Remember that time when I wrote a blog about High Fidelity and tried to catch the attention of Tom Kitt and Amanda Green? Well, tom didn't see the blog but he was aware that I performed in High Fidelity this summer. I'll take it.

Today was the first day of rehearsal! It's been four months and ten days since I got the call and now it has begun. I stayed up much later than I should have last night watching the show. I'd never seen it before, so I thought it would have been a good idea to familiarize myself with more than just what's available from bootleg clips on youtube. What a cool show. The visuals are pretty incredible and the vocal arrangements are stunning. I can't wait to really get into it and feel it for myself.

We started off the day by having an equity meeting. I'm on my way, ladies and gents! In just a few months I'll be an official member of the Actors Equity Association. There were four other people in the cast who were also non-equity, so I imagine it was an especially exciting day for the five of us. When that was all taken care of our choreographer, Steven, led us in an exercise that helped us to learn and remember each others names as well as warm up our bodies. After that we did some core work, crunches and things like that. I had forgotten to put my rehearsal clothes in my bag this morning so I had to do it all in my jeans, boots, and long sleeve shirt. Luckily it wasn't as intense as I was mentally prepared for. I assure you it will get crazy, but it's nice that we had today to kind of ease us into it. We were also given about five minutes to listen to a song and come up with an 8-count, then were put into groups of four and put our moves together. We think some of these moves may be incorporated into the choreography, that's how they came up with some of the original stuff. I guess we'll see.

After about two hours with Steven we went into the adjacent room to work on music with Tom and Jared, the music director. Got through American Idiot, most of 21 Guns, and some of Last Night On Earth. Everyone sounds incredible together, there are so many fantastic voices in the cast. I can't help but smile when we get to the really powerful moments of the songs. Wow.

The day ended with a meet and greet with everyone involved with the show. Fun fact: Tom Hulce, one of our producers, was Mozart in the movie Amadeus. He was also the speaking and singing voice of Quasimodo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. True story. Billie Joe Armstrong wasn't able to be there but Michael Mayer, our director, said he sends his love and is very excited. He'll meet up with us at some point. Maybe even perform with us? I'm not making any promises, and nothing's been announced but..... I'm just sayin.

Time to work on my music and pack up my bag for tomorrow. I'm an positive that it's going to be intense and I will not be forgetting workout clothes again.

Ps. Here's a clip of us singing Good Riddance and the airport.

Fingers Crossed For A Google Alert

Long time no post! I do have a specific reason for posting right now but I'll get to that in a minute. First and foremost, updates...

What have I been up to this summer, you ask? Oh you know, this and that. Lots of barbecues, a swimming pool or two, and a few choice performances. I did a couple of sets for a jazz night that a friend put together every few weeks in Hollywood. I'd never done something like that before, and it's not often I get to sing jazz and bluesy stuff, so it was neat to just be able to sing whatever I wanted for 25 minutes. The same friend who put all that together also decided to start doing Broadway Surprise Nights where he's get a bunch of his friends - stars of the stage and screen - together to do a one or two night singing performance of a Broadway show. the first one was City Of Angels where I sang songs of the Angel City Four and Gabby. The second Broadway Surprise Night was Chicago and I had the pleasure of singing Velma's part, along side the lovely and talented Chryssie Whitehead as Roxie.

Sadly, the restaurant was sold and we don't know what's going in next, but we're all hoping it will be something that will allow and be conducive to the performances we were doing before. We brought a lot of people, and it was really fun!

I got an email not too long ago from the American Idiot people asking if the actors who will do the flying in the show are available in early November for a week or so of FOY rehearsal in Las Vegas. That means I'd be leaving in less than two months. It also means that I'd be going to Vegas for the first time. Well, I have been once before but I think I was nine years old so that didn't really count. And come to think of it, this won't really count in the way that it does for most people. I don't like to go too crazy when I'm doing a show, especially something this big, and that's kind of what Vegas is about. Oh and... that ALSO means I know of a couple other people in the cast! Their names were included in the email. But sorry, I'm keeping that info to myself for now. If they haven't spilled the beans yet, I'm not going to be the one to spoil it.

This coming Monday I will perform in my first staged reading with Musical Theatre Guild. It's their season opener High Fidelity (music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Amanda Green) and I'll be playing Penny. If you've seen the movie or read the book (or even seen the musical), she's the ex-girlfriend who wouldn't let the main character feel her up in high school, so he breaks up with her and finds out that soon after, she slept with someone else. No one sure why the show ran for only 14 performances on Broadway - the script is hilarious and real, and Tom Kitt's and Amanda Green's music and lyrics are absolutely perfect and a blast to sing. Yes, I did just mention both of them twice. Well, word is that they're in LA right now for the Bring It On musical, and I'm hoping that if either of them has a google alert set up for their name, they may happen to see this and decide to come. I'm have no doubt that we can get them comp'd tickets. Shoot, they can even have mine. Plus, I got to meet Tom at the American Idiot callbacks, and will be working with him once rehearsals start up for that, so I'm not just a random person in a show he worked on, asking by way of internet for him to come see the production.... right? So here's hoping one of them has a google alert set up.... There it is, the real reason for this post.

Anyhow. We had a few hours of musical rehearsal last week, and last night we all got together for pizza and we just happened to do a read/song through. It's a short process - only 3 more rehearsals to touch up the music and do blocking - so we all have a bit of homework to do, but I was impressed with everyone in the room. There are a lot of strong voices and great characters, it's going to be a good show. Monday, September 19 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. See you there, Amanda and Tom! ;)