[title of post]

I spent an evening at the theater tonight. A friend of mine that I met last year when we did "Company of Angels" together, Lanaya Burnette, was cast in RTP's [title of show]. Richmond Triangle Players was running a special tonight for theatre professionals for 2 for 1. I decided that I would go with my daughter. I didn't really know what to expect. I no longer buy every new cast album that comes out of New York the way I did when I was in high school, and I haven't seen a show in New York since 1981. I had heard of [title of show], but had no idea what it was about except for the little synopsis on the Facebook events page. For some reason I thought it would be filled with old-fashioned campiness. Boy, was I wrong! It was edgy, and full of energy, and extremely contemporary. I'm new to contemporary musical theatre. I grew up with My Fair Lady and The Music Man. I remember when I was in middle school and I purchased the original cast albums to A Chorus Line and Chicago. I felt like I was getting away with something listening to the lyrics that contained the "words I wasn't allowed to say" peppered here and there occasionally in some of the songs. I saw the show tonight as a grown up, and I didn't have to go upstairs and listen to my album with my door closed for fear that I would hear my dad say I had to take the album back. I had the best time! I laughed and even cried a little. The cast is amazing and they work together like a well oiled machine, and the vocals are strong and blend together so well you'd think that these four actors really did write this show and worked on it for months and months. Daniel Cimo and Chris Hester establish a great rapport immediately with each other and the audience. One of my favorite numbers early on was "An Original Musical," I laughed out loud at Cimo's portrayal of  The Blank Page and Lanaya Burnette's rendition of "Die Vampire, Die" is humorous but thought provoking at the same time, and finally Georgia Rogers Farmer nails the power but also brings such a gentle sweetness to "A Way Back to Then" that I found myself wishing I had a tissue. The theatre wasn't nearly filled tonight, and that is a shame. RTP's production of [title of show] will be one that you will be sorry you missed, so don't take the chance. You only have until June 4th. Call for tickets!

1-1-11

The ball has dropped, and I am sitting in front of the computer, once again, in the wee hours of the morning. About 90 minutes ago we began 2011. A new year. It makes us think, think about where we've been, where we're going, goals, plans, dreams that have come true, and dreams that have disappeared. On my cell phone greeting for the past 365 days it has said, "2010, MY YEAR!" I started thinking the other day as we were approaching the end of 2010, has it been MY YEAR? Well that really depends on how I am going to measure success. Monetarily? NO, 2010 was definitely NOT my year. Career? NO, can't really say that either. However, 2010 did bring me other types of success. One, I started this blog. I was never a diary keeper or a journaler, and truthfully, never considered myself a writer. Some of you readers may not consider me a writer even now, but having this outlet has been very therapeutic at times for me, and I think it's really helped me to grow. Two, I had the chance to create a role in a workshop production of a show called "Company of Angels" with some very dear friends, and my daughters. Three, I embarked on a personal fundraiser by selling my carrot cakes and started a small side business at the holidays called 24 Carrot Cakes that I thought was pretty successful. I saw both of my daughters make All District Chorus, my youngest sing her first solo in church and my oldest receive confirmations for her college auditions. So, I guess you could say 2010 was a year of personal firsts and accomplishments and definite realization that my little girls are growing up, but oh, what wonderful young women they are becoming. THAT is my true success. What will 2011 bring? Who knows, but I am ready for the journey.

From Page to Stage

Saturday night closed a chapter in my life, at least for now anyway. I say a chapter was closed. Perhaps I should say a prologue was closed. Saturday night was the last performance of the workshop production of “Company of Angels”. Back in June, a dear friend of mine, Julie Fulcher-Davis, sent me an email with the subject, “Favor?” What I agreed to do never seemed like a favor to me. It was an honor and an incredible opportunity as an actor. Julie had written a musical and she was trying to get a cast together to workshop it. She asked me to play the role of "Cornecia". She sent me a copy of the script and some wave files of my songs. I was on board immediately. In fact, I blogged about it in a round-about way in my post, "I Really Need to Practice What I Preach". A few emails back and forth about ideas and castings, and when all was said and done, we had a date to meet for a read-through with the cast, including my own daughters playing roles of angels in a celestial back-up group called "The Divinettes" From the first read-through and music rehearsals, I knew I was part of something special. It's rare that an actor gets the opportunity to bring life to a role. Along with the help of the writer and director, both of whom were Julie, you shape the character and propel it off the page and onto the stage. Julie is an incredibly giving and open director, and we, as actors were given quite a bit of freedom. "Cornecia" on the stage turned out to be totally different than "Cornecia" on the page, but that's what a workshop is about. It's a growing, living process. Hopefully the show will continue on it's journey and become a full scale production. The cast and crew would often say in rehearsals, "When we get to Philadelphia....[insert grand idea that takes grand budget here]." Philadelphia is usually one of the last stops a show makes before Broadway. The workshop production only ran here in Richmond for 7 performances. By closing night, the box office was turning people away. A very good sign, considering most of the advertising was through Internet, email, Facebook and word of mouth. Not everybody who came liked it, but the general public patron seemed to love it, and the audience reaction was very good. There were standing ovations more than once, which is more than I can say for some full scale productions I have been in. I hope this does make it all the way to Philadelphia, heck, we're Angels, let's shoot for the stars, Broadway. My character, "Cornecia", has a song in the second act with this line, "Even forgotten, a dream will unfold." I am so glad that I am a part of this process to let Julie's dream unfold. Now, if it could just get caught on the feather of a Broadway bound Angel wing.