Announcement!

Fellow Tweeters!

The official Princess Kim The Musical Twitter Page is now up

Be sure to follow the progress of our wonderful production!! @princesskimmusical


A facebook fan page will follow suit soon as we prepare to release our first single in March, Be on the look out for that and be sure to like us!

NH Theatre Awards Nominations

Music Man is nominated for several NH Theatre Awards. So excited for my fellow castmates. So excited for Feb 3rd

(Updated Feb 4th 4:02pm)

• Ashley Hughes Best Lead Actress in a musical Winner
• Liz Calabria Best Chreographer
• Paula Troie Best Costume Designer Top 3 Finalist
• Steve Vordenberg Kevin Linkroum Dave Ostrowski, Alan D, Kapalan Best Scenic Design
• Michelle Emmond and Meg Peterson Best Supporting Actress
• Best Sound Design John Sauter
• Best Ligthing Design Alan D Kaplan
• Music Man is also nominated for best musical production

For the full nominationas list please go here :
http://www.nhtheatreawards.com/index.php?categoryid=94
Other notable nominations for shows I have seen through out this year (if bolded it means winner)
A Chorus Line Stagecoach Productions
Best Director. Best Choregrapher, Best Lead Actor in A Musical, Best Lead Actress in A Musical, Best Supporting Actor in A Musical
Suessical Peacock Players
Best Performance Youth, Best Supporting Actor Youth Best Supporting Actress Youth , Best Director
Guys and Dolls Actorsingers
Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress ,Best Supporting Actress,Scenic Design, Sound Design.
My fellow Barn Playhouse co-worker Joel Mercier is nominated for two awards for Best Musical Direction of The Drowsy Chaperone at New London Barn Playhouse and Best Director for A New Brain with New Thalian Players. The Barn Playhouse's production of Drowsy Chaperone is nominated for 8 more awards aside from Best Musical Director
Congrats to my theatre professor from NEC Wally Pineault for his nominaton for Best Director of a Drama/Comedy for Almost Maine at Community Players of Concord

Video Clip of The Day

This trailer adverstises a show my friend Lara is in at the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster PA. This is one of my favorite shows ever. I wish her and the rest of the cast amazing success in their run!

And warm birthday wishes to Lara tomorrow as well :)

Bect Christmas Pageant Ever Article

Get Into The Holiday Spirit with ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’
By
Janine Leffler

Get ready for a hilarious holiday show as Milford Area Players and Riverbend Youth Company present their annual Holiday Production “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The play is based on the popular children’s book of the same name by Barbara Robinson which tells the story of
how the troublemaking Herdman children get involved in the annual church
Christmas pageant. The townspeople, knowing the Herdman clan, brace for a disastrous
play, but in the end they find the true meaning of Christmas. According to her
website biography, Robinson’s book was inspired by her small town community of
Portsmouth, Ohio. Her family and the people in her town, including children,
school teachers and local heroes all helped spurred her imagination for the
story.
Michelle Emmond, who plays Grace Bradley, got to
know her character through reading the book annually to her fourth grade class
at Wilkins School. “There are so many fun and funny lines, and the interactions with the young actors are a hoot!” Emmond went on to describe her character “Mrs. Grace Bradley is a mother, and you get the sense that she helps out in
the community, but not in that leadership way that Helen Armstrong does; she's
more of a behind-the-scenes helper. When the pageant gets foisted upon her, Grace really steps up to the plate. And, even though the Christmas pageant doesn't come together in the way that Grace, or the community, expected, it ends up being better because of her open-mindedness in allowing the Herdmans to have parts, and in allowing for some alternative interpretations within the pageant.” Emmond looks forward to the performances especially since in 2008 the amount of performances was shortened \due to the ice storm.
The rambunctious Herdman clan is made up of six kids
played by students from Amherst and Milford. Eleven year old Ben Erdody who
plays Charlie Bradley says the most exciting thing about playing his character
is that he gets to play a classic kid brother character, “it's really fun to be
that person!” He went on to say that he looks forward to the upcoming play. “I'm
very excited about the show because it's always fun to do Riverbend shows, and
they're always really good. My mom is in this one with me and it's a great
thing to do together!”
Sonya Walcott of Hudson makes her Milford Area Players debut in ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ and couldn’t be more excited for this opportunity. “What I have enjoyed about this experience is being chosen to become part of the cast and having the opportunity to be back on stage.” When describing her character, Walcott says, “My character is part of a group of
ladies that share the same beliefs and are much similar to one another in
character. They think it's scandalous that Grace is allowing the Herdman children to act in the Christmas pageant, and they gossip and share their displeasure about it over the phone.”
Director Robin Lacroix also looks forward to the
performances. “It’s such a sweet show and a joy to work on- it reminds us all of the true meaning of Christmas.”
‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ will be performed
at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts located at 56 Mt Vernon Street in
Milford, NH on December 9-11th. Evening shows will be at 7:30pm and the matinee
is at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8.00 for
students.

Random Thought

While I don't like to dwell on the past too much sometimes I can't help but wonder how things would have been different had I handled everything related to the Barn Playhouse differntly?
By handling it differenly I mean:

• not being too in people's faces with sending emails


• not letting stuff I couldn't control bother me


• not dwell on my falling out with Will Porter bother me so much and just let that roll with the punches.

Looking back over my old livejounal entires ( that did not make the transfer cut to blogger for obvious reasons) the biggest thing I realized was that I obviously did not react to things is relevant situations to issues related to NLBP in the most mature fashion. I certainly do regret those actions but I don't let them drag me down anymore, Not by any means. I have crossed that bridge and am quite happy with everything that is going on! :)

I found that letting the past drag me down has been my biggest issue over the past 3 years. (2007-2010)

A misconception I feel my Barn Playhouse friends may not understand is that I have a learning disabiliy that comes with a tendancy to become obssessed with things. Obsession is by far what led to my issues with moving on from the Barn. I am not sure how many people actually picked up on that but if you did... excellent deductions! I don't let my disability define me and never have. If any resentfulness should exist it would be a great hope of mine that people would be able to put it aside and not let my past mistakes define me.

Which brings me to mention something in the present, My most recent project which is a collaborative effort with my mother Andrew Cass & Toby Tarnow which is bringing her children's books Princess KIM and The That Grew and Princes KIM and Too Much Truth to the stage. We are compiling a database of theatres to promote our play too. Please let me know what theatres you have worked at since leaving the Barn Playhouse.

What language(s) do you speak?

For now just English. I am currently teaching myself Spanish and hope to eventually take some classes/

Ask me anything

Between the Hunger Games, Harry Potter & The Twilight Saga, which is your favorite?

Harry Potter. The books and movies hold my attention and interest much better than Twiight does. The Twilight books are alright but the movies have not appealed to me very much at all. I have no opinons of the Hunger Games as I have not read the bools or seen the movies.

Ask me anything

Do you have a special diet like vegetarian, halal, kosher, gluten-free, etc? How long have you kept it for?

I do not follow a special diet. I most just cut out eating fried foods and drinking soda.

Ask me anything

How did you celebrate your last birthday?

Had my boyfriend and friends over for pizza and played 80s Scene It.

Ask me anything

What's the most exciting thing you've gone planned for this week?

Seeing Puss In Boots :)

Ask me anything

Would you consider yourself as mature?

For the most part yes. There is one situation in the past couple years I feel I did not hande maturely. This is not the proper forum in which to discuss that however.

Ask me anything

So much to say

So my viewing schedule has been very active in the past couple weeks!! :)


On October 23rd I saw And Then There Were None at Milford Area Players. Nothing like a good murder mystery to get one's self in the Halloween spirit. I really found this play to be very interesting and it certainly kept mee guessing. Having read the book before seeing the play I was familiar with the plot before seeing the play. The cast was very diverse and talented. It included a few of my fellow Music Man cast mates so it was really good to see them in a show again. The person who I thought was guilty of committing the murder was Emily Blunt but I was certaimly mistaken! Great job to the cast and crew!! :)

On October 28th I went to a fundraising comcert for the Motivating Miles foundations. The foindaton was founded three years ago by a friend of mine from high school Caleb Ginsberg and his mother Sarah Ramsey after two of their family members were diaganoed with cancer. The concert was organized by fellow SHS thespian Andrea Crocker. I arrived about 2o minutes late because I got of work at8:00 but I was very impressed by the talent I did see. FAvorite musical numbers included For Good from Wicked, You Can't Stop The Beat from Hairspray,I'll Cover You from RENT and If I Never Knew You from Pocahontas. If I Never You was the most moving performance of them all and seemed to have some sort of a weird connection to the anniversary of Tim and Kyle Crisman's death ( The anniversary of thier death was on Thursday)
To learn more about Motivating Miles Foundation visit their website at http://motivatingmiles.org

And finally....

I just arrived home from seeing A Chorus Line at Stagecoach Productions. It was my first time seeing a Stagecoach performance and I was completely blown away by how amazingly talented tthe cast was. Chorus Line is one of my top favorite musicals and I feel the Stagecoach crew did it absolute justice. My favorite number from that show hss always been What I Did For Love and Rachel Curullo who played Diana Morales did an amazing job with that song. I shuld note that Diana Morales has always been one o my dream roles, I have no idea if I will ever ge the opportunity to play it but Rachel is someone who I look up to and so is Bethany Stanzizzi wo played the same role when the Amherst PTA did this show when I was in 8th grade. Another standout number was At The Ballet performed by Shawna Ciampa, Jen Mallard and Mandy Nickerson. I must reitterate everyone in the cast was truly amazing! Congrats to cast crew and director Scott Severance on an amazing show!

Long time no see

Hello Lovely Followers-
Sorry about the lack of updates.. things have been hectic lately. If you pepper in a snowstorm and expected five day power outage you get even more craziness. Here's what I've been up to..

• Princess Kim Making progress. The script is done and it looks great. Stay tuned to the Princess Kim Blog http://princesskimthemusical.blogspot.com for furthur updates. This process is so very exciting for me! I adore this collaboration.
• Stilll working on the case studies for my gay bullying play. I have three at this point and have been actually been stuck at that number for several weeks now. If y ou are gay or know someone who is that wants to be interviewed send their contact info my way. ALL INFORMATION WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL
• Recently downloaded the songs I Believe from The Book Of Morman and Always Look On The Bright Side of Life from Monty Python's Spamalot. SO IN LOVE WITH BOTH SONGS!
• Went to see And Then There Were None at the Amato Center on October 23rd. Review coming soon. Seeing A Chorus Line at StageCoach Productions on Sunday...so excited as this is my favorite show of all time. Can't wait to see what Stagecoach does with it! :)
• I am thinking of taking piano lessons again. For all those who read these entries on facebok do you know of anyone in this area that I could go to for lessons? I went to Harvey's Music in Milford back in high school but I do not know if they are still open.
• PTA Play auditions are coming up after Christmas. I am once again in the process of choosing an audition song. Does anyone know of a good song from Oklahoma that will fit my range so I can start practicing? I am an alto. I am hoping I can work something something out with my work schedule so I can go to the auditions and be part of the show. If not I will help out with publicity.
• Due to the power outage I missed Dancing With The Stars and Glee this week. Expect a massive update next week summarizing both episode. I am actually pissed that David Arquette got voted off this week. Hope Solo was almost as bad of dancer as Chaz Bono was and should have gone home.

That's about all for now. Stay tuned for reviews of And Then Were None and A Chorus Line. These entries will probably be combined together.

Chorus Line Article

AChorus Line will be one singular sensation at Stagecoach Productions

ByJanine Leffler

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind thescenes of a Broadway audition? Audience members will get a taste of the processwhen they see the popular musical A ChorusLine at Stagecoach Productions this November. Cast member Michael Galinson who plays Al says,“This show is not to be missed!”

AChorus Line is directed by Scott Severance. While casting the male roles was a challenge,he is very excited to be working with such a talented cast of actors, many whomhave either won or have been nominated for a NH Theatre Award. In a recentinterview, Severance discussed the differences between community theatre andBroadway theatre, mostly stressing that actors in community theatre are unpaid,and have to balance rehearsal schedules with work and family life. Severancestated that the two most iconic songs in the show are What I Did For Love and TheMusic and The Mirror. He went on to say “What makes What I Did For Love an iconic song is that it really brings thefact that the actors love what they do into perspective.”

Veteran Rachel Cerullo who has previously performedin the ensemble of the play Floyd Collinsand played Muriel in Dirty RottenScoundrels, looks forward to playing the role of Diana Morales and singing the song Nothing. “Many of the songs sung by individual characters in the show arealso featured solo dance number, but Nothingis just me and the song. I love that it's a pure storytelling moment.” She continued by saying that when it came to the characterdevelopment process it had been relatively simple, “A lot of what Scott and I came up with during ourbrainstorming session for Diana, regarding her goals, her attitude abouttheater, life, and family, hits very close to home for me. So anytime I'm stuckor wondering how Diana would react at a certain point in the show, I default to‘What would I do in this situation?’"

Several actors are making their Stagecoach debuts inA Chorus Line and look forward tothe experience of working with a new company. Arielle Kaplan who is playing Connie said in a recent interview, “I amso pleased to be working with such a friendly and talented group. It's alwayshard coming to a new company, and I couldn't be happier to have found this one.I suppose that's the magic of A ChorusLine-- it creates this feeling of camaraderie. We all fail and then we allsucceed as a group. It's amazing.” ScottFoster Allen who is playing Don had similar thoughts and elaborated by saying “Ilove working in new environments and meeting new people. I still cannot believethat I actually got cast!”

When it comes to developing their characterseveryone has a different method. MandyNickerson finds her character development process for Bebe to be a simple one,“Bebe has very little confidence in herself, but, in auditioning for show aftershow and continuing to do what she loves, she, in turn, finds herself along theway.” For Nickerson the most enjoyablepart of playing Bebe is all the dancing, “Often, I find myself in shows where I’vewanted there to be more dance and more difficult choreography. I guess I've found my match with this one.”

For developing Connie’s character, Arielle Kaplanruns through all the dance numbers while keeping the end of the show in theback of her mind. “Each time we begin, Connie doesn't know if she's going tomake the cut you see at the top of the show, much less the final eight at theend.” Her the most enjoyable part of playing Connie is that she is one of thehappiest characters on the line, “I likethat she's not so hard and jaded as some of the other characters--it's a nicedeparture from some other roles I've had the chance to perform.”

AChorus Line runs November 4^th-6^that the Janice B Streeter Theatre in Nashua. Evening performances are at 8pm on Friday and Saturday and the matineeperformance is at 2pm on Sunday. Tickets are $18 for adults and $15 forchildren $12 and under. To reservetickets please call the box office at 320-3780.

Published in Telegraph Encore October 28th

Top Rated Show Tunes October 2011

Top Rated Itunes Showtunes

October 2011

*Recently Downloaded

1. Time Warp Rocky Horror Glee Show

2. Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do Glee Cast

*3 I Believe Book Of Morman

4. Live In Living Color Catch Me If You Can

*5 Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life Spamalot

6. The I Love You Song 25th Annual County Spelling Bee

7 Bushel and A Peck Guys And Dolls

8. Maybe This Time Cabaret

Dancing With The Stars Broadway Week Summary

Broadway Week on Dancing With The Stars definitley deserves a more indepth look than just my weekly leader board ratings.

I came home from work around 8:20 so I missed the lead off dance by Rob and Chreyl most all other dances were good with the exception of Hope and Maks (Seasons of Love from RENT and Chaz and Lacey (Phantom of The Opera from Phantom of The Opera). I have not been a fan of Chaz at all all season long though I must admit he has improved a lot since the beginning of the compettion.The only song I didn't recognize was the one that Nancy and Tristian danced to a song which I assumed based on the costumes was from Camelot. Ricki and Derek,JR and Karina and David and Kym all danced the quick step (Ricki and Derek- Luck Be A Lady from Guys and Dolls David & Kym We Go Together from Grease and JR and Karina Hot Honey Rag from Chicago.) Judging from tonight's performances it could really be anyone's game. I loved Kristin Chenoweth's performance as well as the group dance number which was a combination of Hey Big Spender from Sweet Charity and The Money Song from Cabaret. Amazing choregrapher. This was by far my favorite episode of the entire season. Dancing With The Stars certainly has me hooked. I think I may watch this from now on nstead of So You Think You Can Dance.

Week 6 Power Rating

* based on snipit at the end of the show

T1 Ricki and Derek & JR and Karina

3. David and Kym

4. Nancy and Tristian

*5. Rob and Cheryl

T6 Chaz and Lacey & Hope & Makx

The Making of The GeoPirates

Behind the scenes of the making of The GeoPirates. an educational television program featuring some of my theatre friends.


Check out their website! http://thegeopirates.com

Back To The 80s

A Livejournal writer's block question from last week asked Who Is Your Favorite 80s movie star? I have quite a few. I was born in 1985 but I still have a strong familarity with 80s movies.

~Rick Moranis- I was a huge fan of Honey I Shrunk The Kids and recently fell in love with Little Shop of Horrors. Ghostbusters is also really good. On the subject of Little Shop of Horrors does anyone happen to know if Ellen Greene was in any other movies besides Little Shop?

*Patrick Swayze May he rest in peace. I love love love him in Dirty Dancing. I must look into what other movies he was in so I can rent them.

*Emilio Estevez Loved him in the Mighty Ducks. Equally adored him in Breakfast Club. That movie has a fabulous cast! :)

On the same topic it was 80s night on Dancing With The Stars this week. Carson and Anna were eliminated which was not too surprising because I found thier dance to Wake Me Up Befroe You Go-Go very underwhelming. Rikki and Derek were at the top my rankings this week all by themselves for once.

1. Rikki and Derek

T2 JR &Karina/Rob and Cheryl

4. Nancy and Tristian

5. David and Kim

6 Lacey and Chaz

7 Hope and Max

8 Carson and Anna

Next week is Broadway Week SO PUMPED! Can't wait to see which songs they will dance to.

Dancing With The Stars Power Ratings Week 4

Dancing With The Stars Power Ratings Week 4

Theme  Movie Scores

Who was eliminated:  Chynna and Tony  Mission  Impossible  I didn't quite care for this number very much at all.

T1.  JR and Karina/Hope and Max

Songs : Pink Panther/You've Got A Friend In Me Toy Story

T3  Carson and Anna/ Rikki and Derek

Songs  Pirates of The Carribean/Physcho

T6. Nancy and Tristan/ David and  Kym Raiders of Lost Ark

8. Rob and Cheryl Spiderman

9 Chynna and Tony /Chaz and Lacey Mission Impossible/Rocky



Murder and Mayhem to Shake Up Amato Center Stage

Help solve the mystery of

And Then There Were None

By Janine Leffler

Murder, mystery and mayhem will be unleashed on the Amato Center stage this October as Milford Area Players performs their fall production of the Agatha Christie mystery And Then There Were None, the novel on which the board game Clue is loosely based.

Conrad Koch makes his Milford Area Players debut as General John Gordon McKenzie.  He is impressed by how quickly the process of the show is progressing, “I am amazed how well the show matures. Several of the actors, after only three or four rehearsals, are "off book" making no mistakes as they recite their lines. I am impressed with the quality and the progress of our production. “  When asked about character development, Koch went on to say, “Although I am the correct age, with my being, arguably, of sound mind and able body, it is difficult for me to "get into his head".  I am looking forward to receiving critique from our director, Tom Partridge, and other cast members in order to play the part more convincingly.”

This is Kevin Linkroum’s first straight play, in which he plays the role of Captain Lombard. In the past he has mostly done musicals and did not have a lot of lines to memorize so at first he found memorizing his lines difficult. To overcome this challenge and make it less daunting he practices his lines on the train to and from his job in Boston and also practices blocking outside rehearsal with his wife Sophie who is also in the cast, playing Miss Vera Claythorne.  For Linkroum the most enjoyable part about the rehearsal process has been “interacting with the cast.  It's a great group and everyone is talented and a lot of fun.  I think we manage to get just the right balance of laughs and seriousness.”

Director Tom Partridge is excited about the performances and says it will be an enjoyable night out for local theatre goers.  “The story is one of the best known and most read Agatha Christie mysteries. I am sure anyone who has read the book will remember it; however I feel it is our job to make them wonder if they remember correctly. I am looking forward to getting on the stage and working with props and a full set complete with sound and lights.”

And Then There Were  None  will be performed at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts located at 56 Mount Vernon Street October 14^th-23rd. Performances will be at 8pm on Fridays  and Saturdays and 2pm on Sundays Tickets are $12 for Adults and $8.00 for students and seniors.

Fall Movie Ratings

Fall 2011 Movie Ratings

^previously viewed * home viewing ** theatre viewing

**Contagin C+

*^Bye Bye Birdie B (1960 version, 1995 remake with Chynna Phillips,Mark Kudish, Jason Alexander &Vanessa Williams gets the same rating)

^* Finding Neverland B-

Sherlock Holmes B

^* Little Miss Sunshine B

**Moneyball A-

^*Doing Time For Patsy Cline C- The first time I watched this I liked it.. this time around not so much. I am not really sure what changed.

^*10 Things I Hate About You A-

*I Love You Man D

**Footloose ( 2011 remake,I plan on renting the original version sometime in the near future) A-

* The Departed A-

Fire At Weathervane Theatre Investigated - New Hampshire News Story - WMUR New Hampshire

Fire At Weathervane Theatre Investigated - New Hampshire News Story - WMUR New Hampshire

This is such a shame. :( Hopefully they are able to get new props by the summer.

Going to the chapel

Congrats to my fellow thespians who are tying the knot in the next couple weeks or whom have already done so. Many happy years ahead to all. :)


Joe Paredez and Elise Hinton
Shawna O'Brien and Craig Ciampa
Ashley Hughes and Curtis Swanson

AMAZING!!!

Got in from the Milford Pumpkin Festival Talent Show about an hour ago. This area is full of so much talent I was impressed wth everyone and found choosing an audience favorite to be EXTREMELY difficult.

Here were my top 5

*Winner **Runner Up

1. Emily Getchell Lacey and Jennifer Erdody Duet Defying Gravity from Wicked For Good and Defying Gravity are my two favorite songs from Wicked. Emily and Mrs. Erdody did an awesome job with it!

*2 Caroline Burns - This 11 year old from Hollis was amazing. She sang Rolling In The Deep by Adele and did a stellar rendition of it. She won Audience Favorite and 1st place! :)

**3. Conrad Koch He is in the upcoming Milford Area performance of And Then There Were None in a few weeks which I am stoked to see. He did amazing with his rendition of Bring Him Home From Les Miserables. He won runner up and was my pick for Audience Favorite
4. Style Flo   This hip hop duo consisted of  fellow SHS  thespian Juan Guzman and his friend from college ZacMartin.  For someone who is typically not a huge hip hop fan  I actually really enjoyed them a lot.\
5.  Andrea Sarsin, Jenn Brisbeios and  Rachel White.   I really enjoyed this dance routine.  I thought the chreography was very well done and that the dance was very emotional. 






I am considering possibly auditioning for the talent show next year but  it will honestly depend on my work schedule.   That makes auditionng kind of hard for me  but  I will get to a point where I can get more flexible hours....still pretty new to the job so I can't really ask for a whole lot of time off at this point. I take things in stride though.   I also need to work on my confidence when it comes to my singing so  perhaps until  I take voice lessons  I will be better off for the audition.  I may wait to audition for the talent show until 2014 after I am less  busy with Princess KIM that actually has to be my main focus  at this point besides my job at the Y.

Asian F break down

Season 3 Episode 3 of Glee was definitley one of the best YET!!

The number one thing I loved was how this episode was not so hyper focussed on Rachel's character and her being the best. That storyline gets old after awhile and Rachel's character is actually really starting to wear on me to a certain degree. I really liked how Mercedes and Mike Chang;s characters were deeper explored in this episode. I didn;t really know a lot about Mike Chang's character before this episode and I LOVED how the deeper essence of his character was brought out. Harry Shum Jr is AN AMAZING dancer
Merecedes, on the other hand is a totally different story. I think Amber Riely is an amazing actress and a talented singer but in all honesty I found Mercedes to be a bit annoying this episode. I understand her whole compettion thing with Rachel but that storyline wears on my after awhile as well. I didn't like her attitude at all about how she was late to rehearsal to Botty Camp. Mr. Shue had every right to throw her out of Glee Club. She wasn't putting her amount of effort in. She was also totally ungrateful to the fact that she was double casr as Maria. I understand her resentment toward Rachel because she does tend to get a lot of the solos... seriously though I wouldn't pass up the chance to be double cast as Maria.

One thing I love about this season is Rachel and Kurt's friendship. I think they have great chemsitry together and am so glad they get along. It seemed to me in past seasons that sometimes there was a constat battle between him and Rachel for the solos...same thing with Mercedes. I think that Rachel's deciscion to run for Senior Class President was one made in haste and she should recosider that becuase the outcome of the election could certainlty have an adverse effect on their friendship.

KURT AND BLAINE ARE SO CUTE!! I can't stress that enough. The scene between them when Kurt gave the flowers to Blaine congratulatig him about his audition for Tony was awesome.

So happy that Will and Emma are finally together. The scene with Emma's parents was a little strange. I did not really care for either of their characters much. The musical number Fix You at the end was such a sweet song and I think it captures how Will feels about Emma very well.


Rating of Musical Numbers
Fix You B
Cool A-
Out Here On My Own B
It's All Over B+

Dancing With The Stars Power Ratings Week 3

Dancing With The Stars Power Ratings

Oct 4 2011

T1 JR and Karina & Ricki and Derek

3. Chynna and Tony

4. Carson and Anna

T5. Rob and Cheryl & Nancy & Tristian

7 Hope & Max

8. Kristin and Mark

9. David& Kim

10 Chaz and Lacey

Little Shop + Glee= Fab Combo

So as most followers of this blog should know by now I am huge fan of both Little Shop of Horrors and Glee. With Halloween quickly approaching i am interested to see what they will choose to do their Halloween episode about this year. I thought they did fabulous renditions of the songs from Rocky Horror Picture Show last year. I am crossing my fingers that they do Little Shop of Horrors for their Halloween show this year. So much great music in that show and I can so see the cast members doing well with Suddenly Seymour and Skid Row (Downtown) We will see what happens.

On the subject of Glee, so far season 3 is already off to an impressive start I still haven't watched the premiere episode in its entirity yet but I was blown away by last week's episode I am Unicorn. I esepcially liked Lea Michele's and Idina Menzel's performance of Somewhere from West Side Story. I am so excited Idina is back this season. I hope the writers really develop Rachel and Shelly's relationship. In all honesty I wish there had been a bit more build up to certain things. A) Sam and Lauren leaving B) Blaine transferring to McKinley and C) Shelby's reintro. I am also left wondering what will happen to April Rhodes (played by Kristin Chenoweth) and Jesse St James (played by Jonathan Groff) since they will be having less guest stars on the show this season I would like to see them come back as permanaent characters. I am happy Finn and Rachel are back together and hope that Will and Emma FINALLY start relationship. I have been waiting two seasons for this.

This week's episode Asian F looks great. I am excited that Mercedes and Mike Chang will be getting screen time in this episode.

Dancing With The Stars Power Rankings Week 2

Much like WMUR does power ratings for High School Football I shall do power rankings for Dancing With The Stars.


T 1 Chynna and Tony /JR and Karina
3 Ricki and Derek
4. Nancy and Tristian
5 Carson and Anna

Go Ahead Make My Day

Today I went to see I Love You You're Perfect Now Change at the Palace Theatre In Manchester. The best thing about it now that my boyfriend and I got our seats upgraded to on stage seating. What a great perk!! I saw this show when I was 12 at the Arundel Barn Playhouse and at that time I didn't really have a deep appreciation for it because the show is about dating and relationships and at that time I wasn't dating. I have deeper appreciation for this show because I have been in a relationship for three years. I loved the show and couldn't stop laughing throughout. My favorite songs were definitley Marriage Tango and I Will Be Loved Tonight but every song in the show was easily loveable.

I will definitley be seeing more shows at the Palace Theatre in the future :)

Mother Not Yet Indicted In Camden Hughes' Death - New Hampshire News Story - WMUR New Hampshire

Mother Not Yet Indicted In Camden Hughes' Death - New Hampshire News Story - WMUR New Hampshire

This is so sad. I hope Julianne McCreey rots in hell.




Just realized I posted this to Theatre Is My Life and not Life As We Know It. Oh well. Sometimes it's good to have a little non-theatre related news in this blog

YAY for seeing I Love You You're Perfect Now Change at the Palace Theatre tomorrow!

Top Rated Itunes Songs Week of Sept 24th

Top Rated Itunes Songs Week of September 24th

*= recently downloaded

*1. Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do Glee Cast
2. You Can't Stop The Beat ( Original Broadway Hairspray Cast ans *Glee Cast Version)
*3. Spooky Morman Hell Dream The Book of Morman
4. Chasing Butterflies Gay Bride of Frakenstien
*5 Live In Living Color Catch Me If You Can
6. Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Elton John
7. Don't Stop Beleiving Glee Cast
8. Razzle Dazzle Chicago
*9 Rave On Buddy Holly
10 Bushel and A Peck Guys and Dolls

Premeire Week

This week the fall TV season started. Can't help but say I'm excited

Dancing With The Stars: Honestly since this show started I've most gravitated toward So You Think You Can Dance but this adds more variety to my TV watching schedule. I am rooting for Chynna Phillips and JR Martinez. This show will be competing with The Sing Off since they are on at the same time.

Glee: Missed the first half hour of the season premeire but was impressed by what I saw. I think Lindsey from The Glee Project had an amazing debut and hope to see more of her. Loved You Can't Stop The Beat and Anything Goes/Anything You Can Do Mash up. Very excited about what this new season will hold... and what the future will hurt for Kurt Rachel and Finn once hey graduate.

New Girl Didn't become a fan of Zooey Deschanel until last year when my sister and I watched 500 Days of Summer. I think she has become one of my favorite actresseses. This show is hillarious! A must watch!

Raising Hope: This show continues to be hysterical nothing to complain about!

Modern Family Another show that continues to be hysterical! :)

Broadway Secret of The Week

I  couldn't agree with this poster   more.     Does summer stock count as regional or commuity staging? Since the Barn  Playhouse production during the  summer I worked  there was the first time  I had seen that show staged I must say tyhat   my fellow interns did a good job with it.   I have not seen it since then which why I am excited that   Interlakes Summer Theatre is doing it next season.  I also  secretly wish that Souhegan will pick Little Shop for their spring musical.. I think it would be awesome if they did it.

I really  wish this show would be on Broadway.  I would pay good money to go to New York to go see it.    :)

Reviewing The Situation

So I have been thinking of auditioning for Interlakes Summer Theatre's summer season next summer. Of course the auditions aren't til the winter so I have a long time to prepare. The thing that actually makes me pretty nervous about potentially auditioning for STMV is I've seen the shows over the past four years so I can obviously tell what Nancy looks for in perfomers....and naturally lots of my friends from the Barn Playhouse have been cast in the shows so I'm kind of comparing myself to them (though I really know I shouldn't because that's dumb) I know that I don't have half the talent they have because they studied musical theatre in college. My acting resume is very limited but the reason why I'm going to audition to begin with is to hopefully gain more skills on stage... as much as I like working backstage I do need variety.


Of course I never gone to Straw Hat auditons before so I don't even know what to expect... that's what makes it the most exciting. Hopefully my friends who have done them before will be able to give me some good tips.



Update 9=10-11    I am thinking long and hard about auditioning for IST and honestly I am not too sure how  qualified  I even am for the audition. When I look at  the people who have worked for Nancy they have exetnsive resumes and have been in a lot of shows.  I have very limited acting experience  and  when  I match myself up against them I feel inferior. I mean  I would mostly do the audition for the experience because I obviously know what Nancy looks for in actors. I haven't definitley made a decision yet and won't make one until January but  I'm leaning toward sticking  to going to more local auditions so I can build up my resume and maybe take some voice lessons so  I can feel more confident about my singing.

Broadway Secret of The Week

Broadwaysecrets has been pretty dead and uniteresting in the past couple weeks but this secret caught my eye. I am very sad I didn't get to see Catch Me If You Can. I was actually really suprised it closed so early. I was really hoping it would last longer than it did. I was really hoping to see Jay perform but naturally with a tight budget I won't be able to . There's always the next show ...and also seeing Nic in Book of Morman. However with the fact that they are understudies it is kind of difficult to tell when they will be performing.




Happy belated birthday to Jay Johnson (9/1) and Maggie Politi (yesterday)

Sweeney Todd Preview Article

School Edition of Sweeney Todd to be performed at Amato Center

By Janine Leffler

The dark Stephen Sondheim thriller Sweeney Todd School Edition will take to the Riverbend Youth Company Stage this September. Be prepared for something that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Sweeney Todd School Edition is directed by Souhegan High School senior Haley Brannelly.

Meghan Bedard, a 16 year old junior at Souhegan High School in Amherst is a huge fan of Sweeney Todd. “I've always been enthralled by its dark humor and morbid ending. The music is fantastic and there are so many emotions in all of the characters. It’s really challenging, but so much fun and I know it will be so rewarding.” Bedard looks forward to the audience’s reaction to the show and says that the audience response is the best part of live theatre.

Brad Odhner, also a junior at Souhegan, is energized to play the role of Judge Turpin because of the sheer horridness of the role. “ Judge Turpin is just an awful person.” When it comes to character development his strategy is to review his lines numerous times in rehearsal as well as see how the character interacts with the other characters in the scene. He enjoys the process of working on the summer shows at the Amato because it allows him to work with actors from other schools he does not see frequently during the year.

Kayla Bullwinkel, a 14 year old freshmen at Milford High School is thrilled to be playing Mrs. Lovett. “I am really looking forward to playing my first real lead in a show as big as this one. I have been performing for about six years now so it will be very exciting to put everything I have learned into action for this role.” Bullwinkel continued by saying “Mrs. Lovett is easily the most interesting character I've ever played. Audiences really love her which I find incredibly interesting because, while she comes off as very maternal and caring, she is still aiding a murderer and baking humans into pies. She is a sociopath and, what I think stands out to me most are that, she really doesn't realize that what she's doing is wrong. While most people would be horrified at the ideas that she comes up with, her condition causes her to find a personal justification in that entire she does. She has been very interesting to develop as a character.” Bullwinkel looks forward to bring a new genre of show to audiences and hopes it shows them the versatility of Riverbend Youth Company’s performers.

Sweeney Todd School Edition will be performed at The Amato Center for The Performing Arts at 56 Mont Vernon Street in Milford September 15-17^th. Evening shows are at 7:30pm and matinees are at 2:00pm. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.

Invoice will follow shortly. Please confirm that you received this article and the article and invoice for The Producers.

Video Clip of The Day- I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change - Marriage Tango

Loking very foward to seeing this show at the Palace Theater on Sept 25th :)

NEW TOP RATED SHOWTUNES LIST

Finally got my new laptop and reinstalled Itunes. Here is my new and improved list of top rated showtunes


*= recently downloaded

1. Greased Lightning Grease
2. Don't Rain On My Parade Glee Soundtrack
3. You Can't Stop The Beat Hairspray
*4. Chasing Butterflies Gay Bride of Frakenstien
*5 Bushel and A Peck Guys and Dolls
6. Out Tonight RENT
7. So Long Farewell Sound Of Music
8.. December 1963 Oh What A Night Jersey Boys
9 We Need A Little Christmas Glee Christmas Album
10. I'm Not That Smart 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ( I was so excited to see that this was in my previously downloaded music list so I didn't have to pay $1.29 for it)

Julie Atherton - There's A Fine Fine Line [Avenue Q]

This is my favorite song from Avenue Q.

And Irene passes over

Summer has flown by. IT is amazing to believe that is almost September. As readers know this summer I have been doing freelance work for Interlakes Summer Theatre. The seasonn wrapped up last week with Buddy The Buddy Holly Story and I must say it was an amazing show to end the season on. Congrats to the IST crew on an amazing season looking so foward to next summer's season as always.

Now that summer is over we look toward the fall. In September I am going to see I Love You You're Perfect Now Change at the Palace Theatre. The last time I saw that show was at Arundel Barn Playhouse in 2003 or 2004. I loved i and can't wat to see it again! :O) I plan to continue my ongoing going of introducing myself to a new theatre... next on my list is Community Players of Concord NH where I hope to go see one of their holiday productions in December. As for other shows it will largely depend on budget. I am looking really foward to seeing the national tour of Beauty and The Beast in the spring. That is my absoulutely favorite musical and it was the first broadway musical I ever saw so I look even more foward to seeing thr touring production. :)

Princess KIM is going very well. With each meeting that we have I get more and more excited about the process of this production. It's such a great process! :) Follow our production's progress http://princesskimthemusical,blogspot.com

Summer Birthdays

Happy birthday to my fellow thespians who have birthdays in the summer, Hope all of your days were lovely! :)

June

2nd. Brandon Santoro

9th Louie Napoleone and Sean Anderson

21st Will Porter

July

16th Caroline Massageee, Jon Weinstien, Eric Duechesne, Nate Atkinson

23rd Bobby Matoney

August

22nd Matt Forbes

23rd Christina Giordano

September

1st Jay Johnson

4th Maggie Politi

Really bad about keeping up with these birthday shoutouts in this blog. If I missed you I'm sure I sent you a message on the actual day on facebook. :) Hope all my NYC friends survived Hurricane Irene alright this weekend.

???

As luck or irony would have it two shows that I have dream roles in are on the docket for Summer Theatre In Meredith Village's season next year. *Annie and Little Shop of Horrors. Granted I have no idea how busy my life is going to be or if I will nail the Okalahoma audition in January. (That's the 2012 PTA PLAY very excited) I know I probably have a very slim chance of getting cast in the dream roles (Grace Farrell and Ronette) but I would do the audition just for the experience and just hope for an ensemble part.

The good thing is that if I do decide to audition I already have the sheet music so I am all set in that respect. :)

Please note: This is only a possible option. My plans could change by February depending on what other opportunities arise in this area and also if I get into the PTA Play. I also have to keep my job at the Y in mind as well.

Summer Movies

This summer is a great summer for movies! Budget is an issue though so I may have to wait to see most of them until the come out on DVD. Harry Potter willl be the only exception. I don't think there's any way I can wait until they release it on DVD. Part I was a real cliffhanger I an excited about Part 2
If in bold it means I saw it.. ratings are below.
1. Bad Teacher
2. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part II
3. Glee LIVE! (won't be able to see the concert at Fenway so this is the next best thing)
4. The Smurfs
5. The Help (This book will have to be added to my already growing summer reading list. My mom read it in her book group and said it was really good.)
6. Larry Crowne
7. Monte Carlo (Cory Monteith is my main reason for wanting to see this. Finm is my favorite guy character on Glee.)
8 Friends With Benefits

Summer Movie Ratings

*= Theatre **+Home Viewing






** Remember Me C-











*Green Lantern B-






* Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II A-






*The Smurfs In the range of B- and C+ I don't know what exactly I was expecting out of this movie but I did not leave the theatere feeling incredibly fullfilled. It was good for nostalgic purposes though I can't say I really watched The Smurfs cartoon show when I was younger I was more of a Care Bears kid in all honesty.




*Horrible Bosses B




**Country Strong A




*The Help A


*Crazy Stupid Love B-/C This was way too many love stories all rolled into one which I honeslty found a bit confusing at times. Wasn't impressed with Steve Carell's performance in this movie he is typically a lot funnier.
Letters To Juliet A- Very cute love story. This movie really made me want to go back to Italy...SO BAD!

If Music be the food of love RAVE ON!

Interlakes Summer Theatre wrapped up their fourth season with a stellar revival of audience favorite Buddy The Buddy Holly Story. This show was done in the innagural season but I missed it due to a family vacation so I was excited to hear of the revival. This was a spirited revival with lots of great songs including Everyday,Chantilly Lace,Labamba and Thatll Be The Day. I had to restrain myself from wanting to get up and dance to the many infectious numbers in the show. Nathan Riely, Jason Burrow and Inaki Baldasare as Ritchie Valens.

What a wonderful way to round out an already stellar season of shows. Congrats to the cast on a great performance and an excellent season. :)


Enjoy the above video of my favorite song from the show RAVE ON!

End of an Era and a new beginning for me

The entry that used to be here I realized was lengthy and way too full of whining. That is why I have erased it and decided to start over with a clean slate. It has been 4 years since I left the Barn Playhouse and I am in a much better state of mind then I was when I wrote the original whiney entry.

I don't have anything against anyone who currently works at the Barn Playhouse. I never did, I never will. Looking back I was definitley resentful toward the changes that were happening there. I had trouble accepting that for the LONGEST time. At this point in time I do not understand why I did. What's the past is the past. I can't let the past dictate the future. That's how things felt for me for awhile actually. People in my intern company were frusturated with me... I don't blame them for being as such. I know that friendships are non-withstanding and love is there.:) Despite this I hope people don't start to resent me for the way I acted.

This summer I have been freelancing for Nancy at Summer Theatre In Meredith Village and things have been going splendid. I couldn't be happier actually. This season has been great. It wraps up this week with Buddy The Buddy Holly Story which I am super excited for since I missed it the first time they did it because I was out of the country. It should be a great show. The great thing about STMV is that I've been able to reconnect with the people I worked with at the Barn and catch up on how they are doing and they have been up to. I actually look forward to see who from my intern company Nancy will cast. It's always great to see them again, :) Up to this point Nancy has cast John Baker, Marco Recchoni (did I spell that right?), Brandon Santoro (JI artistic director for three seasons), Lytle Harper, Maggie Politi, Christina Giordano Matt Densky, Jason Burrow Matt Rickard and Colleen Fee. Matt Forbes and Louie Napoleone have also been on the tech staff in past seasons and so have Sam and Jason Burrow. I get to see Jason and Sam on Sunday when I go see Buddy Holly and meet their baby Samuel so excitef for that. :) Next summer the line up includes Singing In The Rain, Annie, West Side Story, Nunsenese and Little Shop of Horrors.. So excited for these shows ESPECIALLY Little Shop of Horrors. :D Little Shop was my favorite show during our season at the Barn Playhouse so I look incredibly forward to seeing what Summer Theatre In Meredith Village (I can't quite get used to calling it Interlakes Summer Theatre) does with it.

The word of the day here is Acceptance! Acceptance of change. Embracing that change. Living in the present and not the past. Acceptance of the fact that people don't forget the good times from that summer... they just move on. Imoved on too.. as loong as it took me I moved on. I am a better person for this change I have experienced. It has really opened my eyes a lot to how I act in certain situations :)


For furthur insight on this issue please see the subsequent entry in my Life As We Know It Blog
http://heyitsj9.blogspot.com

RYC The Producers - Springtime

This is one of my favorite songs from The Producers :)

"Even though we're sitting down we're giving you a standing ovation"

The quote in the subject line is one of many witty lines from the Mel Brooks Comedy The Producers. Once again I saw another amazing performance by the Riverbend Youth Company directed by Tom Partridge, Musical direction by Kim Whitehead and Chreography by Liz Calabria. Tonight was the last show of the Producers. I apologize in advance for having the dates wrong in my Cabinet article in which I said it was ending tomorrow.

I honestly could not stop laughing the whole time! For those not familar with the show the story line is a broadway producer Max Biaylstock (Patrick O'Mara) is looking for produce the next big Broadway flop. He meets a jittery accountant Leo Bloom (Joey Abis) and they become business partners with the goal to produce a show that is sure to get negative press. The decide on the show Springtime for Hitler and get permission from Franz Leibkind (Patrick McKnight) to direct the show. They then get Roger Debris (Patrick Quinn) to direct the show and from there hillarity ensues. I don't want to spoil the ending in case there are people who read this blog who have never seen the show or the movie. Standout musical numbers include I Want To Be A Producer, Keep It Gay and Springtime For Hitler!

This is the first time Riverbend Yourh Company has every done a summer show and what a great show to start such a wonderful new tradition with. Congrats to the cast crew and production team on a FABULOUS performance. Good luck to all the incoming college freshmen on your post Riverbend endeavors!

Seaon 8 So You Think You Can Dance Finale

So You Think You Can Dance Finale Summary

8/11/11

Each contestant danced with eachother,one all star and a solo.

Marko

Dance 1 w/ All Star Lauren 19 Beautiful

Dance 2 w. Melanine Disco Very fun and high energy 10

Dance 3 w. Sasha Brodaway What Ever Lola Wants From Damn Yankees 10

Dance 4 w Tadd Gumboot 8

Solo 9

Total

Tadd

Dance 1 Hip Hop w All Star Joshua 9

Dance 2 w Sasha Cha-cha 6.5

Dance 3 w Melaine Jazz 10

Dance 4 Marko Gumboot 8

Solo 8

Total 40

Melanie (My predicted winner)

Dance 1 w All Star Robert Contemporary 10

Dance 2 w/ Sasha Contemporay 10

Dance 3 Jazz W Tadd Jazz 10

Dance 4 Disco w Marko Disco 10

Solo 10

Total 50

Sasha * missed because I was in a meeting and turned on the show late. Rating based upon snippit I saw when the showed the phone #s.

*Dance 1 Jazz w Allstar Mark 9

Dance 2 Comtemp w Melanie Loved the concept for this dance. It was absoluteley beautiful 10

Dance 3 Broadway w Tadd 8 She was the stronger of the pair. She does well with whatever genre she is given. 10

Dance 4 wMarko Broadway Whatever Lola Wants from Damn Yankees 10

Solo 10

Total 49

Results

4th

Tadd

3rd

Marko

2nd

Sasha

WINNER

Melanie

Judy Garland & Liza Minnelli...Don't Rain On My Parade 'Live' 1964

2 words EPIC WIN!

Third time's a charm for Cabaret

Just got back from seeing Cabaret at Interlakes Summer Theatre. As per natural the show was amazing. This is third time I have seen Cabaret. The first was in high school my junior year ( looking back on that it was bit riskee for high school) and the second time four years ago at NLBP. I tried to make a comparison/ contrast between the performance four years ago and this one but I found it hard to do because both groups of people performing were amazingly talented. If you wish you can scrol l down a few entries to video clip I posted from the Cabaret rehearsal from the Barn. Sadly I must admit that that video was not of very good quality.





Anyway on to tonight's performance.. which again was stellar. Cabaret was directed and chreographed by Brain Feehan (who I saw tonight at the show. It was fabulous to see him again! :) ) and runs through August 14th.





I would classify this musical as somewhat dark mostly because it is set during the rise of the Third Reich. I have noticed a common trend in the shows this summer that in one way or another they seem to be love stories. This time around the two central couples are Clifford Bradshaw and Sally Bowles (Dara Hartman and Sean Pack) and Fraulein Schinder and Herr Schultz ( Sue Boland and Todd Allan Little) The play is set in 1930s Berlin wheere Cliff meets Sally at the Kit Kat Club where she works. Pack and Hartman were spot on with their portrayls of these leads. (Much like their Barn Playhouse counterparts Nic Rouleau and Caroline Massagee -please see video of Perfectly Marvelous a few entries down). Another stand out was Matt Rickard as the EMCEE. While the setting of this musical is some what dark some of the songs are lighthearted such as Perfectly Marvelous, It Couldn't Please Me More and Married. Hartman did outstanding renditions of Maybe This Time and


Cabaret.


This is certainly not to be missed.


Side NOTE 1 : I get confused generally speaking because there seem to be two versions of Cabaret. I noticed a few songs that were in the version we did at the Barn (Meeskite and Why Should I Wake Up?) which were not in the version I saw tonight and Maybe This Time was not in the version we did at the Barn. Can someone explain why certain songs are not in one version of the play?





Side Note 2 : Next Year's Season has been announced!


Nunsense


Annie


Singing In The Rain
West Side Story


LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS!! YAY!!! I am so excited for this.

Buddy Holly sure to be a rockin' revival

Buddy Holly Story sure to be a rockin’ revival
By Janine Leffler



To round out the summer 2011 season Interlakes Summer Theatre will bring back popular audience favorite Buddy The Buddy Holly Story, a musical revue based around the songs of Buddy Holly. Nathan Riley will be reprising his role as Buddy Holly and Jason Burrow will be reprising his role as The Big Bopper.

Burrow appeared in Buddy Holly Story and Lend Me a Tenor in the 2008 season and also served as musical director for Buddy Holly, Anything Goes, Always Patsy Cline and Carousel and vocal coach for Lend Me a Tenor. He looks forward to returning to Meredith to reprise his role as The Big Bopper in Buddy Holly. “I was so pleased to come with her in 2008 for her first summer at the Summer Theatre and I'm even more excited about coming back to do this show again on her stage.” Burrow looks forward to working with director Brian Feehan and Nathan Riely again. “Brian is such a brilliant director and it's always a pleasure to build a show with him. Nathan is so talented and his Buddy is spot on.” He is excited about singing Chantilly Lane again because it is such an iconic tune.

Riley reflects on his first experience with doing Buddy Holly Story four years ago “The experience was heightened by the fact that Nancy was able to bring in so many talented and versatile actor/musicians to back me up and actually make me look better than I actually am. Brian Feehan's sharp fast pace direction of the piece was also an amazing addition to the whole experience.” He continued by saying “Coming back to reprise the production is going to be a joy ride. I already know the songs so I can leave that stress behind me and really dig in deep to the heart of the character and hopefully bring this musical legend back to life for a week in August.”



Buddy The Buddy Holly Story returns for one week only August 16-21st at Interlakes Summer Theatre located at 1 Laker Lane in Meredith. Show times are at 7:30pm Tuesday-Saturday, 2pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays and 7pm on Sundays. Popular hits such as Peggy Sue and Labamba will have audience members singing and dancing in the aisles. This show is not to be missed!

So You Think You Can Dance Top 6

Due to vacation I missed 2 weeks of So You Think You Can Dance. So here we are at top 6. ONE WEEK remains til the finale


Who remains


Caitlynn


Dance 1: Samba w Pasha Very energetic and fun to watch 9


Dance 2 See Marko's comments below 9


Solo Rating 7


Rating 25


Melaine


Dance 1 w/ all star Twitch I've seen better Nappy Tabs performances but very interesting concept. Rating 7.5


Dance 2 Broadwayt w Tadd Spencer Liff is slowly becoming one of my favorite choreographers. Tadd and Melaine were very well matched and thiss piece was beautiful! 10


Solo 10


Total 27.5


Sasha


Dance 1 w/ all star Kurt Very poweful and emotional Rating 10


Dance 2 w. Ricky New Genre! Waki. Very cool dance! Rating 9


Solo 10


Total 29


Marko


Dance 1 Samba w/ All Star Jeannette Intense and powerful 9


Dance 2 w Caitlynn Lyrical Jazz Very intense but not one of my favorite dances. Rating 8


Solo 7


Total 24


Ricky


Dance 1 Contemp w/ All Star Jamie rating 10


Dance 2 See comments for Sasha above


Solo 8


Tadd


Dance I Contemp w/All Star Ellenore Very intense but didn't care for the dance. Rating 7.5


Dance 2 See Melaine's comment above Rating 10


Solo 9


Total 23.5








Top Dancers Melaine and Sasha


Middle Tier Dancers Marrko and Ricky


Bottom Tier Dancers Tadd and Caitlynn

The Producers to bring hillarity to the Amato

Mel Brooks Comedy, The Producers will delight Amato Center audiences
By Janine Leffler


Get ready to laugh out loud as the Riverbend Youth Company performs the Mel Brooks musical comedy The Producers. The show will feature Patrick O’Mara as Max Bialystock, Joey Abis as Leo Bloom, Patrick McKnight as Franz Leibkind and Andi Aiken as Ulla.

Joey Abis, an incoming sophomore at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, has enjoyed the experience of working on a summer show at the Amato Center, “ I haven't done a show with Riverbend in about 4 years, and back then they were just getting started so I guess you could say things are quite different now. Riverbend has developed a name for themselves in the community. This is also the first lead I have had with Riverbend and it has really been a blast! Being able to work with so many talented people on stage has led to a great summer!” To get into character Abis has studied a documentary of the original movie version of The Producers in which Gene Wilder plays Leo. This has helped Abis make observations of his character’s mannerisms.

Andi Aiken, a senior at Souhegan High School, plays Ulla and says the thing that stands out most to her about this show is the constant humor. “Most shows have predictably one or two “funny” characters. Almost every role in The Producers delivers comical or witty lines throughout.” For Aiken the best part of playing Ulla has been the accent. “The role of Ulla required learning a Swedish accent, which was actually very fun and makes the part even more enjoyable.”

Meghan Bedard, a junior at Souhegan High School, is in the ensemble as an old lady/pretzel girl and looks forward to the production. When asked about what she looks forward to about doing summer shows at the Amato Center she said, “I love doing summer shows because you don't have to worry about the pressure of school, you can focus a lot more on the show. These summer productions in particular, are more mature themes, something new to Riverbend. It’s fantastic to be able to try new things and different genres of theater.” She went on to say, “The old ladies are hilarious and very inappropriate. It’s so much fun!”

Get ready for a high-energy show that will have you in hysterics! The Producers will be performed at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts in Milford August 12-14th. Evening performances are at 7:30 pm and matinee performances are at 2:00pm. Tickets are $12.00 for adults and $8.00 for students and seniors.

Broadwaysecrets of the Week

#1 Yes!! Love Darren Criss will certainly miss seeing him on Glee once he leaves for BWay though. He's AMAZING and so cute!

#2 This crosses the line in so many ways.

#3 Ingenious cross referencing of RENT and Company

1960s Baltimore comes to Life in Meredith

I should note that Hairspray is in my top list of favorite musicals so when I found out that Summer Theatre in Meredith Village was doing it this summer I was thrilled. I saw the national tour of Hairspray in Boston my senior year in high school and fell in love with the music. Hairspray runs through July 31st and was directed and chreographed by Brian Feehan.









Hairspray is set in 1960s Balitmore during the times when segregation was a hot issue The lead character Tracy Turnblad *Catherine Gallagher has dreams of being a star. Her dream comes true when she gets on the popular tv show The Corny Collins Show. Once on the show her main goal is to intergrate it so she can dance alongside Seawead (Koashine Dupont) Tracy falls in love with Link Larkin ( Corey Campercholi) who in the beginning has eye set on Amber Von Tussle (Macaela Sears) but then falls in love with Tracy. Seawead falls for Tracy's best friend Penny (Caitlin Thurnaeiur). I honestly had to resist the temptaton do get up and danc during such infectious numbers as You Can't Stop The Beat and Nicest Kids In Town. Other notable musical numbers included It Takes Two, You're Timeless To Me, Run and Tell That and Welcome To The 60s. I Know Where I've Been truly brought down the house.

Congrats to the cast and crew on an amazing performance. It was the highlight of the week for my realitives who were visiting from Italy.


Don't miss out on Cabaret (August 2nd-14th) and Buddy The Buddy Holly Story (August 16-21st) Another event not to be missed is the performance of Gypsy to benefit the non-profit entitly of Interlakes Summer Theatre on Monday August 8th!

Crazy Busy

So these next couple weeks will be incredibly busy for me theatre viewing wise between movies and plays. Look forward to all of it. MY cousin from Italy and her husband are visiting us this week so we are going up to Newfound Lake for a few days and taking them to Interlakes Summer Theatre to see Hairspray on Thursday. I am ao excited about seeing that show again. I saw the national tour in Boston my senior year in high school on a school field trip and absolutely loved it. I wonder if that club is still active at Souhegan.. Arts and Culture Club I beleive it was called. August 5th I am seeing Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part II with Julie. I am excited but also very sad. I have been the biggest Harry Potter freak since the books forst came out when I was in high school (my friends and I actually started our own unofficial Harry Potter fan club.) I read all the books religiuously but admit to lagging a bit behind on the movies.. spent the first few weeks of summer catching up.. There will be part of heart empty once I leave the theatre that day. I have an itching to see How To Succeed In Business Withoit Even Trying on Broadway simply BECAUSE Daniel Radcliffe in it. August 7th I will be going to see Cabaret at Interlakes Summer Theatre. Cabaret is not one of my favorite musicaks of all time but it is pretty up there. This will be my third tome seeing it First two times were in high school and at the Barn Playhouse when I interned there four years ago. It will be interesting to see how the Interlakes Theatre Company will take on this production. August 13th I will be taking my mom to see The Producers at The Amato Center for her birthday. I have seen the movie and saw the play on Broadway in 2003 and can't wait to see Riverbend's production.. they always do such a great job. :) August 19th I will be sseeing The Smurf's for Julie's birthday. Needless to say I was more of a Care Bears kid growing up but I am excited about this movie. On August 21st Interlakes Summer Theatre wraps up their season with Buddy Holly Story. I am especially excited about seeing did because when they did it the first time around I missed it because I was in Italy on vacation. It should be a great show.,

Life is a Cabaret in Meredith

Come To The Cabaret In Meredith
By Janine Leffler

The Kander and Ebb classic Cabaret will hit the Interlakes Summer Theatre Stage this August. This musical is set in 1930’s Berlin during the rise of the Third Reich. In the play, an American writer, Clifford Bradshaw, travels to Berlin to write a novel. It is there that he meets and eventually falls in love with, Sally Bowles, a British cabaret singer at the seedy Kit Kat Club. This show is a wonderful mixture of powerful songs and entertaining dance numbers.

The role of Sally Bowles will be played by Dara Hartman. In terms of developing her character, Hartman finds research important. She has been reading Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories for the past month, gaining insight into her character, Sally Bowels. What stands out to Hartman about the character is, “Her air of not caring what people think, her attempts to shock and stimulate. It's going to be a lot of fun!” She looks most forward to singing the finale song Cabaret, which she says, “… is at an integral point of the character's emotional journey.”
Sue Boland makes her Interlakes Theatre debut as Fraulein Schneider, the owner of the boarding house where Clifford Bradshaw stays. She looks forward to playing this role. “I’ve been lucky enough to see several fine actresses tackle the role in both the original and revised version, but I’ve always wanted to see more realism, more understanding of what was behind Schneider’s (song) So What!”. When it comes to developing her character Boland explained “I’ve been reading the “Berlin Stories” and have basically learned three different versions of the script. Each version has given a slightly different emphasis to the story, so I’ve been lucky enough to have already been presented with several different sides to Fraulein Schneider.” She continued by saying “I’ve played with numerous ways to get a particular thought across to the audience, thought about how I might look, what age I’ll be, etc and then I try to erase everything and allow my director and the relationships I have with my fellow actors to shape, in this case, the Fraulein Schneider that you will see and get to know better.”
The show will also feature Matthew Rickard as the Emcee, the role made famous by Joel Grey in the film and Broadway stage production. Rickard is well known for playing Richie Valens in The Buddy Holly Story and will reprise that role later this summer.

Cabaret will be performed at Interlakes Summer Theatre at 1 Laker Lane in Meredith August 2nd-14th. Come out and enjoy a love story like you’ve never seen before. Featuring such show stopping numbers as Cabaret, The Money Song and Two Ladies. Other popular songs include Willkommen and Maybe This Time.

Gay Bride Joe's Pub

So due to scheduling conflicts I actually did not get to see Gay Bride of Frakenstien when it was at Seacoast Rep last year. Kind of a bummer. I have downloaded some of the songs from the original workshop recording to my Itunes and they are awesome. This song is pretty fierce. Having not gotten the chance to see it I am actually intrigued to know what it's about. Interesting concept. :)


PS For the rest of the summer I will be featuring one video from my youtube favorites list per week. Some may have already been previously featured so to avoid double postings I will not post the same video twice. I am getting rid of my youtube account after Labor Day because of lack of use.

OMG OMG OMG YAY

Further proof that my friends/co-workers from the Barn Playhouse are doing amazing things!

Obviously by the title of the entry you can tell I am very excited! :)


Nic Rouleau was cast in The Book of Mormon. I couldn't possibly be more excited for him. That show looks absolutely fabulous. I am hoping to go to New York in the fall with my mom so we can meet some of Toby's friends and talk to them about the Princess KIM play and try to get them to come see it. One of Toby's friends owns an Off- Broadway theatre and it would be neat if we could work toward getting Princess KIM produced there...

I am rambling ...sorry about that... back to the main point.

As I was just saying I couldn't be more excited/ happy for Nic. It's so great to have broadway connectionss. If I end up getting the time off from work to go to Neew York with my mom then I am definitley seeing if we can get tickets to go see that. A backstage tour mught be possible. First of all I have to figure if I can even get the time off to go to New York! :)

Congrats Nic! :)

Hopefully I can predict that I will see others on Broadway sooner or later. Who knowa? Actually Nic is not the first person to be in a Braodway show Ramona Mallory has been in The Fantasticls and A Little Night Music!

Perfectly Marvelous - Cabaret

In a few weeks Cabaret opens at Interlakes Summer Theatre.(August 2nd- 14th) Cabaret may not be one of my top favorite musicals but it's still up there. My favorite songs have always been Maybe This Time (not in this version of the show sadly), The Money Song and naturally Cabaret
This will be my third time seeing Cabaret and I hope this will be the best performance yet...maybeit will top the Barn's production.. or be just as good.
Enjoy the above video! I always do. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE MASSAGEE!! :) (7/16)


PS If you are in the Lake Winnipauskee are be sure to go see Hairspray which opens tomorrow and runs through July 31st! :)

Upcoming viewing schedule

Upcoming Shows I Will Be Seeing/ Reviewing

*Tenative based on budget and schedule

Stay tuned for reviews of the following shows!

July 28th Hairsprary Interlakes Summer Theatre

August 7th: Cabaret Interlakes Summer Theatre

August 13th The Producers Riverbend Youth Company

August 21st The Buddy Holly Story Interlakes Summer Theatre

*Sept 16 North of Boston NEC Open Door Theatre

Sept 25th I Love You You're Perfect Now Change Palace Theate

Movies

August 5th Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Part II

August 19th The Smurfs

TBA The Help

So You Think You Can Dance Top 12

First let's update who;s been elimiated since I haven't really kept track of that very well
Week 1: Wadi and Missy
Week 2: Robert and Melinda
Last Week: Ashley and Chris
My prediction for who will go home this week: Caitlyn and Mitchell. They really redeemed themseleves with their second routine but their first routine was the weakest of the season. OVerall they rate a 14 out of a possible score of 20. Their individual performances rated a 6 and an 8.

Tonight each couple preformed two routines. Here is how they rated.
(Listed by Genre in alphabetical order)
Broadway
Ryan and Ricky 7,5/10 This dance was pretty decent but not my favorite Broadway number that's been done on the show. Routines in this category must be FLAWLESS.
Jordan and Tadd 10/10 Great song choice and interesting interperatation of the song
Cha Cha
Ryan and Ricky: 8/10 Very sexy! Total:18
Contemporary
Jordan and Tadd 8/10 Interesting choice of song. Really liked this dance a lot Total: 18
Melanie and Markko 10.10 Beautiful
Hip Hop
Clarice and Jess 9/10 Dance was very well excecuted. Song was not well suited for the genre.
Caitlynn and Mitchell 6/10 100% in agreeance with Sonya's comments.
Jazz
Caitlynn and Mitchell 8/10 This performance could potentially save them from the bottom three. It all depends on how America votes
Sasha and Alexander 10/10 Nothing more to say about this routine other than it was beautiful.
Jive
Clarice and Jess 10/10 These routines are always high energy,entertaining and fun to watch.
Total: 19
The two latin numbers tonight were performed by Sasha and Alexander (Pase Doble, 7/10 Total: 17) and Melanie and Marrko (Tango, 8/10, Total: 18) Both were very intense,powerful and wonderful to watch.

Top Tier performances (if in blue it means I voted for them: Sasha and Alexander ,Clarice and Jess, Markko and Melaine
Middle Tier Perfomances : Jordan and Tadd, Ryan and Ricky
Bottom Tier Performance: Caitlynn and Mitchell


Please note: I will be away on vacation on July 28th so after next week the next time I will update will be August 3rd.