It's been a while...

I know there are SO many posts like this on here, but I figured it's time to give Blogging a shot again!

So, since my last post SO much as happened. I performed on a cruise ship all year, cruised Alaska, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean, went to Tonga for Christmas, and got back to Utah in one piece to finish off my last semester at the Y.

Currently I'm in Xanadu at the Hale Center Theater in Orem, so come check that out! I'll keep posting as interesting things happen. :)

Picture from Panama

Here's the Facebook Photo Album from my Panama trip...the pictures aren't wanting to load.  If you're reading this you're probably my friend on facebook, and If not, just send me a comment.  :)

Enjoy!

Panama

Hey Guys!  Sorry its been a while since I updated, but I've just been really busy.  I will do my best to stay on track!

So I went to Panama!!  From Feb. 24th to March 8th.  It was brilliant!  Such a great experience!  My dad and I spent Thursday to Monday in Panama City.  We visited the sights in the cities, my areas in Cerro Batea, Las Lajas, Cativa, and Chorrera.  It was really great to see old friends again, and to be able to introduce them to Dad.  Some highlights include riding bikes on the Causeway, going to the Canal and the Temple, Portobelo fort, visiting Casco Viejo, el Valle de Anton, and the beach.  And of course, seeing friends, going to church in chorrera, and just being in the city!

We then headed on a plane to Bocas Del Toro.  It was pouring rain when we arrived, but luckily we had some good weather for snorkeling, swimming, and hanging on the beach.  Highlights of that included seeing dolphins in front of our hotel, snorkeling and relaxing on the Zapatilla 2 Island, relaxing and being pampered, and meeting some wonderful people at our hotel, the Dolphin Bay Hideaway.

After 3 days in Bocas, we took a bus into David, where we were able to visit Boquete (and go 4x4ing), and most importantly visit Concecion, one of my favorite areas.  Our Sunday there was very memorable, and I really really had a great time.

I know this update on Panama was so quick, but I'd be more than delighted to give more details...Just ask!  I'll post some pictures too!

San Fran LOVE!!!

I got to spend this last weekend with some WONDERFUl friends!  Max, Ashley, and Leslie came out from Utah to visit and play in San Francisco, and of course, see our wonderfully talented friend Preston Sadlier in Next to Normal!  It was a blast!  We played all day in the city, had a fun dinner, and Preson was AWESOME in his show!  Here's a video from the adventures we had!

San Fran Love

Utah!

I had the WONDERFUL opportunity to visit Utah for a weekend, and it was a BLAST!  I visited my old stomping grounds of Provo the last weekend of January.  I got to see LOADS of wonderful friends, and see some AMAZING shows!

I got to see the wonderfully talented Brownyn Tarboton as Peter Pan twice, I got to see my dear friend Cameron Asay in The Foriegner, and my wonderful friends in Contemporary Dance Theater perform Dance In Concert!

I also had the opportunity to teach the dance class at the Callbacks for the Music Dance Theater major auditions.  So much fun!  Thanks to all those who helped!

I'd also like to thank those who lent me their beds and their couches, namely Mike Hansen, Darick Pead, and Kasi French!  Love you guys!

I also had the great opportunity to see Nikki Bohne as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde!!!  On my way home from Utah I stopped in Reno and spent the night with Nikki!  She was FABULOUS!  I saw her a second time that week with my family in Redding, CA.  She really is a star, and if you have the chance to see the tour, SEE IT!  She rocks!

Well, sorry this post was so fast, I'm out of time.  Let me know if you want to see any of Peter Pan.  ;)

Pictures from NYC!!

Rockefeller Center! You can't tell from the picture, but there was ZERO visibility, meaning, we didn't get to go to the top... :(

Yup...I saw those shows... :)

How many times do you get to see Times Square like this?

Me Post-Snow Storm

Shayla Post-Snow Storm

Late night snack! Shayla, Matthew, and Me!

Kelly and I staying warm in the Mariott Lobby, waiting for N2N to start.

Late night snack with BYU friends!

At the ice rink at the Rockefeller Center!

Radio City!!

Pictures from Chicago!

Chicago Skyline!

Me in front of the Bean!!!

Beau and I ice skating in Millennium Park!

Me in front of "A Sunday Afternoon..." by Georges Seurat. Wow!!

Beau and I ad Ed Debevics!!

The Chicago Theater!!!

Shantal, Derek, and I outide of Portillos!! YUMMY!

I don't know...there was a bull...so I hopped on...

Hey! A stone from the Miraflores Locks in PANAMA!!!

Looking down from the top of Sears Tower!

NYC!!! (part 2)

Monday was fun! I decided to audition for Mary Poppins! So I grabbed my headshot and resume, my tap shoes, some dance clothes, and headed down to the Equity Dancer call at the Pearl Studios. I was pretty early, so I was high on the Non-Equity list. I ran into Alexis Smith, who totally calmed my nerves! After a LONG wait, I was finally called in to audition with a group of mostly Equity guys and just a few non-equity guys. The audition was a blast and the dance really wasn't too hard! But, as we started learning, it dawned on me...everybody in the room was buff, beautiful, and all were AMAZING dancers. I had never been to a dance call like it! I suddenly felt very small, and I got a little psyched out! So when it was finally my turn to dance (i was in the second to last group...), I kinda blanked on a few small steps...which led to me being cut. But, hey, it was a great experience! I learned a lot from that audition...things that I can't really put into words....but I think it's important for us MDT'ers to go to a major Broadway audition before we graduate, just so we can better prepare!

After my audition, I walked around Times Square a bit, and then I saw The Fantasticks! It was just perfect! So simple, yet so beautiful! Definitely one of the highlights of the trip! It was so great to see musical theater in its purest form! No spectacle, no huge effects, just actors, simple scenery, GORGEOUS music, and beautiful story! And GREAT story-telling! That night Shayla and Cy got into town, and Shayla stayed at Kara's too! It was SO fun to see her and have us all three together again!!

On Tuesday, I spent most of the day with Shayla. I did some laundry in the morning at the Laundromat...felt like a real new yorker...haha...then I met up with Shayla. We did some walking around, worked on her upcoming callback (I hope you get it suckah....), then we got us some balcony tickets for La Cage, played tourist, had dinner, then we made our way to the show. We saw La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge and Robin De Jesus!!! It was just SO SO Good!!! I loved it! Douglas Hodge was Perfection...such a fabulous actor! Robin de Jesus was SO stinkin' funny, and just brilliant. Kelsey Grammer was good! A bit flat at times, but a great job tackling the role! The Cagelles...wow...I have no words! They're dancing, singing, acting...perfect! They were just So good! I wanted to give a standing ovation after their numbers because they were just that good. The entire revival and cast was just outstanding. After the show we headed uptown in the storm to meet Cy, Matthew, Courtney, and Jeff for a little late night snack at the Manhattan Cafe. It was fun to visit, and catch up! But by the time Shayla and I got back home, we were covered in SNOW! We were pretty funny lookin!

On Wednesday, I met up with Abby and some of her friends from school to have lunch! It so good to see her! I miss her badly...sad you couldn't be there Dave!! After lunch, I met up with Matthew to try and see Time Stands Still...but since Luara Linney was out of the show for the matinee, we decided to try The Importance of Being Earnest. We were about to buy our student tickets, when the lady next to us offered us her extra tickets...her friends coulnd't show. up. Not only did she give us her tickets for FREE, but they were in the second row of the mezzanine! At the first intermission though, we moved to the second row center of the orchestra! The show was so good! The acting and direction were great! The costumes and sets gorgeous! And the Lady Bracknel...So great! After the show, I had some dinner Hailey Jones Smith and Shayla at a Thai place on 9th. It was delicious and So fun to see Hailey and catch up!

After dinner, I saw...SPIDERMAN: TURN OFF THE DARK! Let's just say it was a hott tranny mess. haha. The Book was HORRIBLE, the plot CONFUSING, the music was BORING...but the dancing was cool and energetic, the sets and the visuals were BEAUTIFUL and INNOVATIVE, and the flying was pretty darn cool...stuff you've never seen onstage before! It was just too bad that such creativity was wasted on a horrid story. STORY FIRST my friends! haha. And thus ends my rant on Spiderman.

The next day, my flight was delayed, so I went to a dance class with Shayla (Don't even worry that our teacher was a dancer in Fosse on Broadway...she's on the DVD). Then I headed to the airport. I got there a little later than planned, and couldn't board my flight. So I ended up catching a later flight. But since visibility was so low was so low and we were low on gas, so we had to BACK to Reno....ugh. Needless to day I didn't get home til 4 am.

Overall, I LOVED NYC and I can't wait to finally move there next year! Thanks to those who let me stay with them and made my trip possible!

NYC!!! (part 1)

So, continuing with my AWESOME vacation to Chicago and NYC.

So on Friday Morning, I said bye to Beau...(sad)...and snagged a taxi to the airport. Where I found out my flight was delayed by an hour. That put in me in NYC later than I wanted. So when we landed, I rushed to get my bag, rode the air train and the A train up to Kelly's Apartment on West 93rd! It was SO good to see her! But realizing it was now past 7:30, I knew I had to rush down to Times Square if I wanted to see a show. So I got to the TKTS booth and ended up buying a last minute ticket to see "Driving Miss Daisy", starring none other than Vanessa Regrave, James Earl Jones, and Boyd Gaines! It was SO good and so endearing. It was really neat to see such legends up on stage...just a few rows from me! After the show I caught up with my friend Hailey (we served in the MTC together)! I visited her apartment, went back to Kelly's to sleep, and the next morning Hailey and I went to breakfast together!

After breakfast, Kelly had to meet with the missionaries, so I went down to Steps to take a dance class. I took a Modern Dance Horton Technique Class. Crazy! Needless to say my hammies and my sides were SO sore! After class Kelly and I hit the town! Unfortunately it started snowing, which impeded out plans to go to the Top of the Rock. Boo. :( But we walked around, went to Colony Music Center, had dinner (we were served by a beautiful boy...yes...i said beautiful...owing to his PERFECT makeup!) then we went and saw Next To Normal!! Marin Mazzie and Jason Daniely were brilliant...Kyle Dean...ahhhh...there are no words...haha. But we really went to see it because my friend Paul Staroba was the associate conductor of the show, and was conducting his last night of the show! So we supported him. After the show he took us to his apartment on Roosevelt Island, and we talked and ate and laughed til the wee hours of the morning. Kelly and I had a long, but nice subway ride back home where we finally crashed.

The next day was Sunday. That meant getting up early to get in line at 9 am for a student ticket to see the final performance of A Little Night Music with Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch. Mind you...the Box office didn't open til noon. And it was FREEZING! But luckily the 5 people in front of me were very nice, we all made friends, and we held our spots for each other while one by one we warmed up in the nearby hotel lobby. Luckily I got a ticket, third row on the side! Brilliant! after I got my ticket I went to church and ended up in Jeff and Courtney Pew's Ward! It was great to see them! The show started at three, so I skipped out a bit early. It was breathtaking. Just brilliant! So perfect! The energy in that room when the stars entered was electric! And at the curtain call, none other than Mr. Stephen Sondheim himself came onstage! right by me!!! AH!!! It was awesome! After the show, I had dinner and visited with Courtney and Jeff in their apartment, then packed my things, and headed to Kara's house! It was fun to stay up and chat and catch up!

And that's it for for now! Part Two to Come!!!

Let the Adventures begin!! Chicaco!

And the great adventures of 2011 have begun! Let's begin with Chicago!

So I left San Francisco for Chicago on January 4th. It was a lovely Tuesday morning in San Fran, clear, crisp, and the Golden Gate Bridge was a lovely sight indeed. It was the opposite when I got into Chicago! It was FREEZING! The rumors are true folks...Chicago in the winter is bitter, bitter cold. Beau picked me up at the airport, we went to dinner at Ed Debevicks, which was SO much fun! The waiters there are purposefully rude to you. We were peeing our pants it was so funny! And our waitress, Flo, was just the best. That night I was so tired from travelling, we just snuggled up to a few movies, starting with Easy A, which was fabulous, and ending with The Strangers, which scared the living bejeezes out of me! Then it was bedtime, hoping that no masked people came in and killed us!

Wednesday was a really fun day! We got up, drove into the city, and just explored and had fun! We started off by walking around Chicago's beautiful theater district! Its just fabulous! I really love all the architecture, the people, the city, the parks...its just a cleaner, smaller, friendlier version of NYC. We tried to get lotto tickets for Wicked, since Beau had never seen it...we lost. So then we had some deep dish Chicago PIZZA at Giordanos, which was delicious and headed to the Art Institute of Chicago. WOW! It was such a cool museum with some AMAZING artwork from Monet, Van Gogh, and of course, the crown jewel, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island La Grande Jatte by George Seurat. Yah. I saw it. Live. In living color. I almost cried! It truly was breathtaking! I never realized the scope, detail, color, and passion that the painting encapsulates until i saw it live and up close. Wow. Mr. Seurat...you were a genius.

After the art institute we went to Millennium park, walked around, saw the Faces, the big Bean, and then we went Ice Skating! That was a blast! After Skating, we tried for the Wicked lotto one last time, but didn't win. Again. So instead we headed over to a section of town called Boystown (hehe) and we went to dinner with one of Beau's friends at a wonderful little Italian place called Soccas. After that we went home and collapsed from our fun day of adventure!

My last day in Chicago was fun! Beau had to work, so took the morning to sleep in, figure out the train system, and get myself to Downtown to explore. Well, I cut it kinda close, and my cab driver didn't know where the station was, so I missed the train, by seconds! And the next one didn't come for two hours! So there I was stuck in the middle of the mid west. Luckily Beau came and picked me up and lent me his car to go to the city with, and he went back to work. When I got in the city, I took a bus tour of the city. I was the only one on the tour. Chicago is such a beautiful and wonderful city. It was fun to see the sights and where Oprah lives. haha After that I went up the Sears Tower, and WOW! That was beautiful. And i walked out into a glass box that hung over the ledge. Crazy. After that I met up with Shantal from Dancers' Company and her hubby, and we walked up the magnificent mile, including the Chicago Sun Times building with rocks from all over the world, and dinner with Chicago dogs and Italian beef sandwiches.

The next day was time to leave. I was kinda sad to leave, but really excited for NYC. I love you BEAU! Thanks so much for hosting me and I really hope I get to see you soon!!!

Pictures to come soon!!

December

A quick update! I survived the semester! YAY! And passed pretty well with my classes! Finals kicked my trash! I was definitely in the Library WAY too much. I also moved out of my apartment, but haven't been able to sell my contract yet, so if you know anyone who needs one, let me know!

The weather was really bad over Tahoe and I-80 coming home, so I had to drive home through Vegas. The snow from Provo to St. George was HORRIBLE. Almost just as bad as the blizzard I wrecked my car in driving down to St. George. All in all it took 16 hours to get home. It was a horrid drive. The week before Christmas was spent shopping, shopping, and more shopping! I ended up getting a lot of new clothes for me too, since I haven't really done some major shopping since before my mission.

Christmas was nice. We spent it at home in our PJ's all day. We haven't done that in a really long time, so that was nice. Right now we're in Eureka. We brought Nanny home. And we'll be coming home Friday. Next week I head to NYC and my adventures of 2011 will BEGIN! I also will be starting to work out...and I mean MAJOR workout with a trainer next year before my cruise. So I will be blogging about that too.

In other fun news, I just got an email from Panama. It was a scanned hand-written letter from Hermana Melida. She's a sweet little lady from Panama. She lives in Colon, my third area on the mission. She's extremely physically disabled, but that doesn't stop her from teaching, knitting, and living a full life. She's amazing. And receiving a letter from her saying how much she loves me and remembers me, even though I only served in that Area for one transfer is the BEST Christmas present I could get.

Happy New Year To ALL! Stay tuned for the adventures of 2011.

Tis the Season....

One of my favorite Christmas things is the Nutcracker! I LOVE the music, I love the story, and I LOVE to watch a good dance performance of it! However, my new favorite version is not your classic Nutcracker, nor is it even Ballet.

Its Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! Oh. My. Cow. Its SO good!

I wish I could take a few years of my life, seriously train only in dance, be hired by Matthew Bourne to dance for his company New Adventures, and be in his performances, like the Nutcracker. He's also created an all dance version of Edward Scissorhands, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and MORE! I'm kinda obsessed with him!

If you haven't seen his version of The Nutcracker, please do yourself the favor and do so! Its on DVD! Here's a trailer for it!

New Directions!

If you haven't noticed (or maybe you did...), I changed the title of my blog! And if you haven't read it for a while, I have a new template too! Why might I do all this you might ask? Well, let me answer...

The year 2011 is going to be a year full of new experiences, travels, and adventures galore! So I'm making sure you all can follow me on my adventures throughout the year. I'll be posting regularly (hopefully weekly if not more). Now I know what you all are thinking..."How many times has he said that he'll post on a regular business and he never does?"

Don't worry, this time, I'm serious!

Please comment, read, and share whatever you want with me. I'll hopefully be posting insights I'll be learning (personal, spiritual, etc.) and I would love to do the same!

This year will be including a year off of school, NYC, Chicago, Panama, Alaska, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Caribbean, a cruise ship, Tonga, and much MUCH more! So see if you can keep up with me! Cause I'm going to be living my life LIVE and in LIVING COLOR! Life wasn't meant to be lived in Black and White. So without further adieu, HERE WE GO!

Update

So, I've been UBER busy this month. October really flew by. And as such, I have not had time to come on here and update my blog.

I guess the first item of news is that I decided to take the cruise. I will be sailing on the mrs. Westerdam from May through December. Come visit me! As such, I'll be taking the next semester off and living at home for a while. That should be nice.

Drowsy Chaperone is still playing and its a BLAST! Don't miss it! I still haven't gone on for the Man in the Chair, but maybe one day...and maybe never. But nonetheless I love the cast, I love the show, and its so much fun.

This week/month have been killer in school. Assignments, midterms, my show, rehearsals, etc. have been eating away at me. I feel like I'm either in a class, at my show, or in the Library. I don't really have much free time right now. I guess that can be a good thing. I just need this week to be over. :)

Besides that, I'm alive, and I'm here, and I'm just keepin' on keepin' on. I'd love any support you can give me...text, email, fb, comments on here. If anyone even reads this. HAHA

Bittersweet.

That is how I'm kinda feeling about life right now. "Life," as the Drowsy Chaperone says, "Is a MAD whirlwind." And I feel like this phrase is very much true for my life right now. So much has been happening in the last month in a half with my personal life, my acting life, my school life, and my family life. I feel like I can't quite keep up with it.

I'm kinda having one of those "I hate my life/I LOVE my life" days. I feel so overwhelmed with schoolwork, performances, a cruise ship contract offer, and various personal issues. And yet at the same time, I am loving my life and I feel so blessed! I'm talented, I'm smart (sometimes), I go to college, I got a contract offer to perform on a cruise ship, I have food every day, a car, a loving family, etc.

So I guess the point of all this is to just say that, like my blog title says, I'm ALIVE! I'm HERE! I'm living a FULL spectrum of things in my life. And I'm trying to be grateful for all that life is dishing to me right now.

Decision Time

So, I got an email last night from the casting director at Stiletto Entertainment. I auditioned for them back in February and was put on their hiring list. They have now offered me a contract to perform on the Holland America liner the ms Westerdam from March to December. I don't know what to do. I'd love your opinions as a comment, email, or on FB.

PROS:

1. Money: I could make about $21,000 from this experience, and maybe walk away with about $19,000. That means when I move to NYC, I'll have about $24,000 to have at my disposal.

2. Get out of Utah and BYU for a while! I love it and all, but a break would be nice. Part of that would be spent at home in Cali for December through March when I leave. So that means family time and possibly performing in "Assassins" at the 6th Street Playhouse. Plus saving money on living expenses.

3. I could do my three remaining GE's during this time online, meaning that when I finally do come back to BYU for my final semester, I won't have to worry about them. I could simply focus on my MDT classes and do Showcase!

4. The Boat goes through the Caribbean, PANAMA (my mission), and Alaska! Nice!

5. Be one year older and wiser (and buffer!) before I jump into the NYC world of theater.

CONS:

1. Staying active with church. How do you do that on a cruise ship? I'm still trying to find out how often we port and how often and for how long we're off the ship for. If we port on a Sunday, I could easily find a church. And on any other day, I could try for a temple trip, like in Panama! But there's definitely the church issue.

2. I wouldn't graduate this year. I would graduate next year (2012). Will that really affect me? (NYC will always be there...I'd rather cruise now and then go to NYC rather than do Senior Showcase and then leave NYC to do a cruise...looks bad.)

3. A Cruise Ship show...not totally productive to learning more about my future career in the theater, but still, its a job.

Thoughts people? I'd love your opinions! Thanks!

Busy Busy

Well this weekend was CRAZY! We had rehearsals all weekend. Friday night went pretty smoothly, but Saturday was ALL day and Crazy! It all started with Delaney falling into one of the trap doors in the opening number of the first run. Luckily she literally jumped right into it doing choreography and Taylor was there to break her fall. He wasn't hurt and she only had to go get stitches in her shin. Besides that the runs went well and things are slowly coming together! And we open on TUESDAY! CRAZY!

I spent the weekend with Greg and Kasi for conference. It was a lovely Sunday. I loved going to the afternoon session and sharing rice krispy treats with them and listening to the wonderful and inspiring messages from living Prophets and Apostles.

Now onto a crazy opening week!! And a Bio Midterm. ugh. not the week for this!

The Drowsy Chaperone!

I can't Believe I haven't posted this yet! I'm in the Drowsy Chaperone at the Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley City in SLC. :) Come see it! The show is going to rock! And honestly, the tickets are already selling out! So get your tickets now! I'm in the TThS cast! :)

To buy tickets online, click here or call 801-984-9000.

Here's a video of rehearsal!

COME SEE IT!

I'm Here

So, its Monday night. I got done with rehearsal early, went and said bye to Matty, and then came home. Instead of doing homework or going to bed, what do I do? I watch a movie...naturally.

But not just any movie. I watched The Color Purple.

All I can say is WOW! What a powerful movie and a powerful story. I'd never seen it before. I saw the musical right off of my mission...but I didn't enjoy it very much for some reason...I think I would enjoy it more now that I know more about it and I've seen the movie.

I have no words. I was in tears. Such a great message about love and forgiveness and persevering. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it!

So...I know I'm horrible at this but...

I really should be updating this more often. I keep looking at my friend's blogs and I realize that this could be a good place to reflect and muse on things happening in my life.

So, Jackson ended. It was great. I miss my friends from there. I learned and went through a lot. Now I'm back in Provo at the B Y of U and its good to me so far. I've been in rehearsals for the Drowsy Chaperone all month, which opens on the 5th of October! You won't want to miss this show! The cast is fabulous and the show is so great! I hope you can all come see it! I'm in the TThS cast!

Besides that school is kicking my trash this year. Tons of school work and not enough time to do it. But I must graduate in April. That's the goal!

For now, that's all, because I need to go to bed, but I'll do my best to keep this updated.