There's this musical.

So there's this musical that pretty much no one has ever heard of. Pretty much no one except the hardcore musical theatre geeks and their friends, anyway. I am one of those friends. I don't own every score known to man, so I don't consider myself to be quite the hardcore geek yet (getting there), but some of my friends are borderline ridiculous.


Anyway, one of these friends (remember the fabulous fabulous encouraging gay man from a few posts ago?) introduced me to the musical Bare. To this ex-Catholic schoolgirl/not so tiny girl, it is incredibly relatable. It is one of my favorite musicals, and it's only fair to share the wealth. 


Read more about Bare here and here. 

"And if you dance like hell, you hope you never touch the ground.

What happens when the music stops?"

I fail...

...at that daily listening update I talked about in the last post. 


So, to sort of make up for it, I'm posting two videos. 


First off... I'm a ridiculous Rachael Lampa fan. Have been since sixth grade. That's devotion. 


Anyway, she's finally broken out of her strictly Christian pop bubble (not that I minded that at all), grew up, got married, and stepped way outside of her comfort zone. I'm even more in love with her new stuff than I was with the old. 


Excuse the cheesy video-it was the only one I could find. 

The second video is from City and Colour. Now, if you are in the acoustic/acoustic folk world and don't know of them, you need to get acquainted. ASAP. Dallas Green (get it? CITY and COLOUR?) is amazing. 

 

"If they call this falling, I'm already all the way down."

What I'm listening to today.

I've decided to try and make a daily post of what I'm listening to currently. Someone is bound to find some new music to love. :)


To kick it off, here's a video from the Sara Bareilles concert my sister and I went to back in November. It deserves a post all its own, but for now I'll just give you a taste of how amazing it was. 

Oh yeah. We got to meet her too. That's right. Be jealous. 

"I have hope that inside is not a heart, but a kaleidoscope."

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas... One more time.

Another show down, and I'm as depressed as ever. I think the theatre bug bit me again, hard. White Christmas was the first show I have done since Godspell in 2008, and it was possibly the most rewarding theatrical experience I have had. This show, more than others, had its fair share of issues. We were forced to begin a week late because of another show at Playhouse. We also had nowhere to rehearse for the first three weeks of the show, so we played musical rehearsal spaces for a while. We also had no music director, trouble with costumes, and a severe lack of backstage crew. But we pulled it off in a way that hasn't been done before, in my experience. There was so much heart in this show and so many people willing to go above and beyond what was asked of them. I can't tell you how much outside work I did with people to make mine and their roles the best they could possibly be. 


So, to the cast of White Christmas, on the off chance that any of you read this...


Thank you. You're amazing. 

Matchmaker, matchmaker, bring me a match.

Match.com spam emailed me tonight. I think they heard tonight's conversation. 


To get through tomorrow night, I will either need a really strong drink or some awesome people to keep me from losing my mind. 


I'll go with the latter. 


My life is awesome.

Thought for today...

Life is as dire a situation as you make it. I hope I can look back on my life and say that I laughed more than cried and was as optimistic as humanly possible.

It's a Long December

As if the general public hasn't gotten enough of my musings...

I've been thinking a lot lately. About everything. I'm in this rut, but I feel like I'm on the uphill climb. I have so much to learn about everything. Lately, what's been eating away at me has been my lack of drive. I want to be better at so many things, but I don't want to put in the work. 

I am a musician. It's what I do, and more than that, it's who I am. I finally (finally) got cast in a fantastic role in an amazing musical, and I think I've worked harder at it than I've worked at anything in my life. It helps being surrounded by the most supportive people ever: a guy who challenges me every day to do better (if only just to spite him), a "sister" who really gets me, and a fabulous fabulous gay man who tells me how wonderful I performed after every single show. The last weekend starts tomorrow, and I'm already dreading the Sunday curtain call. After it's over, what? It comes down to this: Now that I've gotten a taste of what it's like to be on top, do I keep sticking my neck out just to get cast as a walk-on? 

Which brings me to a new (but related) subject: my sister. The real one. We sing and write music together (Hayley and Bree McCuin). We've recorded a demo. Everyone in our hometown knows who we are (and it's not a small town). I can't help but feel like we have SO MUCH potential, but I have no idea how to go anywhere with it. I'm ready. I would move tomorrow if it meant getting to do what I love with the person who means the most to me in this world. But she's five years my junior. She is so many major life choices that she can't afford to worry about me too. 

I think that's enough for one day. If you so choose, stop by every once in a while. I might come up with something that speaks to you. 

“All one’s life is music, if one touches the notes rightly and in time.” – John Ruskin