radio city rockettes

this past wednesday night, my friend claire and i went to see the radio city rockette's christmas spectacular. we were so stoked when we found out that they toured to toronto. neither one of us had ever seen them live. we excitedly reminded each other all day at rehearsal that we were seeing the show that night.

let me tell you, the rockettes do not disappoint. it was everything we'd hoped it would be. precision. absolute precision. wow. we were seriously giddy all night as we watched. my two favorite numbers were the toy soldier number and the ny sightseeing number. it was absolute perfection.

claire and i decided that we're going to be rockette holiday singers when we move to ny. it's gonna happen.

...the delightful little aussie herself

here's to a fancy, festive night on the town...

the distance you have come...

"all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware." -Martin Buber

i'm getting really excited about all of the parts of the world i will see this year. i'm so passionate about traveling. i love seeing and experiencing different places and cultures. i love tasting the food, walking the streets and smelling the smells; looking at architecture, listening to the melody of the languages spoken. i love it all. travel has played a huge part in shaping me. i feel that seeing the world has opened my eyes to different ways of thinking. it's given me my sense of adventure and a passion for life, the beautiful world we live in and all that they have to offer.

i sat down today and listed all of the places i've lived and visited in my life and the new places i can add to the list during my cruising this year. here's a re-cap...

i've lived in:

utah

england

pennsylvania

ukraine

canada

states i've visited:

utah

california

nevada

oregon

idaho

montana

colorado

new mexico

massachusetts

ohio

virginia

maryland

pennsylvania

new york

new jersey

washington d.c.

florida

countries i've visited:

u.s.

canada

england

ukraine

scotland

wales

france

spain

czech republic

denmark

norway

finland

bulgaria

greece (crete, cyprus, patmos)

egypt

israel

china

hong kong

mexico

south korea

australia

new places i will visit this year:

u.s. virgin islands

british virgin islands

bahamas

caribbean

sweden

russia

italy

portugal

gibraltar

malta

tunisia (north africa)

germany

estonia

i love that this will be a year of unexpected surprises, friendships and adventure.

ode to canadia...

disney does it right, friends! i think a couple of us screamed when we got to our apartments and realized that they are private suites that look like this...

we may or may not have a complementary cleaning service once a week, a washer and dryer and (if you look closely you'll see it) a plasma screen t.v. juuust spoiled!

our building is in a part of toronto called yorkville. it's just south of the ritzy shopping/restaurant district and just north of the main/downtown shopping district (which is fun to walk through on our way to work).

the city is enchanting...

it's the perfect blend of old and quaint and contemporary chic...

littered with beautiful, historic churches reminiscent of the ones i used to see growing up in england...

the space needle and some beautiful building on the walk home from work...

there are so many beautiful little side streets around town...

and there's so much to do in the city. here's a fancy museum we walked past today...

more pictures to come, lovelies. the city is enchanting. it's like a mix between old england and a quieter, cleaner nyc. it's fun to walk through the city and take the subway every day.

i feel so lucky to be here working on such a fun project with such great people.

get out your villain umbrella...

over the course of the next 3 months, our disney magic 24 cast will be learning about 5 shows.  the show that we're currently rehearsing is a brand new disney show called "villains".  on the first day of rehearsals, we did a read-through of the show and i fell instantly in love with it!  it's a captivating, contemporary, tongue-in-cheek comedy that includes all of the most famous disney villains.  

the show was brilliantly cast with amazingly talented actors and the creative team is just ridiculously awesome.  i love what i do.

the genius  behind the show itself... the writers:  jeff bowen and hunter bell (of "title of show")

the brains behind the story-telling:  our director  allison narver

our lovely, talented choreographer karma camp

the brilliant, class-act of a musical director: ben cohn (taking a break as associate conductor for wicked in ny and simultaneously finishing orchestrations for clay aiken's new album while he's here working with us in toronto... he's kind of a big deal)

can't wait for you to visit and see the show.  you're gonna love it!

snail mail

there's something charming about getting snail mail, don't you think?

maybe it's the gesture of someone taking the time to write something by hand just for you. maybe it's the fact that it comes straight from their hands into yours... like a direct, personal connection to someone you care about who lives far away.

well, i officially live in toronto, ca now! i have a new mailbox. and a new address.

here it is...

303-11 st. joseph street

toronto, ontario

m4y3g4

if you ever get bored and feel like sending snail mail, i'd love to hear how you are!

moonstruck

as i was finishing up the last few weeks at tuacahn, i got a call asking me to be a soloist in the 2009 governor's gala.

it was a fun night.  and i can't complain about getting paid $500 to wear a ball gown, work with wonderful people and sing two songs with a live 20 piece orchestra.

i sang "memory" from cats (by my lonesome) and "loathing" from wicked with this lady...

carmen rasmusen herbert

it was a fancy affair... black tie, $500 a plate (the governor ended up raising over $1 million that night!)

a group of us backstage at the gala

with jun and alex boye (his wife gave birth to their first baby the day before the gala! congrats alex!)

with josie and nathan herbert

with gev (you might recognize him from sytycd) we spoke russian together :)

codes was at the gala at senator bennett's table!

 

and my gorgeous family came.  hot mommas!

i have to add that i got to rehearse a few times at the governor's mansion (beautiful!) and that jeanette herbert was a class act, dedicating a lot of time to be involved in the entertainment portion of the gala.  it was fun getting to know her, the governor himself and their beautiful family!

my rachy

my favorite friends are the ones that, no matter how much time has passed since we've seen each other, we can pick up right where we left off.  my friend rachael is one of those friends.  we met in high school and she and her twin katie have been two of my favorite people ever since.  the picture above is a picture taken, in high school, of rach and i in musical rehearsal.

we haven't lived anywhere near each other ever since we graduated from high school, but we've managed to see each other and catch up a handful of times here and there.  she and michael have been so great- taking time out of their busy lives to drive miles and miles just to see me perform.  this is a picture of us with my brothers and sisters at newport beach last summer.

earlier this summer i flew to nyc for a call-back.  my friend cy and i hung out in times square after a show one night and whose life-sized face should i see on a billboard?  yes, ladies and gentleman... michael rady.  rachy's michael.

michael's playing the part of jonah miller in the cw series melrose place.  i've been watching the show online and he's brilliant.  follow the show at cwtv.com

michael's character on melrose is engaged.  i think he might get a little inspiration for the role from his real engagement to rach!  aren't they adorable?

lucky guy.  look at how gorgeous rachy is on the red carpet!

my favorite thing about these two is that they are two of the most grounded, kind, salt-of-the-earth people i've ever met. rae rae and michael, i love you guys!  i've always known you were rock stars and i'm so excited that the rest of the world has discovered what i've known all along.