The coffee table book is now available!

So, I haven't seen it in person yet, but the coffee table book celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Radio City Rockettes is now available! My friend Leah went to pick one up at Barnes and Noble today because she happens to be on the cover. I am supposedly featured in this book, though I haven't confirmed it yet. I flew back to NYC this summer for the photo shoot where we got to wear vintage costumes of the Rockettes. It is entirely possible that they left out all the costumes that my group wore, but I hope not. Here is a link to the book on barnes and noble.com: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780061565380&itm=1
and here is the front cover with my friend Leah (who is also a new girl and who I stand next to in the kick lines) front and center!

A Thanksgiving Miracle

So, our final number in the Christmas Spectacular is a live nativity. We have three live camels, and three live sheep, and a donkey. Apparently one of the sheep was pregnant and when we came back for the show on Sunday she had a little lamb. They gave her the day off to take care of her baby, which I think was appropriate. The rumor is that she actually went into labor on stage the night before and her water broke on stage, but it might have just been urine. I don't know what to believe. But either way, look how cute!

Truly Thankful

So the best part of my Thanksgiving day this year wasn't the delicious lunch I had courtesy of Ellendale's restaurant in Nashville, nor was it performing that evening with the Radio City Rockettes, it was immediately following that performance when I came home to find my fiance waiting for me at home. I knew that he would be there, it wasn't a surprise visit, but it had been 5 weeks since we had seen each other and that is entirely too long. I am so grateful that he traveled all day on Thanksgiving to be with me! It was the best thing ever. It was one of those moments that I kept trying to picture in my mind, wondering what it would be like to see each other again, playing out different scenarios in a dream like bubble. It couldn't have been better. I meant to take a picture of the entirely store-bought meal that we had at 11:00PM that night, but I guess in my excitement/hunger/tiredness I forgot. It was actually really delicious. I guess I bought things from all the right stores. I had a fantastic weekend with my Greg. The next morning I got to meet his brother Patrick and wife Jen (the only family members I hadn't met until then), and we had some fun trying to navigate the city. That night they came to the show with a couple of friends who were in town, and imagine how pleased I was when they seemed to like it. We snapped some photos afterward. The next day we went to the ICE! exhibit right next to the Opryhouse where they have an entire wonderland made of ice. This year it was celebrating the 50th anniversary of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". It was pretty terrific, despite it only being 10 degrees inside. They did bundle us up in Smurfy parkas to keep us warm. Here we are going down the slide made entirely of ice! We were lucky enough to see one man overestimate the strength of the plastic handles that were embedded in the ice at the top of slide--he tried to push off of them from a standing position, and he took the handles to the bottom of the slide with him. So, we had to merge lines with the other slide and ride the bigger one. It was a pretty impressive display overall! Greg came to watch me dance again that evening, as did my friend Camron and her husband Adam, which was so much fun! They even sacrificed a chance to see Billy Ray Cyrus and Hannah Montana to come hang out with me and Greg and drive our non-rental-car-having butts around town. I laughed more this weekend than I have laughed in the last 5 weeks. I remembered how funny Greg really is! Sadly, the fun weekend had to come to an end this morning, but I will always be grateful fo this Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family.

The Ideal Man

How many of us were asked at some point during our schooling, be it public, private, or spiritual, to make a list of attributes of our ‘ideal man’ (or woman). I know I had the assignment multiple times. It seems like the moral of the exercise was that your list might have things that ‘would be nice to have’, but you really should narrow it down to things that were essential to have a successful, loving relationship. Basically, a person was missing the point if their top priorities in a companion were things like good hair, good fashion sense, hot body, and other seemingly shallow desires. The real important things were things like sharing life goals, making each other laugh, being close to God (if that’s important to you), etc. So I kind of had the impression, from these list-making exercises that you shouldn’t count on getting everything you wanted on that list. Imagine my surprise when, during the course of dating my fiancé, I realized that not only did he have the essential things, he also had the ‘inconsequential’ things, plus a bunch of other bonuses I didn’t even think were possible to find in one man. I really didn’t think such a man existed! For example, it’s strange, but for some reason when I was younger I always imagined myself with someone very Italian-looking. You know, tall, dark, thick dark hair, chiseled features. I couldn’t really imagine being with someone who actually WAS Italian, just someone with that look. Oddly enough, I never dated anyone with that look. Until Greg came along. Physically, this guy was the picture I had always had in my mind of who I would be with, so I was naturally interested in what else he had to offer. Amazingly, he had everything to offer me. We had the same interests, he made me laugh, I could go on and on, and probably will at some other time and place, so I restrain myself here. Another silly example: When Disney’s Tarzan (the movie) was released in theatres I was very excited to see it. I watched it at the Villa theatre in Salt Lake City, and I was enchanted. Not just with the musical score, the cute adaptation, the wit of Minnie Driver’s ‘Jane’, but with Tarzan himself. Seriously, the dude is a cartoon, but I was really getting into this whole idea of finding my very own Tarzan. It dawned on me the other day, “I did!”. Now, perhaps the most obvious connection that people have made with Greg’s ‘look’ is that of the most amazing human to walk the earth: Jesus Christ. Come on, people. It’s undeniable.So, I like to think that somehow, I found the perfect cross between Tarzan: “King of Apes”, and Jesus Christ: “King of Kings". Is that blasphemous? I'm not trying to be. I just feel like the luckiest girl on the planet to be marrying the man who is the surprising combination of all the men I think are perfect. I love you, Greg!

A visit from the rents

My mom and dad managed to make it to three performances while they were here, and they still wanted to see more. There’s a lot going on in this show, so it’s hard to see it all! After the last performance they saw, I gave them a short backstage tour, and we were able to snap some pictures in one of my costumes. The one I am wearing is for our first number “Need a Little Christmas”, or as we like to call it, “Wreaths”.We get to dance with these giant wreaths, holding them at eye level and flipping them back and forth from either a gold side, or a green or red side, depending on where you stand. Apparently it’s a really beautiful effect, though I wouldn’t know since I’ve never actually been able to watch it. The wreaths are a bit tricky to maneuver, but we do it because it’s our J-O-B (just a little saying that our director likes). I’m not sure that this is our most exciting, or quintessential, costume, but the two costumes that most people take pictures in were actually thrown into the wash before I had a chance to get pictures, so I’ll have to get those later. Here I am, hoping for a letter at the Grand Ole Opry post office. Nothing yet. But I'm still smiling!

After the performance we decided to check out the Opryland Hotel, which is right next door, because it is renowned for its Christmas decorations as well as its beautiful interior and design year round. It was the first time I had been through the hotel, and it really did surprise me how grandiose everything was. There are a number of different wings of the hotel, and each wing has a large atrium area in the middle with loads of plants, trees, waterfalls, and rivers winding through. There are walkways at all different levels of the hotel to view these atriums. For Christmas, there are lights hanging all over the place, along with different themes in each wing. The first one had jungle animals in hot air balloons hanging from the glass ceiling, all of them dressed in holiday garb. Sounds crazy, but it was also crazy cute. Another wing had a large nativity where the people and animals were made out of colorful tent-like material and were lit inside, and they were surrounded by palm trees wrapped in colorful Christmas lights. A third wing had an outdoor all-white nativity with statues sitting in a shallow pond. The reflection in the water gave it a really nice effect. The trees outside of the hotel are all covered in lights as well, and some of the Rockettes in our group participated in a tree-lighting ceremony before we opened our show. I guess these are some of the things that won Nashville the title of one of the top ten places to spend Christmas by Travel + Leisure magazine! I am loving it!

Opening Night!

So, after our invited dress rehearsal on Wednesday night, we had another invited dress rehearsal on Thursday afternoon, and then opening night was Thursday night. We all wanted to live up to the great show we had the night before. Everything went well, we had a great audience, and it was so exciting to know that the rehearsal process was over. We finally got to meet with our producer after the show, and he said some kind words to us. He told us that some of the sponsors who attended the previous night had told him this year was the best production they had seen so far. And while they had changed a backdrop or two, he remarked that this was the best cast that had been in Nashville in the 7 years they have had a production here. That was really great to feel that I was part of such a great cast. Everyone is really talented, and they are good people, so I am really grateful to be part of this particular production. After the show I said hello to my parents and my aunt Patti and uncle Rog who were in town visiting. How great to have family in town for the opening night! After the show we had a cast party at the Opryland Hotel next door. We ran home for a shower, and then boarded a stretch Hummer limo back to the Opryland Hotel. It was fun to see everyone so happy and in a festive mood. Of course there was lots of dancing on the dance floor, although I ran out of energy about halfway through the night and spectating had to suffice. Here is a picture of the six new girls of Nashville! Laura, Dani, Me, Leah, Darci, and Nikki. On the way out of the hotel, Leah and I struck a pose from our 'sit down drill' as we so lovingly call it from the number 'Christmas in New York'. If you think that kicking your legs when you're sitting down is easy, you're mistaken. It's still hard! We didn't kick due to our dresses, so we just hit one of two 'leg out' poses. Leah and I are always right next to each other in the kick lines. Originally they thought we would be the two center girls, but one of the veterans turned out to have higher shoulders than mine, so she beat me out for center. Now I am one off of center, and right next to Leah. That is a beautiful hotel. More pictures of that to come!

Victory

So the last few days of rehearsal one of the directors came to watch us and see if we were up to par. It's a little nerve-racking when you are part of a production that is known for precision in their performance. Attaining perfection is always a little daunting for me. But maybe that's just me. Anyway, all of us were a little nervous, but especially we new girls were really feeling like we were doing a terrible job and would just never live up to expectations. The night before opening night, we had an 'invited dress rehearsal' where sponsors, media, friends, and family are invited to preview the show before the official opening. It was our first audience, which was both exciting and nerve-racking. Feeling like we had not achieved the perfection we had hoped, we were nervous to gather in the green room after the show to get our director's reaction. We anxiously sat together as a cast, and when she excitedly yelled "That was GREAT!" We exploded into a celebratory cheer. While she acknowledged that there were still improvements to be made, we were all so excited that she was pleased with our performance that night. And while some of you may be thinking, "Big deal. Doesn't everyone say that just to keep your spirits up?" The answer is, no, they don't, especially not in Rockette land. So this was good news to our ears when, in other years, the cast has instead heard things like, "you guys need to get your $@#! together". We took this victory picture. It was the happiest I think I have been in the last month!!!! Yay!!!

Technical Rehearsals

So the first few days of rehearsals were 'technical rehearsals' where we have to set all the lighting cues, and practice with set pieces and props. It's a long process where you do small portions of each number, and pretty much every time you move places you have to stop and allow the technical team to get everything set. Then you get to run the number from top to bottom to be sure that everything worked. It was really exciting, though, to finally be on stage and have a real understanding of what performing will be like. It's very different to be on the real stage, especially when there isn't an audience and you are smiling into a dark abyss. The Opryhouse is beautiful and I am very excited to be performing there. It's a pretty cool set up inside because the theatre is very steep, rather than deep, which means that most of the seats are a pretty great view of the stage. Also, all the seats are old church pews (they have now cushioned them for comfort). Once we got all the lighting set, we got to add costumes. Then it gets really interesting. Wooden Soldier pants are starched beyond belief, every number includes a hat that is uncomfortable to wear and difficult to keep on, but it all comes together for a pretty great effect, I think. I was very excited when we left one night and all the animals for the live nativity had arrived and they were taking the camels for their first walk through on the stage. We hadn't had the opportunity to rehearse with them quite yet. I can't remember all their names at the moment, but I know that 'Wendy' stands right behind me on stage. Not sure which one I snapped in this picture on my way out of the theatre. Yes, they do occasionally relieve themselves on stage. Hey, these are the things that make a live performance more interesting. No editing here, people. You never know what's going to happen!

Two weeks late

So, apparently I have already been in Nashville two weeks today. I've had really spotty internet access since I got here, so I've fallen terribly behind. Also, I've been terrible at taking pictures. So, where to begin? Well, we are staying at a hotel here where we each have our own little studio apartment with a kitchenette so that we can cook for ourselves while we are here. It's great! I love it. They treat us very well. We have free internet access while we are here, free breakfast (and it's actually good), and the local Gold's Gym gave us free memberships during our stay. Nashville is really beautiful this time of year, it's still very autumn-ish. The colors are beautiful and the weather is a great temperature. Today it was about 63 degrees, and it stays really pleasant in the evening, too. The first week we arrived we spent most of the time getting settled, and the rest of the time at the Opryhouse rehearsing. So even though I haven't seen all that much yet, I'm really excited to be here and really enjoying the new surroundings!

Waccamaw Factory Stores

So, while in Myrtle Beach we got to rehearse in an abandoned strip mall. I guess that Madison Square Garden Entertainment leases a bunch of the old stores for rehearsal space, wardrobe, prop building, etc. It was a bit strange at first, and equally as difficult to capture digitally. I've tried to take a few pictures to show what it was like. We had a large rehearsal floor, and a small rehearsal floor. We were mostly in the large space, but when the rest of the cast arrived (ensemble, Santa, the elves) we shared it with them and had to move to the small space half the day. Here you can see a picture of us in the small rehearsal space here is a picture of part of our large rehearsal space. This was on the last day that the Florida cast was in rehearsals, and following tradition, they ran around all the other rehearsal halls wearing their Florida attire. The tape you can see is marking different set pieces that weren't present during rehearsals. The mirrors you see got taken away from us for the last couple of days of rehearsal. Now that we are in Nashville on the real stage it is really fun to see how it's really going to be!

Halloween 2007

Halloween seems to go on for days, and I just can't seem to get enough of it. While I don't partake in scary movies or haunted houses, I do enjoy costume parties and Halloween candy. I was saddened by my inability to take a costume with me to Myrtle Beach (due only to my priorities in packing, I suppose), so I had to improvise a little this year, but I really get a kick out of seeing other people's creativity. Our cast went all out dressing up for rehearsal, and we snapped a few pictures before we had to take them all off and perform for the boss. Then that night we got together for a house party, though most of us had faded by about 9:30PM. It was a very long day of dancing. Just before we headed home, you can see Darci, myself, and Leah in this photo. I'm the blonde, male NBA basketball player from the 70's in the middle. Whatever. Darci and Leah are in the same car as me, meaning, we are all assigned rental cars that we share with three other girls. It's a good time.