Friday, May 1, 2009

HOLY CRAP! How did that happen???

Well, I have to offer some apologies. I have not blogged in a very VERY long time. I guess after "Oliver!" was over I thought to myself, "I should take some time to just get back into my normal routine and maybe take a short break from blogging." Little did I know that I would end up blogless for over a month!

Well, a lot has happened since the last time I blogged, so I will now list all of the major events that I did not blog about:

•There was an extremely tragic event that happened very close to my hometown, in which several people were killed. It happened a few weeks ago, and a lot in my area is still very shaken up about it. One of the people who died happened to be a relative of a friend of mine. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my prayers and sympathies to all of the family members and friends of the victims.

•During a school break, I did a lot of traveling. First, I went to Baltimore/D.C. with the music department from my school, where we performed at a mall, saw a National Symphony Concert, went to the Smithsonian and did several other fun things. Next, I went to New Jersey with Rev. Guinevere to see my grandfather (***Something very big and exciting happened on this trip, but I am not sure how much I can release to the public at this point in time. I will most likely explain this in a few weeks***). Finally, I went on a mission trip with the youth group from my church. We went to a camp to do work for a few days (putting up tents, cleaning out cabins, etc.) and then we spent a day in NYC shopping and seeing a musical (Mary Poppins: Review to come later.) By the time I got back from this trip, I had to go back to school. So much for a break from being busy...

•In performing news, I participated in two big singing events. One of them was a local area competition in which I was competing against 23 other singers, and I sang three solos. While I did not win, I did get some great comments on my score sheet form the judge (both compliments and things to work on.) The second one was a state wide event, where I wasn't necessarily competing against others, but I sang one solo for a judge and received helpful feedback and a grade on my performance (97 out of 100!) This score will now be considered along with the scores of all the others who performed to determine who will be singing in the All-State Select Chorus next fall. Once I find out about that, I will let you know!

•I auditioned for another play (eeeek!!!!) Specifically I auditioned for the Local Savoyards performance of "H.M.S. Pinafore." My mother was cast as the alto lead (Little Buttercup) and I was cast in the chorus... The MEN'S CHORUS!!!! I'M GOING TO BE A SAILOR!!! OH-EMM-GEE! I have never played a guy before, but I have always wanted to. Apparently, they were running low on tenors, so they put me and several other mezzo/alto singers into the tenor section. This is going to be sooooo fun!

•I saw Mr. Baker in an AMAZING production of "Balm In Gilead" at BCU (Big City U.) He played a drag queen named David. It wasn't the biggest role I've seen him play, but I must admit, he did an amazingly fabulous job. It was like nothing I have ever seen him in before. And, I also learned on this trip that apparently he has been telling a lot of his friends great things about me. It was quite amusing to be waiting for Mr. Baker by the theater and meeting several incredibly hot (though mostly gay) men coming up to me saying "OH MY GAWD! YOU'RE MR. BAKER'S SISTER!!!!!! YOU'RE SO COOL!" Thank you very much Mr. Baker. That was tons of fun.

•I have started planning my audition for yet another play. The LTU (Local Town U) has a Summer Youth Musical Theater Workshop, where they put on an enormous, fantastic production in three weeks. This year, they chose to do "All Shook Up" which has a plot loosely based on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" but is set to the music of Elvis Presley..... So, yeah it's not any form of great theater, but it is going to be soooo much fun. The part I am aiming for is a young mechanic who falls in love with a tough-gorgeous-motorcycle-driving-leather-jacket-wearing-Danny-Zuko type of guy, and in order to spend more time with him, she disguises herself as a man. And this is the song I am auditioning with:


Tee-Hee.

•And last but not least, the swine flu. What's up with that?