Sonia Baghdady

"Jen Barnhart & Mrs. T" Courtesy: Nick Reuchel

It’s quite a few blocks from Sesame Street…

In fact, Avenue Q is best described as “Sesame Street for adults.” I caught the Broadway show on a recent trip to New York City, where I met original cast member, Jen Barnhart.

Barnhart grew up in Hamden, Connecticut and received her BFA in puppetry from the University of Connecticut. (Yes, UCONN has a puppetry program.) She began her puppetry career working on the Animal Planet series, Once Upon a Tree and subsequently played Cleo the Lion on the PBS program, Between the Lions. Barnhart eventually joined the cast of Sesame Street, playing Gladys the Cow and Mama Bear. She is also currently serving as a featured puppeteer on Johnny and the Sprites, on The Disney Channel.

Detouring from Disney and Sesame Street, back to Avenue Q– the show was fantastic… funny, entertaining, and clever.  Jen plays the role of “Mrs. T”, and a number of other characters– two of which, require her to work with a partner. Or as she refers to it– “a dance partner”. Her latest ‘puppet partner’ is Christian Anderson, seen here with “Nicky”.

“Jen Barnhart, Nicky and Christian Anderson” Courtesy: Carol Rosegg

Watching Jen in action, it’s clear that it’s certainly a skill to get the choreography down… and Jen teaches that skill through puppetry bootcamp. I invited her to be our guest on Connecticut Style.  Next month, Jen and her puppet will visit us on the set to give us a puppetry lesson. Stay Tuned…

Working for an ABC affiliate, I was able to get a behind-the-scenes look at “Good Morning America” on a recent trip to NYC. It was certainly eye-opening to be able to chat with Diane Sawyer about anchoring a morning show and the early wake-up call that goes along with it.

On a book tour touting her new autobiography, “I’ll Scream Later”, actress Marlee Matlin made a stop at RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, Connecticut.

In her memoir, the Academy Award winner talks about her highs and lows in the Hollywood spotlight and the challenges she faced as a hearing-impaired performer. She also talks candidly about her years of drug addiction, the sexual abuse she endured as a child, and a physically abusive relationship with actor William Hurt.

As Marlee continues her book tour, she is also gearing up to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 6. In the meantime, she was kind enough to mug for the camera with me and Desiree Fontaine.

Flowers… meet creativity… meet craft challenge= an assignment right up my alley.

This was definitely one of my favorite projects thus far on “Connecticut Style”. Our producer found an article in Country Living magazine, where event producer David Stark was given the task of working his magic on grocery store bouquets. Armed with a budget of $35, Stark went to the supermarket to buy flowers and fruit. His goal: to see how far he could stretch his dollar and make the most centerpieces for the money. Here are the arrangements he bought:

And here’s what he came up with: 

So, we decided to take the challenge on ourselves. I bought hydrangea, pale yellow roses, pale yellow tulips, and a few gerber daisies with some filler. In the article, Stark offered this advice: in mixed bouquets, “the trick is to separate the flowers by type: It allows you to see each one as a single ingredient.” He also used wine bottles and beer bottles he found at home and painted them. So, I scrounged up some vases, ribbon and other craft items from home and here’s what I came up with:

Granted, I went a bit over budget– a total of $47. However, if you’re expecting friends or family for a dinner party, you could have your house decked out with flowers for under 50 bucks… not bad!

Courtesy: Steve DePino Photography

I’m looking forward to having a friend of mine, country music artist Nicole Frechette, on Connecticut Style on Monday. Nicole has recently shared bills with country artists Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan, JoDee Messina, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift and more. She’s from Southern Connecticut, but recently returned from a trip to Nashville, where she was working on some new material. She’s going to share one of her new songs with us, titled, “Once Upon A Time Romance”. Nicole co-wrote the song, along with Guilford, CT resident Dave Alpert.

On tomorrow’s show, Nicole will also be talking about an upcoming fundraiser she has planned for April 4th. It’s to benefit St. Jude Research Hospital and will be held at Oliver’s Restaurant & Taverne, 124 Westbrook Rd. in Essex at 7 p.m.

If you’re going to be in the area of Uncasville, Nicole is also set to perform at Mohegan Sun this Tuesday, March 31st at 7 p.m. at the Wolf Den.

So, tune in Monday at 12:30 to Connecticut Style on News Channel 8 to see Nicole. Also, you can check her out at:

http://www.nicolefrechette.com

http://www.myspace.com/nicolefrechette

www.ddnickel.com

www.karmasalon.com

We’re well into ‘week 2′ of Connecticut Style and wouldn’t you know, one of the top questions I’m getting about the show– “Who does your hair and make-up?”

Each morning Des and I get the opportunity to have a session with stylists who’ve worked with countless celebs… whether prettying-up stars for the Red Carpet, or models for NYC’s Fashion week. You can bet we pick their brain about the latest hair styles and shades of make-up. The great thing is, both the make-up studio and salon are in New Haven.  I always thought the folks who glammed-up celebs were out of reach, but ddnickel makeup studio and Karma Salon are accessible, knowledgeable, and affordable, too!

To give you a little background, DD (or Deanna) works with Clinton Kelly and Stacy London on TLC’s “What Not to Wear“. She just got back from a shoot for the Food Network. Her work spans from TV to the red carpet, to Broadway.

Cheryl McMahon, the owner of Karma Salon, was just in New York City for Fashion Week.  In fact, she was one of only seven stylists chosen out of dozens to work the prestigious shows, including for designers Nanette Lepore, and Matthew Terry of the Coventry line (former designer for Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan), among others.

So here’s the info. for both DDNickel and Karma… Hope this helps!

Deanna Nickel, DDNickel Make-Up Studio
972 State Street, New Haven
(203) 777-4161
www.ddnickel.com

Hair: Cheryl McMahon, Karma Salon
263 College Street, New Haven
(203) 777-6333
www.karmasalon.com

Courtesy: Catherine Fiehn Photography

Three costume changes and 5 1/2 inch heels! Well, they’re certainly not the only reasons I signed up to host the the Miss Fairfield County/Miss New Haven County Pageant, but they were up there on my list.

The week before the pageant, I went to Ragtime Boutique in Watertown– what a place! I refused to leave until I tried on every gorgeous gown in that shop. The owner, Natalie Testa, and I played dress-up for hours– trying to find the right gowns for the evening.

Lucky for me, pageant hosts are not judged on poise and grace, otherwise I might have been booted off the stage. Okay, I had been amply warned about the large speaker on stage, right behind the podium where I was standing. However, the combination of those monster-high heels and that speaker didn’t go over so well by mid-pageant. True, I had a couple of ”trips”, but they were graceful as heck– and it really helped to break the ice, so to speak, with the audience.

In all seriousness, I had an absolute blast as emcee. Four crowns were handed out. They went to:

Ashley Abate– Miss New Haven County 2009

Alyssa Taglia–Miss New Haven County Outstanding Teen 2009

Taylor Hira– Miss Fairfield County 2009 and

Mary Ragaglia– Miss Fairfield County Outstanding Teen 2009

Here I am with Alyssa (left) and Ashley (center):

The judges were great too. Here we are backstage just after they tabulated their results.

The current Miss Connecticut, Ashley Glenn was there too, and was so fabulous to play into my dream of being a pageant queen. I had been telling the audience all evening how I was determined to walk away with the crown, despite my lack of gracefulness. Well, Ashley allowed me to live out my dream if only for a few minutes!! And then it was back to reality.

More photos:

A little over a week now until the debut of Connecticut Style and the set is really taking shape.

I shared some photos of the set with you when it was simply a frame. I always find it fun to watch the progression of something being built, and the set is sure to change quite a bit this coming week, with our new show launching Monday, February 23rd. As you can probably tell from the photos, the kitchen will be on the left.  It will be the ‘heart’ of our Style show, as kitchens are usually homebase. To the right will be the living room/interview area. What you don’t see in these photos is the demo area, which is off to the left, which will house our fashion shows, musical guests, etc.

More photos to come this week!

I’m excited to announce a new show I’ll be co-hosting with Desiree Fontaine on WTNH. It’s called “Connecticut Style” and it will debut Monday, February 23rd. “Connecticut Style” will air weekdays at 12:30 p.m. The show will focus on people, places and entertainment styles in Connecticut. It will also feature many topics viewers can relate to in everyday life including: health & fitness, fashion, home decorating ideas, great meals to prepare, medical breakthroughs, community causes, and more.

If you’ve checked out my blog, then you know my passion for lifestyle-type topics, such as home decor, fitness, cooking, etc. That’s why I’m so thrilled for the opportunity to work on this show. It’s been an exciting few weeks at the station– we’re building a brand new set and holding daily meetings to gear up for the show’s debut.  It has no doubt been a team effort– everyone pitching ideas and pitching in to get the show off the ground. Most of all, for me, it’s been an outlet to put creative ideas to work.

Hope you’ll tune in, starting Monday, February 23rd at 12:30 p.m… and “Have Lunch with Style”…

Last year at this time I had the chance to hang out on the set of the movie, “Confessions of a Shopaholic” in NYC, starring Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers). I had read the bestselling novel by Sophie Kinsella,  so I was excited to catch a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes action on the set. Fast forward one year, and the movie is set to be released. It hits theaters February 13th.

Here are some shots from the set in New York City. 

The weather was typical for February– frigid. So, the crew would bundle up the actors in between takes, even if only for a quick warm-up, for 20 or 30 seconds… then they’d go for another round. I ended up as a background actor in the film’s wedding scene. So, if you eventually see the movie when it comes out– look closely, very closely… and you might spot me in one of the church pews. Isla Fisher was there, of course, with her then-4 month-old baby, whose father, by the way is Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame.

The official website for the movie, if you are a shopaholic yourself, is tied in with bluefly.com, which makes for an entertainingly interactive site where you can learn more about the movie and shop at the same time!