Set Change (T'Gracie and Joe Reese) Book Review

2017 Reading Challenge

21. Set Change by T'Gracie and Joe Reese

Synopsis:

The residents of sleepy little Bay St. Lucy are thrilled to learn that a world class production of Shakespeare's Hamlet is to be done in their town. They are shocked, on the other hand, to experience the leading actor's vicious personality.
Murder will out--and it takes all of Nina Bannister's sleuthing ability to put it back in again.

My Review:

First off, I got this book because I like theatre and have acted in shows before. I am also familiar with Hamlet. 

Set in a small town, everyone is excited that there will be a professional production of Hamlet done in their community. After the production, the lead actor and celebrity is murdered and it's up to amateur sleuth Nina to figure out the case.

It was interesting to see a small community get recognition for once because they are often overlooked by big cities. Unfortunately, it got off to a slow start and I was still left unimpressed throughout the course of the book. There were several times in which I wanted to stop reading it altogether, but I like to finish what I start.

Nina definitely knew her Hamlet and a lot of the lines were used throughout the story. Honestly, I think that was overdone a little bit. I felt it took away from the premise. What I did like about this book was the ending. And not just because it meant I didn't have to read the book anymore. The pace picked up near the end of the story and it became an unexpected finish.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

~Meg~

Homicide by Hamlet (Lois Lavrisa) Book Review

2016 Reading Challenge

43. Homicide by Hamlet by Lois Lavrisa

Synopsis:

Annie Mae has one last job to do before she retires from a thirty-year career in academia: one week of summer theater camp. A camp she has worked at for so many years she could do it with her eyes closed. Easy peasy. Until a team leader is murdered and all hell breaks loose as everyone is a suspect and everyone has a secret. Will she find out the truth before she becomes the killer’s next victim? Or will death be her swan song?

My Review:

I chose this book for two reasons. First, I like mysteries and second, I like theater. Put them together and I'm sold. It seemed like a fun and light read. And I was right.

Annie Mae is working her last year as a team leader at a summer theater camp. It will also mark the end of her teaching for several decades at the college where the camp takes place. Each summer, a Shakespeare play (in this cae, it's Hamlet) is chosen for the students. The students recreate and act out scenes from it for a one act play competition. The purpose is to put a fresh and modern take to it and the students do all the work as in set and costumes, etc. For instance, Annie Mae's group chose rap, while another group chose ballet and so on. The team leaders are only there to assist if needed. For this particular year, whoever wins first place gets scholarships. 

It takes a turn for the worst when one of the team leaders is murdered. The person who got murdered happens to be someone who wasn't well liked and has sabotaged the other teams. As a whole, the judges and team leaders decide to keep the competition on for the students' sake. Her team chooses to still compete without a leader. While the police start looking into it, Annie Mae and her friends start an investigation of their own. It doesn't help that evidence points to one of her friends and one of the judges and Annie Mae wants to prove that they're innocent. Several days pass and it's competition day. Every team does a good job. It's bittersweet when the group without a leader wins and Annie Mae's group gets second. Later that day and after the awards part, we find out who the murderer is, as Annie Mae figures it out and confronts the person. It doesn't end well for him obviously. And finally, Annie Mae is ready to retire and do her own thing.

While this was a cozy mystery, there was one thing I didn't like. I was able to figure out who the murderer was early on and it came as no surprise for me when he was revealed. I like suspense and I would have liked to keep on guessing for a longer time. I did enjoy the story for the most part, though.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

Guys and Dolls, an A to Z Challenge Extra

After completing all my theatre posts throughout this month, I realized that I forgot to do one show I was in. For the letter G, I decided to do it on "The Giving Tree" instead (which was a great post by the way), not realizing at the time, I was omitting one of my favorite shows I was in, Guys and Dolls. So this is an extra post for the A to Z Challenge.

My theatre company did the musical Guys and Dolls back in 2013. For once, I wasn't in chorus and I actually had a "name". I played Agatha, who is a member of the Save-a-Soul Mission band. Saying this, I had four lines during the show, which was pretty awesome, but made me a little nervous. That's why it is one the best shows I've been in. I would rather have lines than singing, but it's all good either way.

Synopsis: In New York, the smalltime gambler Nathan Detroit has been eloping from getting married with his girlfriend Adelaide for fourteen years. Nathan needs one thousand dollars in advance to rent a place for the crap game but neither he nor his friends Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Benny Southstreet can afford. Nathan decides to bet against the gambler Sky Masterson, challenging him to have a dinner in Havana with a woman of his choice. Sky accepts the bet and Nathan chooses the prude Sergeant Sarah Brown, who runs a mission for sinners. Sky visits Sarah and invites her to have dinner with him in Havana; in return, he would bring one dozen sinners to the mission. Sarah refuses the deal, but when General Cartwright comes to New York to shutdown the mission, Sarah feels that the only chance to keep the mission operating is accepting Sky's invitation. They travel to Havana and fall in love with each other; but when they return to the mission, Sarah discovers that Nathan used the place for his crap game. Further, she believes that Sky has plotted the scheme to use her. Now Sky has to convince the gamblers and gangsters that arrived in New York to the crap game that they should go to the mission to help Sarah.

This is me (in the middle) in a scene with other mission members.
I liked my costume, except for the hat ; )





 On the left is me with two cast members. On the right is a scene from the show (I'm holding the book)

On the left, we're "Rocking the Boat" and the right, is the last scene.





Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

The Wizard of Oz

 

Can't believe this is the last week for the A to Z Challenge. Today, for the letter W, is going to be about another musical, The Wizard of Oz.

 

I performed in The Wizard of Oz back in 2009, the second play I was in. I was in chorus, because there's more parts for children due to the munchkins and what not. It still was a fun show to put on.

 

Synopsis: Dorothy and her dog Toto are caught in a tornado's path and somehow end up in the land of Oz. Here she meets some memorable friends and foes in her journey to meet the Wizard of Oz who everyone says can help her return home and possibly grant her new friends their goals of a brain, heart and courage.

 

Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Dorothy and Glinda (sorry she's blurry)



Me with the Scarecrow and me with the Lion. In the middle, I had to include the picture with me and the cutest munchkin.

 

On the left is me with the Tin Man and on the right, me with Dorothy.





The Wizard of Oz is based on L. Frank Baum's story, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Personally, I prefer the film and musical versions as supposed to the book, but that's entirely my opinion.

I'm going to end this with one of the most wonderful phrases.
"There's no place like home." - Dorothy

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥





The Pajama Game

 

Once again, it's time for a show. This time it's the Pajama Game for the A to Z Challenge.

 

I was in the Pajama Game in 2011. I was originally casted as a chorus member, but got moved up to a factory girl (like chorus but a little bit more) about a month before the show opened. I had to learn a lot of things last minute and I ended up having one line as well. The best part was getting to wear pajamas in the final scene.

 

 

 

This was an interesting show. Once I had gotten moved up in the cast, I had a great time and was able to become close with people that I'm still really close to today. We were performing one night and it decided to thunderstorm. During one of our songs (the factory girls with our boss), the power went out for several seconds. We froze for a second, but then went straight back to singing and doing what we were supposed to be. It was known as the show must go on. At the end, the audience clapped so loud for us and it was the best feeling in the world - it was almost like a standing ovation. It meant more that night and a moment that I'll never forget.

 

The Factory Girls (I'm in the red) and Hines. Sorry about the glare.



This was great looking back on this. Also, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm a little behind in my visits (as I've been sick this week), but will be catching up soon.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥



Hello Dolly

 

I'm excited for today's post on the A to Z Challenge. It's H day and I'm doing it on a favorite musical, Hello Dolly.

 

I recently just got done performing in Hello Dolly in a local community theatre production (we always have our shows the two weekends before Easter, the last show ends on Palm Sunday each year). This was definitely an interesting season as we battled through so much to get to the end result. Just to let you know, rehearsals start in January and we usually rehearse for two and a half to three months. It depends on when Easter falls that determines how much time we have. When Easter's in the end of March/beginning of April, like this year, we only had 9 weeks before hell week (tech week or the week that the show opens), to prepare. However, due to bad weather (snow) and unexpectedly had frozen pipes at the hall due to frigid temperatures, we ended up missing roughly three weeks of rehearsal. Since we quickly fell behind, it was relied on us to try to get everything down and learn songs and such before actually learning them. We even had to resort to rehearse in a bar type of place to try to catch up. And yes, we were still learning scenes and choreography up to almost the last minute. I'm pretty sure everyone wanted to kill (figuratively speaking of course) each other at some point during hell week as last minute changes were made and stressing us out to the core.

 

We also had a new and different director this year (although not new to the company). Despite everything, he made it more enjoyable than our previous one. He did his best to keep us going and motivated even though we were all worried that we weren't going to get everything done in time. What I liked about him is that if we messed up, he would talk to us nicely about it as supposed to yelling and raising his voice. Everyone was really feeling it the day before dress rehearsal and he gave us a pep talk about how it wasn't the time to fall apart, but to come together once and for all. All I have to say about that is that every performance, including dress rehearsal, was great and we really did end up coming together and that's all that mattered. There was one night when I had to do someone else's part because that person couldn't be there; I was excited but nervous (I had to do a scene with the director and had to learn choreography last minute), but a few people were able to help me through it. My point to all this is that at the end of the day, all the stress and drama we dealt with is in a way worth it because no matter what, we always manage to pull together and get the job done. It's a feeling like no other - you can ask any other actor/actress.

 

This is me (I'm the one in the blue &glasses) and some of the cast in the opening number of the show called "Call On Dolly".

 

 



This is me with the director, as well as fellow cast member.

 

This is some of the cast. We ended up having a great cast this year. Sorry that it's a little blurry.

 

 

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!

♥Meg♥

B is for Bye Bye Birdie

 

 

Day 2: B is for Bye Bye Birdie

Yep, the second day of the A to Z Challenge will be about another show. Just to let you know in advance, there will be 8 days of this challenge that will feature shows that I've been in.

     Throwing this back to 2008, Bye Bye Birdie was the first musical/show that I tried out for in my local theatre company. It was a big step for me. As a child, I was really shy and as a teen, I went through a health scare/diagnosis (which I will be talking about in a later post, so keep an eye out) and let it control me, making me not want to talk to anybody and didn't trust people easily. Eventually, something clicked in my brain and I had to make a choice: either let fear control my life or put myself out there. At that moment, I knew I had to just put myself out there and start letting people in. I have always loved musicals and had seen previous shows at the same theatre company for years before getting up the nerve to try out. I originally tried for a comedy show several months before in the same company. I let my nerves get the best of me at the audition, but the director advised me to audition for the musicals instead so that I would get more comfortable with performing in public. Trying out for Bye Bye Birdie was one of the greatest moments in my life. I let down my guard and got out of my comfort zone and I'm really glad I did. I was cast as a teen chorus member and we were actually in a lot of scenes.

A scene with the full cast if I remember correctly.

Apparently back then, I didn't think to take pictures in my costumes, so I'm going to do something different today. Bye Bye Birdie is a great musical, so I thought I would share some of my favorite songs.

"Put on a Happy Face"

This is Dick Van Dyke as Albert Peterson and Janet Leigh as Rosie Alvarez in a musical production of Bye Bye Birdie.

"Rosie"
This is my absolute favorite song from the show. Once again, this is Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh performing the song.

"The Telephone Hour"
While this song may not necessarily be one of my favorites from Bye Bye Birdie, it is one of the songs that I had to sing in the show.








To end this, I'm posting two pictures taken from the cast party.

Me and some of the teen chorus girls.

Me and Danny, who played Conrad Birdie and encouraged me during the show.

 

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!
Meg

 

A is for Annie

Starting off the A to Z Challenge, A is for Annie.

The songs "Tomorrow" and "It's a Hard Knock Life" are the most famous songs from Annie, either from the Broadway versions or the multiple movie versions as well. Annie is also the 3rd show that I was in at a local community theatre. Annie is not one of my favorite musicals - pretty much based on the fact that I have seen it so many times before that it just started to lose its appeal to me. I have seen all the movie versions except for the latest one which was out last year. I have not seen it on Broadway, but I am familiar with most of the actors/actresses who had the leads in them.

In the original Broadway production of Annie, the title character was played by Philadelphia native Andrea McArdle. She was originally cast as a chorus member, but got moved up to play Annie during rehearsals after the producers decided that other actress that got casted as Annie wasn't tough enough for the role. Being from Philadelphia, it's pretty neat that a Philly native had such an iconic role. Featured in the picture below is Andrea McArdle as Annie and Reid Shelton as Daddy Warbucks.

My local theatre company did Annie in 2010. For most of the shows there, I have usually been a chorus member. It suits me just fine because I know I don't have the greatest voice out there and being in chorus sometimes has its perks. In Annie, I was only in two scenes in the first act which were the scene featuring the song, "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover", and the other scene featuring the song, "NYC".

On the right is a picture of most of the cast and the left is a picture of Annie and Sandy in our production.

On the right is a picture of my in my costume (as a hot dog vendor for "NYC") and some family members & friends who came on opening night. On the left is a picture of all the chorus members including myself.


What I didn't expect to happen in 2010 was the loss of my grandma just two weeks before opening night. We also had opening night on my birthday, which due to the circumstances, didn't make it any easier. She died on March 6 and opening night was March 19. To be honest, I don't know how I got through the opening weekend shows without the support of the rest of the cast and crew. They were there for me and they celebrated my birthday at a surprise birthday party for me (which I was under the impression was just a regular cast party) the following night. It was done to make me I guess be happy and smile in light of such a grieving time in my life. I definitely felt special and appreciated the effort that went into it.

This is me and another cast member at the cast party.



Some of us were singing songs from "Glee" while we were supposed to be striking the set.
 

Hope you enjoyed reading about my experience in Annie and some of the fun times I had in the show.

Happy Reading and Keep on Writing!
Meg

Sunday Funday: Musical Theatre

So, this Sunday Funday is going to be a little bit different. I am currently starring in a local community theatre production this weekend and next.

I have decided to do a musical theatre tag since I'm in one.

The Musical Theatre Tag

1. Plays or musicals?
    Musicals. I like plays as well, but I prefer musicals.

2. When did you start liking the performing arts?
    My family and I used to go see the musical productions and plays that my local community does (which I have been acting for quite a few years now) when I was little and I have liked it ever since.

3. Ever been in a musical?
    I am currently starring in Hello Dolly, but previously I have been in: The Pajama Game; Once Upon a Mattress; The King and I; Guys and Dolls; Annie; The Wizard of Oz; and Bye Bye Birdie. I also was stage crew in my high school productions of: Annie; Bye Bye Birdie; Anything Goes; and Crazy For You.

4. What was the first musical you saw on Broadway?
    Unfortunately, I have not been able to see a Broadway show yet.

5. If you could be any female character in any musical, who would you be?
    Maria in the Sound of Music or Belle in Beauty and the Beast.

6. Which male character?
     For some odd reason, I would like to be Chip in Beauty and the Beast even though it's a small role.

7. Favorite musical song to sing in the shower?
    Season of Love from Rent, but also whatever song happens to be in my head.

8. Who is your favorite theatre actress?
     Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth

9. Favorite actor?
    Neil Patrick Harris

10. Favorite film adaptation of a musical?
      The Sound of Music, Rent and Les Miserables

11. What do you think is the most overrated musical?
      My personal opinion, Annie just because I've seen it a lot in different versions and it seems to get old after awhile.

12. What musical made you cry?
      Les Miserables and The Lion King

13. What musical made you laugh?
       Seussical

14. Are there any musicals you saw and hated?
      I haven't necessarily hated any that I've seen.

15. What musical do you want to see as a film?
      The Book of Mormon

16. Which musical(s) are you dying to see?
      The Lion King and Wicked.

17. What is your all time favorite musical?
      The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof and Les Miserables.

18. What would you do if theatre didn't exist?
       No idea because theatre and music are pretty much my life.

Hope you enjoyed getting to know my theatre side. I'm adding that my author spotlight from last week will be up tomorrow and this week's will be up as usual on Thursday.

Meg