Celebrity in the House

You can probably guess by the above picture who was at the show last night...Nicole Kidman! She is one of my biggest fans! :) Anyway, she was sighted backstage before the show began. She hung out in the TV Studio backstage until the show began. Then while the lights were out just before the show started, she was hurried to her seat.

I watch the first Act from the audience. I was just behind them as we made our way into the audience from backstage. Nicole and I have the same strategy so that we are not bombarded by our fans and other gawkers. We wait until the house (where the audience sits) is dark and then make our way to our seats. I sat on the side while they went to the center section. She had two people with her. I would have sworn one of them was her hottie hubby Keith Urban. But everyone who saw her backstage didn't even mention seeing her hubby which I'm sure they would have done if they had seen him.

During intermission, she went back to the TV Studio backstage and then was ushered out again to the audience just as Act Two was beginning. It was fun to perform for a celebrity. If only I had known she was coming, I would have traded her tickets for my show for tickets for her hubby's show when he comes to Salt Lake next. Darn it!

Christmas Cookies Spectacular

Well, since my last baking project (the fish) didn't turn out so well, I decided to redeem myself by trying my hand at some Christmas cookies. The cookies turned out so much better than the fish. I will admit that there was a lot of flour that got EVERYWHERE. I also relinquished the actual oven responsibilities to other people. There were also many possible cookies that didn't make it to the oven because I love cookie dough just way too much. The two cookies that didn't exactly turn out was at the hands of the oven people. Here are some pictures from the Cast's Christmas Cookie Spectacular!

The actual icing decoration is very art nuevo if I do say so myself. I was contemplating selling my cookies to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC but I was too hungry so I ate them!

Falling Fish

Here's a funny (and true) story that occurred last Monday night. I'm sure you will all get a kick out of it. Looking back, I think it is hilarious! At the time, I didn't think it was so funny.

I decided to make a good dinner since I didn’t have a show that evening. I defrosted a piece of cod (a white fish for all you anti-fish people) and some shrimp. I made some chicken flavored rice. I know, you are thinking chicken flavored rice with fish? Just remember, I am single and I can eat anything I want....So there!

Back to the story. I put the cod on a cookie sheet and baked it for about ten minutes. I pulled the rack out that the cookie sheet was on so that I could flip the fish over to bake the other side. I pulled the rack out so far that it wasn’t supported by the groove in the oven anymore so it tilted downward sending the cookie sheet and the fish crashing to the floor. Of course, the fish fell off the cookie sheet right on the floor!

I burned my finger in the process so taking care of that was first priority. I ran my finger under cold water for awhile. I was grateful my finger didn’t blister.

Next priority was the fish on the floor. I picked up the fish from the floor, rinsed it off, threw it back on the cookie sheet, and put the cookie sheet back in the oven to finish cooking. Then I ate it! Yup, I ate fish that had fallen on the ground! If Mom would have done this, I would have made a huge fuss about it and never let her live it down! Oh yeah, I would have refused to eat it too!

There you have it. I know none of you will ever come to a dinner party I hold and will now be very selective of what I will be allowed to bring to yours. I guess I'm off the hook. I hate cooking and this story was just one more reason why.

Week of Visitors

Last week was the week of visitors. Michael came out to visit his sister here in Nashville. He finally decided he needed a break from watching his adorable niece and nephew and came to the show. He had a great seat and I was even able to join him for the last two scenes. (I'm a quick change master!) I showed him all around backstage. He took tons of pictures with his iPhone. This is taken on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry with the church pews behind us. After the show, we enjoyed eating some dessert and catching up with each others' lives.

My parents, aunt Caren, Grandma (on my mom's side), and her friend Arnie came out to visit last weekend. I hardly got to see them because weekends are my busiest time for shows. I was able to go shopping with them Saturday morning and to church with them Sunday morning. Everyone came to see my show Saturday afternoon. Some returned Sunday for the matinee and Mom came to our evening performance. For the little bit of time I was able to spend with them, I had a great time.

Thanks to my visitors for bringing some sunshine into my life. I had a fabulous time with all of you. For those of you who haven't come to visit, what are you waiting for? My couch is always open for guests.

Picture Day

Last week was very busy. Don't worry it was a good busy. I had 12 shows, picture day, and many visitors. I will start by posting some pictures of the cast between shows.

The World Famous Rockettes

Me and Jen Dillon, Assistant Stage Manager (saved my life a few years ago, literally)

The Family Portrait (same Mrs Claus and Santa as last year)

Happy Little Elves (Me, Mike, Laura, Leann, Dana; Dale is missing because he was injured that day)

The Cast and Crew Nashville '08

One of my favorite pictures taken that day

The Ensemble Women (Aren't they colorful?)