Angela's 2009 Christmas Letter

The time has come yet again to sit down and write about my year.  It seems silly to do this, since I have a blog.  I keep a running commentary on my life!  But there is something purely cathartic about writing a Christmas letter.  So I do it.

The year is mainly about theatre, same as last year!  I started out by returning to the Jesters Dinner Theatre to play Bloody Mary in their production of South Pacific.  Another check on the list of dream roles!  That character is such a hoot to play!  She is an iconic character part, so of course I would have a blast!  It was great to be back among friends at Jesters.  I had been 5 years since my last show there!  The show ran from mid-February through mid-April.

Insert a little family news here:  My first nephew, George, was born on February 27, 2009.  This is Craig & Robin’s 3^rd child.  Georgie is an adorable little guy and puts up with a lot from his big sisters.  I’m sure he’ll give it all back to them when he’s old enough.  Emily is now 4 and Rebekah is 2.  They are both little firecrackers and huge musical theatre fans!  Yes, we start them young in our family!

After South Pacific, I had a short break and then started work on one of my most amazing theatrical experience to date:  The Taffetas.  Front Range Music Theatre has scaled back a lot, due to lack of funds, and has been doing smaller shows the past 2 summers.  This summer was The Taffetas, and it was AMAZING!!  The music is all from the 1950s, and the show is mostly music.  The show follows 4 singing sisters from Muncie, Indiana as they make their television debut.  I played Donna, and it was an absolute thrill to be involved with this show!  We only had 3 performances, because that’s all we could get the Rialto Theater for.  I really hope that I will be able to do the show again!  We rehearsed in June and July and then performed in August.

 

Up next was the Loveland Opera Theatre Gala, Mystery on the High Cs.  Since there was an overlap in rehearsals with The Taffetas, I only sang in one chorus number this year.  However, I did play the role of “Hope” as part of the story line.  Hope was murdered at the beginning of the show and then each suspect was found in the scenes that were performed.  At the end of the night, we picked out 6 suspects and the audience voted on “whodunit.”  It was a lot of fun.  Since I was a ghost, I didn’t have to say a word.  I just reacted to what the detective/narrator was saying.  I also got to do a fun pratfall on stage.  The key here is that I died onstage.  Read on…

My final show of the year was Curtains, with Up in Lights.  Another murder mystery!  And guess who got murdered first!  That’s right…my character.  Jessica Cranshaw is the star of the show “Robbin’ Hood” and, well, in a nutshell…she’s awful.  Can’t sing, can’t act, can’t dance…and then she dies.  I was only onstage for about 10 minutes, but what a fun 10 minutes those were!  I came out, screwed up my lines, danced horribly, sang out of tune, danced even worse (imagine a kick line with me kicking opposite of everyone else) and then I died.  Then, they talked about me for the rest of the show!  It was great!  I had so much fun!  The show is absolutely hilarious, and I love working with Up in Lights.

That’s it for 2009.  Crazy how the year flew by!  Heck, the DECADE flew by!  Has it really been almost 10 years since I graduated from college?  Does NOT seem possible.  I’m only 23, right?  Right.  My philosophy is, you are only as old as other people think you are.  And if they think I’m 23, who am I to tell them differently?

It’s been quite a year!  I’m excited to see what 2010 brings!  I will be debt-free for the first time since college, and I will probably be going to England with my parents in April to pick up my brother Neal from his mission!  SO EXCITED for that!!!  I have never left the country before, but I’ve had my passport for about 3 years.  Time to put it to good use!

I hope you have a very merry Christmas and an even happier New Year!

Love,
Angela