I apologize for being a bad little blogger. I went on a last minute trip to NYC this past week.  Within 10 minutes of getting out of the cab, I ran into my cruise roomie whom I had just seen perform in 42nd Street in Fort Myers. I’m pretty sure I saw about 50 of my NYC friends and it was amazing. I did some auditioning (for things I was all wrong for). At one of them, they took our headshots and announced the people they wanted to stay. At least I wasn’t cut based on my dancing. A few of my Naples/Theatrezone friends were at an audition with me so we had a fun time waiting together. I took a couple of classes at Steps (home). Of course I went to Deb’s! Her mom lives in FL and dances with one of my coworkers. I love how everyone has a Naples connection. Felicia was in class with me and we got some yummy Juice Gen after to catch up. That class gives me life. And Kinney’s theatre class? OMG. It was my first time taking that one. He taught us choreo from Sweet Charity and the girl starring in Chicago on Broadway right now was in class too. I feel so much stronger than I did last year. I really do think cross training works wonders. I used to only take tons of dance and wondered why I wasn’t getting stronger. Well… barre, cardio, fitness vids, etc. are where it’s at.

I was able to stay with one of my best friends who was my neighbor in OH and also lived in Naples and went to school in NYC. She and her roomie always make me feel at home. We binge watched season 4 of Girls and the new episode so I am officially caught up! Emily, my friend who visited me in Naples last year, came in from Long Island for dinner at The Meatball Shop (always a fav). One of the highlights of my trip was getting some Magnolia with Megan before my flight back to FL. We used to do this after every single Rockette audition and I’ve missed her so much. I saw her sister perform in Bullets Over Broadway recently. Such a talented family. I love having a friend who shares my values: dancing and dessert. I also saw LYDIA AND CLAY!!! We worked together at Busch Gardens and haven’t been reunited since my birthday in Jan 2015. BG has given me amazing memories and lifelong friends. Despite some pretty uneventful auditions, I had one of my best NYC trips ever. Dance, food, and friends make the city wonderful for me. It is a relief to be back in the sunshine, but I’m counting the weeks until I can go again.

I had the absolute best experience performing in The Boy From Oz at Theatrezone. The end of a contract is always sad as the cast becomes like family. Even with this short contract I felt like I had known everyone for much longer by the end. I don’t think many people know this, but it was my first musical ever. I loved every second of it and hope to get some voice lessons soon. One of the highlights of this experience was when Paul Phillips, Judy Garland’s stage manger from when she performed at the Palace in NYC, came to see the show. He spoke to us about his time with her and said she was wonderful to work with and a natural onstage. I’ve learned a lot about past movie stars and music history in my college classes, but it was so cool to hear stories from someone who lived it and knew Judy. The cherry on top of a fun last weekend, was seeing myself and our awesome cast in the newspaper. If you’re in the area, be sure to check out Theatrezone since there are 2 more fab shows happening this season.

Audiences are loving the show and the first week flew by since we were having so much fun. The man who owns the rights to the show, David Spicer, flew in from Australia to see it and to film a segment for BroadwayWorld.com. You can watch that here. We also had the honor of having 2 former Rockettes in the audience who had danced with Peter Allen when he performed at Radio City. It was so nice to talk to them and hear their stories. I hope someday I can say I was a Rockette too. My mom and Justin came to opening night together and loved it.  There was a fun opening night party at a bar where we got some nice cast pics taken. There is only one more weekend of shows left. So fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work with this talented group of people.

Last weekend ,the 42nd Street tour finished up their shows here in SWFL and I was so fortunate to catch their final performance. It was especially exciting for me to see the show since my cruise ship sister, Sarah is in it! She shined so brightly in her role. I knew she was a great tapper, but damn! She definitely stood out in the best way possible. Two of my other dancin’ friends, Lamont (whom I met at Busch Gardens) and Natalia (one of my college bff’s bff’s) also stole the show. These three were the true stars and I’m not just saying that because I know them. Such talent. The story is good, but the best part is the dancing. And those costumes! The only thing I disliked was the amount of rude people in the audience. Out of respect for the performers, be in your seat at the start of the show. It’s inconsiderate to come in and make everyone stand up for you and your huge group in the middle of a number in the middle of Act One. Other than that, Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall was nice and they had yummy pre-show food and drinks for sale : ] The tour runs across the country through mid-summer so there is plenty of time to see them.

I apologize for being MIA. I’ve been busy rehearsing with Theatrezone, an equity company here in SWFL. Boy From Oz opens tonight! Apparently we are the first theatre in the US to do an equity production of this show. Some major industry people will be in attendance and Broadway World is going to do a post about it. Pretty cool! It has been a nice, fast experience. We have been rehearsing about 6 hours every night and had our final dress last night. The show is all about the life and career of Peter Allen who left Australia for stardom and was influenced by Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli along the way. I am in the ensemble so that involves lots of dancing and singing. Everyone is easy to work with and I can’t believe how quickly time flies. Can’t wait for opening and to celebrate after! The show runs tonight through Valentine’s Day and you can find tickets here.

My boyfriend is supportive and watches me dance around constantly. He also flew to my opening night of The Merry Widow in Chi Town last November. A lot of his hobbies freak me out since they are all potentially dangerous, but I’m learning to embrace his daredevil ways just a tiny bit and watched him kiteboard for the first time this weekend. It was freezing and super windy (just ignore me people up North) even though I was bundled up. His friends even bailed on him, but some other cool people showed up eventually. I enjoyed seeing my babe in his element. I can see how it would be pretty exhilarating and probably similar to the feeling I get when I perform so I’m happy it makes him happy. I still worry for his life though! haha He was out there for a few hours and then we took a coffee break before he went out one more time. I needed that, because my bones were frozen. FROZEN. It was pretty dark outside too and I’m still getting the hang of taking action shots, but here are the better ones.

I spent the entire day with Justin yesterday celebrating my (our) birthday. He told me he had a surprise at night, but we could do anything I wanted during the day. This dress that I got at the b store at Venetian the other day was the perfect choice since it works for both day and night. One of my besties sent me a beautiful necklace that goes really well with this look and the shoes are from Target. We started at my favorite brunch place, Jane’s. I tried something new and ate the entire thing. How incredible does my waffle look?! Tasted even better. Then we got some Bad Ass coffee and headed to the pier. We spotted his friend and took sneaky pics of him paddle surfing. The weather was so perfect and a welcome change since it was pretty gray and miserable all week. Next up was Bayfront, where I tried my first ever Moscow Mule. We hung out at the Tavern for a while and met up with one of his friends. I guessed what the surprise was before we got there. I kind of had a feeling since we had talked about going to this place before and he kept giving hints away without realizing it haha. He took me to Off The Hook which is a comedy club here in Naples. They have a restaurant called The Row so we had a yummy din before the show. So yummy I ate it all before Justin could have a bite. Oops! I wasn’t able to get pics, but the food rocked and the comedian, Eddie Ifft was funny. Pretty sure he pissed off a few people, but he made us laugh. We were in the front and I was worried we would get picked on, but that was luckily not the case. At the end of the night we met his friends for some mini golf. We got caught in the rain and lost the game, but it was overall an awesome day. Thank you Love Bug!

My birthday was on the 11th and my mom took me to Venetian Village. There is this great new store there called “the b. store,” where I bought 2 gorgeous dresses that I can’t wait to blog about. I could have purchased the entire store, not going to lie. We had lunch at Mira Mare and I got a salmon burger and spinach/potato soup. The food does not disappoint and the view is even better. After lunch, we picked up some Grace & Shelly’s Cupcakes at Mercato to take home. Isn’t Venetian so pretty? The shops and restaurants are on the water and it seems to be a bit less crowded than the other shopping areas in town. Love!

My neighbor owns an event company and I worked at some parties for her last year. She had some dance events coming up and wanted to see how I move before she booked me. I stopped by rehearsal for an upcoming show and walked into the room to find Eileen Grace. EILEEN GRACE! She ran the Rockette Summer Intensive back when I started a decade ago. She gave me my scholarship to the program and asked me to assist one year. Turns out she has been friends with my neighbor for years and was finally able to come to Florida to choreograph for her. What a small small world. I had so much fun learning two dances that day and was asked to perform in the event for Arts Naples the following night at Naples Grande Beach Resort. The costumes are so glam, right!? After our performance, we taught some choreography to the party goers and had a blast dancing with them for a song. What a fun night!