.... four shows and a wedding.........

....... well believe it or not it is only April and we have now completed the sound for THREE shows (The Amorous Ambassador, The Weir (ETS) and Why Me), I have appeared in one show GREASE (obviously) and this weekend to come we will partake in the biggest production to date - the wedding of our dear friends Nial and Ngaire.... we had the wedding rehearsal yesterday and it is going to be (to quote Miss Lynch) FABULOUS!! I am the Chief Bridesmaid/ Wedding Planner etc etc and Ian is looking after the sound part.

There is nothing like having five gorgeous children partake in a wedding to make it something special - even the celebrant and the wedding arranger from the venue were in tears!! It is going to be wonderful and I will have more information after the Big Day (which by the way is April the 14th).

We also had some quiet time over the weekend (yes it does happen occassionally) and managed to catch up on a couple of movies we had wanted to see : BORAT and SIONE'S WEDDING. Whilst I will admit to a few giggles and some outward OMG! moments, Borat wasn't really my "cup of tea" but the total opposite can be said of Sione's Wedding. What a wonderful film. Always great to see a film done locally with some of our finest talent - but it also had a good story, great morals and was all round just fab! So if you haven't seen this little "gem" of NZ Cinema get thee to your local DVD shop and rent it, or better still buy it and support the local economy - hereth endeth the lesson LOL!!

Also over the weekend my beloved set up a Easter Egg Hunt for me around the house - so cute! There were twelve marshmallow eggs in all different places - unfortunately for my waist line I managed to find them all and yum yum were they good (I did give some to my husband but he did buy them for me and I didn't want to upset him). Hee Hee - have a great day

....as I go travelling down life highway....

Well Grease is all over (sob, sob, boo hoo) as always with shows like this, that have huge casts, it is not the show that you will miss but the people!!! The bond that formed between all of us was phenomenal and I know that there are people that I personally have met that will be very important in my life going forward.... you know who you are.....

....but the little wierd story about the whole cast connection came to light only recently when I discovered that the youngest cast member, Scott, is actually the nephew of my very first boyfriend. I always wondered why Scott and I had this bond and now we know. The wierd thing is that I met my first boyfriend when he was exactly the same age as Scott is now...... how's that for freaky!!??!

Grease the film - Bloopers (have you ever seen these)?

Anachronisms: The jukebox in the diner is a 1973 Wurlizter 1050 (which copies the design of the famous 1015), yet movie is set in 1959.
Continuity: In the diner, Vai turns off the lights with her elbow, despite missing the switch by six inches.
Boom mike visible: The boom mike is reflected in the jukebox when Danny tells Sandy he has an image to protect. (In the just-released Rydell High edition (10/06), the boom mike has been digitally erased).
Continuity: When Frenchie is about to pierce Sandy's ear, the bottle of wine switches between Jan and Sandy in between shots.
Continuity: Sandy's "R" streamer on her sweater at the pep rally.
Revealing mistakes: Marty's kneepad exposed when sliding at the end of the big dance.
Continuity: In the closing number, "We Go Together," Doody and Frenchy switch places between the lines, "When we go out at night/And stars are shining bright." Also, the blonde guy to the left of them goes from a sitting position to a standing position in the same error.
Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the final sequence while singing "You're the One That I Want," Danny and Sandy spin twice in the amusement park walkthrough (The Shake Shack). On the second twirl, you can tell that it is not perfectly in sync with the music.
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The movie is set in 1959 but in some early scenes there is a fifty star flag in the principal's office. In other scenes there is a 48 star flag flying. The official flag had 49 stars for only one year, from 4 July 1959 to 4 July 1960, and this schedule was known in advance; most people probably would have just waited for the 50 star flag or bought it early if they needed to replace a flag.
Continuity: As Rizzo being escorted into the dance hall by the leader of the Scorpions, he removes his sunglasses. In the next shot, we see him remove them again.
Continuity: Sonny runs up to lift up Patty's dress at the dance, but the shot of the actual incident shows Kenickie doing the deed.
Continuity: During Summer Nights, Rizzo's shades repeatedly jump between her face and her hand between shots.
Continuity: During the last part of the racing sequence, along the river's banked edge, Leo's black convertible loses its front license plate, only to have it re-appear moments later.
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Sandy clicks her tongue after her big change.
Audio/visual unsynchronized: At the cotton candy stand, Blanche is seen silently mouthing the question, "How many?" Moments later, from a different camera angle, the same question is asked - this time with audio intact.
Anachronisms: The TV truck (shown briefly before the scene in the gym) includes two roof-top air conditioners. These were not produced until the late 70s.
Continuity: As the Scorpions drive past the malt shop, Kenicke can be seen pointing at them and lowering his right hand twice.
Revealing mistakes: During "Greased Lightning" when the motor is dropped in the car and the fan is spinning, a string can be seen for a second making the fan spin.
Anachronisms: During Danny's attempt to play basketball you can hear a jet airplane taking off from LAX airport. Jet airplanes weren't in common use in 1959.
Continuity: During the final musical number, "We Go Together", at the carnival, the shadows on the ground change from short to long and back to short again.
Boom mike visible: When Danny is about to play basketball and the coach is talking to him you can see the boom mike's shadow behind the coach.
Continuity: During the dance scene, when the teachers are congratulating Patty and Eugene, Eugene starts waving to the students. In the next shot, when the camera is facing the stage, he and all the other students are standing still.
Continuity: When Marty and Vince are talking by a camera during "those magic changes" Marty puts her hand on the camera twice.
Revealing mistakes: When Rizzo is shuffling a pack of playing cards in homeroom, a string can be seen pulling them together.
Anachronisms: During the drag race, modern trucks and cars are seen driving on the overpass in the back ground.
Revealing mistakes: When Sonny snaps Tom's suspenders as he is walking into the gym, a very visible microphone can be seen on the top right corner, and also part of the crew can be seen in the bottom right corner.
Continuity: While in the shake shack, some of the close-ups do not match the other scenes, in the far shots there are people and trees behind the bars, in the close-ups there are neither, and also the wall colors are different between shots.
Continuity: In the dance-off, just before Cha-Cha replaces Sandy as Danny's dancing partner, there is a wide shot of Danny and Sandy dancing. In the corner you can see Cha-Cha walk out from behind some students. The camera then makes a close-up and she repeats the same movement.

Greaser Babies

Oh this is just too cute - click on the picture above :o)

....'tis the season....

Well Grease is well and truly underway. We had a less than auspicious opening on Thursday night because basically we weren't ready. Simple as that. No-one to blame and just such a darned shame as I, like many others, had friends and family come that night. Originally Grease was meant to open on this Saturday and it seems so sad that we didn't (in hindsight of course - which lets face it is always 20:20). For some reason unbeknownst to us it was decided that we could open on Thursday instead of Saturday which meant last week was CRAZY - rehearsals finishing at midnight, horrendous technical rehearsals and no break before opening night (which led to some VERY tired actors and technicians).

Still that is done now and we can only look forward. Saturday's matinee was the first time every one went "YEAH WE HAVE A SHOW" and as a result Saturday night's show was awesome! Sunday's matinee was still a blast but I think some of the cast may have over indulged a bit on Saturday night as there were quite a few sore heads (and unfortunately for a musical - sore throats) (oh and little P.S. no I was NOT one of the one's who over-inbibed :o)) still we all had last night off and we have tonight off and then back into it with shows on Tues/ Wed/ Thurs/ Fri/ Sat Matinee and then Saturday night and Sunday matinee to bring us back to next Monday - phew makes me exhausted just writing about it! (thank goodness for Nature's Sunshine Products and Super Supplements etc etc that keep me functioning - have no idea how I could cope if was not taking them!)

But hey baby THAT'S SHOWBIZ! (but honestly I NEED SOME SLEEP!!)

........ another opening, another show.....

Well tonight is the night - so to all the cast and crew of Grease BREAK A LEG! I know we are going to have a "FABULOUS" show - and remember GREASE IS THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and Chris if you are reading this you have made me so happy! Luv to you all...........

....yikes.......

The car used onstage in the Dutch production of Grease fell off the edge of the stage and into the orchestra pit during the Feb. 25 show at Schouwburg Almere, according to reports.

Jim Bakkum — a finalist on "Idols," the Dutch television version of "American Idol" or UK's "Pop Idol" — and his co-star Bettina Holwerda were in the car when the accident occurred.

Holwerda, who plays Sandy, was able to jump out before the car landed and may have broken her arm. Bakkum, who drove the car in the role of Danny, reportedly suffered a concussion. The "Greased Lightning" vehicle — which was comprised of a classic red-and-white convertible chassis with the engine of a golf cart — went off the stage into the empty portion of the pit during the drive-in scene. No musicians were hurt.

Both actors were taken to the hospital in Almere, a city east of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The production was scheduled to transfer to Amsterdam this week and continue to tour through July, but producers have canceled the show until further notice.

Good Karma

Well thought would tell you a wee story about Good Karma - about a year ago (give or take) I was on one of my message boards and someone was looking for the Australian Cast Recording of 42nd Street. Well as it happens Dad had a copy so I made a copy for this lovely lady in England and arranged to send it to her - anyway I said I would give it to her no charge (you know share the love, pay it forward that kind of thing) that was until I got to the lovely New Zealand Post Office and realised it was going to cost a fortune to send - so to cut a long story short I told the lady in the UK (who I had never met) that was happy to send it to her but could she do something for me in return? .........

The cast album above is for the UK Recording of Children of Eden which somehow I stupidly lent to someone (note to self never lend out valuable recordings) and subsequently never received back (if you are reading this and have it PLEASE return to me). This CD now sells for over UK 100 pounds on Ebay - so...... ANYWAY this LOVELY lady in the UK (westendwendy) searched high and low and finally managed to find a cassette of it (for you kids out there - well ask your parents lol) and recorded it onto a CD for me and sent it all the way back to good old NZ and it is now in my hot little hands......... BTW if you EVER get a chance to hear this recording (NOT the US version that is rubbish!) DO SO! - it is quite simply phenomenal and for those of you that know me and know how big my CD collection is - well I would easily say that this is one of my very favourite Cast Albums of ALL TIME!

So I guess the lesson here is PAY IT FORWARD - it does work!

Have a beautiful day (oh and P.S. Grease tickets selling fast so make sure you book yours today - click on the poster to take you to the booking site).

FABULOUS!

Congratulations to all the winners!

Wow what a weekend - not only the Napta Awards on Saturday but yesterday ALL DAY coverage of the Academy Awards! (oh and a full day rehearsal for a little show I am doing on Sunday!).

First the Naptas - well no real surprises this year (Beauty and the Beast scooped most of the awards it was up for, with James (see pictured) garnering the best male performer). Winners are posted here: NAPTA WINNERS! The night was okay - nothing spectacular - lots of air kissing, drinking, smoking, gossiping, applauding, more drinking, more smoking, more gossiping, catching up with friends, selling Grease to everyone, finding out about auditions etc etc - you will notice here that I did not mention eating as even though we paid a VERY large amount to go to the "night of nights" the food was virtually inedible (think cold chicken/ pasta with no sauce and an Aunty Betty's pudding for dessert! - hardly The Governors Ball) - so much so that I had to have a late night snack (when we finally got home at the very respectable hour of 11.45!).

And then onto the Grease rehearsal the next day and I felt very proud of myself that I had no sore head post Napta and was all keen and ready to go when I arrived for the supposed rehearsal at midday (note the word supposed!) Needless to say when we had still not got onto the stage by about 1.30 I was feeling a tad less than enthusiastic! We are going to get there, and of course there is the old "she'll be right on the night" adage but I must admit to feeling a tad hesitant at this stage. We only have something like 6 rehearsals to go until we are in front of the public and I personally have not seen my first act costume, hair, make up, props, sound checks etc etc - I have a teeny tiny role in the show so can only imagine what others are thinking - the big numbers are spectacular I just hope and pray that everything comes together in the last minute - and knowing amateur theatre I am sure it will (she says fingers - and toes crossed).

As for the Oscars yesterday - well I am sure everyone in the world knows by now what happened - all very predictable, Ellen was fine, very safe, certainly nothing spectacular, the countdown however on E! was great - to be honest much more interesting than the actual awards show. I did however REALLY like a couple of the things they did - the Jack Black/ Will Ferrell/ John C Reilly skit dedicated to "clowns at the oscars"/ going home with the Oscar and Helen Mirren was spectacular - one of the best Oscar skits ever - and the Hollywood Sound FX chorus showing how SFX can be produced by humans rather than machines - very cool! But again a night of no real surprises, some of my picks were not exactly on the money BUT I will say in my defence I got all four of the acting awards correct and as I had only actually seen about four of the nominated movies (The Queen, Dream Girls, In Pursuit of Happiness and Happy Feet!) I was definately not at my best with actually knowing who was what! and also I have said it before and I will say it again BRING BACK BILLY CRYSTAL!

So that is it - the Oscars and the Awards Season over for another year - so what will 2007/08 bring as far as movies/ shows go? Who knows - but I will endeavour to put in my 2 cents about whatever I go and see and do - and yes I do take bribes :o) xxx

...and the award goes to......

Well what a huge weekend coming up - first off Saturday night and it is NAPTA night! The biggest night of the year for Amateur Musical Societies in Auckland. Over 300 of us get all dressed/ dollied and otherwise spend ludicrous amounts of money on make up/ manicures/ pedicures etc etc for our annual awards night. Starting in 2001 this has been the best excuse ever for everyone to get together over a bit of "friendly" (or at times not so) competition, dinner and ALOT of alcohol and enjoy each others company, watch what is usually a marvellous cabaret and then dance/ party the night away. This night usually has the associated pre and post functions however unfortunately for me we have a huge Grease rehearsal the next day so will be taking it easy (famous last words). Also Dad is presenting on Sat night as a tribute to him receiving his New Years Honours so it is a very special night for us as a family.


So anyway to all the nominees - congratulations - each and every one of you deserves to be there and best of luck for Saturday night.


And then onto my personal event of the year THE OSCARS! Can't wait for Monday - sitting around watching Oscar coverage ALL DAY and generally just chilling out. Looking forward immensely to seeing what Ellen does with the hosting job - seeing Helen Mirren, Forrest Whittaker and Jennifer Hudson win in their respective categories and seeing if Martin Scorsese FINALLY gets to take home the big one. Bring it on! (oh and have changed my mind about Best Picture have feeling may be between The Departed and Babel - but from what I have seen Babel is SO like Crash will the Oscars go the same way two years in a row!?!) Oh well all will be revealed on Monday our time. Hoorah!

Shout Outs! and THE BLACK CAPS

Well I promised a certain member of the Grease Team a "shout out" on my blog - so Andrew (aka Eugene aka Scene Stealer extraordinaire) if you are out there HEY! Well we are really on countdown now for opening night - 8th March - so very close yet in some ways so very far. Can not WAIT to get into the theatre and see what the sets/ lights look like - then I am sure we will really feel like we are back at Rydell High....

And last night when I left to go to rehearsal we were watching the cricket - at the stage I left the Black Caps were something like 4/41 chasing a ridiculous total way over 340 - I came home expecting a gloomy husband - but instead was told "so you didn't check your messages?" and much to my shock/ horror/ disbelief - WE WON - a complete and utter whitewash over our dear neighbours across the Tasman! So to The Black Caps - You guys rock! I managed to see the highlights and was utterly stunned at the determination and sheer Kiwi "can do" attitude - BRING ON THE WORLD CUP is all I can say - and as Miss Lynch would oft quote "FABULOUS!"

Cricket, Shopping and Rehearsals oh my!

What a great weekend to be a cricket fan in Aotearoa! Not one but TWO thrashings of our dearly beloved neighbours - Australia. I would be the first to admit that I can't stand Cricket when a test match is on (snore, yawn etc) BUT when the matches are one day annihilations - well it just doesn't get much better - so to the Black Caps - Congratulations on Winning the Chappel/ Hadlee Cup in such style and bring on The World Cup!

On Saturday had great fun taking Mum out on a shopping Extravaganza - there is nothing like 2 Leathwick ladies when it comes to hitting the shops - our credit cards are both reeling but a wonderful time AND we got to see The Queen Mary 2 on her maiden round the world voyage - man that thing is HUGE - half of Auckland also went to see her but Auckland put on a beautiful day and we did ourselves proud.

Also (of course) rehearsals yesterday for the one and only Grease! Getting a bit fraught with only 18 days to go (as we kept getting reminded by our dear director) but we will definately get there - the show already has some fantastic highlights with Greased Lightning sure to bring down the house! AND I get to even shake my booty to that same number in the finale - woohoo!!!

Also last night went to the Dress Rehearsal of The Amorous Ambassador at Dolphin - whilst not really my sort of show must admit to having quite a few giggles and even some good old belly laughs - so if "farce" is your thing go and check it out!

Anyway that is me for today - have a superb day - Heroes tonight on TV! (Monday is one of the few nights I actually have no rehearsals at the moment) and of course NAPTA this weekend - but more about that later - oh and counting down to The Oscars! My what an exciting time! Ciao

Should I Be Happy?

You know how when you, as a loving wife, say to your husband "darling, why don't you give this a go - it is really fun" and said husband is an ex professional musician....... well I am sure you can guess.........Ian has "discovered" Guitar Hero and now I can't get anywhere near it! AND he is REALLY GOOD!!!!! Seriously it is great he is enjoying it........... but man! Anyway gives me a chance to go through my script and have just finalised the sound for The Weir so that is sound down for two shows for 2007! Woohoo!

We were going to go out tonight to Stockcars but the weather has turned to ..... well I am sure you can figure it out :o( Needless to say have had to write this twice as just had a major power cut due to thunder (hmmmm maybe Ian caused the blackout with his awesome rendition of Spinal Tap!). So a quiet (well relatively if my husband continues to "rock this town") night tonight. Off to hand over sound tomorrow at Ellerslie to Des and then first run through of Act One of Grease! TTFN (ta ta for now) and thanks for everyone that pops in to check what I am up to! Ciao

Okay - How Can It Be The Weekend Already?

What happened to this week?

Okay well we are now fully into Grease - had our first sitzprobe last night and the band sounds GREAT! Lets just hope we can keep up with them - but as I have a totally non-singing role (okay I HEARD that sigh of relief!) you can rest assured you will be safe if you come to see the show!

Apart from that life has been crazy busy sorting out sound for not one (oh no that would be too easy) but two shows at the moment. Have finalised this week the sound for The Amarous Ambassador and looks like almost have sound for The Weir out of the way as well!

I often wonder (and as famously asked in Camelot) "What DO the simple folk do"? Honestly our lives are so busy (and don't get me wrong would just stop doing stuff if it got too much) we often wonder what do other people get up to who don't have a hobby? Do they just sit around watching TV all night? Am so glad that I do have such a great hobby - it would just be nicer if there were MORE people who had this great hobby so that some of us don't get stretched q-u-i-t-e so much :o)

Anyway it is Friday so that means a nice glass of Pinot tonight, hopefully off to
Stockcars tomorrow night and then (you guessed it) sound for The Weir
and rehearsal for Grease on Sunday and then the whole week thing starts all over again - have a good one!

GREASE is the word!

A WOP BOP A LULA A WOP BAM BOO!

As many of my dear friends know I will be playing Miss Lynch in the upcoming production of GREASE for The Playhouse Theatre. Would love to see as many people there as possible as (like all shows) the dedication and sweat already being put forward by the cast (and of course back stage folk) is phenomenal. Anyway here is the poster for GREASE! - and honestly this show is going to ROCK this town!

Dreamgirls, Grease, Sound Design and Auditions

Gosh life never slows down does it? So anyway on Saturday went and saw DREAMGIRLS - now even as a "musical theatre" person I have to say there were just one too many songs in there for me and it was probably drawn out by 20 minutes or so BUT in saying that JENNIFER HUDSON was worth the ticket price alone - her rendition of "AND I AM TELLING YOU" made me cry buckets! Just her sheer energy and freakingly amazing voice is cinematic gold!

Also on Sunday I had my first "proper" rehearsal for GREASE (click on the car for ticket details). I am playing Miss Lynch, the very proper (slightly drunk in our version) English Teacher - the kids (and yes they are kids!) in it are amazing but I feel VERY old! I am sure I am virtually the only person in the cast that actually saw the movie on it's First Release :o).

Apart from that spent the weekend getting sound together for THE AMOROUS AMBASSADOR (don't ask!) which is the next show at DOLPHIN THEATRE and today I auditioned for a role in an American Movie - which I am sure I won't get but hey you got to keep getting out there and doing these auditions and who knows maybe one day everyone will be bored with the Hollywood Look and decide that the cute, short, plump, girl from Nu Zild is just what they are looking for. Hey You Can Dream Right?