October Karaoke

While October was a really productive month it was far less productive for me, Karaoke-wise.  I took a couple weeks off to deal with a sore throat and vocal rest since I was still doing Thenardier's Inn and wanted to keep my voice strong for that.  This gave everyone else more opportunities to sing and that always makes for happy singers!  We did not have a Halloween Karaoke Theme this year since Halloween fell on a Monday, although we've got a great group costume already in mind for next year :)

Gretchen Wilson - 'Here For The Party'

Amy Winehouse - 'You Know I'm No Good' 

Pat Benatar - 'Heart Breaker'

Alanis Morissette - 'You Learn'

Melissa Etheridge - 'I'm The Only One'

Sir Mix-A-Lot - 'Baby Got Back'

En Vogue - 'Shoop'

Britney Spears - 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

Fleetwood Mac - 'Dreams'

Toto - 'Hold The Line'

Journey - 'Separate Ways' 

The Temptations - 'My Girl'

The first week of Karaoke was Ashley's last night in LA so we had a lot of people visiting and celebrating!  Plus, Ashley, Carolyn and I had a couple group songs including our go-to, 'Baby Got Back' and 'Shoop!'  My new song of the night was 'You Learn' by Alanis Morissette and I can't wait to sing that one again.  I also had to sing Pat Benatar's 'Heartbreaker' by Ashley's request.  Overall, it was a really fun night with everyone!  The next week we were celebrating Carolyn's Birthday and we were packed with Karaoke singers.  That was also the last day I drank that month...I had one Campari Press and haven't drank since.  More on that below!  I didn't do a whole lot of singing for Carolyn's Birthday but I did dedicate my new song of the night to her by doing 'My Girl' by The Temptations, another song I will definitely sing again.

Two of my longest LA friends <3

I've done 29 days of no alcohol and going for a full month-long break or more to reset and get some clarity!  It's actually been so much easier than I thought (even over Halloween weekend) and my creativity has been thriving.  I'm not sure if that's because I'm not drinking or I've just been inspired lately, but I'll take it either way.  I can already tell you that Karaoke is back to normal for November and my Dad will be in LA for Thanksgiving, so we'll have a fun Pre-Thanksgiving Karaoke celebration!

'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

September Karaoke

We had a couple busy nights at Karaoke in September and I even skipped a week to protect my voice since I had "One Night Stands," the play I was in, running for three Friday nights, and also "Thenardier's Inn" re-opening for three weekend performances in September and October!

Fleetwood Mac - 'Go Your Own Way'

Bush - 'Comedown'

Nancy Sinatra - 'These Boots Are Made For Walking'

Bryan Adams - 'Everything I Do, I Do It For You'

Alanis Morissette - 'You Oughta Know'

Macy Playground - 'Sex & Candy'

Guns & Roses - 'November Rain'

Destiny's Child - 'Independant Woman'

Ace of Base - 'All That She Wants'

Jewel - 'Don't'

Seal - 'Kiss From A Rose'

Fuel - 'Falls On Me'

Stone Temple Pilots - 'Interstate Love Song'

Cher - 'If I Could Turn Back Time'

Stevie Wonder - 'I Just Called To Say I Love You'

Toni Braxton - 'Unbreak My Heart'

Tonic - 'You Wanted More' 

That first Wednesday night was the closing night at Afterbuzz TV for "Hard Knocks" and I also had "Real Housewives of New York" so it was a busy day of running around, and I actually took Marty up on his shot offer, immediately, which is unlike me!  I wanted to add some songs to my history and sing some songs that brought the emotion, and also tried Macy Playground's moody, 'Sex & Candy,' which was fun to sing.  I skipped the next week and for that third week, I had Rachel & Giana at Karaoke with me so we opened with 'Independent Women' which was new for me and fun to sing as a trio.  I kept the 90's music going all night long and included another new song, 'Kiss From A Rose' by Seal, which was interesting to try, but Giana really can rock it!  That last week in September was pretty quiet so I opened with 'Interstate Love Song' as my new song of the night and kept it chill for the rest of the night.  

I knew October would be a big month with Ashley visiting and Carolyn's Birthday, plus Halloween at the end of the month!  It was nice to take it a little bit easy in September!  Happy Halloween Month :)

Closing Night of 'One Night Stands'

I can tell how busy I was during September considering I only posted three blogs that month and we're a week into October and I'm just trying to catch up with everything!  I wanted to post one more blog about the show I was in at the Avery Schreiber Playhouse, 'One Night Stands' since it was such a fun and challenging role!

Our closing night was two weeks ago and we did it for a sold-out house!  It was great to have such a full audience that we had to wait in the front of the house and I felt like all of our scenes were on point!  I had lots of friends in the audience that night, Justin & Gail, Giana, Scott, John, and Nick and some of his friends.  It always feels nice to have the support of your friends and they loved the show.

Some our Cast of Ladies <3

This was the first night I was able to go out with some of the cast after the show and my friends came out as well.  We hit up El Tejano for giant beers and some chips and salsa, got to know each other and had conversations about the show and what else we're all working on.  

I would love to be a part of this show again in the future.  I had such a great time with my role but it might be fun to change it up and do something different.  They've got another run going on right now but since I had 'Thenardier's Inn - A Les Miserables' Cabaret opening two weeks ago and running for three weekends I jumped right back into that :)

Scott, Giana, Justin, Gail and I after my Final Performance :)

Any opportunity to do theater really helps me grow and there's nothing like having a live audience; they are unpredictable but they also bring an energy that is unparalleled.  Plus, it was really fun working with a different theater company, the other actors, the directors and writer were just a blast to get to know and work with!  See you all again soon!

'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!

'Hard Knocks' at Afterbuzz TV

I can't believe how quickly Football Training Camp came and went.  'Hard Knocks' focuses on those five weeks and specifically one team; this year it was the newly re-located back to LA Rams.  After 21 years in St. Louis, they came back to Cali!  This year I was Lead Hosting and Producing our segment with my new co-host, Joe Doyle.  We also had Throwback Joe join us for the first and last episodes to bring a little extra to our show!

Throwback Joe, Joe Joe Doyle and I Hosting 'Hard Knocks'

I am a die-hard Packer fan and will be for life; I've been on that season ticket waiting list since I was nine years old, thanks to my Mom.  They used to say by the time we were in our 50's, we would finally get tickets.  Now we'll be lucky if we get them in our lifetime, thanks to Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, along with the other greats, leading us to victory and winning the Superbowl many times over the last 20 years!  

One thing I've noticed watching 'Hard Knocks' over the last few years is that you get invested in the team they are profiling.  I was excited about the Falcons and even said Devonta Freeman would be a late draft pick-up for Fantasy and would yield high results and I was right!  Last year's Houston Texans got me excited about their team and made me a huge fan of J.J. Watt, who I should already have been a fan of because he's from Wisconsin and played at UW-Madison.  This year it was exciting to have an LA Football team and someone else to root for, and learning about the players, I really enjoyed watching Aaron Donald, William Hayes, Tavon Austin, and Austin Hill.

Over the five weeks, you get an inside look at practices, team camaraderie, the pre-season games, home life, and most importantly, cuts to the teams roster which ends with 53 players making the team.  I got Throwback Joe's contact info from my friend, Shawn, who's been a Rams fan for as long as he can remember.  Throwback Joe creates new Rams gear with that Throwback-style, and has some big time players on board, like Vince Ferragamo and Eric Dickerson.  He gets the new players to sign the gear and then sends it out the people who have placed their orders.  He's been a fan of the Rams and followed them wherever they've been so it was great having a true fan in to chat with us about the Rams.  Plus, he was gracious enough to give us some gear to do a Giveaway with and send to some lucky fans!

Episode 1 of our 'Hard Knocks' Aftershow

Joe and I had a really great season Hosting our 'Hard Knocks' Aftershow at Afterbuzz TV and I will continue to keep track of the Rams this season and hopefully get to attend a game as well!  Ram Nation...let's go :)

Always a believer in Mermaids!  Our final 'Hard Knocks' show at Afterbuzz TV this season :)

*You can find Throwback Joe's in the App Store which you need to check out if you want to get any LA Rams gear!

August Karaoke!

It's been pretty quiet at Karaoke this past month except for one week in August.  I've been nursing a cold for nearly a month (don't you just hate that Summer cold that sticks around) so I was trying to take it easy and one week I didn't even sing to rest my voice.  I've felt much better in the past two weeks so I'm just keeping it low-key and getting back into the swing of things!

Bush - 'Comedown'
Whitney Houston - 'Saving All My Love'

Duffy - 'Mercy'

Pat Benatar 'Promises In The Dark'

Aladdin - 'A Whole New World'

Peabo Bryson & Celine Dion - 'Beauty & The Beast'

Stone Temple Pilots - 'Plush'

Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Dani California'

Garbage - 'Special'

Roxette - 'It Must Have Been Love'

Tom Petty - 'You Got Lucky' 

Alanis Morissette - 'You Oughta Know'

Britney Spears - 'Lucky'

Tracy Chapman - 'Give Me One Reason'

Bon Jovi - 'You Give Love A Bad Name'

 

Fleetwood Mac - 'Say You Love Me'

The Spice Girls - 'Say You Will Be There'

Christina Aguilera & A Great Big World - 'Say Something'

Allison Krauss - 'When You Say Nothing At All'

Weezer - 'Say It Ain't So' 

Destiny's Child - 'Say My Name'

I can always count on Adam to sing
some awesome songs at Karaoke!

That first week I thought I better protect my voice but as I was singing my first song I realized I had the Phoebe voice from 'Friends' when she sounds "so sexy."  I didn't sound sexy but the cold had cleared my sinuses so I was able to hit all the high notes that my deviated septum keeps me from singing on a regular basis.  I had to sing some Whitney, so one of my new songs (I think it was new) was 'Saving All My Love' which went really well and also sang 'Beauty & The Beast' with Ace.  Just in case my Whitney had been sang before I sang that second new song of the night and we kept the Disney theme going!  I kept it a little alternative and 90's in that second week and my new song was 'Dani California' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  For the third week of singing it was really busy but Adam gave me a great suggestion to do 'Lucky' by Britney Spears, and it was actually a lot of fun!  The last week in August it was much more chill and I ended up setting a little challenge and theme for myself after singing two songs in a row that had 'say' in the title.  That Spice Girls song reminds me of my 8th Grade Graduation when a bunch of us got on stage at the reception and I sang Sporty Spice's part.  It's actually a really nice memory.  I also realized that a year ago on that Wednesday I had posted on Facebook about starting college years earlier and my Mom had left a comment on it talking about the one time I told her to turn around and come back to spend another night with me in Winona after I had been cheering (I was a College Cheerleader) at a Basketball Game.  I got a little sentimental so I sang 'When You Say Nothing At All' which Mom had suggested I sing for a Cabaret my senior year in High School.  My new song was Weezer's 'Say It Ain't So' and I was able to keep my 'say' theme going all night long!  

I'm looking forward to school being back in session and hopefully Karaoke will pick up too!  Plus, I think it's time for another theme night.  I've got a new theater production opening this weekend and another one in a couple weeks so I'll do some prep for that too and get some of the cast members in to sing!