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 ; )