So of course I was really determined to keep a journal of my experiences - and haven't. Ha! The Milwaukee Rep has been amazing thus far. I love my apartment - I've found I really enjoy living alone, which was kind of a surprise. I think it helps to be "alone" - but have friends down the hall. It's that whole dorm life that I missed out on at Cornish. I understudied a small part in STATE OF THE UNION, the first show of the season and pulled myself out of the running for EURYDICE to go to New York (more on that later!). But up next is A CHRISTMAS CAROL - and I was beyond thrilled to get cast as "Martha Cratchit". There aren't always a lot of opportunities to actually get cast IN the shows - so I'm really excited - especially since I most likely wont be cast in any of the upcoming show this season - unless they really wanna go the color blind casting route. But... yeah. haha

I helped with a workshop today with the kids in ACC - and they are all so ridiculously cute and talented! Most of them already have their lines memorized, and they have some mock blocking so that when we start up rehearsals, they will be comfortable to play. The Rep has such a great teaching program and environment that I really admire and appreciate.

So! NEW YORK! Wowwwww -- I loved it. I loved every minute of it - even though I got sick, I believe from a street vendor hot dog (yeah, I know...bad choice?). But it was so amazing to BE THERE - and to be WORKING there! My first time in New York - and to work! I am absolutely in LOVE with the show THE YELLOW WOOD, written by Danny Larsen and Michelle Elliot. They are such an incredible team of writers. Even now, back in Milwaukee, all I can listen to is THE YELLOW WOOD demo - the music is stuck in my head constantly. (I have had "180" stuck in my head the past couple days - including right now)

I stayed with Sara - which was so nice of her to take me in for 10 days! Brandon was the assistant director - which made everything so much easier! We commuted together and hung out a lot before and after rehearsals while Sara was stage managing her show! We saw a BUNCH of theatre while we were there! GYPSY starring Patti LuPone, SPRING AWAKENING, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL, 13 (which would have LOVED if I was still thirteen...), BEDROOM FARCE (the show Sara SMed), IN THE HEIGHTS... Brandon and I went to a dinner cabaret called something along the lines of, "DANCE NUMBERS FROM MUSICALS YOU HAVEN'T [YET] HEARD OF" which was fantastic as well! Randy, who played "Casserole" in THE YELLOW WOOD had two of the songs he'd written in the show - and they were hilarious!

One of my favorite nights was going to The Duplex, a piano bar. You sign up on the list to sing, then the pianist will accompany you on ANY song - he either knows how to play it (which was about 80% of the songs!) or had music for it. He was INCREDIBLE. I sang "I'd Give Me Life For You" - as per Sara, and the pianists, request. It was soooo fun and energizing to sing some musical theatre in a room full of people who love and appreciate musicals too.

THE YELLOW WOOD was fantastic. FAN-TASTIC! The majority of the cast had already done it before at other showcases and workshops - so I felt the heat of learning all the music and hearing it for the first time - but I think I kept up pretty well, for the most part. It sure did slam my sight reading back into demand! haha

Danny and Michelle, again, are completely brilliant. Danny was so nice and offered me his bed if I couldn't find anywhere to stay, and bought me a subway pass for the week. I think they basically had to produce everything - and I'm sure that was incredibly costly. After the show closed, they sent me the nicest E-Card telling me I was the best "Gwen" they'd ever had - which was so touching. I was just relieved to make them proud. It's hard to not do such a brilliantly written show well. It's all in the given text and music. I think the brilliance was in their writing if anything!

Every now and again as Brandon and I were walking around NYC or in rehearsals, I would pinch myself. Was I really WORKING in NEW YORK on a musical?! I know it wasn't a full blown Broadway production - but all the same - I couldn't have been more thrilled working in The National Alliance for Musical Theatre's 20th Annual Festival of New Musicals. It's being in the birth place of where new good shows start. I wish sooo badly for THE YELLOW WOOD to get picked up. To be a part of the start of this show was an honor. And I wish the world for Danny and Michelle. They have already won a ton of awards for their work and for this show - and they deserve it.

New York didn't turn out to be the crazy scary place I always pictured. It was kind of everything and nothing I always imagined. I mean, I didn't get mugged, the people were waaaay nicer and more helpful than rumored, I didn't get (too) lost, I loved the buzz and energy of the city, and there were most shows than I could even imagine! Granted, if I were to ever move there on a whim to try and make it - it'd be a lot more difficult than this trip. I am so lucky to have gotten this show the way I did. I didn't have to do a big cattle call audition - I just got one of the best phone calls of my life asking me to come. But I hope that if I keep working hard, and dreaming big - that maybe one day it'll all happen.

This all sounds really cheesy - but seriously, the 10 days that I spent in New York were a complete dream come true. It was so surreal. The people I worked with were so ridiculously talented - it was inspiring to work with people like that. Everyone was on their A game all the time - and yet still managed to be loose and have fun.

I hope to work there again - and if I could dream really big - I'd wanna work their again doing THE YELLOW WOOD when it debuts on Broadway! I want the best for this show and all those involved with it!