The beat will go on.

Sunday marked the closing of Hairspray. It was a bittersweet day. This cast and this show absolutely touched my heart. The beauty behind this show was magnified by the love we, as a cast, had for each other and the show itself.

Tracy Turnblad spreads joy and the hope of unity regardless of skin color or size. This is something we can all relate to in our own lives. As actors, we are given the unique opportunity to step into the life of a character. We experience their ups and their downs, their shortcomings and their triumphs. The cast of Hairspray dove head first into the world of Baltimore, 1962, and we emerged with a greater understanding of love, compassion and what it's like to have a dream.

I'm so thankful to be blessed with such an amazing cast and production crew. Thank you everyone for your hard work and dedication. I'm putting Tracy Turnblad away for now, but hopefully she and I will be reunited soon.

"When we win, I'll give thanks to my God cause I know where I've been."

Welcome to the 60s!!!

I've been cast as Tracy in Hairspray at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans. I am so excited!! I haven't performed in New Orleans since I worked at Six Flags in 2005. My last show here was Seussical in January of 05! It's been over five years, and I'm so glad to be back home and doing such a fantastic show!!

My family is going nuts. I don't think I've ever seen them so excited for something I've done. They have bought about 30 tickets for opening night already. Family members from Texas are making plans to come in. I'm so happy that they are so excited about this production!

I'm looking forward to working with people I haven't worked with in a while!! I get to work with Blake Coheley and Jefferson Turner. They played such a huge role in my early theatre life, and I'm glad to be working with them again! I'm also incredibly excited to be working with people I haven't worked with before. In college you work with a lot of the same people, so I'm really looking forward to this.

Each day is a gift. We work hard. We fight hard. Good things come our way. I'm so grateful for this opportunity.

Inspiration can come at any time...

Today I was babysitting a 9 and 7-year-old. Part of their daily routine is to take 30 minutes to read anything they'd like. When I announced that it was Reading Time, I expected them to put up a fight, but they quickly ran to their books, picked a seat and immersed themselves in their reading. I decided I should probably read as well, so I went to the bookshelf to look for a book. For some reason, a book of Shel Silverstein poems caught my eye. About halfway through our Reading Time, I came across the following poem. I really think it sends an incredible message to me and many of my peers at this point in our lives. Each and every day I hear people make negative comments about what I have chosen to do with my life. But I really don't see it as a choice. This is what I was put here to do. Each of us has been given a gift that we need to share with the world. Our journey will not always be easy, but with the knowledge that this is all we are here to do... we will succeed. We will be strong. We will prove the Mustn'ts, the Don'ts, the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts and the Never Haves that anything can be.

Listen to Mustn'ts, child,

Listen to the Don'ts.
Listen to the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts.
Listen to the Never Haves,

then listen close to me.
Anything can happen, child,

Anything can be.

- Shel Silverstein

Moving in before getting out.

It's official. I have moved back in with my parents. Temporarily, but still... it's a strange feeling. Today my mom and I unloaded the last bit of stuff from my car. I immediately purged through my clothes, tossing away anything I haven't worn in a while. Anything that looks like a 23-year-old shouldn't be wearing anymore... gone. Then I felt like Andy from Toy Story 3. We made boxes of things to donate: dolls, purses, etc. I couldn't bear to donate my Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. That cannot go. I did give up Tweety Bird though. Then I came across my NSYNC marionettes. They are in perfect condition, just a little dusty. They aren't going anywhere for a while though. I came across so many pictures from high school. Why did we think it was cool to carry around a stack of wallet-sized photos of each other? I have a stack of close to 350 pictures that I know I carried around in my school bag.

So now what?? Well I'm planning to move to NYC in the fall. Auditioning for LePetit Theatre's "Hairspray" on July 17, so we shall see what happens with that. Life is a journey. It takes unexpected twists and turns, and we just have to be ready to go along for the ride.

You just got iced...

So if you haven't heard of "icing", it is definitely something that you should look into. The SummerTide cast has taken a liking to it. "Icing" is a viral drinking game that has given many of us a reason to buy Smirnoff Ice.

The rules are simple:

1. Buy Smirnoff Ice.

2. Hide the Smirnoff Ice where an unsuspecting friend may unfortunately stumble upon it.

3. When a Smirnoff Ice is found, the finder must drop to one knee and chug.

4. If you stumble upon a Smirnoff Ice and you happen to have one on your person, you are able to block being "iced" and either move it or leave it for the next person.

5. It is very fun to have a camera on hand.

So go for it. Ice some folks, y'all....

We grew up undeniably...

We only have one week left in Gulf Shores! I will be very sad to see the Bee close. This show has been an absolute JOY to do six days a week. Our audiences have been very responsive. It's an incredible feeling to look out into the audience during our epilogues and see a smile on every single person's face. This just reminds me how much I love doing what I do. If I can be a part of what is making those people smile, I am doing my job.

The Bee Begins...

Well, tonight is the official opening night of SummerTide Theatre's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. On Sunday, the cast moved down to Gulf Shores, Ala., and into our condo. We have a gorgeous living space on the beach on Fort Morgan. To date there has been no oil on the beach, although some cast members said some sticks had been washed on shore today with oil on them.

Last night we had a preview night for press and the Chamber of Commerce. The show went really well. One of the best things about this show is the volunteer spellers. Last night was the first time we had volunteers who none of us knew. It is so unpredictable! I got nervous before the show last night, mainly because I was worried about how the volunteers would react to the situation they were about to be put in. They were great!!! We had a teenage girl, a really tall, buff man and a mother who had her family in the audience. They loved it. In addition to spelling, we drag them around the stage in two musical numbers. The rest of the audience applauds them for their ability to keep up and follow the directions we yell at them under the music.

If you are in the Gulf Shores area, you should definitely come check out our production! The cast is fantastic!

Leaf Coneybear- Bobby Becher (@bobbybecher)

Chip Tolentino- Bentley Black (@BentleyBlack)

Marcy Park- Katie Burton (@Katie_A_Burton)

William Barfee- Lawson Hangarter (@law_son)

Olive Ostrovsky- Erica Hansen (@EricaLHansen)

Mitch Mahoney- Michael Luwoye (@prettyboy14)

Douglas Panch- Nick Shabel (@ohthisistoomuch)

Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre- Caroline Schmidt (@CaroSchmidtty)

And I play Rona Lisa Peretti.

The show runs every night Tuesday-Sunday at 8 PM at the George C. Meyer Performing Arts Center if Gulf Shores, Ala.

It seems we're living out our dreams...