'One Night Stands'

A couple weeks ago I auditioned for Defiance Theater Company to do a show called 'One Night Stands' that would run for three weeks with a short rehearsal period.  Knowing I had 'Thenardier's Inn' starting up in a few weeks I couldn't commit to anything long-term and because of my work schedule I didn't have much availability.  This was the perfect project!  Not to mention, it was going to be a major role change for me and very challenging.

Thanks to Sam, Adam, and Rachel for coming to Opening Night and snapping some pics!

I don't want to give too much away, but the character I'm playing is empowered and fun, she's flirty and forward with just a touch of crazy AND I have the wildest prop.  One that I told my Dad, would be ok if he didn't come and see this show.  It's not that bad, but it's certainly not normal.  It's a very physical scene and required some choreography to get it just perfect.  It's the type of thing you have to see :)

Courtney and I at Idle Hour for some post-show celebrations!

The show is at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse in North Hollywood and consists of seven short scenes that are all about 'One Night Stands' and it's opened by Cupid.  It's an hour-long show and it flies by so quickly!  We've got one final show this Friday at 9 pm but I hope to do the show again in the future since it's been going on for over eight years now!  Let me know if you can make it on Friday, I'd love to see ya there!

'Graey Area' Web Series

This past Tuesday I worked on the Web Series 'Graey Area' up in North Hollywood.  Kelsey, who has come into Karaoke at Gabe's a few times asked if I wanted to be a part of it, sent me the script, and after reading it, I was in!  Not only is she starring in it, she's also producing it :)

'Graey Area' reminds me of "Friends" and definitely has that sitcom feel.  Even though my scenes were more dramatic, there was a comedic undertone to them, and it was still kept light-hearted.  That is, until the big reveal at the end!  Grace (played by Kelsey) and I (Stacy) are dating the same guy; I get to play the girl that everyone hates but hopefully understands me by the end of the episode.  Definitely a new character for me.

Our Director, Bobby, Kelsey, myself, Alex, Michelle, and Eduardo our DP (Max was our Boom Operator and took the group photo)!  A little behind the scenes action and a still during one of our final scenes.

The Web Series is still filming and once it goes through the editing process should premiere at the end of the Summer!  I can't wait to see it and share it with everyone!

'Ghost' at The Pantages and Federal Bar!

It's always fun to do something new in LA and although I saw Jekyll & Hyde at The Pantages last year with my friend, Kristina, I wanted to take Neil to see Ghost at The Pantages a couple weeks ago.  He told me about the show on Broadway years ago so I was excited to surprise him with tickets while it was touring here in LA.  Seeing a musical together was new for us!

All dressed up for 'Ghost' at The Pantages!

To make the surprise even better we both got dressed up and once we got to the theater, we had a glass of wine at the bar and then took our seats for the show.  I instantly connected with Molly, felt like she was the stronger actor between her and Sam, even though Carl was more of a major character in the musical.  For the most part, the movie and the show were pretty similar but they gave some of the characters more stage-time than they had in the movie.  I actually really liked Oda Mae, even though she was really pushing for comedy but didn't need to, because it was already there.  Of course, as soon as the audience heard 'Unchained Melody' it silenced the entire theater and every time the melody or song played I started tearing up.  I loved the song 'With You' which Neil had played for me years ago when he introduced me to the musical and would love to learn that for Karaoke some time.  I really liked the vibe and music video feel of Oda Mae's song, 'I'm Outta Here.'  They way they transitioned people from living to ghost was incredible and the effects and lighting were phenomenal.  When I read the program, I found out that the girl that played Molly was from Wisconsin (woo hoo) and a bunch of the cast members were from the Midwest!  Overall, I thought the show was good but it didn't come close to Jekyll & Hyde or when I saw Les Miserables on Broadway before I even really knew the whole story behind that show.

Salted Caramel Cake

After Ghost I planned to have Dinner at Federal Bar in North Hollywood because we always talked about eating there but had only ever had drinks when we had stopped by.  I brought a bottle of Wine with me that was similar to a Shiraz or Merlot and we started off with the Ahi Tuna Crudo that was light and had a really yummy cilantro aoili on it.  I picked out the Roasted Beet Salad with arugula, fennel, orange, feta, and a white balsamic that was a huge portion (awesome) and had so many different flavors going on that mixed really well together.  Neil ordered the Grilled Salmon while I went with the Bone-In Short Rib with corn mashed potato and brasing au jus.  I had no idea it was going to be that much food, but it was absolutely delicious!  I tend to avoid fat, especially when it's connected to meat, but for some reason, however they had prepared the Short Rib made it so tender that it didn't have the typical consistency that weirds me out; it almost had more flavor than the actual meat!  Needless to say, I wasn't able to finish even half but was quite excited to take home leftovers for Dinner the next day.  No meal would be complete without dessert, so I decided on the Vanilla Salted Caramel Cake.  It took a while to get to the salted caramel but once you did, it melted in your mouth.  Even Neil liked the dessert and he's not a sweets type of guy.  There was a jazz band playing, and initially I was really excited but it got SUPER loud and we could barely have a conversation for about a half hour while they were doing this lively set.  Thankfully, it got more bluesy after a break when they did a singer/band set and that was much more enjoyable.  We'd definitely go back there again and try more food because everything we had tasted amazing!

Diego was quite excited about the Short Rib Bone...he got to play with it for a couple hours ;)

It was nice to plan a fun night out and do things that were new to us.  I'm still keeping up with my resolutions, new restaurants, something different I haven't done, each and every month, and that resolution is going strong :)

Neil's Acoustic Show & Katy's Birthday :)

A couple weeks ago Neil played his first Acoustic Show in over a year!  I was excited to see him play at Universal Bar & Grill and also very happy that my friend, Katy, was having her Birthday Party in North Hollywood that night as well!

Neil's show started promptly at 8 pm as he had a bunch of new music to play but also some crowd favorites, and was hoping to get everything in with his 50 minute set.  He opened with 'Dizzy' which is a great starter to get the night going since most of the people at the show had seen him play before.  He swapped between new and old music, and also adding a couple covers too.  Since his parents had taken down his childhood basketball hoop, Rimmy, just that week he even made a dedication to his life-long friend growing up, doing his first cover of the night, 'Born To Run' by Bruce Springsteen and even played the harmonica.  I finally got to hear 'Winona' for the first time since he wrote it almost four years ago and the crowd loved it.  Well-written lyrics and a gorgeous melody equals a winning combination!  'The Seagull' is another crowd-pleaser but I love 'Veil of Tears' and he made it new by adding a little Lady Gaga 'Bad Romance' before he went into the song.  Neil's been writing a bunch of new songs lately so he played 'Like We're Brand New' which has more of a country feel and beautiful lyrics.  He had a great turn-out and I think everyone enjoyed hearing the new music and we're all looking forward to his next show :)

At Bow & Truss with the Birthday Girl!

After Neil's show, I knew I had to see my good friend, Katy, since she was in town from Sacramento for a few days to celebrate her Birthday with friends and family.  I've missed her so much so I was glad to catch up with her at Bow & Truss which was just down the street from Universal Bar & Grill in North Hollywood.  It was my first time there and although they had a great cocktail menu I decided to stick with wine.  It looked like they had an awesome menu, and one of the girls at the party, said her brother was one of the chefs, so I'll definitely go back to try the food!  Katy had a bunch of activities planned throughout the weekend and just a short time to fit everything in.  I knew I had to speak in Church on Sunday to the Confirmation class so I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could before she left for Nor Cal.  Lucky for me we got to see a movie together on Saturday night, and she was able to squeeze in some more time for me during her busy schedule.  There's a post about Maleficent here on my blog!  Katy, I hope you're moving back to LA soon because I miss you like crazy and love our 'Bachelorette' nights in or going out for drinks!

It was definitely a fun night out and great to catch up with friends, hear some awesome music, and enjoy being out!  I have so many friends with Birthdays in June so this is a month of celebrating especially since my Birthday is in a few days.  It's nice to have a couple days off before the craziness begins...

'Still falling for you...Like we're brand new.'

Check out Neil's music here: Neil Daly on YouTube