Happy Thanksgiving!

I was definitely working on Thanksgiving, and let me tell you how much fun that was. I work at a restaurant and it was a mess. We started kinda slow and then got a small pop, then kept going for a bit. We did close early though(Thank God) and I was able to leave by 12:35. So that was nice.

Anyway, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my moms side on Wednesday night, we celebrated my nephew's 6th bday on Thursday morning, then I had to work, and then yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my inlaws. My sis-in-law and I went Black Friday shopping early (around 730) like we do every year, then came to lunch then went to the movies to see Breaking Dawn (which again, is another of our rituals.).

The only good thing about working on Thanksgiving was that I was able to see the preview for The Hobbit and Les Mis several times each, during the commercials between the game. Which was a crazy game (Redskins & Dallas).

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

I hope everyone had a great one =)  Tomorrow is the last day to post on our blogs for English class. I may very well keep mine up though! We shall see =) 

Les Miserables

Last night, I went to the movies (my sister had an extra ticket) and there was a preview for Les Mis! Les Mis is now coming out in theatres on Christmas day, I will still be there!!!! The cast looks like it will be awesome and the previews make me super excited.

I've seen Les Mis a couple times onstage, but have loved the music for a very long time. From the opening number to the very last note, there are so many amazing songs. and of course it will make you tear up from time to time.

The last time I saw Les mis, there was a lady that sat behind me and she sobbed the **entire** show. Not a little cry, not a misty eyed, but a full out sob fest the entire time. Anyway,I still loved it.

A few of my favorite songs from Les Mis are:
~Bring Him Home
~I Dreamed a Dream
~One Day More
~Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
~Stars
and of course
~Do You Hear the People Sing?

The story is one of redemption and forgiveness, and the music is beautiful. It is a powerful show and I'd recommend it highly!


If nothing else, go see it in theatres =)

Do you have a favorite song or part of Les Mis?

These are a few of my favorite things.... (pt1)

I have been asked recently what my favorite shows (or monologues) that I have been in are and there are several! I haven't done much theatre at all since high school and I do miss it. A lot!! But my schedule doesn't really allow for community theatre. However, I go to see shows usually once or so a year. But here are a few favorite scenes and monologues I have done, in no particular order...

1) Titus Andronicus~ In theatre one year, we broke off into groups to do scene work. I ended up in two groups performing the same part! I performed the roll of Tamora~ Queen of the Goths. It was lots of fun being an awful character! The costumes and makeup was fun for this too. I enjoyed this scene mainly for Tamora's monologue to her sons. ((The scene we did was an incredibly violent scene. (Good job Shakespeare) Where Tamora took Lavinia (Titus' daughter) out into the woods, and her sons violently abused Lavinia, then took out her tongue and chopped off her hands so she couldn't tell anyone what happened.)) 

2) Misery~ For an audition for a One Act play we were taking to a competition, I performed a monologue from the book/movie Misery. The One Act we were going to do was based on a short story by Stephen King named Quitters, Inc. Therefore I thought a monologue from a Stephen King novel would be appropriate. By using this monologue, I effectively freaked out my class and got the role I was going for!!

3)Tarzan~ For another audition for a One Act play we were taking to another competition, I performed a monologue from the Disney movie Tarzan! This was where Jane was telling her Daddy about the gorillas she saw, and then Tarzan. Until that point, NO ONE had seen me do a "happy, upbeat" character before. I pull off the "bad, dark" characters very well. Imagine their surprise when I came out super excited, with an incredibly happy monologue in which I bounced across the stage like a gorilla =D That was definitely one of my favorite monologues.

4) Medea~ My second year of theatre, we did a unit on Greek Tragedies. Medea was written by Euripides and definitely fits into the Greek Tragedy category. I was not in this show but I did help behind the scenes and do some of the production of the set. This show was awesome and by far one of the best shows the school had ever done. Of course Medea is a play, but our director added music to it, which worked very well. "Too Late For Love" by Def Leppard, "Voodoo" by Godsmack, and "Return to Innocence" were used, as well as a couple others.

5) Oedipus~ Oedipus was a lot of fun to do also! Oedipus was written by Sophocles, in the greek tragedy realm also. This was also done in scene work. In Oedipus, I was cast as Queen Jocasta. The Queen who ended up marrying her son, upon realizing this, kills herself. Which of course you don't see on stage, because this was a greek tragedy. Anyway, a few years later in my senior year English class, we were reading Oedipus. We ended up splitting into groups to do some sort of work and naturally I was grouped with the few people who never did anything. They asked "does anyone understand this?" and I replied, "I was in this show 2 years ago. and No I am not doing all of the work." Lots of fun. But I loved the show!

more later..... =)

WOW! Sorry for writing a book :)

RENT pt.1

For a reallllllly long time, I disliked musicals. I loved to sing, and love music, but I had absolutely no desire to be in a musical until mid high school. On top of being a theatre student, I took theatre production as well, so I was very active behind the scenes. I helped out and did sound/lights for the choir department in my school every so often. and my school held the district choir competitions....

Therefore, one year I heard the song "Seasons of Love" performed about 10 times both days. Needless to say I lost all interest in RENT for a while! I couldn't listen to any of the songs. However, once the 10 yr anniversary of RENT came about and the movie came out in theatres, I was all in! I loved it!!! I appreciate the fact that most of the original cast is in the movie version as their original roles.

RENT was written by a man named Jonathan Larson. In February of 1996, RENT opened in NYC. Jonathan died at 35 yrs old from an aortic aneurism before opening night. The show moved to Broadway on April 29th.  RENT won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two Tony Awards later that year.

SEASONS OF LOVE

(Last Broadway Cast with members of the Original Broadway Cast)

I saw RENT performed live a few years ago when it came through Richmond. Naturally I loved it and thought it was amazing. The lyrics are poignant and bitter sweet. But they are about life! 

There is a lotttt more I could write about this, but it's bedtime, so I will leave you with this:

 

 

(Original Cast~ 10 yr anniversary)

La Vie Boheme (pt1 & pt2)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

I'll never forget my last year of high school in theatre. For Halloween the advanced theatre classes performed a Halloween Variety show for the entire school. It was so much fun!!!

For my monologue, I performed a monologue from Terminator 2 when Sarah Conner flips out on the dr at the beginning. And after all of the different individual performances, we performed Thriller! SO MUCH FUN! We did our makeup to look like zombies and everything. (I really wish I had taken pictures)

So seeing as how it's Halloween, I figured I would leave you with this....

Is it over yet?

**Warning: random rant post with nothing to do with theatre!**


I truly hate politics. I hated them before, and will probably continue to hate them in the future.

 Can I just say I cannot wait until the election is over!! Yes, I do understand the election is important. Yes, I am going to vote. Yes, I do have someone I'm voting for. But seriously?!

Allllll over my facebook feed, all over the neighborhood, all over the radio, tv, internet. everywhere you look is nothing but election stuff!

I have half of my friends raging against Obama, stating he is a horrible person, a liar, and has been a terrible president, etc. etc. etc. and the other half raging against Romney, I'm just done with it.

I'm sorry but most people believe everything they read, never fact check anything, blindly accept that this person/ or that person is the greatest ever, and the other candidate is the antichrist.

However, after the election, I will continue to hear moaning and groaning. If Obama wins, I will hear over the next 4 years how the country is going to hell and this and that and the other. If Romney wins, I dont even know.

What I really want to say is that no amount of trashing the other candidate and shoving your candidate's spoon down somebody's throat is going to do you any good...

Anyway, thank you for sticking with me through my rant!
How do you feel about the election?



(Ps: This post is just my opinion, please do not make any ugly/hateful remarks. Any written will be removed. =) Thanks!)

The Lion King (pt 1)

By far, one of my all time favorite Disney movies is The Lion King. It is an awesome movie with beautiful music. I remember going with my cousins to the movies to see it in theatres.

And many years later, I heard they were doing a Broadway musical of it!!!! Naturally I had to see it.

Two of our friends, my husband, and I went to see The Lion King a few years ago and it was amazing! I cannot rave enough about it. I bought us all great seats down in the orchestra that were worth every penny. From the opening number to curtain call I was completely fascinated.

In the Disney movie both Tim Rice and Elton John wrote the music, they collaborated once more to produce new songs in the Broadway version that are every bit as stunning as the original, songs like "Shadow Land" and "He Lives in You". Hearing the music on a cd or in a movie is NOTHING compared to hearing it live.

The costumes were great. The puppetry and masks were absolutely amazing. In the opening number of The Circle of Life, there were actors as animals coming through the audience, standing in the balcony flying birds, giraffes and other animals coming out of the wings onstage. Our seats were near the aisle so I look over and there is a rhinoceros walking down the aisle. 

("Is that a challenge?")

(Circle of Life)

(Rafiki with Zebras)

 

Each of the lions & lionesses had head pieces that they wore depicting their lion. 

 

more to come......

Is it December yet?!

Normally, I am one who will avoid going to a movie on opening night or that weekend. I'd rather wait until it's not a mad house or have to wait 5 hours for a ticket. Not happening....

However, the weekend of December 14th, exceptions will be made, because two amazing movies are coming out and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!

Les Miserables 

The Hobbit

Needless to say, I will definitely be hitting the movies that weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

The Walking Dead...

 Back in high school I was one of the lead make up artists for our theatre dept. I remember the first class in which we learned how to apply bruises and busted lips, cuts, gun shot wounds, etc. It was around Halloween and my partner in class was my youth pastor's daughter. I gave her a black eye, and she gave me a bloody lip. =) It was awesome.

So, I have always been one who will watch the behind the scenes documentaries and how things were made of movies. Anyway, so I've always been a fan of horror films. Especially the zombie ones. I was going to wait until closer to Halloween to post about The Walking Dead, but on Facebook, I keep seeing this:

((hhnorlando.com))

and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go!!! It would probably scare me to death, but I'd be completely fascinated too!

The behind the scenes of the creation of the zombies/walkers in this show are awesome. They look fantastically gross and the mouth pieces and "flesh" pieces are amazing. What I wouldn't give to work at a haunted hayride or something like that! Working at a Spirit Halloween store would be fun too.

(Robert Kirkman~Creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels)

(ps: image found on internet, I do not own)

Seriously, how awesome would that be?

Phantom of the Opera

"The Phaaaaaaaaantom of the Opera is theeeeeeeeere, Inside your mind!"

  One of the first Broadway shows I've seen live was Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom of the Opera". On August 3rd, of 2007 my mom died in a car accident. Needless to say that was hell for me and my family. Anyway, my husband and I (we were only dating then) had tickets to go see Phantom for Aug 12th (only 9 days later). I really wasn't in the mood to go, but we had tickets and figured it would be a good thing. Get my mind off things for a little while. And that worked fine.... until the song "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"... whew that was rough!!!!!! 

("Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"~ movie version)

 

We actually ended up getting to the theatre late because of traffic. However, we showed up right as they were performing "Phantom of the Opera". Christine and the Phantom were on the boat "floating" through the candles that were raising from the ground.

I loved that scene. I loved the candles rising and lighting as they get higher. And the techie in me was dying to know all the ins and outs of that. I also loved "Masquerade". 

Music wise, I think Phantom of the Opera is amazing. Some of the notes that are sung in this show are incredible! Especially if you listen to the original cast. In "Prima Donna" (which is not one of my favorite songs), the notes Carlotta hits are unbelievable!

("Phantom of the Opera"~ movie version)

Overall I would definitely recommend going to see Phantom of the Opera. It's a great show!

The "Man in Black"

 ~In Loving Memory~

Johnny Cash

February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003

9/11/01

September 11th, 2001 is a day that will not be forgotten.

I can't believe it has been 11 years. I was in high school, and I remember being on my way to my 3rd period Theatre class. Walking from the trailer of my homeroom, I remember everyone was quiet in the halls, and in shock. The choir and theatre rooms were side by side on the hall, and we all went into the Choir room to watch the news. It was completely heartbreaking.

We watched live coverage, and saw the videos of the planes crashing into the buildings over and over. I still get chills thinking about it. I still feel sick thinking about it. Then hearing about the plane crashes and the pentagon, it was horrible.

I was a varsity football manager through high school, and I remember that Friday night game. The night looked foggy because there was actually ash in the air from the Pentagon. And I remember the weeks and months afterward of news coverage and images.

I take a moment to remember the women and men who lost their lives that day, and to the servicemen who helped save others. and I give thanks to the brave men and women of this country who still fight for our freedom.

10 of my favorite musicals!

10 of My Favorite Musicals!

1) Les Miserables

2) RENT

3) The Lion King

4) The Phantom of the Opera

5)Wicked

6) Children of Eden

7) Jekyll & Hyde

8) Rocky Horror Picture Show

9) Joseph

10) Fiddler on the Roof

     There are definitely many more that I really like, but these are the ones that popped into my head first. I have seen several of these on Broadway or performed onstage before and others I really want to see!

     What are some of your favorite shows?

"I Dreamed a Dream"

Cover song

     I honestly had a difficult time narrowing down which cover song I wanted to use for my English essay. I raked through my itunes multiple times, I wrote down different songs I liked that had been covered. I even asked for thoughts from my friends. However, one of the first thoughts that popped into my mind was the tv show "Glee" which consists of nothing but cover songs. (However, for my essay I wanted to use a song where the artist actually made the song their own, not just sang the song in almost exactly the same way as the original artist.) 

     In the first season of Glee, vocalists Lea Michele and Idina Menzel covered the song "I Dreamed a Dream" from the Broadway show "Les Miserables". Idina Menzel is an incredibly talented actress who has been in many different Broadway musicals. She also originated the role of Maureen in "RENT" and Elphaba in "WICKED". I actually saw her live in concert a couple years ago and have been a big fan of hers for many years. When had I read online that she would be in Glee, I was very excited.

    When I heard this rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream", that was performed as a duet between a long lost mother and daughter, I fell in love with it all over again. Les Miserables is definitely on my list of the top 5 musicals of all time. It is such a powerfully written and incredible show, I'm sure I will be posting about it again later in more detail. So although I didn't choose to use this cover in my essay, I thought it needed to be given proper credit as a beautifully redone version.  Enjoy!

                                 (Idina Menzel and Lea Michele singing "I Dreamed a Dream")

A Little Introduction

                                   A Little Introduction

     I believe a little introduction is in order for this blog. For several months I had been toying around with the idea of going back to school in order to get an Early Childhood Education degree. I chewed on the idea over and over until about a month ago when I decided to go ahead and apply. To make a long story short, I was accepted, enrolled into classes and for the first time in almost 10 years I became a student! For my English class, one of the assignments we have is to create a blog about something of our choosing to keep up with each week. After much deliberation, I finally decided to write about one of my biggest passions: theater.

    I absolutely love the arts. I love watching a musician wrapped up in their music, or a vocalist soaring through their range. I love watching the stunning grace of a dancer bounding across the stage. I love seeing behind the scenes documentaries, special effects and props, and the back stories. I love watching a story unfold through the actions, words and songs of an actor. I love, and miss, being a part of that story.

    The purpose of this blog is to be my sounding board to compile my thoughts and opinions about certain shows, compare a couple movies (and/or television shows) to their corresponding novels, and maybe even do a little reminiscing about some shows I've been in.