I'm now in Bonnie and Clyde!

Hey Wicked Fans!

Thanks for your loyalty over the years. I'm now in Bonnie and Clyde that opens on Broadway in December. First preview November 4. I play Clyde's Mom! I'm writing a new blog for show and hope you'll come check it out and subscribe so you can get updated info on the show...http://www.BarrowFamilyBlog.workpress.com

See you there
Leslie

Happy Holidays and More

Hi Wicked Fans and Friends!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday and a rockin' New Year. I just had my vacation Chirstmas week so I got to spend the holidays with my family which was awesome! Now it's back to the Green Show. Lots of comings and goings happening lately here at Wicked. New witches, new Morrible and new Wizard, and they are all terrific! pPlus various new ensemble members too and they are great additions to the Wicked family too. As many of you know our own Marcie Dodd moved to the Los Angeles company as Nessarose, but I was able to catch a photo with her...yes, that's what we look like backstage before we've got our wigs on...glamours, huh? I've always thought it would be cool if audiences got to see what REALLY happens backstage. It's a whole show back there too. The other photo is me with Gregory Maguire who authored the novel Wicked. Her threw us a party in Boston. What a delightful human being he is!

So here's the catch-up. We spent a whole month in Hartford, CT....got to say, not my favorite place. For any of your Hartford residents, don't mean to offend, but we had some not so nice things happen while we were there including a cast member getting mugged and other getting her purse stolen at a private party...not cool. But St. Louis is fun and a great place to celebrate the new year with a view of the St. Louis arch.

We're headed next to Cincinnati, OH, which will be my last city. I've decided to return home to NYC and pursue some new projects. So February 3 will be my last day with Wicked for now. Then I jump right into a new gig, singing with the NY Ballet in NY and London!!! I'm super excited! I've never been to London (yeah, crazy I know) so I'm thrilled.

I'll keep this blog for a month or so after Wicked, but check back for my new blog that will continue to show the adventures of my career ; )

If you want to make sure you stay in touch, or if you are interested in being an actor (or already are one) be sure to sign up for my free newsletter Work IT! Tips for Workin' Your Acting Career and Your Life. You can sign up for free at www.OrganizedActor.com.

Happy Holidays to all!

Okay, I've failed!

I've officially failed my Wicked blog. Sorry to say it's been about six weeks since I created an entry. I guess I have a few excuses....we've had tons of rehearsals, I hiked the Grand Canyon, I still have my new puppy, etc, etc....yes all excuses ; ) But it's time to write again because a lot has happened! First, we ended an era at Wicked a few weeks ago when we said goodbye to our four witches (yes, our Glinda, Elphaba, Elphaba standby and Morrible). They had a great run all of them and I hope they will be off to wonderful and magical things. We've welcomed in wonderful new cast members in the last several weeks and that will continue as several people have turned in their notices. If you have a chance to see us in our next few cities, our new cast is wonderful! I think you'll love them all.

I sort of glazed over the "hiked the Grand Canyon" above, but yes, I really did do that from the top to the bottom and back out again all in two days. It was the most amazing thing I've ever done. I highly recommend it. But be sure to train for it and plan ahead. We've had reservations for over a year and it was worth the wait!!!

Zoey is growing nicely. She makes friends everywhere she goes. She's just kind of one of those dogs that everybody likes. She just always looks like she's smiling ; ) Well, maybe not so much in this picture. This is more the "I own this couch" look LOL

So what's next for the Wicked tour? We get a new Wizard soon. We also lose ensemble members Marcie Dodd (who is going to Los Angeles to play Nessa in the LA company), Christeena Riggs, Celisse Henderson (Shen Shen) and others soon to follow. I guess that is the revolving door of Wicked.

Thanks for patiently waiting for a blog entry! I'll try to be better : )

My gosh how time flies when your'e in Oz

First, I must apologize for the long delay in entries. I didn't every realize it had been this long and now that Zoey (my puppy) has become a part of my life, time is hard to come by. We have already had such wonderful adventures together! In fact, little did you know that my code name is actually MacGyver! Yep, I had to play MacGyver the other day when Zoey and I got locked up the roofdeck of the building I'm living in in Boston. Long story short....I was able to hail someone from the building next door, magically I found a roll of duct tape, tied the keys to the tape and lowered it down into his window. When he rescued us it felt like I was getting out of prison!!! LOL Anyway, Zoey and I are fine and she decided to chill a bit in the refrigerator.

On Tuesday of this week, I got to go on as Morrible again! That was a hoot and a surprise! Hopefully next time I will know ahead of time again so I can let you all know.

Also took my vacation to Hawaii....alas the photos

And Boston rocks!

All good out here on tour

Meet My New Dog Zoey

With so many dogs on tour, I finally succumbed to my desire to have my own. On Monday I flew to North Carolina to meet the breeder of my new puppy and was delighted to find this little pup available! Meet Zoey...the new love of my life. I don't have her in my little hands yet, but she will be mine in September. I must warn you that this blog may become a momma's bragging ground soon, because well, my little puppy is of course perfect in every way. More soon.

What We Do On The Road

I get a lot of question about what we do on the road as we travel around the country. Of course it's fun to explore each city you go to and there are always great things to see and do. But to fill idle time (like between scenes in the show) or between shows on a double show day, I've taken up Oragami...well, "Bugagami" to be precise. I like to to make bugs. This was a delightful gift from my boyfriend who knows how much I love bugs. At first, I couldn't make a single thing. i didn't understand the folds and was known to throw many unfinished Bugagami attempts at the wall, screaming loudly "This is stupid!" LOL

But alas, I've been able to create some very simple bugs and critters for your enjoyment.

Here is a snake, a tadpole (?), a grasshopper (with no head cuz I couldn't do that fold correctly) and a cicada (whatever that is). I'm sad to say these are my best works...it's a good thing I have talent in other areas cuz I don't think you're gonna see me at the International Oragami Festival LOL But what I have learned by doing Bugagami is the true genius it takes to actually COME UP WITH THESE DESIGNS. It's hard enough to follow the instructions. But, to think that someone had to design it first it truly amazing. All of these were made with a simple 5 x 5 piece of paper. Pretty cool.

My Stint As Madame Morrible

Well after nearly seven months, I FINALLY got my chance to perform Madame Morrible on Saturday, August 4 for both shows. I must admit, I couldnt' have asked for a better theatre and better timing! The shows went off without a hitch....well an interesting sound hitch happened on my first entrance where I say "And whether you are here to study Law, Logic or Linguification" ON the word Linguification the sound screeched louder than you could ever imagined. We laughed about it off stage and I joked that the line should have said "Law, Logic or Amplification!" Other than that it was a blast. The company was beyond supportive and so happy for me that I finally got to go on. I hope there will be many more in the future. I'll keep you posted. Thanks also to all the fans who were so supportive of me!

Other news...Philadelphia is a great city! They've grown since the last time i was here. It's almost like a small, more close-knit New York. People are friendly and there are some great restaurants. I'm glad we're there for several more weeks to really take in the city! Be sure to the Duck Tour if you come here. It's great fun and lots of history. Enjoy the photos!

iPhone Saves The Day and Morrible Dates

I'm sure you're sick of hearing about the iPhone. And I was already in love with it ever since I've had it in my hands. But this week, it proved its $599 price tag and then some. Here's the scenario....

We were in route from Columbus to East Lansing, a short 3 1/2 (or so) drive, so the company bused us instead of our usual flying. What a perfect time to utilize my iPhone...all of it. I was literally usuing every function on the iPhone all at once. 1) I was listening to my ipod function 2) I was paying my bills on line 3) taking phone calls when they came in (which, by the way, the ipod fades in volumne when you pick up the call and then goes up to full volume and starts where the song left off when you finish your call...way cool) 4) sending text messages to freind, 5) in general, having a grand old time until suddenly I realized the bus was jumping around a lot. When I looked up, I realized we were on a country one-way dirt road in this huge tour bus in the middle of farms and cattle...in other words...the middle of NO WHERE!

"Where are we?" I questioned.

"Well, the GPS says this is the shortest route," says the bus driver.

"To where? China?" I said. (Okay, so I didn't really SAY that, but I thought it as I gave a questioning glance to the company manager.

So I whipped out...guess what...my iPhone.

"Wow, you have an iPhone already?!" said my company manager. Clearly, he had not been paying attention for the past two weeks when i was touting it to everyone in the company LOL

Anyway...I went to the map function to punch in a street name (which of course there were none since we were literally in the middle of no where!) But finally a tiny little street call Arkon had a sign. No joke, I typed it into the maps and it found where we were and it gave us explicit directions to get back to the highway. When I showed our Company Manager he was thrilled and told the bus driver, who insisted that her GPS was showing a different route and that it was probably better to stay on her route, at which time the company manager stepped in and said, "no, hers take us right where we're going."

So sure enough, the iPhone saved the day. We got to our destination (after an almost 6 hour bus ride) and not once did I lose battery power or a wireless signal. Crazy! The iPhone and ATT were life savers.

NEXT: I've finally going on as Madame Morrible. I'll be performing the role for both shows on Saturday, August 4 in Philadelphia! Hope you can make it.

ALSO: Just FYI, I'll be on vacation Sept 3-10, so you'll miss me in the show if you come during that week.

We'll chat soon ; )

The Quest for the IPhone is Complete!

Ahhhhh sweet success! I am now the proud owner of the new IPhone. I got it on the first day, waiting in line with all the other iphone fanatics and it was a blast! Thursday night after the show I drove to the Mac store to see if people were waiting outside overnight. Luckily, the store was not allowing it so I didn't have to do that. The next morning at got there at 10 a.m. and there were already 45 people waiting. They had been there since 6 a.m. (and this is in Columbus, OH!) At 12:30 my friend came and replaced me in line while I rushed back to rehearsal. When I returned, there was only an hour wait left and the guys on either side of me and my friend hit it off so well, they let my friend Eric stay in the line and get his own iphone too. These are my iphone friends: David, Eric and Paul! Woo hoo! At 6 p.m. Eric's girlfriend called and said that she had just seen the two of us on the news. Yippee...we're famous! I owned an iphone by 6:15 p.m. Friday night, then rushed back just in time to do the show. I left my phone at home so I could do the unveiling when I returned back in the quiet of my hotel room.

But alas....the road was not a smooth one. Despite all the prepping I did, it appeared I indeed did NOT have the right operating system for the iphone (for those of you mac enthusiasts, you MUST have 10.4.10 for the iphone to run.) The phone activates directly through itunes. So without the right operating system, no iphone. So I had to be patient overnight which was okay since I had played poker until 3:30 a.m. the night before (won $85) so sleeping was welcome. I rushed to the mac store the next morning to get the upgrade and as they were loading it, they found a glitch in my computer (all of this, mind you, before the iphone was ever plugged into my computer). It took several hours for the them to fix my computer, so I had to get back to the matinee. I was BUMMED to say the least. My friends from iphone line were already texting me on their new iphone and I had SQUAT

But alas, 5:30 p.m. came and I dashed back to the mac store between shows. They set me up, fixed my computer and helped me activate my iphone and then, low and behold...angels sang!!!

This is the coolest, most technolgically advanced machine I've ever seen. It is worth the hype and beyond. They have thought of everything. It works perfectly. My email (all of my accounts) loaded with complete ease. The interenet and WiFi is fast and wonderful and the clarity of photos is incredible.

I say, rush right out and get one. you'll love it. And of course there are plenty left to by. I didn't NEED to be there at 10 a.m. and wait in line for all those hours....but I'm sure glad I did. It was fun to be a part of something amazing. You can even view this blog on your iphone.

Thanks for doing the happy dance for me

Woo hoo

Free Wicked Ticket in Columbus In Exchange for iPhone

Okay, I need your help! As you know I'm dying to own the new mac iPhone which comes out this Friday, June 29. I had every intent of waiting in line all day,(even camping overnight if I needed to) and low and behold, we have a put-in rehearsal for some new cast members. So, I need your help!

I need some fantastic Wicked fan to wait in line for me at the ATT store from noon to 5 p.m. here in Columbus while I rehearse. In exchange you'll get a FREE Wicked house seat, a backstage tour, a signed program from the cast and an autographed copy of my book The Organized Actor®.

If you're interested, send me an email to: Leslie@LeslieBecker.com with the answer to this question: What kind of animal am I when I play the Midwife? First person to answer the question gets the package! Be sure to leave your phone number in the email too so I can call you with the details.

This is not a joke. I want an iPhone and I"ll do whatever it takes!!! With your help, I'm in!!!

Thanks!
Leslie

A Healing Side of Oklahoma City

Well, I found my peace in Oklahoma City at the National Memorial for the Oklahoma City bombings that happened back in 1995. This was truly one of the most stunning memorials I have ever seen. If you ever take a trip to OKC, you've got to check it out, but do it at night. It is truly spectacular and extremely moving. I had my camera, but I just couldn't bring myself to take pictures. It somehow felt wrong so the memory will be in my mind. When you visit, it is well worth the trip.

Oklahoma City certainly played some havoc on our company. We had so many people out with injuiries, illnesses and what not so it was quite interesting. Our wonderful Elphaba, Victoria Matlock is out with an injury for a while, so Colleen Sexton and Marcie Dodd have been going on for her....both terrific.

Nope, I still haven't gone on as Madame Morrilbe. I'll tell ya what...I'm in the wrong company LOL All the other Madame Morribles seem to go on all the time. LOL I'll just patiently wait my turn ; ) And if I know ahead of time, I'll announce and hopefully all of you can come!

We're now in Columbus, OH and we've already found some great places to hang. But my highlight here will be being the first in line to buy the new iPhone from MAC. Yes, I will be one of those techie dorks waiting in line for hours to be one of the first to own this fabulous new piece of equipment. I can't wait!!!

Anyway....that's what's up for now. Stay tuned.....more to come when I get my iPhone LOL

From Heaven To Not So Heavenly

I must say, it's quite a shock to go from the mile high city of Denver to the 90 degree heat of Oklahoma City, OK. OK for who is what I want to know : )

But Denver was truly glorious. I took a lovely hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains, saw the Denver botanical, ran a 5K and in general enjoyed the beauty of this amazing city. This big ladybug was on display at the gardens.

We did say goodbye to our good friend Josh Lamon as he made his last performance as Boq. But we welcome in Brad Weinstock! It appears the next few months will continue to bring more and more turnovers in cast members. It's a given when you're in a long running show, but it's always sad to see your friends go away. But we wish them all the best.

I was quite busy in Denver in another way too. I finally finished my second book and will have it ready for purchase in the next two or three weeks. If you'd like to reserve your copy today, click below

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=53498&ProductID=3591103

Or if you have not yet signed up for my free newsletter Work IT! Tips for Workin' Your Acting Career and Your Life, do that below too so you can keep up on all of my products and classes

www.OrganizedActor.com

Wow! Long Time...

I can't believe how long it has been since I blogged. For those of you waiting on tender hooks (I'm sure) thanks for your patience. It's been a whirlwind for the last month as we've moved from Houston to Dallas to Denver. Then, without warning I took a side trip to Los Angeles. The company whisked me to the LA company of Wicked to stand by for Madame Morrible. Here's what happened...Carol Kane was on vacation. Her understudy Linda Kerns was on. And the other understudy was injured. So they wanted to make sure that there was another Morrible in the building in case (heaven forbid) something happened to Linda. The great news was....nothing happened to Linda. I did NOT go on as Morrible but I did get to perform as the Midwife for the last three shows of the week. So I guess I can now add The Los Angeles Company of Wicked to my resume. Yippee. It was actually very surreal to be peforming in the show with an entirely different company. They were wonderful to me and are a very fun company!

But I must admit, I'm glad to be back with my own peeps. In fact, I flew in just in time to perform in our Broadway Cares Benefit here in Denver. We raised over $50,000 for the organization and even sold four Wicked Walk ons. So we'll soon be hosting some new Wicked cast members. For you true Wicked officiananadoes, can you spot the winners????

We're about to have somee big cast changes to. We're saying goodbye to Josh Lamon, our incredible Boq. He will be greatly missed. We're also saying goodbye to two ensemble members (both Fiyero understudies) Geoff Packard and Kyle McDaniel. I'm looking forward to meeting the wonderful folks who will take over their roles.

I'll be better with keeping up in the future! But for now, enjoy this shot of me in the LA company with the Witches Mother Gina Starbuck (and in my very own brand new Emerald City costume oooooohhhhhh) and posing with my fellow benefit performers. We were called the Manhattones and sang give Manhattan Transfer songs in the benefit.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

A special note to all of blog readers and fans. You guys have been great to come to the stage door and visit! Thanks for all the goodies and kind words. Particularly I'd like to thank the Witches of Oz creators Aundrea and Adam. They are providing a great forum for Wicked fans to gravitate. And my interview is going to posted on their site soon.

One of the things they did ask me was "What is appropriate fan etiquette in terms of meeting cast members?" I thought this was a great question and one that I thought I'd answer here too. So here are some guidelines for meeting us.

First and foremost remember that we are people...just people. We are not the roles we play on stage. We are real people who of course appreciate kind words, but also very much appreciate our privacy and maintaining a distance from strangers.

When you're at the stage door, it is totally appropriate to ask for an autograph and even sometimes a photo. But ALWAYS ASK! Most of us are more than happy to sign things and pose for shots. We are not so happy about someone randomly clicking off the flash for 10 minutes while we sign autographs. Asking for a photo at the stage door is perfectly fine. Photographing any part of our private life including our animals, our families, etc is NOT appropriate, particularly if we then find it posted on a website.

As for gifts. It is very kind of you to use your time and money to make us things. However, we often feel badly because a lot of the stuff either doesn't reach us, or we feel badly that you've spent so much money on something for us when you don't even know us personally. I can't speak for everyone, but I would rather get a nice letter from you than a bag of chocolates. Or even better, simply email me through this blog. I try to write back to everyone who writes me.

And finally, always know that we appreciate your support and energy, but we ask that you keep everything in perspective. We are simply people who have chosen to be on stage, in front of the public eye, but we also value our privacy greatly. I hope this info is helpful.

As for happenings....Wicked's in Dallas...a perfect spot for two-steppin' which we did Sunday night. Also, this theatre and the folks who run it are so wonderful and supportive. We had a fabulous opening night party at a beautiful home on a lake...just delightful! We also said goodbye to our precious Sunny Yokoyama. She is a bright spot in our cast and will be missed greatly. Other cast changes are coming up. Those of you who are fans of Josh Lamon, be sure to catch him before he leaves June 3. In a long running show like this people come and go and it's often like losing a family member. But they all go off to do other wonderful and delightful things!!!!

Houston Happenings

One of the things I love about touring is that you get to see friends you'd never get to see otherwise. Houston presented two wonderful opportunities to catch up with old friends. I got to visit my favorite 10th grade History teacher and got to see a friend who used to be a writer in the writers organization I created with two friends of mine in NYC. It was great to catch up with these folks. I also got the chance to do another press opportunity. I was on a PBS radio station promoting the show, my job understudying and my book, The Organized Actor. It was great fun. I also won 2nd place in our Wicked poker tournament and won $75! That was cool, especially since I'd only played poker one other time. Pretty exciting! Tomorrow I'm excited to be interviewed by the folks at Witches of Oz. Be sure to visit the website to see my interview and video clip. As we gather ourselves up again to more to Dallas, we thank Houston for being so great to us! See you in Dallas.

Howdy Houston

I guess now that I'm in Houston, I need to ask "How y'all doin?" and kick my boots in the air.

Well, We're'all doin' fine down here at the Hobby center in Humid Houston. They certainly seem to be Happy people down here. Mostly, Houston is Huge and you need a full tank of gas to get from one Hill to the next, cuz there aren't none to be found. BUT, no complaints here. We're rehearsal free!!! After several weeks of rehearsals pretty much everyday...we've finally got some time to rest and relax. This morning though I did a press event with Josh Lamon (who I've already raved about in this blog). It was for one of the top radio stations in Houston where we got to meet 50 Wicked fan winners, answer questions, pose for photos, etc. It was great fun and photos will be posted soon. I love to do press events. People are always so excited to meet you and it's a chance for us as actors to say thanks to our fans and also to pass on some (hopefully) inspiration to young actors who'd like to be in Wicked. By the way, for those of you who read my blog and are indeed interested in pursing a career as an actor, can I do some shameless self promotion here and say...get my book The Organized Actor! You can find it at theatrical bookstores, universities and on my website www.organizedactor.com.

Anyway, here's a cute shot of me and Josh...more photos of the press event to come.

We've had lots of excitement at Wicked lately, with several understudies going on and doing a bang-up job of it! Coleen Sexton our Elphaba standby rocks! Geoff Packard and Marcie Dodd made their debuts as Fiyero and Nessarose respectively and Laura Woyasz went on a few times recently as Glinda. It's always fun to see understudies go on because each person brings something special to the roles. What an incredibly talented bunch of people are in this show! HOpefully soon, I'll be on as Madame Morrible too...keep checkin' back. I'll have pictures when I do go on!!!

Till next time....

Fabulous Florida

Saying good bye to sunny Tampa was no problem since we're now saying hello to Miami! Of course, you can't be in Florida and not see Mickey so I took a detour to visit DisneyWorld. Got to see Cirque de Soleil which I'd never seen before and WOW! is all I can say. The best fun though was playing miniature golf at 11:30 at night in the middle of march and not even needing a jacket. sorry for anyone reading this who is still immersed in winter. But it's hard not to gloat. We're in this fabulous new theatre...in fact Wicked is only the third show to play here so that's fun. Had lots of fun today when the automation decided not to work and Glinda's bubble was stuck on stage. So we delivered Elphaba on the ground and somehow still managed to get the green baby into the green spot light in time. It was great fun! Never a dull moment around here. Till next time....

Wicked on Ice

Just when I thought I'd heard it all...Wicked takes to the ice!! No, they are not making an ice capades version of Wicked, but it's fun to know that the University of Delaware's synchronized skating team loved Wicked so much, they design their competition routine to a Wicked medley. Now, how did I know all of this? Well, while waiting in line at the airport, a few of the girls noticed our Wicked luggage tags and starting asking questions. Then when they realized we were the cast of Wicked, the went crazy and felt it was a good omen for them to have met us, so I gave them my business card and told them to email me if they won. And low and behold...THEY WON THE BRONZE. So join me in congratulating the team on their bronze!!!! Congrats University of Delaware!!

Lots of New Stuff in Oz

Well, for those of you Wicked officianados...you're gonna see some changes the next time you see the show. This week we were in rehearsals learning a lot of new choreography, new staging and even some new lines. It gives the show a nice little lift of new things to spot. I personally am thrilled because I now get a single dance move! I get my very own Saut de basque in One Short Day. It took me 20 minutes to find out how to spell it, but I get to do one and it makes me happy! We put the changes in the show tonight and my Saut de basque was brilliant. Sheer brilliance. LOL No, all kidding aside, it was great to enact the new changes.

Still loving Florida and looking forward to moving to Miami soon too. See ya in a few!

Hello Sunny Florida

I don't mean to make anyone jealous, but oh my gosh, I was in the swimming pool at 10 a.m this morning here in sunny Florida. What a joy to basking in the warmth of summer in the middle of February. Gosh, I love touring LOL

We opened in Tampa tonight to an amazing sold out hour of 2500 screaming fans. It's so fun to be a part of such a hit show. The support the audience and the fans show us is remarkable. And for you big Wicked fans who know every line of our show, you're in for a treat in the coming weeks cuz they are making some changes to the show. So in another month or so, check us out again and see if you can find the changes and rewrites in the script! Don't worry, Elphaba will still be flying high every nigth! And hey, let's hear it for the Los Angeles company of Wicked. They had their opening night tonight! And my friend Linda Kerns (who I did Beauty and the Beast with in Los Angeles several years ago) is playing my roles in that company!What a small world.