'Thenardier's Inn' Encore!

We had another three-week run of 'Thenardier's Inn' in September and October.  We had shows at our studio space in Santa Monica (CAC Studios) and then at Three Clubs in Hollywood!  Once again, all the shows were sold-out/over-sold and we had a great cast of people to bring our story to life!

There were a few originals from our cast and also some new people.  Our new people brought some excitement and fun to the show, bringing a different character trait and that made it interesting.  As we've all said from the beginning, no show is exactly the same and that's what really makes our show magnificent. 

With the Steward and Jean Valjean before a Friday Night Show!

I was back to my Lovely Lady antics for the show, brought my crazy hair back, and love doing my make-up for this show!  We had Todd, Bartending for us at the Studio in our closing week and he had a beautiful set-up of food and drinks that were popular in France during the Revolution.  I had a Mint, Vinegar, Simple Syrup and Water drink that was absolutely delicious and got rid of my sore throat within a day!  I found out the next day as I was perusing Pinterest that Vinegar kills bacteria.  Who knew?!

We all wrote a little something on the wall to remember
our first real CAC home <3

Unfortunately, as we did our last show at CAC Studios last weekend, we informed the audience that we no longer had that space.  Thankfully, we have outgrown it, and this clears the way for bigger and better things!  We started 'Thenardier's Inn' and CAC Studios there and we ended with that show nearly two years later, where it all began.  

Thanks to Courtney for coming to two of our shows and bringing her roommate, Jacqueline, and her Dad!  I loved having you in the audience and I'm so glad you all enjoyed it :)

'Thenardier's Inn' certainly isn't ending; I've said from the beginning, can we just do this show forever? #notlesmisforever  And I know we will <3

Broadway LA Style

CAC Studios put on a Broadway Cabaret LA Style show at the beginning of February to celebrate Valentine's Day with songs of Love.  I was singing in the show which was at Three Clubs in Hollywood and it was so great to be a part of this fun Cabaret with some beautiful music and even more fabulous performers!

Before Showtime...Kerstin, Kenni, Cassandra, Max, Giana, Elizabeth, Hadiyyah, myself, and Dani :)

 The show opened with 'Elephant Love Medley' from "Moulin Rouge" and we all had some solo's throughout the song and were spread apart in Three Clubs so our voices were coming from any open space we could find.  I love that movie and I love that song so I was really excited to be a part of it.  Adam also sang from "Moulin Rouge" doing 'Your Song,' which he just kills every time he does it!  Elizabeth played Patsy Cline, while Cassandra did 'Let it Go' from "Frozen."  Milton did one of my all-time favorite songs, 'Lady' by Kenny Rogers, and Hadiyyah sang 'One and Only' one of my favorite Adele songs.  Kenni showed us a different side to Peggy Lee's "Fever" by doing it as Anna from "Frozen."  I did 'Time After Time' by Cyndi Lauper (had a little costume change from our opening number) and changed into my New Year's Eve dress, and Julia complimented it by turning on the disco ball during the song!  We closed out the Cabaret with 'Seasons of Love' from "Rent."

Thanks to Adam for jumping in and singing back-up for me during 'Time After Time!'

Songs of love, happiness, tears of joy, and more were shared by the audience and all of the performers.  Thanks to Neil for coming and taking pictures!  We had a packed house and I was so glad to be a part of such a great show and sing in honor of my Mom!

Aces of Improv (Diamond Edition)

At the end of January the Aces of Improv put on a show at Three Clubs in Hollywood!  I've been a part of most of our CAC Studios Improv Shows and was really excited about this one because I was also The Ace of Diamonds!

We always have so much fun doing these shows.  We had a full house and lucky for me, I had a bunch of friends in the audience!  Thank you to Jamie & Alan, Ashley, Raph & Carlos, and Brian for coming to the show and supporting me as well as my fellow Improvisers.  I loved looking into the audience and seeing everyone having a great time and enjoying the show :)  When we're performing, I think we all wish we could do an even longer show!

FriYAY's Improv Cast! (Zach, Jason, Adam, Hadiyyah, Dan, Kenni, Giana, and myself - minus Nathan)

At the show we debuted a new game we called 'Cards Against Improv' basically using the cards from Cards Against Humanity and having to justify what the cards say.  It certainly brought a lot of laughter from the audience and hilarity ensued.  Playing 'A Day in the Life' was a blast as well, I discovered a new character for myself, and got to play a bunch of different characters throughout the game.

Cards Against Improv, A Day in the Life, and Three Wives Improv Games

Our next show will be in March and I'll keep everyone posted as to when I'll be performing!  You can always find info about our shows at CAC Studios on our website at: www.cacstudios.com Keep laughing!

Thenardier's Inn...One Day More!

We made it through another extension of 'Thenardier's Inn - A Les Miserables Cabaret' and it was such a fun run!  We had plenty of time for rehearsals to prepare for the show with a mostly new cast and it certainly paid off.  The show was sold out every week and we barely had any space left for our closing show this past Saturday!  Thankfully, Three Clubs (the venue of our show in Hollywood) was happy to have us and we loved filling the space and sharing our hard work and 'Thenardier's Inn' with new audience goers as well as repeat guests!

Double the Trouble, Master & Madame of the House!

It was such a blast to play Madame Thenardier for this run!  She's a wild and fun character and with Nathan as the Master of the House, I couldn't imagine playing the role opposite anyone else.  The relationship we have built through rehearsals, the show and more translates on-stage and I feel like I'm working with a best friend.  It's a really great feeling and since we have to be a team, that playfully picks on one another, steals things during the show, and feeds off the audience to tell the story, I'm proud to get to work beside him!  We did our first show together 'Babes In Toyland' nearly two years ago!

The rest of the cast that stepped into new roles really impressed me, as I've been a part of the show for over a year now and we've had some fabulous cast members.  Everyone brought a fresh perspective to their roles and also brought the humor.  It's the same show but with little tweaks here and there that brought new life into something that was fabulously magical to begin with!  Michael took over as Director and lead us into a creative environment where we could play.  He as able to keep all the parts that have worked over this past year and also give the audience some new discoveries.  Thanks to our Improv, the show changes and evolves every time and we find out what works and get to keep the audience on their toes. 

I have all the emotions and colors of the rainbow :)

After one of our best shows ever on Saturday night we were all excited to announce that we'll be going into our seventh extension in November!  I will be playing Madame Thenardier for one more day, on November 7th which is also the One Year Anniversary of the show.    I can't believe we've been doing this for a year!  We have some old cast members that will be joining us for this show, as well as filling the audience with family and friends.  My parents and brother will be in LA for the week so I'm so glad that they'll be able to see me perform as Madame Thenardier (especially my Dad and Brother) since they haven't seen me in a Theater show since I was in College!

These tickets will sell out by the end of this week because it's such a monumental show for all of us.  You can purchase tickets at www.cacstudios.com using the Promo Code: NOTLESMIS for 50% off tickets or if we're sold-out there you can go to www.goldstar.com for discounted tickets as well.  Since it is our Anniversary Show and we're inviting all the CAC Studio/Theater Company Members it's going to be an incredible show and tickets will go fast, so if you want to see me one last time as Madame Thenardier, check out the above listed websites and get your ticket for November 7th!  I can't wait to share this with you <3

Our Current 'Thenardier's Inn' Cast...I love being your Madame!

"Can't we just do this forever?" ~ My words at Intermission during our first show on November 7th 2014...and we are!

'Thenardier's Inn' at Hollywood Fringe!

Lovely Lady takes Fringe at Three Clubs!

It was our first time participating in the Hollywood Fringe Festival for us at CAC Studios for our production of 'Thenardier's Inn - A Les Miserables Cabaret!'  We had sold out our shows by the time our first performance came around and we were so excited to perform in the Festival to a room filled with people from other shows and productions, industry guests, our company's VIP patrons, and every other fabulous audience member.

It was definitely a different experience putting on the show in a bar and very different staging situation but everyone really pulled it together, including our sound and lighting crew that picked up everything so quickly!  Props to the crew people as well as the cast for adapting so easily :)  The audience really got into the show and we had a couple really great audiences that gave us standing ovations and were cheering during every single one of our songs, as well as heckling all the cast members, and really getting deep into our show.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it and the reviews clearly showed that!  I think my favorite part of our show is being able to share it with audiences because it's so different and fun and there's no way to describe what we're doing accurately enough as people see it and love every bit of it!  We all have such a blast performing in it, the energy and excitement radiates from every single cast member.  

My favorite Behind the Scenes photo from our show at Three Clubs during Fringe...Photo Bomber Nathan!

We had five performances including a Preview Night and at the Closing Ceremonies for the Fringe Festival Awards we won Best Cabaret and Variety!  It's an honor for all of us that have been a part of the show currently, or in the past that started this production, because we've worked so hard to bring it to life and it's thriving!  On top of winning this amazing award we got another extension for the Fringe Festival and will be performing this Thursday, Friday, and also next Friday.  Tickets can be purchased at: www.cacstudios.com using the promo code ENCORE or on www.goldstar.com.  If you haven't seen this show yet, you really have to see it, or if you've seen it before and loved it, come on back and check it out at this unique venue.  There is a drinking game within the show so the setting of it being in a bar is perfect!

After we won 'Best Cabaret and Variety' at the Fringe Festival Awards Show for 'Thenardier's Inn!'

Not only did we get to perform our show in the Festival but we were also a part of Pick of Fringe and the Fringe Cabaret which took place at Fringe Central in Hollywood.  It was very exciting for us as we were new performers to the Festival so I really hope to see you at 'Thenardier's Inn' this time around!