Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is a time of giving thanks, stuffing our faces with delicious food, and spending time with our family. It's become one of my favorite holidays, to be honest: Halloween is too spooky, so it's nice to have another, happier, cozier autumn holiday.

So, what am I thankful for this year?

-My hilarious and loving family
-Theater
-friends
-My own room
-A home
-this laptop
-My school
-clothing
-food
-Music
-My voice
-Disney
-Disneyland
-A boyfriend
-The money I have
-The opportunities I'm given
-My dreams
-My ambitions
-Pumpkin pie
-Gravy to cover up the weird taste of the way-too-smooth mashed potatoes
-Bacon
-The color purple
-The Bible
-Broadway
-hugs
-kisses
-Rain
-Kittens
-Books
-The Internet
-....college apps. It does mean I get to go to college!
-My giant teddy bear
-The quilt I haven't finished
-Shoes
-Being healthy, even though I can be a hypochondriac
-Makeup
-Hair curlers
-My lanyard for my keys (it's very unique)
-Blankets
-Tea
-Coloring books

I think the best way to close this Thanksgiving is taking advantage of those last three things :)

What are you thankful for? I hope your Thanksgiving has been happy!

Heartwarming

Some of the best moments in life are those moments that, for whatever reason, you actually feel in your heart. Those moments when you read or hear or see something sweet, and you can't help but feel that swelling of warmth in your chest and so deep in your gut, it almost brings tears.

Today was the Cast party for Beauty and the Beast, which basically wraps up the entire experience. Each of those kids, especially the smaller ones and my new friends, has always been so wonderful and sweet to me, but for some reason, I received many amazing complements tonight.

It really makes me happy to know people notice my work onstage, and care enough to share it with me.

On top of that is the sudden realization of the impact I've made in some of these kids' lives. I received several hugs, a few girls confessing I was their favorite Silly Girl, a beautiful balloon heart, ....and this note:

"Dear Rachel,

It's official! You are my FAVORITE Silly girl! You're also my favorite beautiful girl. At the dance call backs, I was alone, and then you came! <3 You were my only friend there. And when you saved my sister from getting trampled! You rescued her! Getting trampled is Allie's worst nightmare! Thank you so much for being my friend. You have an amazing voice and you're a spectacular actress! <3 A million thank you's for making this one of my favorite shows of all time! This was a classic and you made it even better! With your amazing talent this show was a blast! Everything with you is a blast! I'm so lucky to have a friend like you!
XOXO, Emily"

....This is the sweetest note I have ever received.

At any audition or callback, I usually make a point out of being social to calm mine and other people's nerves. Emily was particularly quiet at this dance callback, and wasn't around anyone, so naturally, she was my social buddy. She seemed to appreciate the company, so I decided to make a point out of remembering her name and staying around her.
She ended up being cast as a featured dancer: Perfect for her!

I don't remember when I saved her sister from being run over by the mobs of children at the studio, but I did remember Emily's name long after the callback. Throughout the show, I've gotten to spend a lot of time with her and her sister, Allie, and I've found that these girls have a beautiful, genuine sweetness about them I haven't seen in anyone for a long time.

To hear that I made such an impact on them is....inspiring and touching.

You never know how your actions can affect others. Normally, I hear that phrase when I've done something that affects others negatively, and I've heard it can be positive as well, but I never experienced it until now.

Emily, Allie, I don't know if you'll ever read this, but you girls made this show so memorable and fun for me too. Keep at your dreams: You are both princesses.

~Rachel~

Beauty and the Silly Girls

It's me again.

I've been pretty busy these past few weeks because the show I'm in, "Beauty and the Beast," opened. Well, by now we're on our last weekend, and we close tomorrow, but it's not too late to comment on it, right?

Confession: I wanted to be Belle in this show with every ounce of my gut and being. I worked on her songs, analyzed her character, practiced practiced practiced, and I thought I had an awesome shot.

I didn't even get a callback for her.

Really people? It's times like this that make me wonder why the heck I'm even in this business. Is hard work never appreciated? Are dreams just made to be crushed? What influenced this decision? My voice? My looks? My general inability to pull off a really good audition?

Anyways, I play a Silly Girl. You know, those girls that freak out over Gaston and think he's the cats pajamas in order to emphasis to the audience that Belle is really different in not wanting to marry him, as well as to provide a source of comic relief.

You know, these guys.

Except, in our show we have six instead of three. Better harmonies that way, plus it opens up more casting room for those all those Belle hopefuls who didn't make the cut.

Like me.

I mean, sure, it would be nice to be a lead. But it's Belle. She's a Disney Princess, and one of the best ones too. She's intelligent, gorgeous, perceptive, and witty. All she ever wanted was to go somewhere where she didn't feel so alone and strange. We all feel alone sometimes...

Maybe someday, I'll get the chance to be in this show again as this lovely lady. I guess I've got a lot of improvement to do before then.

Being a Silly Girl does have its perks! We six girls have really bonded over the course of the show. Every time we're onstage, we live. it. up. Plus, the Gaston we get to trip over ourselves for is a really good friend of mine. Same with his Le Fou! Both boys are super sweet, and crazy talented. I love that I'm onstage with them in all the scenes I'm in.

Speaking of Le Fou, he had a pretty big scare opening night. During the song "Gaston," he got pushed off Gaston's chair, and slid all the way over to the edge of the stage. Right over an eight-foot orchestra pit with people and instruments below him. He was on his knees, halfway off the stage, and trying to retain his balance for a few split seconds, but managed to get back up and back in character in time for his next solo. We all broke character for a bit, I do admit. It scared the living daylights out of me though!!! I'm so glad he's ok. I think he might've actually enjoyed the attention from the experience, but our Gaston felt so bad: he's the one that pushed Le Fou off the chair in that direction. For the rest of the shows, the push has been in the other direction.

Live theater: Gotta love it.

The kids that see the show are great too. Since it's a Princess story, we get a lot of little kids dressed up as Belle and just gawking at her both before and after the show. It's totally adorable and sweet.

Another Confession: I'm super jealous. But I'm sure you understand based on what I said earlier. 

......It's just so not fair.....Life isn't fair. I ought to get over it.

The leads were all very well cast for this show though. Our Mrs. Potts was my double back when I did "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," and I had no idea until now what a gorgeous voice she had. All of her solos sound perfect. Our Lumiere and Cogsworth have wonderful stage chemistry together: they're hilarious. The Beast is incredible too. Every time he comes onstage for his first scene, I just get wrapped up in what's happening and I feel like I'm watching the movie. His costume and makeup are pretty amazing too. There's a lot of intricate detail...he really looks like a different creature. 

And of course, my fellow Silly Girls are just amazing. Each one has such unique talent, and I feel really blessed to get to know them. As upset as I was (and still kinda am) about not getting the role I wanted, these girls make it worth the trouble. I guess that's why I love these shows: There's always something wonderful that comes out of them. Even the most disappointing of them.

That there is all of us together, in rainbow order of course! I'm the purple one. I really love purple. Not all of us were prepared for the camera, but hey. It's a cute shot. 

Closing show tomorrow, wish us luck!

Ahem, I mean... tell us to break a leg!!

Night Nausea News

I'm having one of those nights again....

It's 11:12, but my body is used to it being midnight, so I feel really, really sick. I'm nauseous, a little shaky, and my stomach is gurgling. It's probably all because I'm tired, but I'm emetophobic.

Emetophobia: An intense, irrational fear or anxiety pertaining to vomiting.

So naturally, I'm wide awake, freaking out, and having not only extreme tiredness symptoms, but anxiety attack symptoms too. Great.

Might as well take this opportunity to catch up on everything:

1. Halloween
Halloween happened last week! I hope yours was happy and safe! I didn't do much honestly, except my Youth Group had a Halloween hang-out where we usually meet, which was really fun! I wore an outfit representing Princess Buttercup in this fashion:

It wasn't too impressive. Basically all I did was wear a white long-sleeved shirt with a white skirt, and put a sparkly light blue and purple tank top over it. Pin a white flowy scarf to my shirt, stick on a tiara, and voila! I should've curled my hair, but oh well.

The original plan for Halloween had been to dress up as an old lady (I had a friend who was going to be an old man with me) and walk around from house to house with a door frame. Our door would have a sign that said "Knock," and when the people did, we would open the door and reverse trick or treat them: complement them on their "costumes," hand them candy, shut the door, pick the door up, and leave. Wouldn't that be awesome?! Maybe next year....

Anyways, I saw the movie "Nightmare Before Christmas" for the first time! I liked the story, but it was still pretty creepy... maybe it was just the Claymation. I'm not a claymation fan. Looking at it for too long just makes me feel sick. Not sure why..... Sally and Oogie Boogey creeped me out especially.

Ew. Gross.

2. My very last cross-country meet
Basically, I ran three miles in 26 minutes and only walked three times. I got a personal record for the course with a 2 min 36 second improvement. I feel very proud of myself. Then, since I'm a senior, I got a rose, and my coach introduced me to the other schools as the team's Disney Princess. Why yes, I did feel awesome, thank you very much.

3. Aladdin
The Junior Highers at my school performed Disney's "Aladdin Jr." for their musical this year, and a good friend of mine played Princess Jasmine. The show as a whole was absolutely ADORABLE and wonderful! As a Disney and Aladdin fan, I was thoroughly pleased.

Alas, the show had no Abu

After the show though, my Princess Jasmine friend was swarmed with a huge crowd of family, friends, and seniors that know her. I think she was quite overwhelmed.... poor thing. She was fabulous though!!!

The other characters I was super impressed with were the Genie and the Carpet. The Genie was played by this hoot of a sixth grader who just mastered Genie's attitude and joke telling. I still can't believe she's a pixie. Holy Cow.
I was told before I saw the show that the carpet was a super gymnast. I wasn't sure what to expect before the show, but man, she was. She was tumbling all over the place like a bouncy ball. Plus, she was super adorable!!!

There are so many more highlights from the show I could talk about, but my point is it was adorable, I'm super proud of the kids I knew, and I'm so grateful that our drama department has a future!!!

4. Tech Week!!!!
Tech week for the show I'm in starts TOMORROW. Yikes!!!

Well, not yet. Day one is always super boring, and by now, the only reason I look forward to going is to see who wins the Gypsy Robe Award. Otherwise, it's a safety lecture and committee meetings. Ho Hum.

The Gypsy Robe Award, by the way, is a tradition that some smaller theatre companies follow that started on Broadway. A member of the Ensemble is given a robe, and instantly becomes a good luck charm (it's good luck to hug the Gypsy Robe Winner before the show). Then, they add a patch for the show they won the award in onto the robe. It can turn out really beautiful!

Or...weird... like this one.... Your choice, really

I won the robe when I was in seventh grade for "Oliver!" My patch ended up being on the pocket of the robe, where I had a traditional picture representing the show, but there was a cord that led into the pocket attached to a wallet full of fake money and a show ticket stub. You could take the wallet in and out. If you've seen the show, you'll get this :)


5. College apps
They're stressful, they're annoying, and they're taking forever to finish. That's all.

Well... I'm feeling a little better now... maybe just because I finally got something on this website. Maybe I'm just feeling better.

I'm going to go to bed and hope that I'm not sick now... *sigh*. Phobias suck.

~Rachel~