BROADWAY, you rock!

Well just thought you all would like to know that I got 70/70 on my project!!! Yay! Go BROADWAY!

Thumbs up or thumbs down?

             Hey! So I thought that as my last blog I would rate each of the books I read. There are six categories. Those groups include interesting, informative, descriptive, length, writing style and overall. I will rate each question from zero to five, with zero being not very blank and five being very blank.

            “A Little Bit Wicked” by Kristin Chenoweth was a hilarious book. I give it a five on interesting because I was laughing so much, and I couldn’t put the book down. For informative I give this book a five because I learned tons of things about Kristin Chenoweth that I never knew. This book had just enough description, not too much and not too little, so I rate it a five. The length was a little too short so I would give it a four. I would have liked to learn more about her experiences in movies. I would say that the writing style of this book was a five since it was understandable. I wasn’t confused and bored. Overall this was an amazing book that I would recommend to anyone who loves theater. Sadly, this book was my second favorite book, but it was so close to being first! This is a five-star book!

            “Home: A Memoir of My Early Years” by Julie Andrews was a great book to help me learn more about Julie! I give it a five on interesting because I was learning so much about her that again I couldn’t put the book down. For informative, I give this book a five because I had so many highlights of facts in my e-reader. This book was way too descriptive at time,s so I have to give it a three. The length was cut a little short, and she left me hanging! I wanted to hear more about her films and her second husband. The writing style was a five because it flowed in a nice chronological order. Overall, this was my favorite book even though it did lose some points here and there. This is definitely above a five-star book!

            “Broadway Musicals Show By Show: Sixth Edition” by Stanley Green and revised/updated by Kay Green was a good book to see how many musicals have been on Broadway. I give it a four on interesting because there are so many musicals to read and there are some musicals that don’t interest me. For informative, I give this book a five because on the first page of every musical you see the songs, producer, cast, location, and many other interesting facts. This book tells the plot of show and if it has a record or some other unusual time, so I rate it a five. The length of this is just right; it starts with the first long-running musical and goes to 2007 so you get to see some more modern-day musicals. The writing style of this book is nice because I like the list at the beginning and plot/interesting facts following for each production. Overall, this was my least favorite book to read because there were SO many musicals to read. I did like hearing about some musicals that I have seen the film version of or if I have heard about it. Even though I would rate this only as a four-star book, I still recommend it because it is entertaining to read summaries of famous Broadway productions! The last quote of my blog is “Break a leg,” a theatrical term that is used around the world. Remember that Julie Andrews and Kristin Chenoweth weren’t always famous and they were told “no” every once and awhile. Don’t be ashamed if you don’t get the leading role in the play, just keep practicing and one day the perfect role for you may come along. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll see your name in lights or maybe one day you’ll see my name in lights. Go live a happy life, reader.

                                                                                                

For the last time… ~Aspiring Actress~

A day in the life of four-year-old me

            When I was 4 years old, my mother and I went to New York to see my cousin. While we were there, we got tickets to the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast.” Unfortunately, I was too young when we saw it to remember what the show was like. The other day, my mom was looking through some things and found a journal that she kept while we were on our vacation. It starts out by talking about our plane ride. As you may already know, I have always loved to sing. Apparently on our way to New York, I sang songs to an 85-year-old woman from New Jersey! The next few pages are filled with different tourist places we went and talking about how much fun I had chasing/yelling at squirrels and riding the carousel (obviously my horse was the fastest!) in Central Park. October 25, 2000, was the day we bought our Broadway tickets from the TKTS outlet for “Beauty and the Beast.” My mother wrote that “Beauty and the Beast” “was a magical performance. The sets were extravagant. There was a wonderful landscape backdrop with fall-colored leaves and a blue sky. Belle’s cottage was quaint. The castle seemed gigantic. It could be spooky or enchanting. The costumes were just as intricate. The singing was as good as nearly any Disney movie I’ve seen. The cast seemed very enthusiastic. … Kate was entranced for the entire show.” I must have picked a great show for my first Broadway experience! After hearing all of this, I skipped ahead to the shows from 2000 in my book “Broadway Musicals Show by Show: Sixth Edition” but didn’t see “Beauty and the Beast.” Then I just looked at all of the years of shows and found this show in the 1994 section. All it talked about was the plot and which understudies were used. Hopefully, this musical won’t be the only Broadway show I see though! Here is the music quote for today, “Music's the medicine of the mind.” - John A. Logan.

~Aspiring Actress~

When I grow up, I want to be just like you :)

When I grow up, I hope to be like Kristin Chenoweth and Julie Andrews. If you randomly shout out “Hey look, it’s Julie Andrews/Kristin Chenoweth” in a crowded place, what would happen? Everyone would run around trying to find them. Just like everyone else in the world, I want to be known. I don’t want to be just “that one girl,” I want to be “Kate (I’m not putting my last name up for privacy reasons).” To achieve what these women have done would make me feel accomplished.

Why would I want to be like Julie Andrews? Well, there are many reasons why. She was in the Broadway hits “Camelot” and “My Fair Lady,” she has an amazingly clear tone with perfect, tall vowels, and she is really pretty. If I could sing/act as well as Julie Andrews, I would be auditioning for every musical I could until people started recognizing who I was and an agent wanted to manage my career. Those are only a few of the reasons why. I could go on forever.

Why would I want to be like Kristin Chenoweth? Um, do I have to answer this? Isn’t it obvious? She is as cute as a button and everyone makes sure she knows it, she can sing with such an interesting tone that I don’t think I could ever teach myself, and her acting skills are phenomenal. Every time I watch anything from T.V. to YouTube with Kristin performing, I find myself laughing so hard! Some funny performances that Kristin were in include “Ellen,” “Glee,” “Taylor the Latte Boy,” and “The Girl in 14 G.”

Can’t a girl dream what she wants to be like when she grows up? Don’t get me wrong, I love who I am and all that, but if there were two Broadway stars I would want to be, Julie Andrews and Kristin Chenoweth would be at the top of my list. Quote of the day, “Music is what life sounds like.” - Eric Olson.

~Aspiring Actress~

I want a sequel; don’t leave me hanging!

So, I finished up my Julie Andrews book, but she left me hanging! Julie was beginning to talk about Mary Poppins, but I never got to hear what filming was like, who she met during the movie, how many hours of work she put in, what she thought of the songs she got to sing, and many other exciting things that happen when you make a movie. When she talked about meeting Walt Disney, I couldn’t imagine how she felt. You don’t meet the man behind the thousands of brilliant shows every day. Another interesting fact is that Julie married Tony Walton, a guy she knew since she was young. The book told about their first child, Emma, and how Julie enjoyed being pregnant with her. Then, as a side note, Julie has talked about her present husband, Blake, but during the book we never got to find out what went wrong with Julie and Tony. I wonder how she met Blake and if they fell in love right away. I find it funny how an autobiography left me hanging just like some of my favorite fiction novels. Maybe, one day, Julie Andrews will make a book called: “Home Part Two: A Memoir of My Later Years.” Unless she already has a book out, which I doubt since I haven’t seen anything around. Well, if any of you readers out there find one, let me know because I would love to read it! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, autobiographies are actually interesting! This is coming from a girl who doesn’t LOVE reading. Sure, I like it at times, but really I’m not an avid reader. That means if I’m saying I couldn’t put these books down, you probably won’t be able to either! Here is a funny quote I found, “Life can't be all bad when for ten dollars you can buy all the Beethoven sonatas and listen to them for ten years.” -William F. Buckley Jr.

~Aspiring Actress~

Work, Work, Work

       Who knew that autobiographies could be so interesting? Yes, I did stereotype non-fiction when my teacher assigned this project. I’m really enjoying learning about Broadway through Kristin Chenoweth and Julie Andrews. While reading my book about Julie Andrews, I was truly fascinated about hearing how hard it is to make a Broadway production. I could really relate to this because recently I was in my school’s musical, “Grease.” We put in countless hours to make a show that wowed the audience. There were a few nights when I got home at 11 PM, worked on a huge stack of homework, finally got to bed at 1 AM, got up at 6 AM, and started the process again. All of our hard work definitely paid off because we sold out three of our five performances. Anyways, Julie said that she had troubles with her voice because she was singing so much. Many of the leads in “Grease” were told to drink gallons and gallons of to maintain their voices. Julie wasn’t just told to drink water until she was drowning, she had to go to a doctor and get special treatments every week so that she could perform.
         I am surprised that I have never heard about Julie Andrews being in the Broadway hit “My Fair Lady.” From what it sounds like, “My Fair Lady” is equivalent to the popularity of “The Lion King.” Too bad I wasn’t alive when Julie was in this because I would have been first in line to see it! “Camelot,” another musical Julie Andrews was in, sounded like a struggle at the start to me. During the making of the show, they had many troubles with directors getting stressed and sick. Luckily, they were able to work the show enough to make it a hit. Like I’ve said before, I’m not going to spoil the book for you. You know what that means? Get off the computer, grab your car keys and wallet, write down the name of this book, “Home: A Memoir of My Early Years” by Julie Andrews, and drive to your local bookstore. On the other hand, if you’re like me, pick up your e-reader and buy the book with the simple press of a button.  Also while you’re at it, you might as well buy “A Little Bit Wicked,” the Kristin Chenoweth book, too J.Quote of the day that is musical, “Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.” -Charlie Parker.
 ~Aspiring Actress~

Pop quiz!

OK, readers! Pull out your keyboard, mouse, and brain because it is time for a pop quiz! I have come up with a few questions to test what you know about Broadway and actors/actresses! To answer these questions, comment on this posting and I will let you know how well you did.

No. 1, who is 42 years old right now? A. Kristin Chenoweth B. Julie Andrews C. Taylor Swift.

No. 2, who won a Tony in 1999 for Best Featured Actress in a Musical? A. Julie Andrews B. Kristin Chenoweth C. Sandra Bullock.

No. 3, whose parents were alcoholics? A. Kristin Chenoweth B. Idina Menzel C. Julie Andrews.

No. 4, which of these Broadway stars didn’t take singing lessons? A. Julie Andrews B. Kristin Chenoweth C. Neither Julie nor Kristin took singing lessons. D. Both girls took singing lessons.

No. 5, from 1900-18, how much did the best seat in the house cost? A. $85- $90 B. $20- $30 C. $1.50- $2 D. $.01- $.10.

No. 6, what song was known as one of the “national anthems” of Broadway? A. “The Star-Spangled Banner” B. “My Country Tis of Thee” C. “Amazing Grace” D. “Give My Regards.”

No. 7, what two musical traditions fought from 1910s to 1920s? A. Show tunes and opera B. Rock and Roll C. Operetta and light comedy with musical numbers.

No. 8, who grew up in London? A. Julie Andrews B. Kristin Chenoweth C. Neither.

No. 9, who won an Oscar for Best Actress in 2000? A. Kristin Chenoweth B. Julia Roberts C. Julie Andrews?

No. 10, who acted on a series on ABC called “Pushing Daisies?” A. Julie Andrews B. Kristin Chenoweth’s husband C. Kristin Chenoweth D. Julie Andrews’ husband.

Enter in what you think are the correct answers and I will let you know how you did as soon as I can. Music quote of the day, “Without music, life would be a mistake” - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.

  ~Aspiring Actress~

Wow that sure is Wicked!

I’m so excited! I scored tickets to Wicked! I have always known Kristin Chenoweth as Galinda, the good witch from “Wicked,” so reading this book helped me learn more about the girl behind the character. Sure, Kristin Chenoweth won’t be playing Galinda, at the Orpheum in Omaha but still…. Wicked!! I can’t wait to see this musical that I have heard only good reviews about. You can know for sure that if they are selling any T-shirts, CDs, or anything that says “Wicked” on it, it will be MINE! The deadline of my project is before the showing of the musical, but I would have loved to blog about what I thought. When I saw that Kristin had titled one of her chapters as “Defying Gravity,” I couldn’t wait to get to that part of the story! At the beginning of that chapter, Kristin talked about her roommate’s cat, random? Yes, but that is what you expect from Kristin! When Kristin said that the song “Popular” was going to be a song that “all the little girls were going to be singing,” I had to laugh because it is a song that I enjoy to sing to my showerhead. In fact, I was going to sing that song for one of my musical auditions. It is the perfect song to show off your vocals, facial expressions, and other acting skills. I won’t spoil the rest of the book, so all I will say is read “A Little Bit Wicked” by Kristin Chenoweth because although most autobiographies, biographies, memoirs, and other non-fictions books may seem boring, Kristin has written a hilarious book that will have you intrigued the whole time! Now, as you know, I am going to end my blog with a quote, so here it is, “My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require.” - Edward Elgar.

~Aspiring Actress~

Hoppy Easter!

Hoppy (yes, Hoppy not Happy) Easter everyone! So today I was kind of anti-social and I brought my Kindle to my family’s Easter party at my grandparents’ house. As soon as I was done with my ham, egg bake (well, I gave it to my mom, I’m not much of an egg bake fan), fruit, cinnamon roll, biscuit and gravy, and banana bread, I headed off to the spare bedroom that had all of our coats and pulled out my Kindle. My Kindle, an e-reader, holds all of my nonfiction books that I am reading or have read. I started my Julie Andrews book “Home: A Memoir of My Early Years” awhile back, but now I’m in the section that talks about the performances she did as a teenager. I was really sympathetic for Julie because she talked about how she had to care for her family. Her mother and stepfather were alcoholics, so she had to watch out for them and take care of her brothers. Also, she was the main source of income since she was making good money by performing in different shows. She must have felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. No teenager should ever have to go through that. Julie said that the need for money to pay for her mother’s dream house pushed her to keep being involved in different productions. That must have actually been a good thing, in a way, because she must have improved in her singing and acting by doing so many musicals. Then, people probably started to figure out who Julie Andrews was, saw how good she was, and said, “I need that girl in my show!” I hope you had an awesome Easter and, by the way, “If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.” That is a quote from Gustav Mahler, in case you were wondering.

~Aspiring Actress~

A blast from the past(well…a timeline)

Hey there again! Happy belated Earth Day everybody! I finished my book about Kristin Chenoweth and was amazed to find a timeline at the end of the book. How creative! In case you forgot anything that happened in the book or you want to see how many movies, T.V. shows, or Broadway musicals Chenoweth was in, this book made sure you got what you wanted! This resourceful timeline starts in July 24^th, 1968, when Kristin was born. It then goes on to when she got a BA (bachelor of arts) in Musical Theatre in 1990 to when she got an MFA (master in fine arts)  in Opera Performance from Oklahoma City University. The next eight pages are filled with many of her performances such as "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (Broadway 1998), her own T.V show “Kristin,” "Wicked" (Broadway 2003), or “The 700 Club” ( 2005). Finally the timeline ends with Ghosts of Versailles (at the Met) in 2010. Maybe you don’t think a timeline is as cool as I think it is, but I find it interesting to see the hundreds of things my hero, Kristin Chenoweth, has done. As Irving Berlin wrote, “There’s no business like show business.”   

~Aspiring Actress~