A Year of Angela: 2012 Edition

I keep questioning why I do this.  Everyone I know is on Facebook and they read about me all the time.  Or do they?  Maybe that's why I need to write this.  Also, I don't send out Christmas cards.  Or a Christmas letter.  So this is it!!

So here is A Year of Angela: 2012 edition --

January:
I started off the month recovering from the marathon that was "Scrooge: The Musical".  I had every intention of taking a break from theater for a little while.  However, that intent flew out the window when I went to an audition for a Loveland Community Theatre Readers Theatre production...and got a part!  It was a small part, thankfully, so it still felt like I was on a break!

February:
"Ah, Yes, I Remember It Well" was the Readers Theatre production I was in.  It was a series of scenes written by local writer Jim Willard.  I had a lot of fun reading the part of Susan in "The War Years".  We performed 3 shows right around Valentine's Day.

While still avoiding that whole "taking a break" thing, I auditioned for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Union Colony Dinner Theatre and was cast as Mrs. Sander.  Rehearsals started right away, so I began making the 51 mile round trip drive to Greeley several days a week.

March:
Rehearsals were in full swing for Seven Brides, but since my part was a minor one, I didn't have to go all the time.  That's a heavy dance show, and my character didn't dance!  Huzzah!

I had a fun gig with LOT toward the end of the month.  We sang songs from the opera "The Bohemian Girl" as part of a Willa Cather celebration at the museum.  I sang the role of the Queen of the Gypsies.  It was a lot of fun!

April:
Seven Brides opened and so I was driving to Greeley A LOT!  Luckily, I can write the mileage off on my taxes.  That helps a lot!

The tour of Wicked came back to Denver and I was able to see that incredible show for the FIFTH time!  I will never, EVER tire of that show!

May:
Time for another audition!  The next show at the UCDT was Titanic, one of my all time favorite shows.  There was no way that I wouldn't audition!  I was cast in the role of 1st Class Passenger Marian Thayer.

My beloved Grandpa, Cecil Milligan, passed away on May 28th.  He was 97.  He had been slowing down a lot over the past couple of years.  It was only a short illness that took him.  What a blessing that he didn't have to suffer for long.  We miss him so much every day, but we know that he is no longer held back by his aged body.  His spirit is free and he is looking over us from heaven.  We know we will see him again!  All of my cousins were at the funeral.  We we only missing 2 spouses and 4 great-grandkids!

June:
While rehearsing for Titanic, I was also rehearsing for a LOT concert:  Mamma Mia!  I played the role of Rosie.  We had a lot of fun putting this concert together.  We ended up doing it 3 times, but I only performed in the 1st two.  The 3rd one, I had a performance of Titanic the same night.

Titanic opened toward the end of the month and it was an emotional roller coaster over the next couple of months of performances.  That show is emotionally draining, but so fulfilling!  I loved singing my solo every night at the beginning of the lifeboat scene.  "You and I are getting in the lifeboat.  Father will be staying here awhile.  It will be like rowing in the Serpentine.  Come along now, let us have a smile!"

July:
This was just a busy month of work and Titanic performances.

August:
I got to be in a movie!  I still haven't seen it yet, but I acted in a short film directed by my friend Scotty Shaffer.  It was about a girl who wants to play baseball with the boys, but they make fun of her.  The ghost of her grandmother shows up and encourages her to show up the boys.  Very cute!

What's a break?  I still didn't know.  I auditioned for The Music Man with Up in Lights and was cast as Mrs. Paroo!  Craig auditioned as well and was cast as Mayor Shinn.

Titanic closed and due to circumstances a few months later, I will never again be able to perform at the UCDT.  They closed the doors for good in October.  Sad day!  I loved performing there!

September:
We took our annual short trip to a nearby destination we'd never been to.  This year, Shauna, Mom, Dad, & I went to the 4 Corners!  First, we stopped in Pagosa Springs.  The hot springs are AMAZING!!!  I want to go back there so bad!  Next we went down to Mesa Verde.  It was really cool to visit the ruins there!  Then we went to the 4 Corners and then back up to Monticello, UT.  We did a temple session there.  Then we went to Arches National Park and came home on I-70 through Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs.  We hiked up to Hanging Lake before coming home.  All in 4 days!  We had a lot of fun!

The rest of the month consisted of rehearsals for two shows at once:  The Music Man and the LOT Gala!  No rest for the weary!

October:
First up, the LOT Gala:  Give Our Regards to Broadway.  I was a featured soloist.  I sang "Home" from Beauty and the Beast (and also performed in "Me") and "Defying Gravity" from Wicked!  So much fun!!!  Craig was a featured soloist in the Les Miserables section, as Marius.  We both sang in the chorus, as well as Dad.

The Music Man performances were the last 2 weekends of the month.  We had a great crowds!  What fun to do this show again!  It was kind of funny spending about half the year in the year 1912, though.

November:
BREAK TIME!  FOR REALS THIS TIME!!!!!  Seriously...no shows.  Not at all!  The only performing I did all month was playing for the Primary Program in my ward!

December:
I had a few performances this month.  My Christmas song of the year was "Twas the Night Before Christmas".  I performed it at an open house at the church, LOT's annual PEO concert, and the LOT Holiday Soiree.  I was supposed to sing it at Juliana's Voice Studio recital, but I woke up that morning with those darn sores all over my tongue.  I was super, SUPER sick all day and the next.  I hadn't had those for 9 months!  Why that day?  No idea.  Stupid!!!

Other than that, I just worked a TON.  It's a busy time of year at the Candlelight and so I got a bunch of extra hours.  Yay for more money!  Heaven knows I need it!

So that's what happened this year.  A great year for theatre, a bittersweet year for family.  Too many blessings to count!  Huzzah for 2012!

My Les Miz Love Story

I should start at the beginning.  Here goes:

My love affair with Les Miserables goes back more than 20 years.  I first acquired the London Cast recording in either the late 80s or early 90s.  I can't remember for sure.  Either way, it was a long time ago.  I literally grew up on it.  I listened to it over and over again and, of course, memorized it.

The first time I actually got to see the show was the National Tour in 1999.  I was blown away (and not just by the gunshots that were fired directly above us in our seats on the side of the top balcony.)  Such a beautiful show!  I saw a then-not-famous Sutton Foster as Eponine.  Incredible!

I didn't see the show again until 2010.  My dad and I saw the British National Tour in Edinburgh!  As we were sitting there, waiting for the show to start, Dad asked me if Les Miz was one of my favorite shows.  I said that it was probably in my top 10.  Well, as I sat there at the end, tears streaming down my face, I said to him "This just moved into my top 5!"  You can read my review of that production here.

When I heard that they were FINALLY making a movie version of the musical, I eagerly followed all the news I could find about it.  I was ECSTATIC when they announced that Hugh Jackman would be playing Jean Valjean.  He is one of my favorite actors!  Some of the other casting news was a bit concerning (especially when it was rumored that Taylor Swift would be playing Eponine.  WHAT?!?!  Luckily, that one turned out to be untrue.)  I had a few misgivings about Russell Crowe as Javert, but I decided to wait to pass judgement until I saw him in the role.  I decided that I would put my full trust in the director that he would make the right choices.

I was always so happy to see little snippets of the movie as they were released.  The backlash started from the naysayers, but I ignored it.  Let them complain.  Who cares?  That's their opinion.  I will form my own opinion based on what I see, hear, and feel.  Not because of what someone else says or thinks.  When the movie was completed and the reviews started coming in from people who got to see previews of it, I was very careful what I read.  I didn't want to go any with any preconceived notions.  I was even prepared to set aside my memories of the stage version and take the movie at face value...not as a comparison to what had previously been done and what I had previously seen.  There is a HUGE difference between "theatrically correct" and "cinematically correct".  I could write an entirely separate blog about it.  Suffice it to say, there are things that work on stage and not on film....and vice versa.  I was open to new interpretations of scenes, songs, and characters.  If you aren't, then don't see the movie.  Go see the stage version and shut up about it.

Fast forward to this morning.  Christmas morning!  We got our tickets early to avoid standing in line and went to the 11:30 am showing.  The theater was PACKED!  We didn't even get to all sit together, even though Robin got in there like 45 minutes early to save seats!  Crazy!  Especially for Christmas morning!  Oh, well.

The first chords of the music began and I was already tearing up.  This was a dream come true!  I had waited so long!  And I was not disappointed!  This movie is exquisite.  It's breathtakingly beautiful from beginning to end.  I cried through the entire movie.  I have NEVER cried that much in a movie.  NEVER!  So many moments, I can't even remember them all!  Not just tearing up a little...tears streaming down my face!  At the end of the movie, I was practically hyperventilating to keep from sobbing out loud.  (That would have been awfully embarrassing in that full theater.  I was already sniffling quite a bit.)

There are so many things that make this movie great.  The biggest thing is being up close and personal with the faces of the actors.  You are able to see every emotion on their faces.  This more intimate portrayal takes you deeper into their character.  That is something that you can almost never get on stage, especially when you're like me and can only afford the cheap seats.  Due to this new intimacy, it brought new interpretations of some of the songs.  Moments that were previously performed as show-stopping personal anthems become quieter and more heart-wrenching.  "I Dreamed a Dream" is a perfect example.  Everyone has heard Patti LuPone's emotionally charged anthem version of this song.  It's amazing.  But to watch Anne Hathaway, tears streaming down her face, as she is practically in shock by all that is happening to her...it breaks your heart in an equally poignant way.  Fantine was a broken woman, and Anne was incredible in her portrayal of the agony.  Oscar win for Anne!  I'm calling it now.

I loved the new song, "Suddenly", sung by Valjean as he is taking Cosette away from the Thenardiers'.  I heard an interview with the composers.  They wanted to have a song like that in the original production, but that kind of quiet moment would never have worked on stage.  When the movie came along, they saw it as a chance to write the song they had always wanted.  It's such a beautiful, simple song, that truly shows what Valjean is feeling at that moment.

Hugh Jackman....wow.  What an amazing performance.  That role is such a challenge for anyone and he totally owned it.  Such emotion...such depth.  I have one tiny, eensy, weensy complaint.  Couldn't they have lowered the key a bit for Hugh?  Most songs were fine, but some were just a bit too high.  He was straining and it was a little uncomfortable. I was trying so hard not to compare what I was hearing to previous people, but some songs were a little on the harsh side because of how high he was having to sing.  He's not a tenor.  But really, that was my only complaint.  Character-wise, acting-wise, he was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!  He'll win the Golden Globe for sure.  (I can't say about the Oscar.  He's got some stiff competition from Daniel Day-Lewis.)

On to Russell Crowe.  I loved his portrayal of  Javert.  He could never pull it off on stage, but he totally worked for the film.  He was great opposite Hugh Jackman, for one.  A good match.  But also, he's a wonderful actor and really understood just what it is that makes Javert tick.  Javert's not a bad guy.  He's not evil. He just sees the world as black and white...no gray area.  He's doing what he thinks is right and he is true to his job.  Russell is a good singer.  I've definitely heard the role sung better, but that's not the point.  He was right for the movie...and did a great job with the character.  That's what really matters!

I could go on for days on the virtues of the remainder of the cast.  I'll just hit a few of the highlights:

• Colm Wilkinson - How awesome is it to see him in this movie?  The original Jean Valjean!  He is so great as the Bishop.
• Sasha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter - I never thought I was say nice things about Sasha Baron Cohen.  I think some of the movies he has done are disgusting.  But as Thenardier?  Couldn't have been better cast!  He was SO GREAT!  And you really can't go wrong with Helena Bonham Carter.  She's a gem!
• Samantha Barks - How tiny exactly is her waist?!?!  And what a great Eponine.  She played the role in London, so she's had lots of experience with the character.  Wonderful job!
• Eddie Redmayne - Lovely voice!  A wonderful Marius!  I really loved "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables".
• Gavroche - I don't know the kid's name.  I didn't look it up yet, but he was WONDERFUL!  A little charmer!

What a gift this movie is.  It takes this incredible show to the next level.  It gives us so much more emotion and depth, just by bringing us closer to the characters.  I still love the stage version.  It's still in my top 5.  But this movie...wow...so intense and breathtaking.  I can't wait to see it again!  I just have to calm myself down from the amount of crying I did while seeing it the first time!

"To love another person is to see the face of God."  *sob*

Golden Globe Nominations!

Here are some of my instant reactions to this year's Golden Globe nominations:

Best Motion Picture Drama:
Lincoln....it's AMAZING!!!!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama:
Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty much unbeatable.  He's lucky Hugh Jackman is nominated in the musical category, though.

Best Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical
Les Miz is going to win, but I think having it in the "comedy" category is totally wrong.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical:
Hugh Jackman will win this.  No question.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
This is Anne Hathaway's to lose.  But Sally Field also deserves it.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
I will be shocked if Tommy Lee Jones doesn't win this.

Best Animated Film:
Brave and Wreck It Ralph are both great!

Best Television Series Musical or Comedy:
The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, and Smash are all deserving.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Benedict Cumberbatch is AMAZING as Sherlock!!

Angela's Essential Broadway Playlist

I'm creating a playlist on my iPod called Essential Broadway and I'm going to share it with you.  These are my favorite showtunes.  Take note (and PLEASE see the disclaimer at the end!):

"An Old Fashioned Wedding" from Annie Get Your Gun (1999 Revival)
- Bernadette Peters + Tom Wopat + this adorable song = MAGIC!

"Blow Gabriel, Blow' from Anything Goes (1987 Revival)
- Patti Lupone as Reno Sweeney.  Need I say more?

"If I Can't Love Her" from Beauty and the Beast
- Hands down my favorite song from this musical.  When I did the show, I used to run offstage after Be Our Guest, ditch my giant plate, and race back over to watch this song from the wings.

'If Ever I Would Leave You" from Camelot
- This song is just so heartbreakingly beautiful...especially when sung by Robert Goulet (Ask me about the time I saw Robert Goulet as King Arthur.)

'Soliloquy' from Carousel
- My favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein.  People knock this show all the time, but I adore it!  It shows real life...stuff that really happened.  It teaches us that everyone deserves redemption.  And this song...GAH!  When Billy starts singing about "My little girl, pink and white as peaches and cream is she"...I LOVE IT!!!

'I Miss the Music' from Curtains
- This song is just beautiful.  And it takes on an entirely new meaning when you consider that this was the last show that Kander and Ebb wrote together before Fred Ebb passed away.  John Kander really does miss the music!

'Nothing is Too Wonderful to be True' from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
- Listen closely to what Freddy is singing and you can't help by laugh!  Norbert Leo Butz is a hoot!

'As We Stumble Along' from The Drowsy Chaperone
- A rousing anthem sung by a drunk lady.  Gotta love it!  Especially when she messes up the lyrics.  Love it!  (And I love singing it!)

'Lady of Spain' from Forever Plaid
- A salute to the Ed Sullivan show!  A hilarious number to hear...and watch!

'The Crapshooters Dance' from Guys and Dolls
- My favorite number in the show.  And that's saying a lot...I love singing "Adelaide's Lament"!

"No More" from Into the Woods
- I don't know what it is about this song that gets me every time.  Whether is the the Baker bonding with his father or the fact that the lyrics to this song are just so...RELEVANT.  It's a great song.

"Confrontation" from Jekyll & Hyde
- It's one guy.  It's not two guys.  THAT'S what makes it so incredible.

"A Summer in Ohio" from The Last 5 Years
- It's just so funny...and Sherie Rene Scott is awesome!

"Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from Les Miserables
- Both ways I've seen this song staged are so exquisite.  And you just ACHE for Marius.

"Love to Me" from The Light in the Piazza
- Someone please sing this to me.  Seriously.

"If Only" from The Little Mermaid
- Of all the new songs they added for the stage version, this one is by FAR the best.  It's exquisite!

"Somethings are Meant to Be" from Little Women
- I can't tell you how much I love this duet.  Even those Beth dies at the end.  (Spoiler alert?)

"The Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha (2002 Revival)
- It's Brian Stokes Mitchell singing one of the best songs EVER.  Need I say more?

"Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins
- Making this a duet between the bird lady and Mary is pure genius!

"Pore Jud is Daid" from Oklahoma! (1998 London Cast)
- Best song in the show, sung by Hugh Jackman.  Aaaaaw yeeeeeeeah.....

"Ugg a Wug" from Peter Pan (2004 Revival)
- The original was good, but this updated version is super cool!

"You are my Own" from Phantom
- I have no qualms about admitting that I prefer Maury Yeston's version over Andrew Lloyd Webber's.  One main reason is the storyline involving the Phantom's father.  And THIS song.

"Here on this Night" from The Pirate Queen
- Unfortunately, this show tanked on Broadway.  But the music is fantastic!  Especially this duet.  Hadley Fraser & Stephanie J. Block are incredible!!

"I'll Forget You" from The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Marguerite sings this while in prison.  I ADORE THIS SONG!!!

"Lily's Eyes" from The Secret Garden
- This song will forever and always be one of my most favorite songs!!

"Who I'd Be" from Shrek
- I just love this song.  Shrek is more than just a stinky ogre!!

"This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific (Carnegie Hall Concert Version)
- Once again, it's Brian Stokes Mitchell.  The guy can sing no wrong.

"Diva's Lament" from Spamlot
- This song is just plain amazing.

"Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie
- Sutton Foster.  That's all I'm saying.

"The Blame" from Titanic
- It was hard for me to pick one song from this show.  What happens between the Captain, Ismay, and Andrews in this scene is incredible, so I went with this song for that reason alone.  It's a great scene!

"For Good" from Wicked
- Bet you thought I was going to go with Defying Gravity, didn't you?  Well, I'm sorry, but you can't beat this duet.  It's one of the best songs ever written.

"My New Philosophy" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
- Not only is this just about the cutest song ever, but it was also introduced the world to a little lady named Kristin Chenoweth.

"Old Maid" from 110 in the Shade
- I want to play this role, but I could never play Lizzie as well as Audra McDonald did.  Wow times 100!

"The I Love You Song" from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- There are no words to adequately describe how awesome this song is.

Get Out and Stay Out" from 9 to 5
- Another Stephanie J. Block POWERHOUSE number.  Stand up and cheer for this GIRL POWER SONG!!!

DISCLAIMER:  This list is a work in progress and will FOREVER be in flux.  My favorites change daily.  But at the moment I was going through my music on iTunes, these are the songs I loved.  While I will not yell at you if you send me messages that say "But what about [blank]?", I may or may not add them to my list.