O Come, All Ye Faithful..

 Today's blog post is going to start with a short reel I made of the shows here. I made this to send off to the CD at Hong Kong Disneyland to sort of keep me in her mind for casting the upcoming contracts for October. Enjoy!

And now...

Has it really been 9 days since my last post? Jeesh, I need to get better at this blogging thing.

The shows are still going fine, the park attendance has been picking up, and the Christmas spirit is alive and well, so nothing new to report in that department. The weeks have been going by quickly (we're already into week 5!), but the days go by slowly. It's a weird feeling, but I suppose that's to be expected when you fall into a rhythm.

RHYTHM!

We celebrated the Fourth of July by staying indoors, avoiding the thunderous downpour and the lightning. the rain actually let up a bit by the time the fireworks in newarby Lancaster were scheduled to go off, but the lightning came back. Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool to watch fireworks against a background of a lightning storm. I tried to get a picture of the phenomenon, but alas..

Happy Fourth!

We celebrated Rebecca's 23rd birthday a few days agowith a house party with the international students and  a cast dinner at the 2 Kings pub at the Spalding Inn. We all ended up having the seafood-stuffed haddock special, which was DELICIOUS.  It didn't sit too well with the many beers we had later that night, but man...delish.

pre-haddock hotness

Last week Dan and I went to the Flume Gorge, which is a beautiful ravine in the White Mountain National Forest (and was also free with our employee passbooks!). It was a really beautiful walk, and an even more beautiful day. Lucky for us, since the rest of the week before and after our one day off was MISERABLE and rainy. Yick. The Day Off gods must have smiled on us.

and when they smile, they SMILE.

In other, less exciting news, I am now a card-carrying member of the Jefferson Public Library!

Hellooooo free DVD rentals!

local.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week, and as always, check my Artist page on Facebook for day-to-day updates. 

LIVE FREE OR DIE,

Barrie

I spent Christmas down in Aaaaaafricaaaaa...

So, in total defiance of New England meteorologists everywhere, it has been just lovely and sunny these last few days. It was nothing but rain rain rain in the forecasts, and then BAM: I have a farmer's tan after glad-handing the park guests for an hour outside. Or maybe I should call it an elf tan? :)
This is a good thing, since the last almost-two weeks have been dreary, chilly, and torrentially raining. So while the rest of the country stews in its own sweat and loses their electricity, we worry about our wigs getting wet and trying to making spirits bright under the ominous cumulus clouds.
But enough about the Live Free or Die state's weather issues..

Today's forecast is Puddle-y with a chance of Damp.

 

Attendance at the park has been picking up, which means doing fewer shows for a quasi-enthusiastic theater of 10 people. Also, it means many after-work trips to the pool across the street, thankful for the sunshine til 9pm-ish. Elves come in all colors, right? Even Italian/Hawaiian Toasty Summer Brown?  I'm still trying to get up the courage to go blonde this summer, since I'm wigged for all my shows. The hair salons around here are a little dubious, however...
I was visited by Oli for a few days last week, and it was nice to have him around to chase the gloomy days away. Many gingerbread cookies were decorated and eaten, many crossword puzzles were defeated, and one night of international charades were some good times. We went through part of the Kancamangus Highway--which cuts through the White Mountain National Forest--for one afternoon, and despite the rain, the scenery was gorgeous.

Gorgeous?

 

Looking forward to the Flume Gorge on Tuesday (the Grand Canyon of New Hampshire, apparently). Also, my parents should be coming out in early August, and I'm very excited! We just got our NEAAPA (Neww England Area Funtime Parks and Such..or something) discount books, with lots of free passes to all kinds of attractions in the area. It looks like it's time to go exploring all that the Granite State has to offer!! Why do I feel like it's going to involve a lot of maple-flavored ice cream and moose-themed souvenirs?
Have a great July 4th week!
Until next time,
B

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Check out this video from one of today's performances of The Christmas That Almost Wasn't.

Step, step into Christmas. Yeah, forever and ever...

And so, it begins.
Monday marked the first day of our regular weekly schedule going into effect. For any of you interested in visiting me up here, I am scheduled to do all three of the shows (The Christmas That Almost Wasn't at 11:15, 1:45, and 4:15; Mistletails at 12:30, and Storytime With Candy Cane and Peppermint Twist at 3:00) on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Thursdays, Saturdays, and most Sundays, I will be doing one or two of those shows, with Tuesday as my full day off. It's actually quite an easy schedule, and we're always done no later than about 5pm every day. 

Rookie and Knock Knock, from The Christmas That Almost Wasn't

 

Candy Cane from Storytime...

This is a very different set-up from any other show I've done (except maybe for The Yellow Brick Road tour, where most shows were in the morning), but it's great because we have the opportunity to spend time together as a cast every night, and to hang out with the international work-study kids who live next door. They're flown in from various countries to work the summer season on the rides and in the shops, and we've been having a great time with them. They live in what used to be a restaurant that has been converted into a living space that holds 22 at capacity. This year, we have people from Serbia, Macedonia, Romania, Taiwan, China, and probably a few I've forgotten. I've listened to more foreign-language techno in the last week than i think I have in my whole life, but it's really been fun!
We're still sort of settling in here, and now that rehearsals are over, we have time to get into a rhythm and relax. This last Friday, the cast was treated to a dinner prepared by our own John Raterman (the other Equity actor here)..steak, minted couscous, and swiss chard salad with feta! It was amazing. So amazing, in fact, we decided to make it a Friday night tradition, rotating the person who cooks for the cast. I called dibs on this Friday, and I can't wait to serve them my Julia Childs-inspired Beef Bourguignon!

Cast bonding.

 We also went to the movies together on Sunday night, and saw Snow White and the Huntsman. We collectively do not recommend it. Mondays, however, are $4 movie night (Sunday was $7...a far cry from NYC's $14+ ticket prices!!), so we want to make a weekly movie night as a cast too. Next up, maybe Madagascar 3?

 

My friends from Montreal, Karine and Marc, are coming down to the park today, and I can't wait to see them!! They also took a vacation in Florida last year that coincided with my tour, so they got to see me perform down there as well. Luckily, Santa's Village is only about 4 hours from Montreal, so this trip is a little less taxing than their last one! Whether they're coming down to enjoy the park and see me, or just to giggle at my ridiculously crinoline'd costumes, I feel very blessed to have friends like them. :-D

That's all for now! Have a wonderful Summer Solstice, and a Happy Hump Day!
...coincidence...?

"'Twas the Night Before Christmas..."

Oh myyyy!!!
It has been a hot second since I updated y'all on this adventure!
The reason being that we having been having a grand ol' time, both within our own little Santa's Village family (including the new recruits from the International Work Exchange program. Hooray for Serbia!) and with our fellow RWS employees at Storyland! A summer in New Hampshire is better when you're in good company. :)

Good company.

We have a "soft" opening tomorrow! For those of you for whom that's a strange term, it means that we have a select group of people who will see our shows tomorrow, but the schedule of performances will reflect what we'll do throughout the summer. Mostly it'll be employees, families of the owners, and such. Our *grand* opening is Saturday, and then on Monday we'll start doing shows according to the schedule we'll [more or less] keep for the rest of the contract. From there on out it's 6 days a week, 10-5. How many shows I do per day is dependent on the day of the week, but I know I'll always have my Tuesdays off, in case you were thinking of visiting. :)

The rehearsals have been such a great pleasure. Tons of love and respect go out to our director/musical director Robbie Eicher, who is not only a delight, but is an incredible human being and one of the best people I've ever had the pleasure to work for. Also, my cast is a seasoned bunch of performers, most of whom have worked for RWs before. Apparently, since this is the first year that RWS has worked through [Actor's] Equity [Association], they wanted to bring their "A-Team" of awesome performers-slash-people who know what the *&$% they're doing on the job. So if there was ever a year to come to Santa's Village, it's this year!! Honestly, this rehearsal process has been great....and I have NEVER said that about a rehearsal process. EVER. I have no doubt that this summer's cast is going to be magnificent. And adorable...!

We just ran all our shows in costume today, and BY THE BEARD OF SANTA CLAUS we are adorable. Just as a teaser, I wear green short-alls at one point that have "NOEL" on the legs in gold fabric. I'M JUST SAYIN'. If it was 1998 and December, I probably would've worn them in real life. Super cute.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow when we're all in full makeup and costumes and excellence. Love to you all!

Lyrics to "Stick With Me" by Nicki and Tim Bluhm

This post is totally unrelated to my summer as a performer at Santa's Village, but as a performer, I had to share these wonderful lyrics of a wonderful song.


Watch the video here!

MALE: No one said it was gonna be easy
To get our voices to blend
Peaceful feelings don't always come easy
But they're a means to an end

FEMALE: It's a good life, but its fast paced
Nothing slows us down
Slam the door drive down the highway
To the next small town

CHORUS (BOTH):
I don't wanna hear doubts I wanna hear shouts of victory
Come on kid, you'll go far if you stick with me

MALE: we're not always in the fast lane
Only when we're late
Most of the time it's like they'll tell you:
"Hurry up and wait"

FEMALE: All the neighbors say we're the crazy
Drifting all the time
Then they ask us what we re doing we say,
"Living while we're alive!"

CHORUS (BOTH)

BOTH: Ooh, when our ship comes in
Ooh, when our home team wins
Ooh, when our family and friends are together again just singing and dancing
Oooh...
I don't wanna hear doubts I wanna hear shouts of victory
Come on kid, you'll go far if you stick with me
Come on kid, you'll go far if you'll stick with me
FEMALE: Stick with me
MALE: Stick with me (FEMALE: aaaaah)
BOTH: aaaah

She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes...

So.
I have arrived.
After a cross-country trek from Cali to NYC yesterday, I was greeted by my roommates with smiles and chocolate cake they had baked me for a my birthday. After hugs and revelry, I finished packing, caught up on the two Game of Thrones episodes I'd missed (SO. GOOD.), and crashed for a few hours.
I met Robbie (our musical director) and John (the other Equity actor in my cast) around 9:30am and proceeded to snuggle around the masses of bags (mostly mine) in the back of an SUV for 6+ hours en route to Jefferson, NH. Two things crossed my mind as we neared our destination:
1. There are a LOT of trees up here.
2. There is NOTHING but trees up here.

We are preeeeeetty secluded out here, but I have to admit, it's beautiful. Once I get my camera, I'll take some nicer pictures, but in the meantime, here's our house, with the park in the background:

 

 That's actually my bedroom window on the ground floor there. I have my own room, and Hayley and Rebecca are sharing the second room. We have our own living room, TV, and kitchen (with a big ol' oven...eeeexcellent...). Upstairs are the boys (John, Dan, and Cory), and that's it. We are the only inhabitants of this little condo. Super cute. Just down the ridge (out of view in the picture) is the international students' house. The park has a sort of work-visa program with overseas kids who come out for the summer and work the Park. According to Rebecca, most of them come from Eastern European countries, so I guess I'll have to brush up on my Macedonian this summer. :)

That's really all for now. Rebecca, John, and I went on a massive Wal-Mart run and stocked the fridge and got some basic house stuff (it's been many moons since I last purchased a spatula). I got a bottle of bubbly to celebrate our first night together, and we all toasted upstairs with the boys. Here's to a great summer!