Since the beginning of this year, I have been given the privilege to be a part of a beautifully written show, Seasons the Musical. It is a dramatic musical, written by Elaine Pechacek and Kattie Hammond, that shares the story of 4 people over the course of a year. It is about love, personal journeys, and how they lean on each other to deal with trials like a cancer diagnosis and an unexpected pregnancy. I love this story because it is about real life. Everyone who sees this show can relate to it in some way.  I find myself continuing to see a new perspective every time we perform, and a new way in which it connects to me, or someone close to me in some way.  You will fall in love with the realistic characters. It is no mystery why we won 4 audience choice awards at the 2014 Orlando Fringe Festival, including Best of Fest, and Best Musical. This musical is so different from what’s out there right now. Everyone who has seen it has been touched, and has said, “this must be seen”. We have several dates around Florida coming up over the next few months. Find a Theater, and come see Seasons the Musical! Upcoming Show Dates: October 17 – 19 Moonlight Players Theater, Clermont, FL Get Tickets Here November 7-9, 14-16 Andrews Living Arts Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL  January 22 – 24 2015 HCC MainStage Theater, YBor City      ...

I got to take a nap yesterday. When I woke up, it was 10:45. A.M. I’m not sure what that says about you when a nap is needed by 9:00 in the morning. Actually, I do. It means you have been living in a whirlwind for the past few weeks and your body has finally said…I need a break! The past several weeks have been a little hectic for me, but I have loved (almost) every minute of it. Lizzie Borden The Musical opened last weekend, with rave reviews I might add. Opening weekend is always an exciting time, albeit a bit exhausting. Especially when you are coming out of a week of 10 hour a day tech rehearsals. Those were preceded by weeks of regular rehearsals, of course. On top of the opening of a show, my children also started school. Hello 5:30 a.m. alarm. I have not missed you. It didn’t take too long for my internal alarm clock to kick back into gear either. That little ticker is quite the over achiever, let me tell you. My actual alarm clock never even GETS to do it’s job! And if ALL THAT wasn’t enough. We put our house on the market. BAM!  Just like that. It was something we had been talking about doing for a while. Simplifying. Finding the areas in our life where we can just….reduce. So, we pulled the trigger. That was a shot I definitely felt. The sting didn’t last long though. It’s amazing how the threat of strangers coming into your home to look around and judge whether it’s “good enough” or not will push you out of your mourning period and into action mode.   ACTION MODE: Rehearsals. Memorizing. School. Packing lunches before I’m awake. More...

Today I am heading off for an 8 hour day of tours at Titanic. I will start off shadowing someone else, but by the end of the day, it will be sink or swim for me. No pun intended. I have been doing lots of research on Dorothy Gibson, the famous silent film actress who survived the Titanic. She is who I will be portraying as I give my tours. The “Original Harrison Fisher Girl”, or “Gibson Girl”. She was more than that though. Quite a lady. At the age of 22 she was the highest paid actress in film. Probably why she could afford a first class ticket on Titanic. I am still trying to find her “voice”. Playing a historical figure, is something new to me. I guess if there is nothing for me to reference, then no one else can either. No comparisons! I’m excited. I really love the history side of this role. I have genuinely enjoyed doing all of the research and stepping back in time. It is fascinating to walk through the exhibit and see artifacts that actually came from 2 1/2 miles under the ocean. That were actually on the Titanic. There is money, paper bills, that are still intact because they were in a leather bag. I get goosebumps when I think about it. Maybe I’m just a nerd. And the stories. So many stories. Lives lost. Lives saved. People who became heroes that night. I love to see ordinary people who do extraordinary things when it matters most. So, I’m a little nervous. Only because there is SO MUCH INFORMATION to remember. The tours are about 1 hour 20 min long. That’s a lot of facts to be spewing out. What makes it scary is...

Have you ever been “sized up”? Have you had someone look at you, and you can tell they are looking to see if you “measure up”? You feel exposed, don’t you? Almost like you need to cover up? You want to say, “Stop looking at me so…personally!” Get out my bizness, so to speak. I had the wonderful opportunity to get “sized up” twice in the past week. Literally. It was costume fitting time for both the show Lizzie Borden, and at Titanic, The Experience. Let me tell you it’s very….intimate. Lizze Borden was first. I am playing three different roles in this show, so I am assuming I will have three different costumes. There are none made yet, so they were just getting measurements. The costumer was a pro, and very lovely, and knew exactly what she needed. This always helps and makes this process go a lot smoother. She whipped her tape measure around my body like a cowboy roping a steer. I half expected her to flip me on my back and throw her hands up in the air. Shoulder to Shoulder. Shoulder to wrist. Bust. Hips. Waist. Hip to floor. Back. Torso. Diagonal torso across the bust “because she has boobs”. As she is shouting out my numbers to her assistant, I find myself biting my tongue to keep from saying things like…..I just ate lunch…..I’m kind of bloated today…..I’m actually about to go on a diet, should I check back with you?…..so, how ARE my numbers? I know. Pathetic. Then I went in to Titanic. Totally different experience. They already have a rack full of costumes, so the costumer was trying to help me find one that would work with my character, and also work for me. She pulled...

Have you ever worked on a project or at a job that you felt like was a sinking ship? Well, I just got a job on literally, a sinking ship. The Titanic, to be exact. I wonder what it will be like to go to work, knowing that no matter what, there is nothing you can do to change the outcome. You are going down. You may have read about my audition for the attraction Titanic, The Experience, and seen the video where I pathetically tried the different accents they were asking for. Thankfully, there were actually Americans on that fateful voyage, and because of their sacrifice..I got hired! I will be playing Dorothy Gibson, an American model and silent film actress. Her picture was often published on the cover of Cosmopolitan, Ladies Home Journal, and The Saturday Eventing Post. She survived the sinking of the Titanic in lifeboat #7, and went on to star in a film about that night titled Surviving the Titanic. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always found silent films to be kind of silly. I would love to see that film though. I wonder how they dealt with the gravity of this event, with out words. Maybe words couldn’t describe that night. Unfortunately, all the copies of this film were destroyed in a studio fire years ago. So, now I feel like I am back in school. I have A LOT to learn in not a lot of time. I have a lot of facts about the Titanic to cram into my mom brain. I have to take on the personality of not only a character, but a HISTORICAL character. Someone who really existed. It’s a little different. I went to orientation and they sent me home with...

After a week of learning new music, cramming monologues into my tired brain, driving back and forth in the pouring rain to one audition after another… ok, 4 total…I got some exciting news. I got cast in not one, but two of the shows! Now, before you start jumping up and down for me and spill your cereal all over your computer, here’s the bad news. I can only do one of them because the shows overlap. Just my luck, right? I really wish I could do both, BUT, the silver lining is, now I join the elite few that can say, “yeah, I turned that offer down”.  That makes you sound really important. So, the show I AM going to do is called Lizzie Borden. Does that name sound familiar? That’s because it is about a real person. An axe murderess from the 1800’s to be exact. She was tried for killing her parents. With an axe.  Sounds pretty dark, doesn’t it? Don’t worry….it’s a musical. When you put stuff to music it’s…fun! We start rehearsals in July and the show opens August 24th. What’s super exciting is that I’ll be working with Tony award winning director, Kenny Howard, an amazing cast, and the talented Michael Wanzie who wrote the script.  Ok, now, put down your cereal and jump up and down for me! YAY! Now that I have a new show to be excited about…I can pull myself out of the pool of self pity I’ve been sitting in over the last show I auditioned for and DIDN”T get in. I mean, you can’t get them all, right? So, to show how OK I am with it now…I am going to share with you my audition video from that show. That’s right. The one...