BWW Blog: Meet Patti Murin of Goodspeed's HOLIDAY INN - Plenty to Be Thankful For

Greetings from the beautiful town of East Haddam, CT, home of the esteemed Goodspeed Opera House, where the world premiere of "Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn" is currently running until December 28th! My name is Patti Murin, and I am delighted to bring you the first installment of "Life in the Country", or "Suburbs of Suburbs", or "We Have So Much Free Time Up Here and This Is What I'm Doing With Mine"

Seeing as this week is Thanksgiving, it only seemed appropriate to interview the company and find out what they are thankful for this holiday season. But because there are already so many articles on theatre websites that do this exact same thing this time of year, I'm taking a different angle on what we are grateful for. I asked everyone to name the smallest thing in their lives that they love and thank the heavens for every day. You all know what I'm talking about, right? That first sip of coffee in the morning, or those annoying couples on House Hunters you love to hate, or your hoodie that you can't bring yourself to wash anymore because it will fall apart and then your life will never be the same. Those little everyday things that make your life just a little bit happier.

(NOTE: We all really love our families and friends and pets and jobs and religions and lives and things and are thankful for them every day. They just have no place in this blog post.)

The one thing that was abundantly clear when the answers started rolling in is that this cast is absolutely OBSESSED with food. Like, we love to eat it and cook it and look at it and breathe it in and smell it etc. etc. etc. This doesn't come as a surprise, since every single cast I have ever been a part of has a definite dedication to treats and sweets, but it seems that these particular people have made it their life mission while we are hanging out in Connecticut to consume/bake/talk about food as much as possible.

Many of our ensemble members provide excellent examples. Abby Church has made it her mission to make a different pie every single week while we are up here in East Haddam. These pies have included such flavors as Rosemary Caramel Apple, Honey Ginger, and Sweet Roasted Almond. Alissa Alter counts Abby's pies among her blessings this holiday season. Laura Harrison is thankful for gelatin, because her new hobby is making Jello while we are sequestered in the country. Jeremiah Ginn is thankful for the Cinnabon he ate last week, though he says that his abs are not at all thankful. Spencer Stanley, our standby for the role of Charlie Winslow, feels blessed because cheesecake was invented. Darrell Joe, one of our two flawless swings, is especially glad that White Cheddar Pop Corners are in existence, and Darien Crago (among many others) can't seem to stay away from John Riccucci's cookie jar. For anyone who has ever worked at Goodspeed, you are very familiar with this brilliant wardrobe master and his bottomless cookie jar, which is sort of ironic since he's the person who should really want us to fit into our costumes every day. Noah Racey, who plays the charming and dashing Ted Hanover, is thankful for the coffee and breakfast sandwiches at 32 Main, the best little coffee shop just up the hill from our homes. Susie Mosher, who plays handy woman at large Louise Badger, is grateful for nuts - Cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts... even the lowly peanut. Hopefully she is also thankful for the human form of nut that is the rest of this company.

And then there is Tally Sessions, who makes us all feel like chunky slobs by being thankful for kettle bells and Icy Hot, and further rubs it in by working out on his porch every day. Watch it, Tally, or I'm gonna spike your green juice with candy canes. Television is also a big part of our lives up here. John Wolfe is grateful for Hulu Plus, so he never falls behind on his programs. Charles MacEachern, with whom I share a love of the TV show "Nashville", is extremely grateful "that it looks like Deacon and Rayna will be getting back together, and that Hayden Panettiere will hopefully have a complication-free birth." Bryan Hunt is grateful for "Freak Show". Pretty sure he's talking about the current American Horror Story season and not his everyday experience working with us.

And in the miscellaneous category, Noah Marlowe, our smart little Charlie Winslow, is extremely grateful for men's fashion on Pinterest. It is worth noting that Noah is 13 years old. Amy Van Norstrand, our Dance Captain, could not live without soft tights to wear during the show. All you dancers know exactly what she means. And then we have Hayley Podschun, our gorgeous Lila Dixon, who is thankful for her ever growing collection of onesies, and Schmackary's cookies. Pretty sure she also meant to say that she's MORE than thankful that she shares a dressing room with me, so I'll just take the liberty and add that in. I am also, of course, thankful for various types of edibles. Mainly Trader Joe's Cookies and Cream cookie butter (if you haven't tried it, stop reading this right now and go get some), Polar Seltzer (there are currently 14 flavors in my fridge), and any kind of dark chocolate caramel situation. I am also thankful that the new season of The Bachelor will begin airing exactly 41 days from the writing of this. CRAZY coincidence (and terrible segue), but I happen to be BroadwayWorld's official weekly re-capper for The Bachelor, so if you're not sick of me by the time this show closes, you'll have plenty of time for that in 2015!

Oh yes, and I'm also thankful that it is exactly 24 paces from my front door to the liquor store. Yes, I counted. Like I said, we have A LOT of free time up here.

It's snack time with Linda Mason (Patti Murin)