Speechless

These will both be in this week's Connection (for Vienna and Arlington). :)

You Can't Stop the Blog

Since publicity is starting to get going for Hairspray, I figured, why not post a blog of my own? We open in three days. Pretty unbelievable. Two months ago I hadn't even auditioned yet, and here we are now with a full show on its feet. It is hands down the most challenging thing I have ever done, and easily the most rewarding. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by kind, hilarious, and ridiculously talented people, and the end result is a giant show that is full of heart, soul, and LOTS of sweating. :)

I fell in love with Hairspray when I was 15 years old. Ok, maybe it wasn't love yet...more like a big giant crush. This was before I had even seen the show--but my original cast recording was VERY loved, and I think there was a two month period where I forced my mom to play it in the car everywhere we went. I finally saw the show a year later...and then I really fell in love.

For a 16 year old girl who loved singing and dancing more than anything but who wasn't fully comfortable in her own skin yet (and yes, I'm talking about me, not Tracy Turnblad), finally having a character like Tracy to relate to was almost more than I could handle. When she sang I Can Hear the Bells, I cried and cried. It's so funny, because I think that song annoys a lot of people (it certainly annoyed all my friends who called me when I was in high school, thanks to my sweet ringback tone), but it might actually be my favorite part of the show. I think it's when you really fall in love with Tracy. Here is this person who people constantly discourage because of how she looks, but she will not be swayed. She is fully convinced that she can get everything she's ever dreamed of having, and then she DOES. She gets to sing and dance on TV even though she doesn't look the "type." She gets her dream guy. She succeeds at bringing people together even though society says it's not what's supposed to happen. Yes, I know (and knew at the time) that it's a musical comedy which is destined to have a happy ending, but when that final curtain went down, 16-year-old Shannon was irrevocably changed. I was completely inspired by the message the show sends and I knew that someday I had to play that part--not just because it's the lead, but because I wanted to have the chance to inspire someone else, to spread some Tracy-like confidence to another 16 year old girl who had big dreams but insecurities about achieving them.

And now it's finally happening. This is my chance. Am I focused on the music, the dances, and the scene work? Of course. But if just ONE person walks away from this show feeling better about who they are and what they're capable of achieving--I will have done my job--even if I forget the turn in You Can't Stop the Beat, or if my wig change means I end up looking like Tina Turner.

So I know I have been pestering everyone with eyes (thanks for the help Facebook and Gmail!) since I got in this show...but come see it. I have never been more proud to be part of something, and it's a show that everyone needs to see at least once (and the movie doesn't count). I cannot stop raving about my cast...there is not a weak link (no that's not a pun). All of the principals are fantastic, and our ensemble is RIDICULOUS and I love them all. And our crew has not disappointed either...our wigs, sets, and costumes are spectacular, a lot of our choreography is straight from Broadway, our orchestra is sick...do I have to keep going? My cousin came to rehearsal last night and was obsessed.

SO. Buy your tickets today! I keep checking, and every day more and more are gone! Opening weekend is sold out...don't wait and then find you can't come because tickets are gone (and our producers, who have been working for LTA for years and years, predict a completely sold out run)! Tickets can be purchased here by clicking on the big Hairspray can!

And in case you'd like a sneak peak before you come...some production pictures were released last night! These are certainly not all of them, so I'll be sure to post more when they become available. I'm personally holding out for a sweet picture of Good Morning Baltimore..tryna have that sweet prof piccccc!

I love you all. And I hope that today all your dreams will come true. :)

Procrastination

So we're getting our house exterminated this week and apparently can't have anything out or in drawers, so I have to pretty much pack up my entire room today since it's basically my only complete day off until...well, until I have already moved out (August 1). Crazy, actually.

And obviously since I have a task that I MUST complete today, in typical fashion, I am blogging.

I'm bitter that I am expected to do work on America's birthday. All I want to do is lay on the couch and watch The History Channel with Padre but alas...I am in my room pretending to be productive.

I hate packing SO much and I have had to do it way more than I'd like within the past year (and one month). This will be my FIFTH time packing up my room this year, and after this I am done for a WHILE. It also doesn't help that I just have so much STUFF. When I moved out of Harrisonburg last summer I got rid of SOOOOOO much stuff....SO HOW DO I STILL HAVE SO MUCH OF IT?! Since I'm moving in a month I'll just leave my room in boxes until I do, but this complicates things because I'm not quite sure what all I'll need until then. Moving blows.

Other than packing, I have really big exciting plans for this holiday...aka watching 1776 and Independence Day in my movie theatre basement, with a brief break for Fireworks. So lame but so glorious. Because tomorrow it's back to the grind with no end in sight...and a whole pot of crazy just about to boil. Luckily work should be fairly chill this month (I HOPE) which will be nice because basically all waking hours outside of work are going to be nuts. After today Hairspray kicks into full swing...at most we have two days off before we open (annnnnd based on yesterday's rehearsal I would not be surprised if we had zero days). I know I want as much time as possible because there are two dances I blatantly don't know, and three that are shaky at best. It's going well, and I think we're on track, I'm just panicking a little bit (who, me, panic?). Sitz is in a WEEK. A WEEK! That's madness.

Last night was nice though because we went out for first official cast bonding which ended up being all the ladies of the cast (minus a few...and technically Chris is not a lady but he is playing Edna...) and Jacki's husband Evan, and it was just nice to talk (and drink) with all of them...I cannot stress how in love with this cast I am. I'm seriously so lucky.

Well I just took a break and packed an entire bin's worth of stuff...obviously my room still looks exactly the same. This is going to take forever. Half of that bin was just of my DVDs. Ughhhhhhhh. Seriously...SO MUCH STUFF. I think the next project to tackle will be what I fondly refer to as my Harry Potter bookshelf. When I moved out of Brooklyn last summer my $25 Walmart bookshelf I bought in 2009 didn't take it very well, so my Dad threw away the bottom two shelves leaving me with a mini bookshelf...which is full almost solely with Harry Potter paraphernalia. Sorry not sorry.

In other news, me and the roomz are still house hunting...Northern VA real estate is so obnoxious (and expensive). It's so hard too because none of us have any time to actively find a house all day every day because we all have jobs and lives. So if you know of any metro-walkable places for four people...let me know...(worth a shot).

I guess I should actually get "back" to packing...I keep hearing my brothers come downstairs to get more bins and I'm starting to feel guilty (ok no I'm not, I just don't want to get yelled at for refusing to contribute).

...this probably means I'm going to turn on How I Met Your Mother and will only pack one bin in four hours. I hate packing.........