Oscar Winners 2011

• Partial List of Oscar winners. For complete list go to http://www.oscars.com/

Listed By Film

Alice In Wonderland

• Best Art Direction
• Best Costume Design

Inception

• Cinematography
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Sound Editing
• Best Visual Effects

The Fighter

• Best Supporting Actress Melissa Leo
• Best Supporting Actor- Christian Bale

Black Swan

• Natalie Portman Best Leading Actress Very well deserved

Toy Story 3

• Best Animated Feature
• Best Original Song We Belong Together

The King's Speech

• Best Lead Actor Colin Firth Very well deserved!
• Best Original Screenplay David Seidler
• Best Director Tom Hooper
• Best Picture

Faith Restored

Last year by the end of the season for American Idol while I was happpy with who won I was diappointed with the overall talent pool and felt it was pretty lackluster. This year there have been big changes New judges and new show fortmat. The cut out te top 32 and now have narrowed down the compettion to top 24 which makes things drag out a whole lot less. While I still miss Paula Abdul (and slightly miss Simon Cowell) I am impressed by what Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler bring to the table as judges. I think overall this is going to be a good season.

Now to the contestats. A few of my favorites have already been eliminated but for the most part I am happy with the top 24 this year. If highlighted in blue or orange it means they are my top picks
Boys
Scotty
Clint
Jovanni
Paul
Brett
Casey
James
Stefano
Jacob
Tim
Jordan
Robbie
Girls
Naimia
Haylee
Ashton
Karen
Tataynisa (sp)
Julie
Lauren
Kendra
Lauren
Rachel
Pia
Thea

Oscar Picks 2011

The Oscars are on Sunday. I am really excited about them because I have seen quite a few of the movies that are nominated and am interested to see how they do.
For full list of nominees go to the Oscars websiter I am only listing a partial list of nominees here
* Who should win !Who will win
Best Lead Actor
*!Colin Firth The King's Speech
James Franco 127 Hours
Javier Bardem Biutiful
*Jeff Bridges True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg The Social Network
With this category it's hard to pick between Jeff Bridges and Colin Firth. I think they both gave amazing performance but when it comes down to thr truth Colin First deserves the win because he gave one of the most powerful onscreen performances I have seen.
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale The Figther
Jeremy Renner The Town
Mark Ruffalo The Kids Are Alright
John Hawkes Winter's Bone
*!Geofrey Rush The King's Speech
There are a couple categories I exercise some bias in because I haven't seen all the movies in the category...this being one. I've been meaning to see The Town and The Fighter but haven't gptten around to it yet Like Firth Rush was amazing in his role.
Best Lead Actress
Annette Benning The Kids Are Alright
Nicole Kidman Rabbit Hole
*!Natalie Portman Black Swan
Jennifer Laweremce Winter's Bone
Michelle Williams Blue Valentine
Once again I excercise some bias because Black Swan was the only movie in this category that I saw. Natalie Portman was amazing in this role and if she doesn't win I will be as equally upsest as I will be if Colin Firth does not win Best Actor. I have seen Nicole Kidman in other movies and she is one of my favorite actress but I can't make a fair judgement of Rabbit Holr ss I have not yet seen it.
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams The Fighter
Melissa Leo The Fighter
Jacki Weaver Animal Kingdom
*Helena Bohem Carter The King's Speech
*! Hailee Steinfeld True Grit
It's a toss up between Bohem Carter and Steinfeld but Ithink Steinfeld will win. She is an up and comimg actress and amazingly talented for 14 years old.
Best Original Screen Play
^ I haven't seen this yet but heard it was amazing and think it should have gotten best picture.
The Fighter ( Scott Silver,Paul Tamsey,Keith Dorrington, Evan Johnson)
Insception (Christopher Nolan)^
*!David Siedler The King's Speech
The Kids Are Alright (Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Stuart Blumberg)
Best Adapted ScreenPlay
*!Aaron Sorkin The Social Network
Danny Boyle and Simon Bufoy 127 Hours
*Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Lasseter and Lee Unkrich Toy Story 3
*!Joel and Ethan Coen True Grit
Debra Granik and Anne Rosselini Winter's Bone
This one is really hard category for my to pick a winner. While Social Network may not have been that great of an overall film I thought the story was good and very in tune with today's society since there are so many people today who use Facebook. I have a soft spot for the Toy Story series because I practially grew up with it and have seen all three movies and loved the chracter growth throughout all three films and thought the film was very emotional. True Grit was amazing. I have never seen the original so I have nothing to really compare it to but I thought it was an overall good film. Well acted and well directed.
Best Director
Tom Hopper The King's Speech
David Fincher The Social Network
David O Russell The Fighter
Joel and Ethan Coen True Grit
Darren Oronofsky Black Swan
Saw most of these movies and they were all very well directed so it's hard for me to choose.
Best Song
Coming Home Country Strong
If I Rise 127 Hours
*I See The Light Tangled
*We Belong Together Toy Story 3
Both of these songs were good so it's hard to pick a winner. If I had choose one I'd probably choose I See The Light. Im a huge Mandy Moore fan .. and no I am not just biased to her because she is from Nashua. There were two songs from Burlusque which I feel the committee totally overlooked.
Best Animated Feature
*!Toy Story 3
The Illuionist
How To Train Your Dragon

Dispicable Me was totally robbed of a nomination for this catergory ss was Tangled.
Best Score
How To Train Your Dragon John Powell
Inception Hans Zimmer
*Alexandre Desplat The King's Speech
*!Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross The Social Network
A.R Rahman 127 Hours


Weigh in with your thoughts

80s Juke Box

I was born in the late 80s so 80s music is not really my era but to keep things interesting this year I want to have a theme party for my birthday. My birthday is 6 months and 3 days away so I still awhile to plan it. When I worked at the Barn Playhouse one of the cast parties that we had was as 80s costume party. Of course I was largely unprepared for that party costumewise but other people had some pretty cool costumes. I can't exactly remember what people dressed up as though. I would have to go back and look at my facebook photos from the cast party for furthur reference. I was thinking of doing a similar thing for my birthday party this year only stepping things up and giving people the option to not only dress up as music icons from the 80s (Michael Jackson, Madonna etc) I was also considering suggesting that people dress up as characters from muiscals from the 80s. I already have an idea for what I want to dress up as and my choice was not that hard to make. :)

Some ideas for possible musicals people could dress up for my party suggeted by people on Broadwayspace include
CATS
Little Shop of Horrors
La Cage Aux Folles
Into The Woods



The inivitation of course will not be sent out til the end of July or middle of August. By then I will have a full list finalizrd of suggestions for what people can dress up as. People are also welcome to select thoor own costumes too.. or even make them if they feel so incliined:)
This party willl be the best and most epic and fun party to date..... let's hope!

Broadwaysecret of The Week

This week's broadway secret is about the new musical Catch Me If You Can which is opening on Broadway in a few weeks. I have been experiencing technical difficultines with my computer so I am temporarily om my mom's computer until I can get the issues fixed..I can't get the picture of the bway secret to upload.

Anyway the poster of the secret said she is excited to see my friend Jay perform as the understudy for Aaron Teveit. I share her excitement ( assuming the poster is a girl.. i don't know the gender of the poster since post remains anonymous.)

I was not a huge fan of the movie version of this musical and hope it translates welll to the stage. When movies are made into musicals it can either be a hit or miss. Examples would be the Disney movies some musical versions of Disney movies have been hits (Beauty and The Beast and Lion King) others have been misses ( I didn't hear usch good things about Little Mermaid though I never got the chance to go see it) and others I haven't heaed many reviews about so I can't make a judgement (Mary Poppins) OTher non- disney movies have also recently been madde into musicals and I'm not sure how well they have done. Spiderman is still in previews but has been plagued by injuries so I am not sure when that is even supposed to be opening. The holiday classic Elf closed on January 2nd and I'm not sure how well that play translated to the Braodway stage. Interested to see what people thought of Elf and what people will think of Catch Me If You Can.


Good luck to Jay and the cast of Catch Me If You Can with opening night :)

Here's to 5 Years and many more great times ahead

As a bit of background every senior at Souhegan High School has to do a senior project about something they are passionate about. My senior project was about how people with disabilities use poetry to express themselves and I taught a poetry class to a group of students of from Crotched Mountain School in Greenfield. For those who remember my presentation it was pretty epic. What I am about to tell you about is pretty epic in itself.. or perhaps just epically amazing.


Last night was the 5 Year Anniversary Celebration for the Riverbend Youth Company. Aly McKnight organized the event for her senir project and she did an amazing job with putting it together.. major kudos to her (and also who ever made th mac and cheese for the pot luck because that was delcious. I have only been involved with Riverbend since last year teching four shows Annie Jr, Wizard of Oz (which won an award for coolest tech effect for the flying monkeys) ,The Man Who Came To Dinner and Guys and Dolls Jr. All shows have been amazing and I have enjoyed working on all of them.

The night started with a wonderful potluck supper in the Miltipurpose Room. Lots of delcious food including the aforementioned macarono and cheese. We then went into the theatre for the award portion of the show which also included slide shows and musical performances from past Riverbend Shows. It loved seeing all the pictures from the shows I've seen and worked on in the past two years as well of shows from Riverbend's 5 year history that I may not have gotten the chance to see. There were awards presented for Best Brush Up Rehearsal Moment (Thriller) Raise The Roof Award (Sit Down You're Walking The Boat Guys and Dolls) The Awww Award to name a few. Parent Volunteers. tecnicians, directors, music directors and chreographers were reconized for their dedication to the programs that the Riverbend School of Theatre Arts and Riverbend Youth Company have to offer. Congrats to all awards recipients! Performances included Get Me To The Church on Time from My Fair Lady,An Annie Medley of You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile and Hardknock Life) and Footloose from Back To 80s.

It was a very fun night. Once again I give huge kudos to Aly for organizing it. :)

Here's to 5 years of fun for Riverbend Youth Company and many more good memories to come!

My recent chapter in Standing Up Again

Ending It
Standing Up Again Chapter 7

A/N: HermoineLennon was unable to collaborate with me anymore so I'm tying up the loose ends to this fic myself. This will be my final Little Shop fan fic. It is high time I move on to other fandoms. Thanks to all have commented on my Little Shop fics. I am hope you still continue to read my other stuff. Please remember I do not own rights t o the characters from Little Shop. The only ones I own rights to are the ones I created myself, Audrey's father and sisters who are explored in more depth In my 2nd full length LSOH fic Epilogue To The Three Matchmakers.
The next morning Audrey woke up… briefly forgetting where she was. She then looked around and realized she was in a futon bed in Chiffon's bedroom. She was felt liberated about having the courage to stand up to Orin the previous night but was slightly scared about what would happen next.
Chiffon's alarm clock glared in her face. It read 7:45. If she did not hurry she would be late for work. She had completely forgotten that she had promised Mr. Mushnik she would be in by 8:30 to get a new flower arrangement ready for a first communion that was that afternoon.
She knocked on the bathroom door and was grateful no one else was in the shower. She showered and put some make up on..to cover up what she hoped would be the last bruises she would ever get from Orin.
When she got to the kitchen Crystal, Chiffon and Ronette were all waiting for her at the table
Ronette got up to embrace her. "Chiffon was just telling us about last night." She said with a smile.
"Yeah, girl we're happy for you that you finally stood up to Orin." Crystal said
Audrey broke free from her embrace. "I can't stay and reminisce for long. I totally forgot I had to be in work early today so I have to kind of eat on the run."
"What time do you have to be there?" Crystal asked
"8:30."
"Well It's only 5 of 8 you'll have plenty of time to get over there." Chiffon said putting a steaming plate of eggs and bacon in front of her friend.
Audrey agreed.
"So what's your next step?" Crystal asked.
Audrey swallowed a mouthful of bacon and eggs.
"No question about it, I'm definitely dumping him. I don't know why I've waited this long." Audrey said with a smile.
Her friends grinned at her.
"Excellent!" Ronette said
"I'm just kind of afraid of the aftermath."
Chiffon looked confused. "What aftermath?"
"Well, the first thing I'm worried about is the fact that abuse could easily get wose."
"It won't." Ronette assured her.
"I wouldn't be so quick to judge, that guy is a physcopath." Chiffon said.
"What's the second thing you're worried about?"
Audrey got dreamy eyed for a moment but then her demeanor changed and she let out an exasperated sigh,
"Orin constantly accuses me of cheating on him with Seymour." She said
"You wouldn't do that, not in a million years!" Ronette said instantly angry that Orin would dream of making that accusation.
"Of course not. He doesn't know that I have feelings for Seymour, but soon enough weather or not he knows or cares about that won't make a difference…at least not to me."
"Are you worried Seymour might be put in danger?" Crystal asked.
"Yes. I think Orin knows I have feelings for Seymour.. I don't know he'd be able to figure that out but he's definitely on to something if he keeps accusing me of cheating."
"But you're not cheating. You and Seymour aren't even dating." Crystal said
"Yet, we're not dating yet." Audrey countered.
"Are you asking him out?" Crystal asked after three minutes of awestruck silence.
"Yes, soon after I break up with Orin I plan on asking Seymour out."
"Good for you!" Ronette was smiling from ear to ear
"Yeah, Audrey. You and Seymour would make a great couple." Crystal said squeezing her friend's hand approvingly.
"Thanks. I think it will be a lot easier to move my relationship with Seymour to the next level once Orin is out of the picture."
Audrey looked at the clock and noticed it was 8:15. "Gotta go,guys. See you later."
Audrey walked in the to the flower shop all smiles
"Good Morning Audrey. You're looking chipper today." Mr. Mushnik greeted his employee.
"Mornin' Mr. Mushnik."
"Did you talk to Orin last night?"
"Yes I did. He wasn't too happy… as you can probably tell from my latest bruise but I stood my ground."
"Good for you my child. I am proud of you. Now get to work on those bouquets for the first communion they need to be at the church by 11:15."
"Yes sir, right away. Is Seymour here yet? I want to tell him the great news."
"Yes, right now he's watering the Audrey II. He'll be back to help you with bouquets in a second."
Audrey smiled and walked to the back room.. getting to work immediately. Seymour joined her a few minutes later.
"So Mr. Mushnik said you finally stood up to Orin." Seymour said
"Sure did."
"Do you feel better now?"
"Slightly vindicated… yet slightly scared."
"Have you decided to dump him?"
"Yes but I am worried about the after effects?"
"Like what?"
"Well he has accused me of cheating on him with you several times ."
Seymour was floored.
"You know, I'd never ever cheat."
Audrey grinned at her co-worker "Of course I do, but he doesn't know you as well as I do so that's why he's so accusatory."
"Are you worried he's gonna hurt me or something?"
"Sort of."
"Well, I won't let that loser beat me up Audrey. I've got twice as much backbone as him."
'Yeah, but I wouldn't want you to get pulverized." Audrey thought to herself.
"So do you think we could start dating?" Seymour asked timidly not wanting to tread uneven waters.
"Yes, Seymour… I'd like that a lot. I have to end things with Orin first though."
"When do you plan on doing that?"
"We're giving each other space for awhile… I'm sure he won't stay away for long though."
"After you dump him I hope he stays away forever." Seymour said.
Audrey reached across the table, grabbed his hand and whispered "Me too."
"I love you Audrey."
"I love you too."
Before they could even think of kissing when Mr. Mushnik could easily catch them they immediately returned back to their work.
The week flew by… on Friday at the end of her shift Audrey was surprised to see Orin waiting for her outside the store.
There was awkward silence for a long time.
"Hi Audrey."
"Hello Orin."
"So you stickin with me or what?" Orin asked getting straight to the point.
Audrey led out a long sigh.
"No Orin. This is the end"
Orin raised a fist prepared to slap her. He was happy no one was around to back her up this time.
"You dirty slut."
"Sorry Orin, I'm not going to take your belittling comments anymore. WE ARE THROUGH!"
His fist connected with her face.
"I'll pummel that twerp Seymour if he had anything to do with this." Orin fumed
Audrey let out another long sigh.
"I'll admit Orin, I do have feelings for Seymour but they only started recently. I would never cheat on you with him but I figured it was only fair to tell you I have feelings for him."
"He had nothing to do with your choice to break up with me?"
"No, none at all. SO LEAVE HIM THE FUCK OUT OF THIS!"
"Hell, I will."
Another fist to face connection.
"I'll punch his face in next!" Orin threatened
"NO YOU WON"T!
The booming voice of Mr. Mushnik made both Orin and Audrey jump.
"Mr. Mushnik, I had no idea you were watching us." Audrey said.
Mr. Mushnik was red in the face. He felt had been silent long enough and turned to face Orin.
"I never liked you from the start and I like you even less with the way I've just seen you treat Audrey. Leave her alone. I will not have you threatening my employees. If I see around here again you will be banned from the premises."
Orin was enraged. He turned his advances to Mr. Mushnik
"Raise that fist to me and I'll call the cops." It was now Mr. Mushnik's turn to threaten.
Instead of punching Mr. Mushnik Orin looked at Audrey furiously.
"You'll pay for this. I'll find a way to make you pay." Orin said.
"Leave me alone Orin, I never want to see you again…ever!" Audrey said
Orin walked away in a fit of rage
Mr. Mushnik put his arm around Audrey.
"You did amazing Audrey… I'm just as proud of you as I was this morning."
Audrey suddenly realized she was proud of herself too. She could finally be happy… and start a relationship with Seymour she knew she deserved. She smiled and simply said "Thanks Mr. Mushnik."

To read the complete version of this fan fiction go to http://fanfiction.net/showtunediva
This fan fiction has been rated T for Violence and Language.

The Grammys

The Grammys are on as I write this. I had a very long and exhausting weekend so I am too tired to stay up and watch the whole thing. I will comment on what I have seen so far.

Go to Grammy's.com for the full list of winners

+ Lady Antebellum winning for best country album <3 the song Need You Now. It's one of my fave country songs... has been for about 6 months.
+ Muse was fabulous
- The Bruno Mars performance was horrible. I don't even know who the people who sang with him were but they didn't particulary stand out to me either
+ Lady Gaga's peformance and best female vocal album win
? I have mixed feelings about Justin Bieber. I really dispise his music and think he is a horrible singer but his live performance was pretty impressive.
+ Cee-Lo and Gwentyn Paltrow
+ Miranda Lambert winning for best Female Country Vocal

A blast to the past in a familar place

In continuation of my goal to get the full experience of theatre in New Hampshire and Southern Maine my travels tonight took me to a familar place. New London. When you think New London most people think of the Barn Playhouse but I discovered a theatre company that I had not heard of before SKIT. SKIT stands for Sunapee Kearsarge Intercommunity Theatre and the company is comprised of actors from New London, Warner and other surrounding towns. While I was breifly struck with nostalgia throughout the evening because of the resturant I ate at (Millstone Resturant) and the place the play was at (Whipple Town Hall where I remember having Annie Get Your Gun rehearsals) I was taken back to a period of time I don't remember but yet I am familiar with some of the music because I either remember singing in choir in high school or hearing it some place else (Someone To Watch Over Me is a prime example because Allison Ireheta did an amazing cover of it on American Idol a few years ago... I hadn't realized before seeing this show that that was a Gershwin song however.)

The show I saw tonight was called Gershwin A Musical Revue. It featured a variety of different songs from musicals from the 20s 30s and 40s. It was a perfect show to go see for Valentines Day because there were a lot of songs that definitley fit the category of love songs. Embraceable You, Bess You Is My Woman Now, I've Got A Crush on You and Love Is Here To Stay. Memorable Numbers included Let's Call The Whole Thing Off (Jay and Linda Lambert), Someone To Watch Over Me (Patrica Trader), Embraceable You (Alice Field), Love Is Sweeping The Country (Kendra West- Senor) and A Gershwin Swing Set. which featured Nice Work If You Can Get IT ( Flashback to the Straw Hat Revue at NLBP.. I can't remember who was in that number though.)

The show was directed by my fellow former NLBP co-worker Don Boxwell and featured other former co-workers Jack Tate, Alice Field and Lauri Smerald. It was nice to see familiar faces again. I look foward to seeing more shows at SKIT. :)

Birthday Wishes and Babies

Happy Birthday to my fellow thespians who have birthdays in January February and March. I like to stay ahead on these for two reasons one because not everyone may be on my facebook friends list and two because I may not write an entry on this blog on that particular day and I likse to stay on top of it. If anyone knows anyone that I might be missing please let me know so I can add them.
January
12 Christy Emmond
17 Georgia Freed
23 Andi Aiken
February
4th Nic Rouleau
6th Laura Millar and Caroline Morley
20th Nicolina Sciascia
26th Keri Racicot-Bresaw
March
12th Cooper Bowman
13th Caroline Kittrell
20th Sam Burrow
21st Colleen Fee
29th Brady Lynch and Jay Vonhandorf


There are a few fellow tespians who have also had babies in the course of the past six months and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them on their new arrivals. I also know of someone who is expecting but I'll withhold those congratulations out of the respect for the person who is expecting because I am not sure if she has told a lot of other people.

Keri and Luke Bresaw
Jackie and Jimmy Hawkes
Sam and Jason Burrow

Jay Armstrong Johnson "The Seraph"

He is amazing! That's all I need to say, no furthur comment is needed. :)

NH Theatre Awards Winners

Tried to do a video blog to recap the NHTA's but it would not upload to youtube properly. :(

Congrats to all who won awards! There are particular people I wish to highlight in this entry.


This year I mostly went to the theatre awards for the fun of it and to support the people I knew who were nominated. There were two things I felt made the ceremony drag on forever that I think should be eliminated next year. Those two things are the banter in between presentations and they should do something with letting people know beforehand that certain recipents aren't going to be there to cut back on so much time the people giving the trophies out walking back and forth. My top three favorite performances were Children of Eden (Amherst PTA), Wedding Singer (Peacock Players) and Christmas Carol A Musical Ghost Story (Community Players of Concord).



I was very happy that The Wedding Singer made out so well at the awards. It was one of my favorite shows that I saw last year and I think it was very well deserving of best Youth Performance. Other awards the show won were Best Supporting Actress (Alyssa Dumas) Best Supporting Actor (Andrew Barret Cox) and best Cheoreographer (Valerie Posinos)



Another show that made out very well that I WISH I had seen was Pirates of Penzance put on by my summer stock Alma mata New London Barn Playhouse. They won a slew of awards including best Director ( Carol Dunne) Best Musical Director (Joel Mercier who also won best Origianl Playwright for his play A Christmas Carol A Musical Ghost Story with Community Players of Concord) and Best Leading Actress in a A Musical (Serena Brook).



Congrats to the above listed people as well as Jennie Leonard (Best Supporting Actresss in a Drama Comedy Laramie Project Winni Players) and Ashley Hughes (Best Actress Musical Little Women Stagecoach Productions) on your awards!



I am crossing my fingers that The Music Man will get nominated for a few things for next year's NHTAs. It would be amazing to perform at the Palace! :)

2011 Theatre Viewing Schedule

2011 Theatre Viewing Schedule

Shows listed by venue

* pending depending on schedule and budget

Milford Area Players

March Almost Maine, Irish Music Show for Nancy O Foundation

July August Osage County

Community Players of Concord

*May Harvey

Palace Theatre

Deciding between either The Four Piano Men or 42nd Street. This will largely depend on schedule.

Peacock Players

May Suessical The Musical

Summer Theatre In Meredith Village: My boyfriend and I have season passes so we plan on seeing all the shows

Seacoast Rep

June 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Summer Seasons for Papermill Playhouse in Lincoln, Peterborough Players and Ogunquit Playhouse have not been announced yet

Arundel Barn Playhouse

The 39 Steps or Crazy For You

I'm still debating on going to see shows at the Barn Playhouse this summer. They have a lot of good options. At this point I'm deciding between A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, The Man Who Came To Dinner and The Drowsy Chaperone. NL Barn Idols sounds like it would be a lot of fun too. We'll see where budget and schedulng lead me.

High Schools and Colleges

SHS: Fiddler on The Roof 3/31

NEC Hotel La Putts April 2nd Movement Concert April 30th

Other shows I plan on seeing that I am still awaiting info on

* Andrea Crocker is opening for Livingston Taylor at the Stockbridge Theatre in April

* Danny Chavez , a student I assitant directed in Bravey Soup at NLBP is Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. Don't know if this a community theatre production or if it's his high school's musical.

Theatre Related Resolutions

These were my theatre related New Years Resolutions from last year.. most of them have carried over from last year so I am reposting the list.
Theatre Realated Resolutions
See shows at theatres in New Hampshire I have never seen shows at before ( Andy's Summer Playhouse, Palace Theatre in Manchester)Still a work in progress.. hopefully going to see The Nutcracker at the Palace Theatre @ the end of this month by far my favorite holiday show of all time!
2010 Outcome: Majestic Theatre- Jan Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy and Derry March Wellssely College Summer Theatre June Andy's Summer Playhouse July Arundel Barn Playhouse August
2. Get technical experience in areas other than just props. I am hoping to help out with lighting or sound design for one of the Peacock Players shows. EVEN better! I am on the production staff of a youth production of Annie Junior at the Boys And Girls Club in Milford. Once the audtions and casting process is complete I hope to find out what exactly my tasks will be. I hope to do something with either props or publicity but perhaps I can try to see if I can get soe experienece with sound design too.
2010 Outcome: Aside from Annie Jr I also did props for Wizard of Oz in May. I did sound design for the Man Who Came To Dinner in November with Riverbend School of Theatre Arts last month and think I've found my tech theatre niche. I also recently got done with running the spot light for Guys and Dolls Jr for Riverbend Youth Company. I actually liked this a lot better than sound because I got a much better view of stage then I did from the sound booth.
3. Introduce myself to at least one new Broadway soundtrack. My itunes library needs some new blood in it.. i am getting kind of sick of listening to Annie Get Your Gun and Little Shop of Horrors all the time.This is an ongoing process
Soundtracks that were added to my itunes Library in 2010: A Little Night Music and Jersey Boys Recently added soundtracks: Dreamgirls, Legally Blonde The Musical Gay Bride of Frankenstien, Music Man (mainly for rehearsal puproses)
4. See at least one show @ the Barn Playhouse and one show @ Interlakes Region Theatre this summer. Best of both worlds 2 shows at Interlakes and one at NLBP. All in which were fabulous. I feel going back to the Barn this summer really helped me to gain closure to all the issues I had with moving on from stuff that has gone on there since I left.
2010 Outcome: While I was getting over my depression related to the Barn I felt it was best not go back there to see any shows. I needed to give myself time away from the anxiety I was having related to moving on from stuff that happened there since I ended my internship there in 2007. In the interim I have seen shows at Summer Theatre In Meredith Village and have also expanded my horizions to seeing shows at Andy's Summer Playhouse in Wilton and reintrouced myself to the Arundel Barn Playhouse in Arundel Maine a theatre at which I had seen a show at in six years. This summer in addition to my season passes at STMV I plan on expanding my horizions to Winnipasaukee Playhouse in Laconia, Papermill Playhouse in Lincoln,Ghostlight Theatre in Salem, Peterborough Players in Peterborough and Seacost Rep and Prescott Park Arts Festival in Portsmouth. I also hope to see a show at Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit Maine. I may go back to the Barn Playhouse but that largely depends on my budget and my schedule.


5. Go to see a broadway show in New York... perferably West Side Story or Billy Elliot but that will depend on what's still around due to all the recent closings. Last April I saw HAIR with Matt as part as part of celebrating our one year anniversary (which was in June) In March we are planning to go visit Rae and celebrate her 21st biirthday. We are lettiing her pick the show and she is choosing between Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot and A Little Night Music. I have never heard of A Little Night Music but my friend Ramona from the Barn Playhouse is in it so if we go to see that show I will get to see her again.. and potienitally get another backstage tour. I love having friends in Broadway plays. Hopwfully we end picking A Little Night Music because it has been getting awesome reviews!
2010 Outcome: Aug 21 Went to see Jersey Boys for my birthday. Phenominal show! Highly reccommended.
6. Go see the Spring Awakening Tour in Boston in the spring. Due to budget issues I missed this opportunity which was somewhat disappointing BUT August Osage County is coming to Boston in April so I am hoping to go see that.
2010 Outcome: Budget issues have kind left me hanging with going to see National touring shows. I am hoping to go see the National tour of West Side Story in June OR the New Kids on The Block/ Backstreet Boys Concert at Fenway Park on June 11th :)
Shows I saw this year listed by Venue
Andy's Summer Playhouse: Dick Tracy
Arundel Barn Playhouse: Shout! The Mod Musical
Majestic Theatre: Emperor's New Clothes
Milford Area Players: Pursuit Of Happiness
Peacock Players: Forbidden Broadway, Wedding Singer, Almost Maine
Summer Theatre In Meredith Village: Chicago
Riverbend Youth Company: Wizard of Oz
Milford Area Players/Riverbend Youth Company: Miracle On 34th Street


College Productions: Trip To Bountiful ( Wellsely College Summer Theatre),As You Like It ( NEC Open Door) Chicago (Ithaca College Theatre Department)

Valentines Day Combo Crossover Fan Fiction

So I am trying to add more variety to my fan fiction repetroire. In honor of Valentines Day I have decided to write a cross over fan fiction between two different couples from various musicals plays or movies. Please take a few minutes to vote in this poll I have put together. Since this is going to be imported into facebook I would like to let those on my friends who on facebook that are also on Livejournal know that this poll is also in my LJ. You can answer it in either place.

Combo #1 Bella/Edward (Twilight) & Audrey and Seymour (Little Shop of Horrors)
Combo #2 Rolf and Lisel (The Sound of Music) and Amos and Roxie (Chicago)
Combo #3 Annie and Frank (Annie Get Your Gun) and Sally Bowles and Clifford Bradshaw (Cabaret) If we were going to be politically correct with the time the musicals take place it would be more logical to pair Cabaret with Sound of Music but I like to challenge myself.
Combo #4 Julie and Billy (Carosuel) and Danny and Sandy (Grease)
Combo #5 Harold Hill and Marian Paroo ( The Music Man) and Nathan and Adelaide Guys and Dolls
Combo #6 Zaneeta Shinn and Tommy Diljas ( The Music Man) and Kim Macafee and Hugo Peabody (Bye Bye Birdie)
Combo #7 Any of the above combinations and Elle and Emmett Legally Blonde *I personally like Emmett better than Warner.
Combo #8 Maggie Cutler and Bert Jefferson (The Man Who Came To Dinner) and Corie and Paul Bratter (Barefoot In The Park)
Other Please Specify

Latest Milford Cabinet Article

Riverbend Youth Company to Celebrate 5 Year Anniversary In Style
By Janine Leffler


Riverbend Youth Company is celebrating its Five Year Anniversary and it will be like no celebration you have ever seen!
Aly McKnight , a senior at Souhegan High School in Amherst is organizing the event as part of senior project. Senior Project is a self-directed research project which all seniors at Souhegan must complete in order to graduate. McKnight’s essential question is, What are the essential elements of bringing together a community to celebrate and recognize supporters of local youth theater?. When asked about her project McKnight explained “My research for this question entails that I learn about event-planning, marketing, and many elements of theater production. I have learned by doing book and database research, but most of what I have learned has come from what other people have taught me. I learned how to design a web page from Meg Petersen, how to effectively market and organize various aspects of production from Jennifer Whitney, and I've been advised every step of the way by Robin Lacroix and Susan Taylor at the Boys and Girls Club. This project has been a great way to learn from a variety of people with different talents and skills in event-planning and the performing arts.”
McKnight’s goal behind planning this event is “To celebrate the past five years, because every member of the Riverbend community has contributed to working toward the mission of Riverbend Theater and the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley. In the five years that Riverbend Theater has existed, some absolutely amazing, inspiring, and important events have taken place. What started with one show has grown into an annual season with three main stage productions, a one-act play festival, a summer theater troupe, summer theater camps, theater classes, and a growing amount of student-run productions. This event is meant to be an opportunity to recognize the fact that so many people have worked toward helping kids to "Be Great" through theater and the performing arts. It is a time to be proud of individual accomplishments, but more importantly, to be proud of the things that we have accomplished together as an organization, and to look forward to great things to come in the future. Whether you are an audience member, a performer, a parent, a crew member, a director, a music director, a choreographer, a sibling, a volunteer, or one of the many others who smiles when they think of Riverbend, the goal of the event is to celebrate you and all that you have done to make youth theater in your community such a great success!”

McKnight has organized this exciting event which includes a potluck supper, an awards show and performances of musical numbers from past Riverbend shows. When asked about the nomination process and the types of awards that will be given, McKnight explained “The awards are designed to recognize the moments and people that have made the Riverbend Youth Company and the Riverbend School of Theater Arts such incredible organizations to a be part of. There are nine awards, each of which recognizes a moment, musical number, person, or quote that has positively affected the Riverbend community. Audience members, parents, performers, crew members, and other people involved in Riverbend productions were encouraged to send nominations to a committee. The committee is now in the process of choosing the top three or four nominees from each category, and people will have the opportunity to go to the website for the celebration and vote for their favorite nominee. Various guests within the Riverbend organizations will present the awards to the winners the night of the event.”

McKnight said putting this event together has been both stressful and fun, “I've had a lot of research and work to do over the past few months, but every time I spend time with people through theater at the Boys and Girls Club, I remember exactly why it is worth all that work. This celebration has been such a team effort, and I've had so much fun working on it with every person involved. I'm really excited to see how the event turns out all together.”

The Riverbend Youth Company 5 Year Anniversary Celebration will take place on Saturday evening February 19th at the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley located at 56 Mont Vernon Street in Milford. The potluck supper will begin at 6pm. The Awards Ceremony will begin at 7pm. The tickets for the event are $5. Tickets can be purchased in advance by contacting Robin LaCroix at the Boys and Girls Club of Souhegan Valley at 672-1002, or at rlacroix@svbgc.org. The evening requires semi-formal attire, and people are asked to bring a dish to share if they plan to attend the pot-luck dinner.

For further information about the Riverbend 5 Year Anniversary Party and how you can help go to https://sites.google.com/site/riverbend5year/ Please come out and celebrate a truly amazing local youth theatre company and see how far they have come!

Who's the most overrated musician?

A tie between Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus

Ask me anything

What music are you listening to today?

My ipod is on shuffle so what ever song it happens to be on.

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What was the worst place you've traveled to?

There is no worst place I have traveled but the most horrible time I ever had on vacation was the summer I went to the Von Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont and was sick with whooping cough.

Ask me anything

What are you most excited about right now?

Valemtines Day! :)

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If you won a million dollars what would you do with it?

Use a majority of it to pay back my college loans and give the rest to charity.

Ask me anything