So This Is How The Bride Feels…

Oh, I love a good piece of clothing!

Ever since the costumer for H2$, Sue Howell, brought before me a lovely blue pin stripe 3 piece suit, I have been dreaming of how I would use pockets and how I will hold my posture. The suit pants fit nearly perfectly. The only thing that concerned me was that the crotch is a little small/tight so one of the dance moves in the “Coffee Break” number is going to be a close call. It’s a side attitude (the dance move) and I just don’t think the pants have the give or enough fabric to do it propa.

The jacket is great but a little heavy. It’s like a constant reminder to hold my shoulders back and not to slouch. Hooray! Momma would be so proud. Haha!

The vest is so cute! I can just see myself singing “Gotta stop that man/I gotta stop that man/ Cold” in it during the executive washroom scene. The problem is that it’s like half an inch from buttoning! NOoooo….I’m melting!! What a world, what a world!!

Here’s where the title comes in. You know how there’s that item, usually a dress for all my gorgeous gal pals, that you have just GOTTA fit into? I only realized this the other day this sort of obsessing over getting into that suit perfectly. And I can only equate that this is how a bride must feel. Like she has to be that perfect size whatever the dress is and that simply letting the dress out is not an option. Oh my Gaga, I hope I don’t turn into Actor-zilla!!

Ever since that tragic event (which shall henceforth forever be known as The Vesty Letdown) I have been churning that idea in my head that I MUST have this suit for the part of Bert Bratt!! I don’t know why, but the idea of dancing around in that suit vest strikes me as sexy, and I am about as sexy as a new born giraffe, so I have no explanation of why. I have made sure to hit the gym nearly every night after rehearsal, but guiltily, I didn’t charge my ipod, so that made me go straight home. Twice. But tomorrow is another day and I shall be there with a fully charged music box and ready to sweat! But what happens if I don’t get that extra inch and a half down? They don’t have another cute 3 piece suit in the costume shop. I really don’t want to wear a boring two piece. I’ve done that already. Oh no, it’s happening already! I am getting whiny!

Stop… Focus.

I simply must look good in this suit. Wait, what am I saying? I am not being irrational, but when I look at the suit (and criminy, I am kicking myself for not getting pictures) I can see my character so clearly. I guess it’s true, the clothes really do make the man.

Have you ever had a clothing item that you loved so much you had to wear it? Not only that, but wear it comfortably. Share your story in the comment section! I am curious to see if anyone else has obsessed about this too.

Baby, Baby, I got the feelin’…

James Brown’s music has always made me want to dance. It’s infused with this energy that just fills every cell in me and either I have to sing or dance. But I gotta do SOMETHING!

Similar to the energy of the late, great James Brown’s music, is that of the cast of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, hereafter to be referred to as H2$, okay? That title is just too long to keep typing.

There is a lot of talent in this cast, and I for one am very lucky to be a part of it. Everyone is nice and has a sense of humor. I haven’t come across anyone that isn’t having fun. Our J. Pierrepont Finch, played by the mischievous John Eubank is a perfect blend of smarmy and charming. They make me want to dance and sing too! If there were enough people, I would say that my character definitely wouldn’t dance.

So as I am building my character and looking through the script, I find that I want to create a super ridiculous backstory for Bert Bratt. I have a ton of ideas, and I am always reading about playing the stakes at the highest point you can, but I am beginning to wonder to myself if they are too over the top. I’m sure if they are, our director will say I need to chill.

The look of the character is a whole other beast that is developing. I am trying to figure out how to get the “look” that the staff of the show are going with, but my idea is a bit extreme when it comes to the hair. The producer wants this:

Which I love, but my hair doesn’t do that. It just physically doesn’t do it. Also, no gel that I have ever found has the cement hold I would need to maintain a well groomed look after dancing what our choreographer says will be our deaths. I believe her words were: “You are gonna die.” So in order to get that tight to the scalp look on the sides like the picture above, I offered this:

The sides and back are shaved very close to the scalp. Now, I know that the shaved look isn’t appropriate, but after a week or so, the hair will fill in and be dark enough so that you can’t tell that it’s shaved until you are close up. Sadly, my producer swears that he can get my hair to work, even though I know after YEARS of trying to do it, I can’t. But, he’s shut that idea down.

I know the stylist on Mad Men uses American Crew products, but I’ve tried that and there is no way that it’ll hold after a single dance step. Let’s see Garnier is out. Bed Head holds well, but once you start sweating, there’s trouble. D:Fi is good but once you break the style by taking off a hat, for example, you have to reapply to readjust the misplaced hair. Short Sexy Hair is great for creating a spiky look, but it flakes and breaks easily. LA Looks, yeah, I am going WAAAYYYY back. No strong enough at all. Do they even still make that stuff? My sister once got my hair to stay for about 20 minutes. Once. She used her LA Looks gel, some mousse from a white can and a ton of Aqua Net. 20 minutes for all of that. Sad days my friends, sad days.

I am toying with the idea of glasses as well. Since I have to be clean shaven, I will look all of 20 or so. How does a 20 something become the head of the Personnel department of a giant corporation that quickly? Hopefully, I can find some mature looking ones that help and not hurt my case.

Have you found a gel that can withstand a hurricane? Please let me know, cuz I’ve tried a ton of stuff to no avail, as you can see. Suggestions are highly encouraged. Does your hair not do what you tell it to? Let’s share stories. Leave a comment below.

Have a great day!!

On to the next…

It’s that time again…Yup, you guessed it, 110 shopping days til Christmas! KIDDING! Kidding! It’s time to start rehearsing for a new show!

Tonight is our first rehearsal. I finally get to meet everyone. There are some people in particular that I am SO excited to see in their roles. For example, mistress to the big wig, Hedy Le Rue will be played by the adorable Amanda Garley. She is a faboo performer and I think it was an awesome choice by the staff.

If you haven’t seen the show, a quick summary is an eager young man manipulates his way to the top of a large corporation in various ways. On that path, he must overcome a jealous rival, to be played by Brett Carlson (Yay!), deal with a love sick secretary, and best the other managers of the company. Will he do it? Can he do it? Come and see the show to find out! However, I don’t recommend the movie. There’s a lot left out, BUT you should take a peek at the Bob Fosse (my hero) choreographed “Coffee Break”. I tried to find it on Youtube really quickly, but I have to get to work.

Until next time…

Be Careful What You Wish For…

Well, I guess my “vacation” is ovah!!

Almost a month ago, I put it out there that I would love to live a more creative life.

My first step was accepting the first opportunity with an open heart and to commit to learning from that opportunity.

So, I attended a small seminar that was mainly to learn about a new way of thinking and breaking through personal subconscious barriers. The four columns that uphold this new line of thinking are quantum physics, Eastern philosophies, neuroscience and a trick or two from theatre. I am a science nerd at heart and love this sort of stuff, so if it helps with what it says it does, then great! But even if it doesn’t, I would still love to find out what these people are teaching and how these four methods are combined. There were some interesting stories that were told. My fave was about the natural mind versus the acquired mind. The natural mind is the “empty” brain that we have when we are born. The acquired mind is what we have stored in the brain through experience. They say that the majority of everything you know is learned by the time you are 7 or so. The hostess spoke of turning down more money when it was offered to her. The theory is that she had learned that she was only worth so much and wouldn’t know how to handle this new responsibility. Coincidentally, her sister was also offered a crazy good promotion and turned down the offer as well. When they finally talked about it, it turned out that both offers were much more than what their mother had made as a nurse when they were growing up. The seminar hostess made sure to tell us that both offers were made in different places and times and they hadn’t discussed it with one another at all, AND that they both talked themselves out of taking the opportunity. So the question is: is this somehow a subconscious betrayal that they’ve learned as children and did it truly affect their decision? I am so incredibly excited to be able to attend this 3day workshop at the end of the month!! What will I learn about myself that I’ve supressed? Ugh, in some ways, I don’t really want to know.

So that has become opportunity one.

Opportunity dos came in a Facebook message from the gorgeous Jillian Toby-Cummings asking if I would be interested in working on Aladdin Jr. for Theatre in the Mountains. At first, the thought terrified me. Then I thought about the seminar, so with a big inhale, I replied back saying I would be happy to do it. For a while I didn’t hear anything so I thought maybe it wasn’t going to happen. But then, I got more emails, and soon availability was talking and auditions. So now I can’t wait.

Opportunity three came via email from Nancy Kwong asking if I would be interested in being a part of the performing group at the West Valley Light Opera ERMA Awards. It’s just a song here and a dance there, so of course I’d be happy to do it. The rehearsals have been few and far between and the banquet is at the end of the month. It’s on the last day of the seminar, so I have to RUSH home and change and get to the dinner before the entertainment begins to get all situated. Boy this one is gonna be tough.

Number four: Was one that was poorly planned on my behalf. I wanted to audition for WVLO’s How To Succeed partially because I wanted to do another show, but mostly because I want to stop being so fearful at auditions. There were about a dozen auditions happening within these last two weeks that I wanted to audition for as many as I could. Turns out that the “Succeed” auditions were first. I didn’t think I was impressive in the least, but soon after the callbacks, I was being offered Bart Bratt, the Personnel Manager. Cool, but I said I’d like to get back to them because of the other auditions. The producer, Sergio Pena, is such a great guy and I get along well with him, so he made me feel like I was terrible for not doing his show. He first told me “I totally understand, what you are trying to do as far as creating a career and how it’ll affect shows, but not when it’s my show.” On top of this, he and I spoke about it over dinner one night when we were hanging out AND he said I should try to audition more outside of my little corner of comfort. So he talked me into doing the show. That clever little man! hahaha

And last but not least, number 5: I’ve been taking classes at Zohar Dance Studios for a couple of months now. I guess every year during Christmas they have a winter recital. Now I have NEVER been one to want to join in this, but the teachers are just so nice and fun and enthusiastic about teaching that when they asked me to participate I had to say yes. The number I am in is called Inner Man. It’s me and 3 other guys each trying to be the Alpha Male. The music is tribal and percussive so it’s easy to feel that sort of primal urge, but some of the movements are tricky, tricky.

I told my partner Perry this morning at breakfast: “I know I said I wanted to live this kind of a life, but I didn’t expect it all to just jump right into my lap.”

But I am ever grateful and cherishing every opportunity and moment of it.

How To Succeed…

I know that the auditions for West Valley Light Opera’s production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying are coming up, so I’ve been doing my homework. The first time that I heard the Matthew Broderick version of the show, I thought, meh.

I recently watched the movie version and was mostly creeped out rather than impressed with it. Because of this, I have to say I wasn’t really looking forward to these auditions.

So today, I reluctantly put in the newest version featuring the guy who plays Harry Potter. What’s his name again? Kidding, he’s brilliant in the show. I actually enjoyed listened to the whole show while I was doing the laundry. While I was folding away and I found that I felt lighter in foot than normal when doing such mundane chores as this.

Now don’t get me wrong, the staff that West Valley has assembled is a trio of positivity and fun. Of course that makes for some happy times to be had. When I first heard that this show was going to kick off next season, I was so happy. Then I found out the staff and I was over the moon.

So I went back to dance class, not only to work on my technique and remind myself of things, but to get my mind set ready for the audition. Can I just say that playing catch up for three different routines is not as fun as I thought the challenge of it would be. I guess I over romanticized it to myself. Don’t get me wrong as I am having a crazy good time. Seriously. My body is sore as hell and I’ve got some bruised areas, but it’s so fun, I wish I was able to have never stopped dancing.

Relearning the different weight changes for the different styles is frackin’ nuts. It took nearly half the class for me to get my hip hop swagger (yeah, right. Like I really have some.) from walking around working on my posture for the modern class.

We’ll just have to see what happens. Still can’t figure out what to sing though.

Got any suggestions for a song? Feel free to leave them in the comments section!!