"This Moment is More Precious than You Think"

Keep your eyes glued to Broadway.com and Broadwayworld.com for Seussical's official online blog and open rehearsal footage! The press has been there almost every rehearsal and they love it. I Ahrens and Flaherty (the writers of Seussical) and what a joy it was. They're currently rewriting a bit of things and adding in old stuff that didn't make it into the original licensed show.

So if you come see Seussical, it will be a production you've never seen or heard.

Also, for those who did not know CBGB's legendary clothing store located on St. Marks in the East Village is closing FOR GOOD on June 30th. If you live in the city, go stop by, show your love and support.

Today, my friend Amanda and I went down to the East Village for a bit of bohemian life. I met De La Vega today and let me tell you...His words have inspired and saved my life. His words are what keep me going and wanting this career more and more and meeting him today was a true blessing. I can't describe the emotion I felt when shaking his hand and when speaking to him. He is the most inspiring and beautiful person I have ever met.

Google his work James De La Vega. 

Buy a shirt, wear it, inspire others, and introduce De La Vega into the lives of your friends and enemies. 

Good morning...

A little side note before I get up and get ready for class. Well, Flopz n' Cutz 4 was Sunday night. 

For those who don't know, it's the yearly concert of songs from shows that didn't quite make it to Broadway, Broadway Flops, and songs cut from long running Broadway musicals.

Well there was a raffle going on...and the items were left unknown until it came time to announce the numbers. I purchased 6 tickets in hopes to land one hell of a prize. The first item, a package of Gay Porn, the production company donates a lot of money to the charity Flopz n' Cutz benefits (a no kill dog shelter), then there was a basket of flop musical demos and cds and posters, I was hoping to win that, but alas, did not. Then came a bunch of signed Benefit posters of past Charity events held by the group that does Flopz n' Cutz, and alas I didn't win that. 

Finally the 2 last things, a complete signed poster for Rags, and a FRAMED POSTER OF CARRIE THE MUSICAL. Yeah...I peed my pants. 

Well, sitting in my room IS the framed Carrie poster. I was the lucky winner, and honestly, when the called my ticket, I nearly had a heart attack and I began to cry. 

6 years...6 YEARS...I have loved this show. 

I've now got the Workshop, London, and Broadway scripts, the London an Broadway sheet music, a Broadway Opening Night Playbill, the act 1 Broadway video, the London video, the rehearsal, news, and commercial footage, the Broadway audio, the demo tape, the workshop audio, the hilarious rehearsal audio when Debbie Allen secretly says into the tape recorder "this music is shit, he won't let me take over, asshole...", the emerson college video, the stagedoor video, and the Broadway poster, all i need is the Danish audio, the souvenir program, and the London, and Broadway Flyer...

Yes, I am a Carrie fanatic.

[Untitled]

[Title of Show] is coming to Broadway this summer. What a journey that show has been through.

Glad to see it finally is making it's home on the Great White Way, hooray for original musicals.

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For those who don't know, I have been cast as Horton the Elephant in the TheatreWorks Off-Broadway revival of Seussical the Musical. 1st day of rehearsal was this morning. What an exciting bunch of people this cast is made up of. So I will be staying in the city and earning my equity card.

Things are certainly looking up. 

Sophie.

I put Sophie out yesterday evening. Sophie being my Iron Fairy. I sprinkled her with Fairy Dust and followed the specific directions.

I come home from class today (gone from 7am-5:35pm) only to find her in a different position than when I left her. The Fairy Dust was sprinkled all over my room, and today has just been a wonderful day.

I don't know what to make of this whole repositioning thing, because only I have a key to my room, and service did not come to my room today. Whoa. 

Just to clear the air...

I went through quite the rough patch. But things are going much more smooth than before. I promise. And a lot of people heard/read that I was not going to continue here in the city next year. BUT...After really thinking it over, I am going to stay and go to MMC. Also, I have been cast as Horton the Elephant in the Off-Broadway production being put on by TheatreWorks USA. Rehearsals begin in 2 weeks. I couldn't be more excited!

I went on an excursion again to Chinatown with my friend Megan. We found some good stuff. I went birthday shopping for Jenna. But I will not say what I found for her. =). I also have a new obsession...Death Note is the craziest anime/movie ever. 

I went to the Village with some friends last night and they brought me to The Iron Fairy. The only one in the US. It's an entire store devoted to fairies. There are naughty and nice fairies and each has a name and their own story and personality. You can get assistance on how to choose the fairy that is right for you. I was informed that I am most like Sophie, a nice fairy who wants to put a smile on everyone's faces and wants to grant wishes for everyone. I purchased her of course. I also picked up a copy of the book they sell which explains every fairy and details the land they live in. What a beautiful store.

REVIEW TIME.

Monday 3/24. CRY BABY

Currently in previews. Contrary to most of the theatre goers opinions on the show...I loved it. Sure it has issues, but what show doesn't? That's why we have previews. This show infact has 5 weeks of previews. The music was VERY catchy. The show is VERY campy. I mean, it's John Waters. Lenora, played by Alli Mauzy really steals the show with her wacky portrayal of an obsessive mental case who loves Cry Baby. Elizabeth Stanley as Allison also steals the show, and boy, does she have some belting pipes. Harriet Harris as the Grandmother was perfect. The entire show is screaming with energy and the choreography is worthy of a Tony nod, it's quite amazing. I will be seeing it again to see what will be cut and what will make the final product. 

Saturday. 3/29. 8pm. WICKED

Stephanie J. Block and the Glinda U/S Katie Adams (who was amazing) were on. Great performances. However, the Madame Morrible didn't sing at all, she rhythmically spoke her words...it was very annoying. You can also see how bored the actors feel, other than the 2 leading ladies. The ensemble just doesn't look like they want to be there. It was kind of upsetting. The special effects were not very effective, you could tell how poorly staged they were, with long pauses between the motion for the action and the action itself. 

I won't be seeing this show again anytime soon. 

Sunday. 3/30 5pm. THE CASTLE.

Whoa. 4 people. 4 stories. The 4 "actors" were actually ex-inmates of "The Castle" a prison in New England. They each told their story and how they live "outside the castle walls". This was the 1st performance ever of the show. It was absolutely mind blowing. Meeting these 4 people after the show was the most amazing thing in my opinion. I can't say the storylines without ruining the entire show. But wow. 

Monday. 3/31. 8pm CRY BABY

1 week later. Still a preview. A lot of Broadway stars were in attendance this evening. And sitting next to me was the Original Movie Wanda (a character from Cry Baby). Behind me and my friend was Paige and Marco from Degrassi, and the cast of Xanadu, and a few of the Altar Boyz were there. 

Many things have been changed. An entire song was cut, replaced with a reprise sung by Allison where she belts like whoa and it really brings out the yearning of her character. They also rearranged a song to come later in the first act. Which really flows a lot better. They cut a few lines here and there, which add to the flow. 

The original time of act one on the 24th was almost 2 hours and this time around it was 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

Tory Ross (Pepper) informed that another song will is gonna be cut and it's being replaced tomorrow night. 

I am seeing the show tomorrow night again. So expect another review with notes on changes. 

Zines, Reviews, SB 08.

It's been a while. My apologies. During the month of March in the city, I picked up a silly addiction. Zines. Those little underground comics, or propaganda booklets published by grunge artists, anarchists, and those still living in the 77 era. I walked into a music store down in the East Village and found a couple of really good ones. A re-imagining of the banned "Anarchists Cookbook", an essay on Veganism, and a couple of cute comics with emo kids who sip coffee and talk about the lack of love in their lives. I said "cute", but really, they are. 

Review time. 

COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA 3/11 8pm.

I went in not knowing the story or characters, all I can say is Lola. Lola, my love. What a damn good character for a grown woman to play, a washed up Beauty Queen, married to a guy for one reason. Wow. Inge. What a damn good playwright. The set was beautiful, the storyline was so controversial for it's time (it premiered in 1950), the actors were so great together. And the emotional connection, from start to finish was burning. This show closed on March 16. 

This gets the Tony for Best Revival of a Play. Hands down.

PASSING STRANGE 3/12 8pm. 

How does one even connect this show to the genre of musical theatre? It's absolutely incredible. You have Stew, the lead sing of a band, telling his life story through songs his band wrote, and next thing you know...actors appear to re-tell the story through dialogue, and they become part of the music. And honestly, if people thought the music of Spring Awakening was "not-so-musical" go see Passing Strange and from start to finish, you'll think you were re-living The Beatles, the 77 Punk and Rock Era, and you'll think you were in a beautiful jazz club dancing the night away.

NEXT TO NORMAL 3/13 8pm. 

Way to go. All I have to say is that. For personal reasons, I love this show. It was a remarkable never before seen  story in a musical. A musical all about suicide/depression/shizophrenia/and electro-shock therapy and a family. It made me remember a lot of my past and a lot of the emotional times I went through. This show closed on March 16. Thank you Next to Normal.

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SB 08.

I'm home, spending my days with friends. Going to clubs, going to movies, doing dinners, and having sleepovers. I miss my friends. I convinced my parents to let me stay over Easter Weekend, so I am now home until monday. 

My sister had her baby. Rylee Jeanne is FINALLY here. She's beautiful. My sister and her fiancee Silas are gonna make very good parents. 

It's been a while!

IDINA MENZEL LECTURE/CONCERT 2/26

Amazing. Front row seat. She performed cut songs from her album, shared with us stories of ho she started out (a Snapple Commercial...which she got fired from when she was 8). 

Bought her CD. Got it autographed. And had a wonderful conversation with her about her Chess Concert coming up. 

LITTLE MERMAID AT THE DISNEY STORE 2/28 

Bought the CD and saw Sierra Bogess and Tituss Burgess perform songs from the show. And there was a Q&A session with Sherie Rene Scott, Tituss, Seirra, the guy who plays Scuttle, and Flotsam.  It was fun. Then the CD signing came. Everyone signed, Sherie Rene looked like she didn't want to be there...but then again, I wouldn't want to be there signing autographs for screaming babies and photographers invading your space...

However...

She never looks happy, or nice for that matter. 

Geez. 

AVENUE Q AUDITION 2/29

I went to the audition early in the morning. I was number 45. It was SO much fun! They loved me. I got called in 3 times. And had to put on multiple character voices, and become my favorite animal. SO MUCH FUN. Well they called me on monday, I got a callback in 2 weeks after my spring break. 

XANA-NITE part 1 2/29

The Midnight Society watched Xanadu, in preparation for the show on saturday. We had a wonderful time bashing out trippy it was. The cartoon sequence. Hilarious. 

XANA-NITE part 2 3/1

Took Hayden, Amanda, Megan, Casey, Stephanie, and myself to Xanadu. On-stage of course. Fun times. They had never seen the show before, well Steph did but not on-stage. They had a blast and at the end of the show they each turned to me and said "Can we please come again." We met the cast afterwards, and they loved Kerry and Cheyenne. We danced and laughed our heads off. 

LEGALLY BLONDE CAMP OUT 3/1-3/2

Camped out in Times Square for student rush tickets to see Haven Burton perform Elle Woods for the 1st time. She's the new understudy. I arrived on the scene at 2:45am and they was about 13 people there. Ridiculous. But awesome at the same time. They were a bit obsessed with the show...so it was kind of awkward, because, while I like the show...it's not the greatest and it lacks a lot. 

I experienced the drunken tourists, and was asked "What are you waiting for?" about 100 times. It was silly. However, tourists gave us food. It was great. 

Tickets were released at noon, and I got my two that I needed. Front row for the 7pm show. 

FARNSWORTH INVENTION CLOSING DAY PERFORMANCE 3/2 3pm. 

I will miss this play. Honestly. What an amazing piece of history this play made. Like I said about the show before, never will a historical drama like this come about in our generation. Maybe, but it's doubtful. The entire cast gave an emotional last performance, keeping it in until the final scene. 

LEGALLY BLONDE HAVEN-ELLE PERFORMANCE 3/2 7pm.

Haven Burton. Haven. Burton. Truly hilarious and sooo adorable. She really gave it her all and really made Elle Woods a whole new character. Her own -isms were adorable. "OKAY!" and the knee slap. YES. She looked gorgeous in her costumes and that girl can sing. 

I hope to see her as Elle again.

XANADU 3/4 7pm

Took Frankie, Liz, Catherine, and myself to Xanadu. They changed a line to suit Gypsy opening next door. GREATEST LINE EVER. "Short and happy? Come on...Next door over at Gypsy, Patti LuPone hasn't alienated her first daughter yet!" They had a great time. Loving everything about the 80's spoof musical. 

Went to a private Spring Awakening Audition. THAT was awkward. But went very, very well. I had to do things that stretched my acting ability and they were pleased. I should hear back soon. 

HELLO AGAIN at MMC 3/5  8pm.

Ok, the show has it's good moments, but in all, it's boring. Not as shocking as it's hype was. The voices and acting was under par. The tech was beautiful, the set and the lighting. Wow. But the performances were mediocre. The women, overpowering the men vocally and performance overall. The Husband annoyed me, he couldn't hide his speech impediment, and couldn't hide his feministic side. It was annoying during the his sequences. 

SPRING AWAKENING 3/6 8pm.

Again. Not a show that lived up to it's hype. I sat on-stage, and you could barely hear the actors because the band overpowered them. As opposed to Xanadu where, the singing is equal with the band. I'm not a fan of the on-stage seats. I felt like I was pressured to stay quiet, I couldn't clap, laugh, or make a noise. I did have one of the "normal dressed teens" sitting next to me. It was awkward. It actually made me uncomfortable sitting on-stage at that show. And the new Ilse, while she can sing, she wears the ensemble bob wig, because she's got short hair. She's not Ilse looking. The new Moritz, is not as endearing at John Gallagher Jr. 

I am in no way, an SA Fan...

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So that's life in a nutshell. Shows. Shows. Shows. 

School is going well, I just want spring break here right now.