Topsy Turvy Children's Show

I was so excited to be a part of Creating Arts Company's 'Topsy Turvy' Mini-Musical a few weeks ago!  Basically, things got turned upside down and all the characters were singing different songs while telling a story; so there were Princesses, Superhero's and Villains and it was a blast of a show!

I was playing Belle from 'Beauty and the Beast,' (this was my first time playing her character) and singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  There were songs from 'Wicked,' The Black-Eyed Peas, 'The Brady Bunch' and more.  I even got serenaded by The Beast as he sang 'Your Song' and whisked me around on the dance floor.  I knew the songs from 'Wicked' but I guess I hadn't listened to them all that closely because as we were singing and harmonizing, I got chills.  All of our voices blended so well together, it was really beautiful.  This cast was stellar!

Right before Show-Time with some of the Princesses, Superhero's and Villains!

After both of our shows that weekend we got to take pictures, give autographs, get hugs and hang out with the kids which is one of my favorite parts.  That's what I missed about doing Children's Shows the most.  The kids are so innocent, smart and the way they look up to us is inspiring to each of us.  I had done our Adult Theater for the past year so this was getting me back in the swing of things with the kids.  It's basically play-time for us!  I was so in love with that dress, I felt like a Princess the instant I put it on.  Although, I may not go the ball-gown route when I'm picking out Wedding dresses in the future ;)

'Beauty & The Beast''

I always look forward to the Children's Shows because it's such a different environment and vibe! Unfortunately, I caught that Summer cold so I wasn't able to do a Princess Party the following weekend but there's always more and I can't wait to do another one soon!

The Summer Freeze Princess Show :)

After a busy week of rehearsals for 'Thenardier's,' 'Project Mayhem' (which I'll be writing a blog about soon), and Improv, I was also rehearsing for our 'Summer Freeze Princess Show & Sing-Along!'  A couple weeks ago we had two shows on a Sunday with a bunch of Princesses joining in on the fun!

We had two very sold-out shows with tons of boys and girls singing along and creating magic with us.  Pocahontas led us on the adventure this time and was joined by plenty of Princesses from Rapunzel, to Anna & Elsa, Belle, Tiana, and more, including Jasmine, whom I was playing that weekend.  We had just gotten a new dress for Jasmine and it was absolutely beautiful and perfect for my character.

Princess Jasmine with Rapunzel, Elsa, and Pocahontas!

As soon as I got on-stage I was mobbed by children who wanted to tell me I was their favorite Princess, they had just watched my movie, or could they sit with me.  I'm sure they say that to all the Princesses but I always feel so special as soon as I start talking to them.  So while we got the kids up and dancing for a bunch of the songs, we also had them sit down so the Princesses could move about and tell our story that day.  When I was sitting, without fail, a little girl would come to sit in my lap, and another would try to fit in as well, and then one would hold my hand.  Best feeling in the world!

Princesses for the Summer Freeze Sing-Along :)

At the end of the show, we taught the kids 'The Princess Song' which is our original Princess Song written by Dan, our Musical Director at CAC.  It's so magical to hear the kids singing along with us on a song that is all our own.  At our second show, a bunch of the guys who normally play our Princes and Pirates came to the see the show and support us Princesses; that was so nice of them to show their enthusiasm for the Summer Freeze!

The Princess Shows are always a blast and revitalize my feelings on how much I love children.  One eight month old baby got her first photo with a Princess, with me!  All those dreams as a little girl of being a Princess one day and they're all coming true <3

The Princess Friendship Show!

Last weekend was filled with shows!  Creating Arts Studios was doing our closing weekend of Thenardier's Inn which included a Thursday night show in addition to our Friday and Saturday night shows but then Creating Arts Company also put on a Princess Friendship Show on Sunday at 11 am and 1 pm.  I went from being a Lovely Lady to Princess Jasmine in less than 24 hours!

A Heart Full of Love

This Princess Show had all the Princesses getting ready for Belle's Ball as well as some Prince's.  It was almost an hour long show with lots of music including 'Be Our Guest,' 'Let It Go,' and 'We Go Together' from "Grease," but it really moved along quickly and the children loved it.  Our first show was packed and a little crazy but the second show ran a little smoother because the kids were a little older and understood when to sing and play with us and when it was time to listen.  That's always nice!  I got to sing 'A Whole New World' with Aladdin as the kids sat on the "magic carpet" with us; it was sincerely magical!  Aladdin had written an original Princess Song for the previous Princess Show and so we all sang it for this show as well.  It's so catchy and fun and we did a little sing-along so the kids were able to sing with us and they loved it so much.

We always do a meet and greet after the show that includes taking pictures, signing autographs, and giving hugs.  There must have been a ton of love in the air because the kids were extra adorable this past weekend, saying they loved me, and one little girl even made all of the Princesses personalized Valentine's.  I could not even handle how sweet and thoughtful that was!  My heart was over-flowing with love.

Creating Arts Company's Princess Friendship Show Cast!

Creating Arts only does Princess Shows a few times a year and I love to be a part of them!  Plus, it was an extra special treat this time as I got to wear Cinderella's ball gown for Belle's Ball :)  I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Princesses in 4D!

Last weekend I was in Creating Art's 'Princess, Prince, & Pirate's in 4D' show.  Our director, Shannon, had written it to be a Choose Your Own Adventure show so the kids would actually decide what was happening throughout the show.  It was based strongly on improv and allowing the children to get involved and no show was going to be exactly the same.

Flynn & Rapunzel

To make the show 4D there were scents that were sprayed throughout the theater depending on where we were; there was a beach/sea scent, a clean scent for the library, and woodsy/musk scent for the forest.  We also had snow during our scenes with Anna and Elsa, and other little touches to create all the senses.  The kids really loved deciding how we would react or what we would do and were very vocal about it.  What Princess did they want to see first?  Did we want to find Elsa or build a snowman?  They were creating magic!  Of course, there were songs involved in every step of the way!

For this show most of us had to play two different Princesses, and the guys had to play multiple roles as well from Princes throughout history.  I started off the show as Rapunzel and the kids were so excited to see me.  During both shows I had little girls run up and hug me or tell me they just watched my movie.  They don't care that there's a show that's going on, they just want to talk to you because it means so much to them.  It was so adorable!  I also got to sing 'I See The Light' with Flynn during our opening scenes.  I had a quick change to Pocahontas, whom I played for the rest of the show.  Lucky for me, I had two extremely long wigs and got to play the best of both worlds, a blond and a brunette.  The story-line led us to find our Fairy Godmother's magic wand that was found by Robin Hood, stolen by Blackbeard, and with the help of Capt. Jack Sparrow, Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charmping, Aladdin, Jasmine, and more we were able to get the magic wand back to it's rightful home safe and sound, making it an adventure.  Along the way, I lead everyone 'Just Around The Riverbend' as we later on had to 'Build A Snowman' with the help of Christophe, Anna & Elsa, and more.

Just some of our Princesses before the show...Belle, Rapunzel, Tinkerbell, Aurora, Cinderella, and Snow White!

It was crazy how excited all the kids were to tell us what was happening or what we missed while we were off-stage.  Our first show went almost 90 minutes because the kids were so talkative with us.  Luckily, we planned for that during our second show and were able to keep things moving more quickly for our Sunday show.  Either way, the children loved it, and the parents did too!  We always get the kids up and dancing with us and there's plenty of time after the show for pictures as we get mobbed on the Promenade after our final bows.  

It's not always kids wanting to take pictures with Snow White & Pocahontas ;)

This was definitely my favorite Princess Show because of all the characters involved and also having the Prince's and Pirate's join us too.  It made it exciting for the little boys as well to have someone to look up to.  For putting the show together in just a week I'm so proud of all of our new members as well as our veterans.  I only wish that the show would have run for another week or two!

*Thanks to Kristina, Alex, & Finley, Neil and Spark, and others who came to see our Princess Show!*

The Princess Extravaganza :)

Right after we finished up Wizard of Oz for Creating Arts we were already prepping for The Princess Extravaganza the following weekend at The Promenade Playhouse.  I had no idea how inspiring it would be seeing all the Princesses in one place at one time and I can't even imagine how the children felt when all the ladies were on-stage together!

Pocahontas Make-Up & Costume :)

I was playing Pocahontas that weekend and we had a total of four shows, two per day, and each show was packed with parents and children, friends and family.  I was greeting and ushering guests into the theater.  It was so much fun to have kids run up to me, excited to talk about their favorite princesses, and of course, the best part were the hugs!  I don't think there is anything better than a hug from a little girl or boy.  I loved that they recognized me right away and would just chatter away about the princesses or that they come to all the Creating Arts shows.  One little girl even recognized me from when I played the Wicked Witch.  I was amazed because I even changed my voice for this too!  I can't believe how smart these kids are :)

After the show started I was able to watch and to see all the Princesses on the stage together.  It blew me away.  Even when you're in Disneyland you may run into a Princess or two but it's very rare to have a few you see throughout the day, let alone 14 all in one place at one time.  If I was excited, I can't imagine the kids not being in total complete awe.  I did get to sing the last number with them and then I gave an announcement at the end for the raffle winners who would win a Princess Party.  Once we were outside we were swarmed by children and people on the Promenade asking for pictures, hugs, autographs, and stories.  Thankfully, I remembered enough about Pocahontas that I was able to talk about Flit and Meeko, and who could forget, John Smith.  It was a total blast!

Our Princess Extravaganza Cast!

We do these Princess Shows every few months and right now the favorites are Elsa and Anna from Frozen.  I'm looking forward to playing another Princess and getting to entertain these incredible kids again soon!