'Jekyll & Hyde'

I had the pleasure of getting to see 'Jekyll & Hyde' the Musical at The Pantages Theater in LA on Tuesday night!  Special thanks to Mr. Daly who gave me the 2 tickets as he was traveling all week and was in New York the night of the show, so I was able to take Kristina with me and have a fun Girl's Night!  Both of us grew up and were involved with theater and music, so this was right up our alley.  I already knew a bunch of the music from the show because of singing a 'Jekyll & Hyde' Medley in my High School choir and loved the songs!

Let me start by saying the women's restroom on the main floor is incredible.  I felt like I was in 'Snow White' because of the way the mirrors were set up, in a giant room with individual seats and vanity's, with diagonals and the mirrors looked like they were cracked, but weren't.  I loved it!  We had great seats, Row V in the Orchestra, so just 50 feet or so from the stage, and the show started promptly at 8 pm.  The two title roles of Jekyll/Hyde and Lucy were played by American Idol's Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox who had music on the Billboard Charts and has also collaborated with Whitney Houston and Andrea Bocelli.  Teal Wicks played the role of Emma and was definitely a stand-out with a beautiful voice that she made seem effortless...awesome!  I've been a fan of Deborah Cox and she made me fall in love with some of the songs she sang because she had some great notes and she brought so much to the character.  The acting was incredible but I do have to say Kristina and I were disappointed with some of the songs and we felt as though some of the voices were strained and there were missed notes.  Constantine was much stronger as Edward Hyde than Jekyll and once he sang 'Alive' I completely realized why he was cast, because the rocker in him came out; he was dark and mysterious, scary at times, but had the perfect voice for Hyde.  There were 2 distinct characters which was the point of the whole story, but his voice was more fitting for Hyde, in my opinion.  The ensemble and other main characters were great, some people coming from 'Rent,' 'Wicked,' and even 'Les Miserables.'

Overall, the show was good.  It would be interesting to see the show again with the Broadway Cast but it was such a fun experience to get to see a show of this caliber here in LA, and back to my resolutions, was something new for me, so that was exciting!  I loved the chemistry between Maroulis and Cox, and 'A Dangerous Game' became my favorite song because the tension between the two during the song just sucked you in, and I loved that!  I tended to like the duets more, 'Take Me As I Am' and 'In His Eyes' were strong points, and I loved Wicks performance of 'Once Upon a Dream' which I think might be a future Karaoke song for me.  The costumes were gorgeous; I love that era, and I was impressed by the quick changes (knowing how fast you have to be, since I did musicals all through high school).  The lighting was great and complimented the set well.  For a smaller venue, they changed things up a lot and that added to the show.  It's not just the cast that makes the show, it's the crew, and what they bring to the table, and all of that was spot on.

I would definitely see the show again if it came to town.  Plus, as soon as I got home, I downloaded a bunch of new music from the show because I couldn't wait to hear some of the songs again, so that was cool.  'Jekyll & Hyde' is only in LA for a couple more days but this certainly makes me want to go see more Musicals when they come to LA :)

Photo Shoot Time!

Since we all know I wasn't looking forward to Valentine's Day last week because I hate that Holiday, I can say that I was looking forward to last Friday when I had a Photo Shoot with a friend, Brent, that's also an Actor but does Photography in his free time as well!  He's super talented and I can't wait to work with him again :)

 

Before the shoot even began we both did our research figuring out different photos and styles we liked, and of course, all the pictures I found were of brunettes like Mila Kunis and Megan Fox.  Perhaps I'll post some comparison ones so you can see exactly what we were going for.  It was definitely fun to re-create certain looks and gave us something to work on and build as the shoot progressed!

 

I just wanted to share a few photos from the shoot.  We shot a bunch of different stuff, almost 800 pictures, so many different styles, and had a lot of fun.  It was a more serious shoot than I normally do, so the smiles were saved for our conversation, and the smoldering dramatic look was spot on for the camera.  Of course, when you're running around a house in your underwear, a shot to kick off the shoot is necessary ;)  As you can see, I'm wearing clothes in a bunch of them as well, so stop worrying, Mom....it's just acting!  All in all, it was a blast and I'm still going through pictures figuring out which ones to edit, and that's one of my favorite parts!

 

I love how some of the photos turned out that I could even use for headshots (cropped, of course) but there's a story behind my eyes.  I hope you see it too!

 

You can find Brent on Facebook at: Brent Bailey

You can find me on Facebook at: Lyndsey Wegner

Magic Castle

Going to the Magic Castle has been something I've wanted to do ever since I moved to LA.  You have to know a Magician in order to get invited to it, so it's kind of exclusive, and something that everyone should do at least once in their life if they have lived in LA.  

 

Neil & I on the Red Carpet at The Magic Castle

Neil's friend, John, was having his Birthday there so there was a group of us and upon arriving, we had to say a code word in order to enter the building.  There were so many different bars throughout the whole castle and they had Magic Shows going on throughout the night.  We saw 3 different shows, one close-up Magic Show, one that a Magician was predicting answers on cards, and another one that included Juggling and some other acts.  There were tons of different exhibits throughout the castle and it even had a piano that would play any song you asked of it!  That was definitely a hi-light.  We all had Dinner together in one of the many Dining Rooms and I ordered a steak, which was very tender but over-cooked for my liking, since I like my steak Medium Rare.  After getting shots for the Birthday Boy, we all noticed Neil Patrick Harris who is the President of the Magic Castle chatting with some people.  'How I Met Your Mother' is one of my favorite shows so I was nervous and excited all at the same time and knew I had to say hi and throw in a quick line about a slap bet to show my love and support of the show.  So Neil went over and started chatting with him and actually got scolded by NPH for not having his suit coat on 'we're not in Vegas, Dude', and after I told NPH about a friend of mine who comes to the Magic Castle, I made my joke and hoped he would give me a hi-five or a Legen...wait for it...dary moment, but apparently he didn't find me all that amusing and excused himself.  Bummer!  I wish our Birthday Group would have all been able to get a picture together but there's a strict no camera rule, so unfortunately, all we have are the stolen photos and red carpet photos that were taken outside of the Magic Castle on our fun adventure!

 

Overall, it was a really neat experience, although VERY expensive, but something cool and NEW for me in LA.  I'm glad to say I'm keeping true to my resolutions and trying new things, and doing something creative as well!

 

So now I'll be completely caught up on Karaoke songs as last week was Marcus' Birthday and it was a pretty busy night with Khad's Mom in town, and Jamie and her friend visiting as well!  My first song of the night was 'Wonder' by Natalie Merchant and that was followed by 'It's So Easy' by Linda Ronstadt.  My new song of the night was Kelly Clarkson's 'Because of You' which was a challenge that I'll try singing again, one step down, although I could hit all the high notes, it was right at my break, so it'll be easier to try it a little lower.  I ended the night with 'Baby Love' for Marcus and was happy with a busy and successful Karaoke evening!

Music Movies

I had some free time a couple weekends ago to catch up on some movies I had DVR'd that I've been waiting to see for years!  I've always been a fan of Christina Aguilera and I caught 'Burlesque' on ABC Family one day and then saw 'Country Strong' was playing on FX all weekend so I decided to check that one out as well.

Not only did 'Burlesque' have a lot of famous actors and singers including Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Julianne Hough, Stanley Tucci, Cam Gigandet, and Eric Dane, so there was plenty of eye candy to go around but I really liked the story and didn't feel it was all that predictable.  I LOVED the make-up and costumes!  The make-up was so different for each scene and gave me some ideas that I would clearly scale-down for an every day look, but I saw one of the prettiest dresses I have ever seen on Christina Aguilera when she was singing a slower love song and she was wearing this greenish-yellow satin fitted dress that was just stunning!  The music and songs were great, singers were strong, dancing was fun, and the story was interesting.  I'm so glad I was finally able to see this movie and also get to see Cher rock it as well!  Here's a link to Christina's dress in case you're interested: Burlesque Dress

'Country Strong' really surprised me as well.  I actually found an actor that I have a crush on...Garrett Hedlund, and he's a good Midwestern boy from Minnesota!  I guess I didn't know much about the movie, I just thought it followed a few country singers on the road to stardom but I didn't realize that it was all based on overcoming addiction all the while an affair is happening.  It was very real and honest, hard to watch at times, you really felt for all the characters.  Tim McGraw never ceases to amaze and impress me, and Gwyneth Paltrow had some incredible moments.  I always like to read the info and trivia about movies on IMDB so I was happy to see that Garrett Hedlund studied music and singing to improve his voice and get the role, and was a huge part of why I liked the movie because he has a natural charisma.  Some of the songs were so beautiful and had great lyrics too.  I was pleasantly surprised after watching this movie!

I'm way behind on my Karaoke update so my songs from 2 weeks ago were opened with 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot' and then I rocked out 'You Give Love A Bad Name' and had so much fun with that performance, it was one of my favorites.  My new song of the night was 'Sober' by Pink since she's been coming out with a bunch of new songs lately and I'm on a Pink kick because she rocks!  I also did 'Foolish Games' and then sang 'Cruisin' with Marcus and closed out the night with 'Joey,' which I still want to do some work on.  That week clearly ended up being a very musical week with all the Music Movies and Karaoke night!

Love.

I love Love.  I love being In Love.  What I don't love...Valentine's Day.  For as long as I can remember, it's always brought feelings of anxiety, frustration, confusion, and sadness.  It started in elementary school and has continued throughout my entire life.  In fact, my parents still send me flowers, candy, or cookies on Valentine's Day to show me, no matter what, I always have them.  I greatly appreciate their love and support and do look forward to a day when that can be shared with someone else as well!

As a child, you have no expectations of Valentine's Day, and just look forward to the candy and Valentine's Day cards.  Unfortunately, for me that wasn't always the case.  Some kids would buy Candy Grams for every other person in the class but me, some of these kids were even my friends, and would explain that they wanted to fit in, and this way, maybe they could get me into the 'popular crowd' if they just followed along.  Let's be honest, that never worked, and is a load of bs.  As I grew up, and went to High School, where I never even had a date for a Homecoming or Prom, and then went to College, where my first real boyfriend and what I thought at the time, was the love of my life, and I broke up on Valentine's Day, it really wasn't getting any better.  I'm not innocent either; because of the past, this day scares the crap out of me and I let my emotions get the best of me and have doomed the day, and because of my own insecurities, even ruined it.  But by this point, you do have expectations, you hear stories from your friends and family, and although I had high hopes, it was just never in the cards for me.

I can't completely deny that EVERY Valentine's Day was terrible because I remember my older crush in High School taking me home on Valentine's Day one year, and I still have the stuffed animal and Love Letter my later College Boyfriend gave me, but over 90% of my Valentine's Days have been sub par or even crappier.

So what's so special about Valentine's Day?  Nothing.  It's just a day that Hallmark assigned to be a day to tell someone you love or care about them, a day to plan a special date, or do something different and romantic, or express feelings you haven't yet said.

Here's my question...why does anyone need a specific day to do those things?!  I do those things every day when I'm in a relationship.  I'm honest and open about my feelings, love planning dates and doing something fun, love taking care of someone, and just spending time with the person you care about.  I don't need it to be February 14th to do any of those things.  I think as we all get older, we do hope that our Prince Charming will one day surprise us and sweep us off our feet, making all those other Valentine's Days non-existent.  Here's the thing, it doesn't take a fancy or outlandish dinner, a crazy romantic date, an expensive gift, or even a proposal.  Kind words, a thoughtful idea, and compassion and love go so much further.

I refuse to be jaded by this day and even though the majority of my thoughts about Valentine's Day are negative, I do hope that I can find someone who will one day, change my perspective and idea about this day, because to him, he just wants to see me happy.  And being with the one you love, is just that.  Love is enough :)

Superbowl Sunday!

Well, it's another 6 months until Football starts again, and I will be anxiously awaiting the 2013-2014 Season!  Thankfully, there's Baseball and the Dodger Season to look forward to, and hopefully awesome seats right behind Andre Ethier and perhaps even an Ethier signing of my new #16 Jersey!

Go Packers!

But before Baseball Season begins there was the Superbowl!  Neil was Hosting a small party, that I helped Co-Host, where there was a variety of food and treats, including a 4 pound bucket of Red Vines, and my very own Bloody Mary Bar where I played Bartender all afternoon!  Now, I won't tell you my Bloody Mary Recipe because that's a secret, and one I have been perfecting for years at this point.  But I will tell you, adding in all the goodies and vegetables is key, and although I couldn't find a Beef Stick to put in it, it was still one of the best Bloody Mary's that I had ever made.

I was rooting for the 49's and hoping Kaepernick would get MVP because we all had voted on who would get the Prestigious Award.  Kaepernick ended up winning me over with his Pre-Game Interview, talking about when he was in 4th grade that he had written a letter and said he wanted to play for the Packers in 7 years even if they weren't good, and the fact that he was from Wisconsin.  With the Raven's getting a nice lead by halftime I was nervous and at that point, just cheering for a good game and good plays.  Half-Time was good, loved that Beyonce's fellow Destiny's Child ladies joined her on-stage for a few songs and that she did some new and old hits.  I thought she did a great job!  After waiting for the power to come back on in the game, and after an amazing Half-Time Meal of Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw and Pickles thanks to Arthur, the 49's really impressed me by coming back strong.  If only they could have won the game.  There's always next year for them when they lose to the Packers ;)

Overall, the party was a success surrounded by awesome people, it was a great game, and relaxing evening.  Now that's my kind of Superbowl!

A Karaoke Post and Story

I did say I was going to keep my Karaoke posts shorter this year and I want to continue doing that but after last week's Karaoke at Gabe's singing my new song, and felt like I might have an interesting story to share.

Wednesday evening I was Hosting Karaoke at Gabe's and my songs for the night were 'Don't Stop' by Fleetwood Mac, 'Sex On Fire' since Silvia had sang another Kings of Leon song, and I closed with 'Before He Cheats' by Carrie Underwood.  My new song of the night was 'Always' by Bon Jovi because I was feeling the 80's/90's rock, and wow does that song have range!  It starts off really low and was much easier to sing once I got to the chorus; overall, a really fun song to sing.

This is where my story comes in...that song has a strange memory for me from a Junior High Dance.  A guy came up and asked me if I wanted to dance during the next slow song to which I said yes.  The next slow song to come on was 'Always' by Bon Jovi, so I went up to him and asked him if we were going to dance.  He then turned to all of his friends, they laughed at me, and he said no, he was never going to dance with me.  It was pretty traumatizing because I was in 6th or 7th grade at the time and trying to figure out where I fit in.  I got picked on pretty badly in school so there was no way I would have ever asked one of the guys in my class to dance because I would have known the answer would already be no, so this guy asking me made me feel that maybe there wasn't anything wrong with me after all.

I have since moved on from this event but even thinking about it now, it makes me sad.  And not for myself anymore, but for all the other kids out there who don't have close family like I did (or even friends) to help them understand that there is nothing wrong with them.  At the time, I couldn't believe what my parents were telling me (that I fit in, was normal, and a happy fun girl), but looking back on it now, it wasn't anything I was or wasn't doing.  It was just insecure kids trying to fit in and these kids found it easier to push someone down than help someone up.  Being picked on and teased is something that happens in most schools but I know that I'll be talking to my children so that they know they are loved, that they can always talk to me, because I know what they're going through, and that they can stand up for the victims of bullying, with as little as a smile or helping hand.  

I'm still a firm believer in the Golden Rule and when I was younger, I found myself 'turning the other cheek' on a pretty regular basis.  But funny enough, that guy asked me a couple years ago to be friends on Facebook and something in me just couldn't say yes; I ignored it for a long time and then finally deleted it.  I don't feel guilty about that one bit because I came across a wonderful quote that pushes me to work harder every day so I can eventually achieve the success I want.  I'll leave you all with it...

"If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success." ~ Will Smith

Feel free to share your stories or comments with me anytime :)

www.facebook.com/lyndseywegner

Movie Audition!

Last week I auditioned for a new Sci-Fi/Thriller style movie at a Casting Studio in Hollywood.  After corresponding with the Casting Director over e-mail, ironing out all the details, we realized that the Director and I had worked together in the past on some projects together, and when I had originally looked at the casting notice it didn't click that it was the same person. 
 

Busted!

Wednesday was such a crazy day for me that day because I was taking care of Diego for a couple of days while Neil was in Dallas for work, I had my Movie Audition that day which took up a chunk of my afternoon and then I had Happy Hour plans with Kristina at Canal Club in Venice, whom I haven't seen in months.  We finally had some time to catch up, and it was straight to Karaoke after (of course, I had to stop home and snuggle my little Digalo first).

This was a new Casting Studio for me and they had you sign in on an iPad and I was completely lost considering I don't even have Internet on my phone...yes, I like to live in the Golden Ages.  After getting some help from a friendly guy waiting for his Dodge Commercial Audition I went into the room and saw a few people waiting to Audition.  They were running about 45 minutes behind but that was totally fine because I was able to delve more into my scene and even read a little of the script.  Of course, LA is such a small world that I actually ran into my friend, Meghan, whom I haven't seen in such a long time!  She was also Auditioning for the Dodge Commercial but they were even further behind than we were!

Blast from the Past...5 years ago with Bree and Meghan at Bar Lubitsch (long before I knew I would work there)!

When it was finally my turn I walked into the room, and M* said hello right away and shook my hand.  We talked a little bit about the Audition process and how happy they were to have so many people reading for all the roles.  I had the scene mostly memorized and felt comfortable with the dialogue and 'Tomboy' character.  One of the Actors in the waiting room had told me my character was a badass, so that was kind of exciting for me!  After slating and doing the scene, M* gave me a small re-direct, in which I took the note and then we were done.  Quick and painless :)

I definitely want to be working on something soon, whether it's this movie, a Hosting gig, or starting my own show...I feel like something good is going to happen in the near future.  Hoping those good vibes are coming for me!

Catching up...

Made it through the first month of my old and new resolutions and am feeling pretty confident and excited about all of them!

 

I've had at least 1 Audition or Interview a week, and have been working on my Acting Career each and every week, whether it's been going to a Workshop or Intensive, or tackling a new aspect in the Entertainment field, or even just reading some Acting Articles and taking notes to use at Auditions and in my personal goals to pursue my dreams.

 

I'm one step closer to starting my own Web Series after having my Hosting Interview and filming my Audition Piece last week and really falling in love with just talking on camera about things that interest me.  I loved Hosting for PowerTV and it was very challenging because even though I've grown up around cars, it's not something that comes easy to me.  I really enjoyed learning bits and pieces of the building process, about cars in general at the car shows and interviewing people that eat, sleep, and breathe power and automobiles but I'm excited for a new challenge of my own show and my own ideas.  Neil bought a brand new camera and I'm so excited to film something with him, or take headshots, and just play because the quality is so incredible!

 

On top of all the Acting stuff I've been doing lately I started a new job Bartending at The Garage on Motor Avenue in Culver City.  It's kept me very busy in addition to my normal work schedule and I've pulled doubles on a couple weekends but I've also found time to do some new and old things as well.  I got to see Andy's show at The Falcon Theater, went to see 'Les Miserables' with Neil and got my SAG Screeners since I'm now a part of SAG/AFTRA, found time to play Ping Pong at POW, Dinner or Happy Hours with friends, and even Cupcake Afternoons!

It makes sense that January just flew by but it was filled with a lot of fun, hard work, and career moves in the right direction!  May February bring more happiness and joy as well :)