Angela's Easy Tortilla Roll Pinwheels

Three containers (8 oz. size) Onion & Chive Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing (approximate measurement)
1 cup Sour Cream (approximate measurement)
1 can chopped olives
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder (or minced, or chopped...must be the dried kind)
Parsley

Mix all above until creamy and spreadable.  Garlic, Onion, and Parsley are added to taste....no measurements.

Spread over burrito size tortillas at desired thickness.

Optional additions:
Thinly sliced turkey or ham
Shredded cheese
Shredded lettuce

Roll up the tortilla, careful to not push all ingredients out.  Make sure there is enough of the cream cheese mixture to seal the end.  Wrap in a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  (Or for at LEAST 4 hours.)

When you are ready to serve, unwrap the plastic.  Slice the tortilla roll at desired thickness.  The ends will not be serve-able, so just eat them yourself.  They taste good!

Note:  The more additional ingredients you add, the more round your pinwheels will be.  If you just use the cream cheese spread, the pinwheels will be a little flat.  But still yummy!  Also, don't feel obligated to use just the ingredients I listed here.  I made up this specific recipe based on what I wanted to taste.

This is what they looked like the very first time that I made them:

A Ghost of Christmas Past

Interesting Dream, Good Advice

When I'm waiting for something to happen, it's not unlikely for me to dream about it.  Well, this happened last night.  I'm currently waiting anxiously to find out if I got cast in a show, so I had a really odd dream about a 7 hour call back that had nothing to do with the show.  But in the middle of it, they asked some of the "more experienced" actors to tell the younger actors what they had learned over the years.  This is what I said:

"It doesn't matter if you don't get cast.  It's not the end of the world.  You aren't going to die if you don't get this.  You may very well find that your next audition will be for an even better show.  Don't be surprised to hear yourself say 'I am so glad that I didn't get cast in , because is so much better and it's where I'm meant to be!"

That's good advice, if I do say so myself.  My subconscious seems to think so.  :)

The "Ways to End Shows Early" Game: December 2010 Edition

This is a game that we have played for years.  Being the musical theatre geeks that we are, this is the kind of thing that we do.  Stop shaking your head.  This is fun for us, okay?

It would take more brain power then I can handle at the moment to think of any of our previous examples, but I will try another day when I haven't been going crazy at work all day!

Anyway, here are the December 2010 additions to the list:

Nutcracker:  The Rat King Wins!!!


The Will Rogers Follies:  The first time Wiley Post says "Let's go flyin', Will!", Will says "Okay, let's go!"  And...scene.  (Confused?  Come see the show, now through January 16th at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse!)

Hit me up on another day when my brain isn't fried and I'll tell you the other ones we've come up with over the years.

No Christmas Cards

I'm not sending Christmas Cards this year.  I thought about sending out a few, but I just haven't had the time.  Between 2 jobs, a show, and several holiday gigs, I have been crazy busy!!  Not to mention the fact that it's expensive and I am making less than I used to.  Christmas Cards just ain't happening this year!  I did do my year in review on this blog.  Check it out!!!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

Thoughts on the movie "Fame".

The movie "Fame" (remake version) was good. But I take issue with the subtext that you have to be performing professionally to have any value as a performer. Not everyone can work on that level. Just because someone thinks you "don't have what it takes" doesn't mean you should throw yourself in front of a train. Move somewhere else where you can do what you love and be appreciated for it. Be happy with who you are, where you are. Don't give up the dream, but be realistic!

Angela's 2010 Year in Review!

It's time once again to wrap the entire year with one massively long blog.  Some years the letter is longer than others, and this is going to be one of years.  So much has gone on!  Hang on for the crazy ride that was 2010!

I started off the year in a production with Up in Lights Productions.  It was a 10th Anniversary benefit show called "Broadway Showstoppers" and it included songs from shows that have been on Broadway in the past 10 years.  It was HUGE!!!  I had a ton of fun with this one.  I played several different roles throughout the show.  First I was Abuela (the grandma) from In the Heights.  Then I was an Ozian in "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.  Then I played the title character in The Drowsy Chaperone.  I blew the roof off the Rialto when I sang "As We Stumble Along".  We also did the hilarious number "Aldolpho" from the same show.  Then I did a complete 180 degree turn and played Mary Poppins for the song "Supercalfragilicstiexpialidocious."  After that, I played the "Audition Panel" for "Electricity" from Billy Elliot and was a back up singer for "River of Dreams/Keepin' the Faith" from Movin' Out.  The entire show was a BLAST!  Crazy costume changes, four wigs, five pairs of shoes, millions of people backstage, and a lot of fun!!

"As We Stumble Along" from The Drowsy Chaperone

On April 1, 2010, I officially moved out of my parents' house.  I paid off my student loan in March and so I was basically debt free.  My brother Neal was going to be coming home from his mission and since my sister Shauna was taking up the extra bedroom for her office, I got voted out of the house.  I moved in with my cousin Melissa!

Two weeks after moving, I went on the trip of a lifetime!  My parents and I went to England to pick up Neal from his mission!  It was an amazing and incredibly fun two weeks!  I had never left the country before, so this was totally new for me.  We flew to Manchester, picked up Neal a day or so later, spent several days traveling to places he had been (and some places he hadn't been, but had heard about.)   Then we took the train to Scotland for a few days.  We went to Edinburgh and Inverness.  We took a boat tour of Loch Ness, but we never found Nessie.  Then we took the train back to Manchester and flew home.  I could go into so much detail here, but there is a video slide show, 3 scrapbooks (2 of Mom's, 1 of mine), and a trip journal that tell the whole story.  As well as a previous blog that summarizes the trip: http://tangents-by-angela.blogspot.com/2010/04/england-trip-blog.html

Taken at Edinburgh Castle

Once home, I settled back into real life (after not fully getting over the jet lag for about a week!)  I had auditioned for a show prior to leaving and I found out during my trip that I had not been cast.  It was going to be the first time in several years that I didn't have a show to do over the summer, so I joined the Loveland Concert Band for the summer.  I hadn't played with them in awhile, so it was nice to get my flute out and play!  The funniest thing of the summer with that was that the 4th of July concert got COMPLETELY rained out.  When it was time to head over to the park, the water was coming down in buckets.  The streets were flooding.  It was crazy!!!!  And I was supposed to play piccolo at that concert.  I had practiced and everything!!!  They couldn't even reschedule the concert.  Luckily, the City rescheduled the fireworks for the next day, so it was like the 4th of July lasted for 2 days!

In June I sang at a Loveland Opera Theatre fundraising concert.  We did songs from The Secret Garden, and I got to play Lily!  It was great to sing "Come to my Garden" and "How Could I Ever Know."  We even got ahold of the score so that we could do the Archie/Lily duet part at the end.  I love it when people say to me "I thought you were a mezzo!"  That stuff is really high and I love that I can sing it!!  (When my voice is healthy, that is.  And it really was that day!!!) 

In late June I was asked to take over a part in Up in Lights' production of 42nd Street.  (This was the show I had auditioned for earlier.)  I agreed and with just 3 weeks until opening, I took the role of Mac the Stage Manager.  I was still able to do all of my band concerts.  And I didn't even memorize all of my lines.  My character was always carrying a clipboard, so I just typed up all my lines and put them on there.  Sneaky, but effective!  I had a lot of fun with my Up in Lights family.

Mac in 42nd Street

Another fun project this summer was a show/reader's theatre piece called "The 10 Virgins" that we did at church.  It involved 10 different girls playing each virgin.  I was the director and the narrator.  We were able to perform it twice and we had a lot of fun putting it together.  It's a fabulous piece.

Around the time 42nd Street closed, I lost my job at Falcon Properties, Inc.  The owner sold the company to another property management company and I was not part of the deal.  I was burnt out on property management anyway, so I took this as my push to find another career.  I bumped up my hours with Loveland Opera Theatre and started looking for another job.

The first weekend in August, Shauna and I made a trip to Yellowstone!  Our dear friend Katrina was in a production of Quilters in Cody, WY, which is about 20 miles from Yellowstone.  We had never been there, so we drove up on Friday and camped, spent Saturday in the park, watched our tent almost blow away in a late afternoon wind/rain storm, saw the show in Cody, slept in the back of the Jeep in a hotel parking lot, and drove home on Sunday.  It was a great weekend!!

Old Faithful

Once back at home, it was time to find a new job.  I sent my resume out to a ton of places, but didn't get any bites.  I filed for unemployment and got one payment from them before I was hired in the box office at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse.  It's part time and my job with Loveland Opera Theatre is part time...and together they don't equal full time, but I'm making ends meet for the moment.  It's fun to be working solely in the arts, but that's why I have no money.  Oh, well...  At least I'm getting more sleep, right?

Over Labor Day weekend, we got a cabin up at Hermit Park for the entire weekend.  It was so much fun to be up there, away from everything.  I only turned my phone on when we went down into Estes Park, and I kept the internet connection off.  It was great!  Everyone was up there for at least part of the weekend, but I was up there the entire time!  It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!

My next performance was in the Loveland Opera Theatre Gala in early October.  We had 5 guest artists this year, but we did the Act 2 Party Scene from Die Fledermaus for the 2nd half.  It's tradition to have some guest soloists sing something totally opposite of the opera during this scene.  I was one of these guest soloists this time, and I sang "The Alto's Lament."  It was a ton of fun and the audience loved it!

My last show of the year, which will also be my first show of 2011, was A Grand Night for Singing at the Jesters Dinner Theatre in Longmont.  It's a Rodgers and Hammerstein Revue.  It's originally written for 3 women and 2 men, but we are doing it with 10 women and 3 men.  I get to sing "I Cain't Say No" from Oklahoma, "When the Children Are Asleep" from Carousel, and "Something Wonderful" from The King and I.  I also sing in a fun Andrews Sisters-type version of "I'm Gonna Wash That Man..." from South Pacific.  There are so other cool group numbers as well.  We are taking a break for 2 weeks in December while they do Scrooge, and then the show closes on January 23rd.

"I Cain't Say No" in A Grand Night for Singing

I've had a lot of fun this year.  I've done some really cool stuff.  So many blessings that I can't even count them!  Life is good!

Golden Globe Nominations: Instant Reactions

I have been so busy that I didn't even know that the Golden Globe Nominations were being announced today!!!  I'm usually much more on top of this.  Well, here are my instant reactions as I read the nominations:

Cecil B. DeMille Award to Robert DeNiro?  Cool!!

Best Motion Picture Drama...haven't seen any of them.  Haven't seen any of the actors or actresses nominated for Drama.

Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical:  I've only seen Alice in Wonderland.  (Only nominated actor or actress I've seen was Johnny Depp in that same movie!)

Haven't seen any of the supporting actor/actress either.  Wow....I'm not doing so well!!!!

Best Animated Feature:  Tangled and Toy Story 3!!!  Both WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!  I haven't seen Despicable Me or How to Train Your Dragon, but they are on my list.

Best Original Song:  "I See the Light" from Tangled is great!!!

Okay, moving on to Television.  I hope I can do better with this list!!!!!!

Well, I don't watch any of the nominated dramas...

But yay for Glee!!!!  Nominated for Best Comedy!  Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer,  and Matthew Morrison, too!!  Yay!!

Steve Carell for best Actor in a comedy for The Office!!  Yay!!

Best Miniseries or Made for Television movie:  Temple Grandin!!!!!  (This movie is amazing!!!)

Oy!  I don't think I could choose between Claire Danes for Temple Grandin and Romola Garai for Emma!!!

Well, I fail at keeping up on movies this year, but I have been super busy.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!!!!!

Adventures in Theatre: Near Epic Fail with a Memory Trick

A well-known memory trick for singers:  Think of the next line you're supposed to be singing while you are singing the previous line.  It's a great way to stay one step ahead and not run the risk of forgetting the words.

Well, I do this with "Something Wonderful" from The King and I, which is my 11 o'clock number in A Grand Night for Singing.  However, last night I almost had an epic fail right from the get go.

The first line is:  "This is a man who thinks with his heart, his heart is not always wise."  While was singing the first part of that, I was thinking of the next line, "This is a man who stumbles and falls, but this is a man who tries."  Well, something got switched in my brain and I fumbled a bit on "...his heart is not always wise", because my brain told me to sing something about stumbling.  I knew I was supposed to sing about stumbling yet, so I kind of fumbled for a second and then sang the correct thing.  It was literally a split second, which as many actors know, feels like 10 minutes of stage time.  But I got back on, concentrated a little harder and made it through the song.

That is the first time this has happened to me on this song!  Yikes!!!  I've messed up words before in other songs, other shows, but it wasn't as obvious a mistake as that one.  And I'm sure the audience didn't notice, but I NOTICED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yeesh.

Book Review: "The Legend of Shannonderry" by Carol Warburton

Set against the backdrop of early 19th Century, "The Legend of Shannonderry" tells the story of Gwyneth Beddoes.  Her Irish mother died in childbirth and she was a raised by a distant English father.  When her dying grandmother in Ireland writes to invite her to the family's ancestral estate, Gwyneth runs away with her spirited stallion to Shannonderry in County Cork.  She is helped by the dashing Cormac D'Arcy, her grandmother's neighbor, with whom she quickly falls in love with.  Once her Ireland, she quickly learns that the Irish really don't think much of the English and faces animosity from many sources, even though she is half Irish.

Romance, action, and the legend of the ancestor she was named after...all woven into a exciting page turner.  Carol Warburton has written another wonderful story with a little something for everyone!

Oblivious vs. Not Observant: You Be the Judge

I got a new shirt recently and I wore it for the first time last Saturday.  I wore it all day.  I never cut the tag out.  It was hanging down my back all day.  I didn't realize this until this morning when I went to put it in the washer and the tag revealed itself.  HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT I HAD A LARGE TAG HANGING DOWN MY BACK ALL DAY?!?!

I need to be more observant.  Or possibly less oblivious.  Weird.

Reaching my Crazy Quota

I've talked to some crazy people over the years.  There are some folks out there that shouldn't be allowed to use the phone, let alone leave the house.  But today quite possibly may have topped them all.

We pulled a phone message off the Will Call phone voice mail from a lady who said she'd been calling and calling during normal business hours and not getting through.  (Which is so weird....)  So I called her back.  First, she insisted that she had called the correct number a bunch of times and had never gotten through.  I tried to figure that out, but she finally just moved on. 

She wanted tickets for tonight's show and she specifically request E8  (5th row, on the side).  When I told her it was already booked, she wanted to know if the person had specifically requested that table or if they had just been put there.  I told her that I had no way of know that, as the reservation had been made almost a month ago.  She wanted to me move them, because she HAD to have that table.  It was the only table that her husband wanted.  I told her that I could not do that.  Then she wanted me to call the people and see if they would move and again, I told her that I could not do that.  I said that we could look at other dates to see if E8 was available then, but she said no, that her husband wanted to come tonight.  I told her again which other tables we had available and she proceeded to inform me that they would take another table but that her husband would be persuading the people at E8 to move so that they could have the table.  I was so shocked and baffled at this point that I really didn't know what to say.  I told her that he could try, but I doubt it would happen.  She told me that her husband was very persuasive and that it would work.

By now, I was thoroughly annoyed with this woman.  I just wanted her off the phone and out of my life.  (The first call of the day often sets the tone for the remainder of the day, so you can just imagine how my day went.)  So, I booked her a table far away from E8 and she then told me that she had tickets.  I asked her if they were season tickets and she said no, that they had been given to them the last time they came by a manager because their table had been given away.  (WHAT?!  I don't think so....)  But I was sick and tired of this woman and just wanted the call to END, so I just said "Okay" and finally got her off the phone.

Here's the kicker...you'd think that this lady would have been snippy and rude, but she wasn't.  She was extremely calm.  Very passive-aggressive.  Like I'm going to be afraid of her husband just because he HAS TO HAVE E8.  Psssssh....

So I spent the day retelling the story, making sure that everyone who was working tonight was aware of the potentially hostile situation.  We had contingency plans!  (I suggested that if the guy got violent, they should banish them to the balcony with no dinner.)  And then what happens?  She calls back after 4 pm and reschedules for tomorrow night.  Seriously, lady?!  And she again asked for E8, which, of course, is booked for tomorrow night.  When I told her that, and told her what I had, she was very nice and just said to put them at the best possible seat.  SHEESH!!!!!!!!!

So now they're coming tomorrow and everyone is still forewarned.  I don't know if they'll cause a scene, but I guess we'll find out.  I am eager to hear of the outcome.

Oh, and here's the funny part.  I looked up their history on the computer.  They had only been their once before under their name, using gift tickets...and they weren't at E8.  They have a relative who has been there a lot...never at E8.  I can't figure out the fixation with that table, other than it's sort of close to the restroom with a minimal amount of stairs.  So weird!!!!!

So yes, I definitely reached my Crazy Quota today.  I hope tomorrow isn't this nuts, especially since I will be alone on the phones for most of the afternoon.  Please order your tickets online.  Thanks.