes. Afterwards, I told her about my first year at UVA, her alma mater, and my internship this summer. I also told her that she was one of my role models. As I was leaving, she winked and said two words that made me realize that even though I have a lot of growing to do, I can make it big here. “Wahoowa, girl.”
