Attending tales

Just home from auditions. I did really really well. Ive never felt so good. Call backs May 16. Im not expecting one as my voice is not really suited to any of the leads, but I am hoping for chorus.

Costumes

Joesph



scarf for dress



together, hanging


I found this at Salvation Army for 17.99. It is handmade of Indian Silk.


Cats



the body suit was 22 and the cat accessories were 16, but so worth it.

Now I have to find one for JCS, one for Evita and one for Phantom. God help me finding a masquerade dress...a black and white one. Ugh lol

Holy wow its been forever

Hi all!
Im so sorry I havent been posting lately, Im so busy its disgusting.

So, to catch you up:
We're now entirely through the staging of "Beanos Aires"(awesome song), "Dont Cry for me Argentina", "A New Argentina", and "Masquerade".

I love the "Dont Cry For Me.../A New..." scene. It pulls at my heart strings and Ive never seen Evita.(Ok so I saw five minutes of it, decided I HATE Madonna, and shut it off)

I realised the other day that we only have twoish months left!! AHHHH!!!!!Im so excited. I still havent rehearsed my solo(whats the buzz?) with the cast, only at home or by myself before everyone else shows up.

My Sweeney audition is fast approaching. Im nervous that Im not more nervous.
Ive wanted to do this show my whole life. I dont care what I get(I want the beggar woman/Lucy) as long as I get in. Its Mothers Day at 130 pm. Snaps for me ok?

And my Mom bought tickets for me and one of my friends to go see Lion King when it comes in July!! WOO!! Im really interested in the costumes/lighting/staging/makeup

Fringe is looming, I love theatre festivals!! I think Im just going to be an audience member this year...unless Josh needs help with a show again.
xoxo
B

Stuff!

Firstly, I had an AWESOME birthday at rehearsal yesterday! Thanks Guys(again).

We worked on the final medley(which is epic! Ever thought about music of the night crossing into Go Go Joe? Me neither!) "Superstar", my buddy ryan(Judas) is doing so well with that role, We just have to teach him to "rock it up" a bit. Hes too classical at the moment. He takes opera, thats why. Thats also the reason he has the range for the song, so thank you, opera!!

We ran through Jellicle cats like 5 times.

They sang happy birthday, we ate cake...I even got a birthday kiss!(nice, strange, but nice)

which brings me to a point (which was also mentioned in Charactress)

SAY NO TO SHOWMANCES!!!
they dont work no matter who they are with.

In my case Im lucky, he feels for me and I dont feel for him, so I can brush him off easy enough. Sometimes its tough though. The biggest show crush/thing I ever had was when I was 14 or so...

Hes still one of my best friends and he lives right near me. We do shows together every summer. Have we ever had a relationship? No. Do I still want one? NO! It would totally ruin every dynamic he and I have had for the past while. Not to mention we have all the same friends so the whole split thing would happen.


The only one wanting a showmance is his mom. She still asks me when Im going to give in and just marry her son. I love that woman, she makes me laugh

In semi related news:
My friend badgered me to start a youtube channel and my first vid is up. Ill update it as regularily as I can and I will try to get some numbers from my shows up there too, so you dont just have to look at me and listen to me sing accapella all the time cause thats well...boring.

http://www.youtube.com/Kirabella1588

Ciao!
B
xox

Schedules!

This has just been emailed to me by my director

Monday: Stage/choreo “Buenos Aires” and if time permits, “Another Suitcase in Another Hall”
Wednesday: Learn/Sing “Light at the End of the Tunnel” (this also happens to be my 21st birthday)
Thursday: Stage/choreo “Masquerade”

woo!!!
xoxxo
Bella

Solos:

I got cast with a partial solo(apostle) in Whats the Buzz from Jesus Christ Superstar.

Its small, but the song is from one of my favorite shows(Top 3 for sure). & you know what they say, there are no small parts, only small actors.

Its a let down to some point because I feel like I did really well with I Dont Know how to Love Him, but seeing who was cast, I assume she cast according to ethnicity(Im nothing like Mary in that way), therefore I think she made the right choice. Shes got a really nice timbre to her voice.
Thats all for now...
Bella

So...

Hey all! Its been a while! Ive been all over the place lately. We've been working our asses off at rehearsals, we finished staging the first number last night. Tonight we work on something different. Ive been rather preoccupied with my looming sweeney audition(which is May 3 at 130) Im going for Lucy/Beggar Woman. We'll see what happens.

I love our Joesph Medley, its very Go-Go Dancing ish(as it should be...thats the way it was in the original show)

on a side note:
My lovely friend and fellow theatre performer posted a blog of theatre rules and generalisatioins over at her blog Charactress. To add my own twist to that:

DO NOT direct unless you are the director. Its fine to offer assistance and constructive points but do not just volunteer yourself to actually teach staging to the other cast members. They are responsible for thier own. If they have questions, they should know enough to ask thier superior(music/dance/artistic director) what they should be doing. If they dont, thats thier own fault and the director will probably notice and correct them anyway. Ok? Ok!

xoxo
Bella

So you want to be a Broadway star?

Im not kidding, this is one of the few things that I REALLY REALLY want. Those people who say they'd do anything for _______? They dont know anything about what I feel.

Life for a disabled wanna be broadway star= twice as hard as the regular wanna be broadway star. I know I have talent. But not in all three. Im a singer above all else, an actor because I have to be, and I can keep time with my feet. I cant dance, at all. I can try, and I can fake it til I make it. I know all the terms, but I cant do it. And thats cold hard fact. Ive never pretended Im good at dancing either. But I dont care what you say, if Im in the studio 3 nights a week with dance shoes on my feet and something playing on the stereo as I atempt timesteps and buffalos, Im a dancer.

I live and breathe theatre. Its not something I do for fun. I do it because I cant live without it. I breathe time signatures and staging and characterization and spots. Costumes, makeup. Even when Im not, Im always on stage. Theatre is all I have, its in my soul. Its my LIFE.

The first time I went to NY, I stayed in the city for two days. Ive never been so in love with anything as I was with that city. Walking into the Nederlander, it was all I could do to get to my seat before I started crying. It felt so good to be in a place where the magic happens, as it were.

When I auditioned for schools, I didnt get into any. I was crushed. I mean, cant get out of bed, cant eat, cant sleep, cry when I open my mouth crushed. I can guarantee you it was because I dont dance well. And thats fine with me, now. I did my best with what I had at the time. It hurts more than anything in the world to be rejected for something youve wanted your whole life. I wont lie. Yes, I thought I was dying. I remember exactly what was going on the day I got my letter. Dad called me upstairs cause he had brought in the mail. On top was a white envelope with blue lettering. I snatched it up and ran back downstairs. Sitting crosslegged on my beige carpeting floor, I let the letter sit there. Because, deep down, I knew what was coming and I didnt want it to happen. Nonetheless; with Dr. Phil spewing monotones in the background, I opened the last of 5 rejection letters. It was dated valentines day. How nice. Happy Valentines Day!! They regretted to inform me that I wasnt accepted into the program. I didnt cry, I couldnt think. My whole life hinged on whether or not I got into school. There was (and still is) no back up plan for me. All or nothing. What was happening? 3 years later, Im back at the top of my game. But it took me a long while to get here. I did as little theatre as I have ever done for a year. Now, Im with a theatre company that I adore. None of us get paid, and we dont pretend we are patti lupones or colm wilkinsons either. We do it for the love of the show. Then we go back to our dayjobs. Joy.

I dont want a day job anymore. I want an all the time job. I want to wake up knowing I have to get to the theatre for our first readthrough etc. All I want is to be onstage at the Nederlander, Gershwin, Rialto, Winter Garden....instead of in the audience. I will find a way.

First I have to find a way to get into a school. One thats going to be willing to believe in me as much as I want to. Thats right, I dont always believe in myself but I always want to. I know all my theatre backwards, forwards, inside out and upside down. Im going to audition for theatre schools again next spring. Will they accept me? I dont know. Its a possibility, its also a possibility they wont. If they dont, Im moving to NYC and going to auditions anyway.

Adam Pascal didnt go to theatre school ;)


This begs the question...or maybe I beg the question : Must you be an excellent dancer to make it on Broadway?

I guess this depends on who you get your answer from. Mine is no, you dont.
Cause I can name shows that dont have dancing in them, or non dancing characters. All of which have either been successful, or should have been so.

Watch out, here I come.
♥
Bella

When you see my face, hope it gives you hell.

First of all, I have to say. RIP Jim Bird. You inspired me deeply, you made me smile and Ill always miss you, as will everyone else ♥

Tonight was a tough rehearsal. With Jim gone, it was like a light went out in the city, and it sucks. But the show(or rehearsals) must go on.

We worked on the final medley(damn its gonna be cool) and New Argentina. Chorally, we're way ahead of the game. Staging starts Monday.

Sweeney audition last week of april.

♥
Bella

ps. broken toe and bruised tailbones make for a rough week...

Last night

We got the music for the final medley. EEP! :) we start staging monday. Tonight is kareoke again after rehearsals

xox
Bella

Rocky Pictures!!!

My magenta face/hair


costume(mirror picture, I know)




CAST MEMBER PICTURES. (Night 2)


Bella et Magenta


Bella et Riff Raff



Bella et Transelvanian/Dr. Scott



Bella et ROCKY!(MMMMMM)


Bella et Brad Majors(aka superman and superfangirl....he was so sweet. I love you asshole ♥)

I am the starlight!!

Tonight was interesting. We got Sunset Boulevard and Starlight Express/I am the starlight.

Ugh starlight.
The music is AMAZING
the storyline is sooooo stupid. We're not 2. Think Thomas the Tank Engine the Musical. Sick.

Other than that, Im getting super stoked for my sweeney audition, as is my buddy wayne, whos coming with me...

In other news
I cant stop listening to the tracks of my tears...so pretttyyyyyyy.

Your Candles' out

Yes I realise this post was supposed to be about rocky. But, I have nothing to say about rocky except it was awesome, Frank was no Tim Curry, and Im going again on Tuesday...maybe.

As you know from previous posts, Ive had a long running love affair with theatre. In my 15 years of pure unabashed enjoyment, there arent many musicals I dislike. When I was 8, RENT came out. This put my love for theatre into a whole other stratosphere. It made me laugh(MOOO WITH ME!!!!!!) and cry(THATS NO WAY TO SEND A BOY TO MEET HIS MAKER!) and dance and sing and shout and scream.

Again, when a person is younger, they dont think of futures and cant do's. There is only want and here and now. When Rent came out, I thought of myself as completely normal, I had no troubles, people just made fun of me cause I fell alot. The reality of Cerebral Palsy hadnt hit me yet. All I knew was that I NEEDED to be in RENT. I didnt care how or what, but I needed to be in that show.

As I went on and my disability progressed, I realised that the reality of me being anywhere close to good enough to be in RENT was slim to nil. So, I threw myself into choirs and rock bands and other things, and musicals; RENT particularily, went on the back burner.

In 2007 I lost a really good friend of mine. He was murdered. It took me months to come to terms with the fact that he was gone. When I was told he had passed on, I didnt cry, I wasnt even thinking, but I did dig out my soundtrack to RENT. I put it on and shut myself off from everything and everyone. It was then that I realised why this musical was written and so graciously given to all of us. We all have things we need closure from. It still took me months to come to terms with the fact that he was taken from me so brutally and abruptly, I still called his phone everyday expecting him to pick up. But, RENT taught me how to say goodbye love.

In 2008, yet another loss was thrown at me. One of my best friends from high school crashed her car and died instantly. On my opening night. What did I do? I turned the closet into my dressing room for that evening and blasted RENT. I went through with the show, and the entire run.

2008 was one of the toughest years but also one of the best. Two friends were gone, two family members diagnosed with cancer, my best friend in the entire world was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. I also got to go to NYC for the first time. My first show of my two days in the city was RENT. ive never been so effected by live theatre in my life. I swear, I could feel both of my dear friends in that room with me. I cried the whole show. Id waited so long to see it(everytime it came to my town on tour I was busy..and the movie just isnt the same, though its great too) I have no words for it, even still. I walked out of there with tears streaming down my face and singing out tonight at the top of my lungs. One of the final cast members was in the alley and heard me, he said I had a great voice and should consider auditioning some day. (You can see him in the final cast DVD thats out, every time I watch it it makes me smile)

I was back to thinking again "Should I audition? How do I go about auditioning? Will they take me when I have such an obvious impediment?"

I dont know the answers to any of these questions.

What I do know is this:
*I am a theatre person, a performer, a lover of all things theatrical and I have always fought for what I wanted.

*In the past couple months, my condition has worsened. There are days now where it hurts to walk, Im on anti inflammatory pills for the pain and will probably have to be put in a foot brace.

*In ten years time, I will most likely be wheel chair bound.

*I have to do as much theatre as I can, and right now.

*I have to be in Rent, so I can have my chance to say goodbye love.

*Nothing about life scares me anymore. I will take what comes as it chooses to, and I roll with the punches no matter how much they blacken my face.

*When I try out, whether I get cast or not, everything will always be RENT.


--

Ciao bellas...

Touch a touch a touch me....

so, in half an hours time, Ill be leaving for The Rocky Horror Show. As I am writing to you, Im sitting in my basement in a french maids costume with a killer wig on and keeping myself busy so as not to itch at my fishnets.


IM SO SO EXCITED. Ive loved rocky since I was a kid and this is my first time seeing it live. My first crush was tim curry....





I hope the actor that plays my Frankie is half as hot and well acted.
I hope thier all nice...
AHHH.
LOL

Here is what the original magenta looked like


and here is what I look like as her

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=63685424&albumID=2509422&imageID=38993051
Ciao Bellas!

Wild and Untamed Things, we are bees with deadly stings..

So, Im going to see The Rocky Horror Show tommorrow. Im so excited. I cant wait to see what they do with it.
And yes, its the dress up show
& yes...I have a costume(Magenta ala French Maid.) Ill post pictures afterwards!

The Winner Takes it All

Alright! Youll have to excuse the late post, I was a baaaad girl last night and went to the kareoke bar with friends after rehearsal. ;)

Anywhoo...
Yesternight we blasted through the songs we have already learned plus the solos we had each been given to audition for(most of us got two)
so basically, we did:
Jellicle Cats
Memory
Mr Mistoffeles(holy cow thats gonna be an awesome number!! AHH I cant wait!)
Superstar
Gethsemane
Whats the buzz(with Jesus solo/with our musical director singing the last bar to lead us in)
Pumping Iron
Joe Medley
Masquerade
Music of the Night
POTO(theres one girl in the troupe thats definately gonna be Christine! She can hit the B without any lead in, youre just like yo, hit a B for me, and she DOES.)
Think of Me
All I Ask of You

Buenos Aries(LOVE this song)
& A New Argentina(this one is so hard on the voice after everything else lol, it almost makes me want to request a song order change

Auditions are Monday and Im so stoked!!!

I did winner takes it all (Abba/Mama Mia) and 18 and Life(Skid Row) at the dive bar. It was great.

I walked in the door and the DJ came over and was like OMG!!! HI BABY!! *gives bear hug* I was like OH! hello!!(Id never seen him before lol!) how are you?! he goes. baby if I were any better Id be you. I was like, awesome! I dont know what that means but Ill take it! He was like haha we're gonna have fun, your shirt is hot.(Aerosmith '93 get a grip tour af1 member shirt that I LOVE, because aerosmith is my number 1 band ever. mmmmm)
so, I get onstage first

I wish I had a recording of the audience reaction to me doing 18 and life, cause it was priceless. They were either mouths on the floor or screaming thier heads off. Glorious! Oh how I love hair metal.

tehehe.
OH! and my music director helped me pick a song for my sweeney audition, but more on that as it gets closer. Now Im off to practice.
Ciao Bellas!!

Hey World! Here I Am!!

Hi! So I just got home from rehearsal, and saw a post on a message board about theatre experience blogging. So here I am! Yippeee!

Alright, I have to 'splain a few things here. Im out of highschool, and have been for almost 3 years now. I went to a Performing Arts school. I was in 3 chiors, 2 dramas and musical theatre, as well as stage managing, playwrights, and costuming. I guess you could say Ive been around. I also have something called cerebral palsy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_Palsy

What this means in most basic terms, is Im forced to do everything a little differently. I dance, and walk differently, I write differently. I type differently. I did speak differently but a good many years of speech therapy fixed that. YAY! I learned from an early age that I could sing, and honed that talent, what little of it there was into something more. When I was five, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat came to town. Yes, I saw it with Donny Osmond. Love at first spotlight. When youre five, you dont think about can and cant do's, or futures, or cause and effect that actions might have on yourself or other people. You just stare, and hope and wish and dream. I saw Joesph that day and something inside me came alive. I had to be on stage. I had to do musicals. I WOULD be in an Andrew Lloyd Webber show someday. Through many years of summer camp, school shows, community theatre and the like, eventually I came to terms with the fact that I am a "working actress" Though acting is not what I do to pay bills, it is what I do.

Unfortunately, having CP often gets in the way of having a theatrical life. I cant feel my feet most of the time. I limp. My hands shake, my knee gives out whenever it wants. I cant dance though I do have rhythm and I can stay in time. Throw me in the back and Im cool. There is so much more I could do if I were given a shot, and one day, I promise you, I will be known. Im determined to prove that if I can do it so can anyone else.

Anyway, this is a theatre experience blog right? So lets move onto the theatre experiences! Right now, Im in an Andrew Lloyd Webber(!! See? Told you I would! HA!) revue style show titled Music of the Night. And I think, besides The Wiz, its my favorite show. Its just a kick ass time!!

Song List

Jellicle Cats

Memory

Mr Mistoffeles

Superstar

Gethsemane

Whats the Buzz?

I Dont Know How to Love Him

Starlight Express/I Am The Starlight

Pumping Iron

Only You

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Joesph Medley which includes:

Prolougue

Jacob and Sons

Any Dream Will Do

Poor Poor Joesph

One More Angel in Heaven

Close Every Door

Go Go Joesph

Joesph's Coat

Masquerade

Music of the Night

Phantom of the Opera

Think of Me

All I Ask of You

Masquerade (Reprise)

Buenos Aries

Another Suitcase in Another Hall

Night of a Thousand Stars

Dont Cry for Me Argentina

A New Argentina

Unexpected Song

Sunset Boulevard

With One Look

Final Medley which includes

Jellicle Cats

Jesus Christ Superstar

Go Go Joesph

Phantom of the Opera

Beunos Aries

=)

Im super ridiculous excited!

I have rehearsals Mondays Wednesdays and Thursdays, so Ill probably be posting then. I am auditioning for solos I dont know how to love him and memory, so we'll see what comes of it.

Ciao bella's!!