So, I read a McStory online recently and it might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever read: A McStory.

Has McDonald’s really nothing better to do than to pick on a teenager who is trying to make the world a better place? Proceeds from her event support thousands of children who participate in Special Olympics throughout the year. You’d think McDonald’s would be too busy firing staff members for putting an extra slice of cheese on a burger (also a true story) to worry about this girl and her philanthropic ways! The panjandrums at McDonald’s should be very proud of themselves sucking up the money raised during McFest on a ridiculous legal debate over its patents. In my further research I found this fantastic paragraph by a Scottish geneology expert who seems puzzled that the company could somehow lay claim to a prefix connected to so many of our hearty clansmen:

"I take strong offense at the actions of McDonald’s attempt at possession of the prefix Mc, a part of many of the names of Scots or Irish ancestry," writes one Rone Ross. “I am of the Clan Ross, there are many sub-Clans (septs) in the family of Clan Ross that hold the birthright of Mc, such as McMillan and McTavish and there are many of Irish ancestry who also hold by birthright the prefix Mc, including the full surname, McDonald."

Ross has suggested a solution that I fully support:

"I would suggest that the members of any of the clans, either Irish or Scots, file protests, and if necessary, legal action against the business of McDonald’s."

And for those of you out there who find a legal battle with McDonalds a little frightening, not to mention time consuming, then how about a donation to the Special Olympics in the name of Miss McClusky’s McFest?

www.specialolympics.org

I have taken a sworn oath to never consume McDonald’s food or drinks again. I suggest you do the same. And if the above story is not enough incentive, just think of the health benefits gained from dropping that crap from your diet.

I had just read the McFest story hours before going onstage at the Kennedy Center in DC and I managed a full 25 minutes before my ire rose up and prompted me to denigrate McDonald’s for its ridiculous and frivolous behaviour…
If you couldn’t make it out to the Kennedy Center for the Burns’ Night celebration and missed the show in its 6pm live timeslot online, no worries, you can watch the whole thing here and it’ll be just like you were there!!

To those of you who did get to watch, either in person or on the telly, thank you so much for helping make the evening such a special one. I’ve needed a good reason to get back into a Kilt again, to feel the wind whipping round my portions. It was just like the old days!!

Now I’m back in New York and ready to start rehearsals for Sondheim on Sondheim, which will open this Spring. Back in December, we had some preliminary meetings for this new show, and it was a great opportunity to meet the production team and to become familiar with some of the work we will be doing.
All of that went very well, but I must tell you that my favourite part of the whole thing was that I got a chance to get to know Barbara Cook. I have admired her for a long time and even got to attend her 80th Birthday Concert a while back but I never dreamed that we would get to go on a date!! I joined Barbara at the Blue Note to see the fantastic Chris Botti perform (an American Jazz trumpeter and composer). What a magical evening and Ms Cook is as lovely as her voice. She truly is a jewel in the American Theatre crown… I can’t wait to get started proper!

Well, that’s all folks. A Very Happy New Year to one and all.
Wishing you only the very best for this new decade.
And remember people… it doesn’t pay to be McGreedy, McSelfish, McStupid, McDonald’s

So Much Love

Euan McMorton xx

And we move into the mad March month with some good news! According to THIS, the feud between McDonald’s and a civic-minded teenager may be coming to an end. I’m glad they are coming to their senses but since I have felt a lot healthier after giving up their food in protest I shall not be returning to it…

Happily, my McAnger is free to move on to other giants and Chase Bank is right there to fill the gap! This is a company I have had a long relationship with, but our time together may be finished. After taking a huge chunk of the bailout money paid for by our taxes, they have decided to pay back the public in America by decreasing our credit—without warning, in most cases—even if we have been paying on time all along. I got an impersonal notice about this in the mail on the same day two other people in my building got the same letter so it clearly isn’t based on your personal credit history. This punishment causes your hard-won credit score to go down because it reduces your credit-to-debt ratio. I called to complain and was treated with incredible rudeness by a supervisor. I am tempted to just quit paying altogether but of course I’ll be the only one screwed over in that scenario. The Federal Government comes up with these helpful new rules and the banks just come up with sneaky and inventive ways to avoid helping the customer. My interest rate is now variable, which means it rises when rates rise… but does it fall accordingly? NO!! And they put my base rate up because my credit-to-debt ratio is too high, a problem they just caused by lowering my credit line. How are we ever supposed to get out of the financial doldrums eh? Thankfully I have a job or I wouldn’t be paying my debts at all because of my need to eat…

It’s a fun job too! Work continues and it is going well. It is always difficult, especially when you are doing a new show, to figure out how things are going the first few weeks of rehearsals. There is so much to learn and figure out, costumes to be fitted, music and parts to learn, a set to work out. Yesterday we sang the whole show through and I was fascinated to see how far we had come. It is always gratifying to turn a corner like that in rehearsal, and feel the whole production has truly started to come together. My brain might explode with all the learning and singing but at least I would have died doing what I really love. I am learning so much working with this amazing cast and it doesn’t hurt that the material is by America’s finest, Stephen Sondheim!
My body has taken some getting used to the schedule though and I’m usually exhausted by the time the Monday (day off) rolls round.

Did you read about ‘snowpocalypse’? The name the media gave to the two snowstorms that battered the East Coast? I was pleased not to be in DC at the time as I had some friends down there who were telling me they had to get through four foot snow drifts to get to shops and that their cars were frozen in place in the snowy wasteland! One friend was trapped in the house for two weeks! Yuck. I was safely tucked up here on the twelfth floor in NYC with my new friend Dragon. He is a Dracenea Arborea (Dragon Tree) and he is six feet tall! I have always had a terrible way with houseplants before but for some reason, when I passed Dragon in the shop window, I had to have him. It’s like he was calling out to me… We get along very well. I sing to him and talk to him and he is thriving. And I am glad to be the recipient of all the oxygen he produces. It’s fresh and oxygeny. I wonder if he likes his name…

Well. Even though today is a day off, there will be hours spent with my head in the script, learning songs and scenes. To achieve this, I now need to get out of bed (and it’s 10:30am) and wash my tiny mind and filthy body.

Leave me be to get cleaned…

xx

I have been meaning to send out this update for a while-but just couldn't get enough time to sit down and actually get it all done-so here I am at last. We have finally finished the long preview period for Sondheim on Sondheim and have opened the show. I am pleased to report that it is going well! You get to a point in rehearsal where you really don't know how an audience will receive your work. The last few days of rehearsal and the entire period of tech can be stressful because on the one hand you desperately need an audience and on the other hand you wonder if the show is ready to be seen by the public. As so often happens, everything came together and we had a memorable first preview. It was an enthusiastic and very friendly audience who happily gave Barbara Cook the show-stopping ovation she deserves. It will get dull if I insist on declaring my undying love for Ms Cook in every update I write, but I will say that getting to sing "Beautiful" with her on stage is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

It is exciting to be part of a new show on Broadway. When I first arrived in New York with Taboo, I didn't have any idea what "Broadway" would be like and I think that show was such a singular experience. Being in the company of Cyrano was fun, but a play is a different beast entirely. For me, the challenge of keeping your voice in top shape for 8 shows a week is exciting. I love my job wherever I am, but there is something nice about rolling out of bed, heading into Times Square and standing on stage with people whose work I admire. Sometimes in the hectic chaos that comes with building a show it is easy to forget what an exciting project I am a part of and what a dream-come-true all of this really is.

March 22 was Steven Sondheim's actual 80th birthday. The Roundabout Theatre did all sorts of things to celebrate, including a performance that I took part in. In her one woman show At Liberty, Elaine Stritch said something about how the approval of Sondheim kept her going through dark times. I understand now exactly what she meant. It feels good to make him happy and there was lots of happiness going on around his Birthday performance. The most exciting thing was that NY has finally named a theatre for Sondheim. He knew nothing about it, and they told him at the curtain call of our show. It was a thrill to be on stage on the night they made the announcement. Even though I totally believed the rumour that they were giving him golf clubs...

Other things have been happening as well. I have been keeping quiet about this news but it has been difficult because I am quite excited about it. However, it has been officially announced so now I can discuss here how much I am looking forward to playing Anatoly (the Russian) in Chess at Signature Theatre. Rehearsals start immediately after Sondheim on Sondheim closes. So it's back to DC for a wee while for me. I can't wait to sing that great score and finally do more than just concert work at this great bastion of awesome regional theatre that is Signature.
I'll best start working on my Russian accent now though, I wonder if drinking vodka will help...

Love,

Euan