for those who don't know, i am currently touring the east coast of the US with ArtsPower's 'The Rainbow Fish'. It's a fun mini-musical based on the book by Marcus Pfeister aimed at Kindergarten - 2nd graders. I'm just starting my 3rd week on tour, and it's been pretty good so far, but i thought i'd share some pearls of wisdom i have picked up on the road:
* children under 7 years of age cannot clap in time with music. ever.
* long drives in a van can be passed pleasantly with a charged laptop and all 6 seasons of The West Wing
* Kentucky has several 'dry' counties - you should be aware of these before you plan your saturday night.
* if you're ever in Evansville, Indiana, you should go to Lic's Deli. It's like walking right into 1952.
* walmart is awesome
* parts of wisconsin are amazing. one day i want a house on lake michigan, and a street lined with trees. i'll only live there in the fall when the trees are glorious shades of orange and yellow.
* sometimes there's nothing better than curling up in a hotel bed with pencils and a Disney Princess coloring book
* 'touchdown jesus'/'drowning jesus' will haunt your dreams (google it - it's in ohio)
* you don't realize how awesome home cooking is until you've been eating nothing but cheap restaurant and fast food for 2 weeks - thank you Barry's parents!
* after 2 weeks on the road you do get much better and faster at building and deconstructing a set. however, the faster it goes, the more bruises and broken nails you're likely to get.
* haunted houses rock.
for those keeping track, in the last 2 weeks i've been in Manasquan, NJ; Winston-Salem, NC; Ashland, KY; Ashville, OH; Evansville, IN; Dayton, OH and Milwaukee, WI. tomorrow we go back to Ohio (Mansfield) for the third time. first, we couldn't seem to escape Kentucky (seeing as to get from ohio to indiana and back to ohio again we had to pass through kentucky twice), now we seem to be constantly returning to Ohio... why-o why-o why-o... why can't i ever leave ohio...
more to come on another day, from another state, and another timezone.
xx
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Top 10 from the last week or so...
In no particular order - things that have made me smile:
* magnolia cupcakes in central park
* seeing 9 to 5 the musical with 2 of my favorite people
* getting a callback
* rooftop parties
* wine tasting in Union Square
* coming home to find my roomie bought me ice cream and chocolate, PLUS filled the fridge with diet coke
* sunshine
* sleep ins
* sweet vanilla and cinnamon candles
* facebook videos from friends in the wrong state
* magnolia cupcakes in central park
* seeing 9 to 5 the musical with 2 of my favorite people
* getting a callback
* rooftop parties
* wine tasting in Union Square
* coming home to find my roomie bought me ice cream and chocolate, PLUS filled the fridge with diet coke
* sunshine
* sleep ins
* sweet vanilla and cinnamon candles
* facebook videos from friends in the wrong state
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
i really love books.
i love shopping for books. i love to go into barnes and noble 2 blocks away from my apartment and get lost in the fiction section, looking for familiar authors or titles that just pop out at me. i love pulling out the book that's at the very back, so you know it's brand new, and when you crack the spine for the first time and flip through the smooth unblemished pages you feel like the story was written just for you.
for my 21st birthday my beautiful sister gave me the most exquisite set of Frank L. Baum's original Oz stories. 3 volumes, bound in green leather with gold around the edge of the pages, and amazing illustrations. sad to say, 2 and a half years later, they remain on my bookshelf at my parent's house, unread.
now don't get me wrong, it's not like i didn't want to read them. i did! but books as gorgeous as these deserve a whole weekend on the couch with a furry blanket and endless cups of tea. phone turned off, lamp turned on, and the outside world tuned out, so i could get lost in Oz. however, in my 21st year, this dream weekend was far from possible. i was working full time, dealing with my first real relationship, which ultimately led to my first real heartbreak, doing back to back shows, auditioning for musical theatre colleges in different countries and planning my best friend's wedding. Mr Baum would have to wait.
but then of course within the year i was on my way to new york for school, and being terrified of the state of the dorms i was about to live in, i decided my precious volumes were best left at home. and there they remained. although i did just send my mother an email asking her to send them to me, and i promise, emma, they will be well looked after - as she told me on my birthday, these books have heirloom potential! if i have kids... being blessed with a chronic and irrational fear of doctors and hospitals, the idea of having another human being forcibly removed from my body does not appeal, so maybe they'll become heirlooms for whatever nieces and nephews i have. or maybe i'll be like angelina jolie and adopt half a country. and then my favorite kid can have the books.
i go on and on about how much i love books...although i have failed the basic 'Classics' test. i faked my way through The Hobbit in high school. I attempted to read the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but made the mistake of seeing the movies first, so they were far too long and irritating. i read the da vinci code but could not keep interested in angels and demons.
i have never read a jane austen book...
let the beating begin!
i have however repeatedly read all the harry potters, all jodi picoult, lauren weisberger and nick hornby... and i go back to them again and again, and probably always will!
i'm about to dive into my second readings of The Lovely Bones, White Oleander, and my first reading of The Power Of One.
wish me luck,
hope you're all curled up somewhere with a good book.
xx
for my 21st birthday my beautiful sister gave me the most exquisite set of Frank L. Baum's original Oz stories. 3 volumes, bound in green leather with gold around the edge of the pages, and amazing illustrations. sad to say, 2 and a half years later, they remain on my bookshelf at my parent's house, unread.
now don't get me wrong, it's not like i didn't want to read them. i did! but books as gorgeous as these deserve a whole weekend on the couch with a furry blanket and endless cups of tea. phone turned off, lamp turned on, and the outside world tuned out, so i could get lost in Oz. however, in my 21st year, this dream weekend was far from possible. i was working full time, dealing with my first real relationship, which ultimately led to my first real heartbreak, doing back to back shows, auditioning for musical theatre colleges in different countries and planning my best friend's wedding. Mr Baum would have to wait.
but then of course within the year i was on my way to new york for school, and being terrified of the state of the dorms i was about to live in, i decided my precious volumes were best left at home. and there they remained. although i did just send my mother an email asking her to send them to me, and i promise, emma, they will be well looked after - as she told me on my birthday, these books have heirloom potential! if i have kids... being blessed with a chronic and irrational fear of doctors and hospitals, the idea of having another human being forcibly removed from my body does not appeal, so maybe they'll become heirlooms for whatever nieces and nephews i have. or maybe i'll be like angelina jolie and adopt half a country. and then my favorite kid can have the books.
i go on and on about how much i love books...although i have failed the basic 'Classics' test. i faked my way through The Hobbit in high school. I attempted to read the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, but made the mistake of seeing the movies first, so they were far too long and irritating. i read the da vinci code but could not keep interested in angels and demons.
i have never read a jane austen book...
let the beating begin!
i have however repeatedly read all the harry potters, all jodi picoult, lauren weisberger and nick hornby... and i go back to them again and again, and probably always will!
i'm about to dive into my second readings of The Lovely Bones, White Oleander, and my first reading of The Power Of One.
wish me luck,
hope you're all curled up somewhere with a good book.
xx
Saturday, May 19, 2007
new york, new york...
yes i'm here again...
but first, a quick recap - last we spoke i was in rehearsals for a production of cabaret, which opened a couple of weeks ago, and may i just say it was fab. i had such a brilliant, BRILLIANT time playing sally bowles, surrounded by an amazing cast, a lot of whom are very good friends now, and i love them all. bring on the next production!!
but for now, here i am in new york. the purpose of this particular trip was, once again, to audition for a drama school. i arrived on wednesday night, with my mum and my friend andrew in tow (andrew played cliff in cabaret, and it was a very spur of the moment thing that he came at all, but i'm glad he did, fun times for all!).
on thursday we did some touristy stuff, hit the empire state, macy's, times square - andrew's never been overseas before, let alone somewhere as crazy as new york, so his head explodes every now and then, it's pretty funny. on thursday night we went and saw hairspray, which i have seen before, but mum and andrew hadn't, and we all loved it, it's such a fun, vibrant, brilliant show!
friday we generally just ambled around the city, we had planned to do some stuff in central park, but it was a bit cold a crappy, so instead we wandered down 5th avenue, went into bloomingdales, did some window shopping - andrew actually came very close to blowing US$1500 on a leather jacket (granted, it was a very, very, very hot jacket), but i talked him out of it and got him out of the store as quickly as possible. we stopped at a TGI Friday's for a late lunch, and it turned out to be pretty amusing - they had some good sounding cocktails on the menu, and we thought hey, this is the first time i've been in the states since i've turned 21, let's have a drink - they turned out to be the BIGGEST COCKTAILS KNOWN TO MAN. it was like drinking a mojito out of a bucket! Andrew was the funniest though, when his food arrived he decided he couldn't quite wash it down with this massive cocktail, so he'll order a different drink. and he gets a beer. that cracked me up. i was thinking maybe a water, a soft drink, but no, he goes for even more alcohol. the cabaret cast would be proud!
I had my audition this morning, and i think it went well, i should find out in a couple of weeks whether or not i've had any luck - if i have it means 2 years living on the upper west side of manhattan...oh yeah...
after that andrew came and met me, we killed some time in the park (in the rain, joyous) and then we met up with his friend lisa, who's and au pair in upstate new york - now lisa didn't have a clue that andrew was actually here, she just thought that she was doing him a favour by meeting up with his friend who's her alone - a carefully spun web of lies, which he was very proud of, espescially after seeing the look on her face when he appeared! we spent the afternoon in the park and walking about 50 blocks to the Seinfeld restaurant - very cool.
we are now literally running out the door to see a new show called Curtains, starring David Hyde Pierce (from frasier!)
more updates soon
xx
but first, a quick recap - last we spoke i was in rehearsals for a production of cabaret, which opened a couple of weeks ago, and may i just say it was fab. i had such a brilliant, BRILLIANT time playing sally bowles, surrounded by an amazing cast, a lot of whom are very good friends now, and i love them all. bring on the next production!!
but for now, here i am in new york. the purpose of this particular trip was, once again, to audition for a drama school. i arrived on wednesday night, with my mum and my friend andrew in tow (andrew played cliff in cabaret, and it was a very spur of the moment thing that he came at all, but i'm glad he did, fun times for all!).
on thursday we did some touristy stuff, hit the empire state, macy's, times square - andrew's never been overseas before, let alone somewhere as crazy as new york, so his head explodes every now and then, it's pretty funny. on thursday night we went and saw hairspray, which i have seen before, but mum and andrew hadn't, and we all loved it, it's such a fun, vibrant, brilliant show!
friday we generally just ambled around the city, we had planned to do some stuff in central park, but it was a bit cold a crappy, so instead we wandered down 5th avenue, went into bloomingdales, did some window shopping - andrew actually came very close to blowing US$1500 on a leather jacket (granted, it was a very, very, very hot jacket), but i talked him out of it and got him out of the store as quickly as possible. we stopped at a TGI Friday's for a late lunch, and it turned out to be pretty amusing - they had some good sounding cocktails on the menu, and we thought hey, this is the first time i've been in the states since i've turned 21, let's have a drink - they turned out to be the BIGGEST COCKTAILS KNOWN TO MAN. it was like drinking a mojito out of a bucket! Andrew was the funniest though, when his food arrived he decided he couldn't quite wash it down with this massive cocktail, so he'll order a different drink. and he gets a beer. that cracked me up. i was thinking maybe a water, a soft drink, but no, he goes for even more alcohol. the cabaret cast would be proud!
I had my audition this morning, and i think it went well, i should find out in a couple of weeks whether or not i've had any luck - if i have it means 2 years living on the upper west side of manhattan...oh yeah...
after that andrew came and met me, we killed some time in the park (in the rain, joyous) and then we met up with his friend lisa, who's and au pair in upstate new york - now lisa didn't have a clue that andrew was actually here, she just thought that she was doing him a favour by meeting up with his friend who's her alone - a carefully spun web of lies, which he was very proud of, espescially after seeing the look on her face when he appeared! we spent the afternoon in the park and walking about 50 blocks to the Seinfeld restaurant - very cool.
we are now literally running out the door to see a new show called Curtains, starring David Hyde Pierce (from frasier!)
more updates soon
xx
Sunday, April 15, 2007
wow what a crappy week...
BUT i am determined to find the little rays of sunshine that must've occured in the last 7 days, so i shall attempt to find 10 good things!
* it was mum's birthday today, and we went to Jonah's at Whale Beach for lunch - good food and a heck of a view
* awesome new friends, who will totally stick their neck out for you and come to your rescue even though they've only known you a few weeks.
* your best friend risking running late to her own anniversary dinner so she can cover your shift for a couple of hours cos you're sick.
* the abundance of compliments at wednesday night's rehearsal. yes andrew, we did kick butt, and let's hope we continue to kick butt for the run of the show!
* quiet periods at work, where you can just take a minute to relax.
* the girls showing up with starbucks and chocolate when you need them to.
* hugs.
* as shallow as this will sound, i bought a new skirt and it makes me happy. pure and simple vanity. bad, but so good...
* car trips that are just long enough to have a good conversation
ok i only got up to 9, but going by the last week that's fairly impressive.
i start afresh this morning, hopefully it will be better!
x
* it was mum's birthday today, and we went to Jonah's at Whale Beach for lunch - good food and a heck of a view
* awesome new friends, who will totally stick their neck out for you and come to your rescue even though they've only known you a few weeks.
* your best friend risking running late to her own anniversary dinner so she can cover your shift for a couple of hours cos you're sick.
* the abundance of compliments at wednesday night's rehearsal. yes andrew, we did kick butt, and let's hope we continue to kick butt for the run of the show!
* quiet periods at work, where you can just take a minute to relax.
* the girls showing up with starbucks and chocolate when you need them to.
* hugs.
* as shallow as this will sound, i bought a new skirt and it makes me happy. pure and simple vanity. bad, but so good...
* car trips that are just long enough to have a good conversation
ok i only got up to 9, but going by the last week that's fairly impressive.
i start afresh this morning, hopefully it will be better!
x
Friday, March 23, 2007
home now!
POINT NUMBER ONE: it snowed in london. multiple times. crazy stuff.
POINT NUMBER TWO: izzy-bizzy is the cutest 2 and a half year old known to mankind.
POINT NUMBER THREE: 2nd audition was unsuccesful, no callback, but a fun day was had!
POINT NUMBER FOUR: turns out i didn't have any luck with the first school either - after a loooooong flight home i found a letter waiting for me saying very politely thanks, but no. ah well. there is disappointment, but -
POINT NUMBER FIVE: i'm going to go to new york in may for an audition for another school, and am considering auditioning for waapa in october/november.
POINT NUMBER SIX: jet lag is evil.
tataa!
POINT NUMBER TWO: izzy-bizzy is the cutest 2 and a half year old known to mankind.
POINT NUMBER THREE: 2nd audition was unsuccesful, no callback, but a fun day was had!
POINT NUMBER FOUR: turns out i didn't have any luck with the first school either - after a loooooong flight home i found a letter waiting for me saying very politely thanks, but no. ah well. there is disappointment, but -
POINT NUMBER FIVE: i'm going to go to new york in may for an audition for another school, and am considering auditioning for waapa in october/november.
POINT NUMBER SIX: jet lag is evil.
tataa!
Monday, March 19, 2007
i will try and keep this short...
OK so i had my first mountview audition on thursday - here's a quick rundown of the day
STAGE ONE:
46 people got split into 2 groups, my group went and did the dance first for an hour (i was apparently in the 'advanced' group, having danced before, but there were some real doozies in there. if you are in an advanced dance group and have to ask what a channe turn is, you're in the wrong room.) after the dancing we swapped with the other half and went and did our singing: a little intimidating, cos we had to sing in front of everyone. i got through my first song no worries, was quite pleased with it actually, especially seeing as i had been developing a cold perisistently for a day or two.
SO after this we all went into a room and waited while they deliberated on who to call back. Luckily i was one of 8 who got called back (yay me!) so we then went off to stage two.
STAGE TWO:
we got split again into 2 groups of 4, i went off with 3 other girls for the acting part - we had to do our shakespeare monologues, then our contemporary monologues, relatively painless. then we swapped again and went and had a bit of a sing again, doing our second song - over in a flash! So i thought i was done for the day, we went and had a little chat to the registrar, she told us all about fees and scholarships etc, we were ready to go, then surprise:
STAGE THREE!!:
this was just for four of us, the head of the course wanted to see us sing - i am yet to decide if this is a good or a bad thing, cos they said it just meant that the panel hadn't made up their minds on us yet, whereas with the other four they had made a decision one way or another... so now i just have to wait a couple of weeks to see if they're offering me a spot or not - hundreds of people audition, and they only take about 36, so please keep your fingers crossed!
on FRIDAYme and mum went to my aunt/godmothers place in guildford, hung out there for the day, went out for dinner that night (seeing as she couldn't make it out for my birthday like she planed to, we had a little celebration - jewellery and champagne were involved)
SATURDAY we went to mum's best friend's place in knebworth, hung out there for the day, went to dinner that night (seeing as they also couldn't come out for my birthday, the celebrations continued - more jewellery and champagne) then on
SUNDAY we went to another family friend's place in rickmansworth, hung out there for the day, then came back to the hotel and craaaaassssshhhheeddd - sleep is my friend.
today (MONDAY) we're about to go to chelsea westminster hospital to visit mum's goddaughter and her little girl, who's only 2 and a half but been in and out of hospital her whole life - she's an ANGEL and i'm quite excited to see her now - i shall put some pics up next time.
i'm off for my second audition tomorrow, then home on wendesday! yay!
sorry, that was meant to be short.
x
STAGE ONE:
46 people got split into 2 groups, my group went and did the dance first for an hour (i was apparently in the 'advanced' group, having danced before, but there were some real doozies in there. if you are in an advanced dance group and have to ask what a channe turn is, you're in the wrong room.) after the dancing we swapped with the other half and went and did our singing: a little intimidating, cos we had to sing in front of everyone. i got through my first song no worries, was quite pleased with it actually, especially seeing as i had been developing a cold perisistently for a day or two.
SO after this we all went into a room and waited while they deliberated on who to call back. Luckily i was one of 8 who got called back (yay me!) so we then went off to stage two.
STAGE TWO:
we got split again into 2 groups of 4, i went off with 3 other girls for the acting part - we had to do our shakespeare monologues, then our contemporary monologues, relatively painless. then we swapped again and went and had a bit of a sing again, doing our second song - over in a flash! So i thought i was done for the day, we went and had a little chat to the registrar, she told us all about fees and scholarships etc, we were ready to go, then surprise:
STAGE THREE!!:
this was just for four of us, the head of the course wanted to see us sing - i am yet to decide if this is a good or a bad thing, cos they said it just meant that the panel hadn't made up their minds on us yet, whereas with the other four they had made a decision one way or another... so now i just have to wait a couple of weeks to see if they're offering me a spot or not - hundreds of people audition, and they only take about 36, so please keep your fingers crossed!
on FRIDAYme and mum went to my aunt/godmothers place in guildford, hung out there for the day, went out for dinner that night (seeing as she couldn't make it out for my birthday like she planed to, we had a little celebration - jewellery and champagne were involved)
SATURDAY we went to mum's best friend's place in knebworth, hung out there for the day, went to dinner that night (seeing as they also couldn't come out for my birthday, the celebrations continued - more jewellery and champagne) then on
SUNDAY we went to another family friend's place in rickmansworth, hung out there for the day, then came back to the hotel and craaaaassssshhhheeddd - sleep is my friend.
today (MONDAY) we're about to go to chelsea westminster hospital to visit mum's goddaughter and her little girl, who's only 2 and a half but been in and out of hospital her whole life - she's an ANGEL and i'm quite excited to see her now - i shall put some pics up next time.
i'm off for my second audition tomorrow, then home on wendesday! yay!
sorry, that was meant to be short.
x
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