I blog once a year....

...whether you read it or not!

Yep, it's that time - the DivaMommy's annual year in review. A look back on the events of the year. 

It's been a year with a lot of ups, a few downs as usual and a LOT of learning! I am truly blessed with wonderful experiences.

Ok...where to begin? How about at home.

Mama's Babies are Growing Up!

Seriously! Ryder was baptized in April - (and he turns 9 in just 4 days) and Lola will be baptized this year. I love to watch them grow and accomplish and learn and to see their wonderful personalities come out. There are lots of challenges and triumphs, but it's truly my family that brings me the most joy. 

Unfortunately I missed their 1st day of school this year because of a this years Bermuda show, but Grandma was nice enough to get photos on their first day of school this year.  Chloe started high school, Piper is in 7th grade, Ryder in 3rd and Lola in 2nd. 

Chloe's first high school dance.

Piper broke BOTH of her arms!

But it didn't stop her from performing in my Halloween show! Chloe and Piper were stars and I was so proud of them!

And Lola continues to be my sweet little girl - who happened to bring down the house nightly singing "Do You Want To Build a Snowman" in our fall Disney Revue.

There's less of Mama this year!

Yup, I finally lost that baby weight. Yup, my baby is 7. 

My weight is always up and down but I finally broke my plateau. I went from a size 12 to a size 6. It's really nice and it wasn't hard. Not having gluten as helped but I cut out a lot of sugar. Any gluten at all and more than just a little sugar makes me sick so it's an "easy" choice to make. But what really pushed me over the plateau is EFT. I've been doing it for a few years but never for weight loss. I literally "tapped" along with one session that mostly addressed the overwhelm of weight loss itself and that did the trick. I have to work harder in other areas, however. I am a big fan of EFT so I wanted to share it! The best place to get started is here: http://www.thetappingsolution.com/  There is a book on basic tapping and one on weight loss. There are videos and programs and I'm happy to help guide anyone to the proper resources!!

I do still have a baby bump, though. A 4 baby bump to be precise. I'm kinda proud of it. :-)

Performing recently with Jack Walker and Lou DeMeis. Photo by Ed Foster Photography

Mamma had a challenging theatre producing experience.

As you may recall, 2 years ago we went to Bermuda to produce Once On This Island. We brought the family, lived there for 2 months and it was a really great experience.

We were asked back again this year to produce Beauty and the Beast. It was the most challenging experience of my life so far. Unfortunately the company we were hired by wasn't prepared for the technical and financial challenges of such a show and even more unfortunately, they often chose to be less than forthcoming about their shortcomings, creating more challenges for us and extreme stress and strain on every level of the production. While I don't believe any of it was out of malice, lack of communication and dishonesty will sabotage even the best intentions. Oh, and it rained almost the whole time we were there!

It was a blessing that the cast was truly responsive and appreciative and brought us much joy and that we learned that 65% of our desired production level was still really darned good. And I got to create some truly gorgeous costumes, grew closer to my husband and some really good friends. It was definitely and adventure and a learning experience!

It was a good year for gettin' Mamma's sang on!

I had a varied and diverse performance opportunities this year. 

Steve and I opened the year singing together as hosts at Sam's Town Live's weekly variety show, produced by Ed Matthews.  We invited our good friend Taylor Eliason to sing with us, Lola sang a little "Snow Man" and the Davis' brothers treated us!

I got back onstage in a musical as The Lady of the Lake in Monty Python's Spamalot - which was another learning experience. Never costume a show when you're the lead, ok? I really should have learned this by now.

Here's one of my favorite numbers from the show. DramaDad was also in the show - he played Sir Lancelot which once again meant we had literally no on-stage interaction, though his character was the catalyst for my character's best joke. It was a fun, silly show where I got to sing my guts out and wear pretty costumes - who could ask for more?

We produced a really wonderful and amazing Disney Revue for our church. It was an incredible cast and we had way too much fun. I hope to have video highlights of it soon.

I created and performed in a Halloween show for Las Vegas' Springs Preserve again this year. It was again, a LOT of fun!! This year we had Diva Monsters!

And GHOSTLIGHT - my country singing group, had a great year!

We did some red Carpets and performed at Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel for Mondays Dark - a really great charity event!

We added musicians so we can now perform as a band...and we had an awesome photo shoot.

Check out our band promo!




I truly love these guys - 2015 is going to be our year!

Mamma made pretty things!

Just a few of my costuming adventures this year!

Belle's Ball Gown

The Bouche (Wardrobe) from Beauty and the Beast

Self Explanatory

Katy Perry Inspired

BBR's ALICE

Another Katy Perry Inspired costume - for a Burlesque STAR!

And, of course, Mamma made time for Disneyland!

My first trip was in early January to actually audition for a role in Disneyland. It was a great experience and my first time in Disneyland solo...which is why there are no photos.

We knew we would be traveling to LA a lot this year for fabric shopping, so we took the plunge and purchased annual passes to Disneyland. So I was there for my birthday!

And we even ran into our GHOSTLIGHT bandmates in the Fall!

 As well as this unsavory character...

And in November, we took a family trip with some of DramaDad's extended family. It was a LOT of fun! We had a blast and Lola FINALLY got to meet Anna and Elsa.

So looking back, it was in fact a pretty great year. Looking forward, I have lots of great things coming up, surrounded by a family I love more than anything in the world.

Much love!!!

The DivaMommy

My Night with Jennifer Hudson!

(IF YOU ARE HERE TO READ ABOUT OUR ADVENTURES IN BERMUDA, JUST CLICK "BERMUDA" UNDER LABELS TO YOUR RIGHT AND YOU'LL SEE ONLY OUR POSTS ABOUT BERMUDA! THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!)

Every once and while you get to be a part of something truly special!

This Friday, September 21st, PBS will air a program called "From Dust to Dreams, Opening Night at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts" And I will be on it! Blink and you may miss me or you may need to get a magnifying glass, but I was there! Onstage! Singing my little heart out.

The first weekend in March of this year I received a call inviting me to be a part of the Las Vegas All Stars Choir who were to perform at the Smith Center Gala opening the following weekend, backing JENNIFER HUDSON!

I was like, um...YES!

First of all, The Smith Center is an amazing, 500 Million Dollar theatre opening here in Las Vegas. It's seriously the most amazing building I have ever been in. And it means all kinds of theatre is coming to Las Vegas that has never been here! It's kinda a huge big deal. And it's exciting! I'm praying it will provide more opportunities for us local actors as well.

It was a really fun experience. First of all, it was really exciting that the person who referred me to be a part of the choir was one of the actresses who plays Christine in Phantom of the Opera: The Las Vegas Spectacular. I have worked with her in a few concerts and she came out to our production of Damn Yankees to sing the national anthem. I was thrilled that she thought of me...and even had my phone number to give our choir leader, Bruce!

I was sent some music and invited to rehearsal. We were to sing a song called "Take Care of This House" - an Irving Berlin song. It was arranged by Rob Mathes, an arranger/composer, nationally renowned music producer/director, performer, Emmy Nominee and all around cool guy. And it's just cool to have a piece of music that says "For Jennifer Hudson" on it!

Walking in to my first rehearsal was exciting! There were a lot of people there who were friends of mine! It was fun catching up and to get to perform alongside so many wonderful and talented people. And then we actually got to work with Mr. Mathes. He was great, funny and impressed with how well we knew our music.

We came back the night before the gala for our dress rehearsal. As we walked into the theatre, we caught Ms. Hudson herself singing another number that she would be performing the following evening. Um...COOLNESS! Then she exited and we were brought onstage to run through the song. The band was amazing...and HUGE!
She came back out and we worked the song a few times and they also worked out some technical issues. It was good to watch her work...she had some uncertainty with some of the song and before she left the stage, she turned to us and promised that she would have it by tomorrow night! It was very endearing.

Jennifer Hudson in Rehearsal

The next day we had to be there very early for an evening show. But there was a dress rehearsal all day. The asked us to be in wardrobe for the rehearsal as they were going to tape it in case they needed some of it for the broadcast.

With my friends Justin, Francesca and Dustin on the balcony of the Smith Center.

The part that was kinda stinky was that we didn't get to be backstage with the rest of the performers. We were kept in a conference room just off of the lobby.

After we had arrived and gotten the information we needed, we realized it was going to be a long wait for our rehearsal because we were last on the program. So they said we could go in and watch the dress rehearsal! Now THAT was amazing!

The line up of celebrities was amazing and extremely varied!  Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris! Willie Nelson, Jon Fogerty, Carole King, Martina McBride, Joshua Bell (the Violinist), Emmy Lou Harris...and some of my favorite broadway stars including Sherrie Rene Scott, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Cheyenne Jackson! And we got to watch a lot of it. My favorite moment was when Brian Stokes Mitchell sang "The Impossible Dream." He is sheer perfection! And Martina McBride is no joke! Even in rehearsal she was FLAWLESS! It was just really fun to see so many legendary performers. And NPH kept joking with all of us.

A fuzzy picture of Neil Patrick Harris during rehearsal.

We were called back about 3/4 of the way through the program to line up backstage. And as we're standing there...I look up and see all the broadway people walking by! And we were lined up against the wall in a hallway, so they passed nice and close. Cheyenne Jackson gave the girl next to me a big hug - they had worked together years ago! Sherrie Rene Scott and Laura Osnes were arm in arm, singing a harmony together. Benjamin Walker was all smiles and said hello, as did Brian Stokes Mitchell. And Montego Glover was just statuesque in the most amazing gown. It was just really cool to be in such close company with such incredible broadway stars! I also saw a couple of musicians, stage hands and wardrobe friends backstage.

Then Mavis Staples, a legendary gospel singer walked by and struck up a conversation with one of the ladies in the choir and hung out with us for ages! She was so sweet. We then entered the stage and ran our number. Now, I have to confess, the song is kind of weird. But what Jennifer did with it was an inspiration! Truly. And...teleprompters are really confusing when you are singing backups...the words on the screen are for the lead singer, in case you were wondering. It was hard not to look, though...it's this HUGE screen in the back of the theatre!

It was time to head back up to the waiting room and just as I was exiting, Jennifer Hudson also exited. She was super sweet and said hello to all of us and thanked us for singing with her. It's always nice when someone with so much fame is kind.

We were served sandwiches and wraps and settled in to watch the show on the live feed into our room and spend some time catching up with old friends and making new ones...and maybe helping ourselves to the cake pops and chocolate covered strawberries they had for the guests. SHHHHHH! Don't tell. Josh Bell stole the show, and the trio of Carole King, Martina McBride and Jennifer Hudson singing "Natural Woman"...ok, it tied for stealing the show.

They took us down a little later in the show this time, so we didn't get to see the broadway stars again. But as I entered the stage, in the dark of the backstage, I noticed a figure in white coming towards us waving and telling us good luck. It was Neil Patrick Harris! I may have told him that I love him...I can't remember, it was a all a blur!

The performance itself was just incredible. The room was electric and as soon as we were done, the audience sprang to it's feet. Jennifer Hudson, well, she killed it. She is truly an incredible vocalist. I don't usually like singing in choirs, but was an experience I'll never forget. It's always rewarding being a part of something special...and this was!

See me? See me? C'mon...do ya see me? No?

There I am!

I just wanted to share a bit behind the scenes...I mean, it's not every day you get to be on a national broadcast! I look forward to watching it and remembering the night I was a little tiny part of history!

How did we get here..my personal reflection!

I recently wrote this blog post on our new company blog. It's the story of how we arrived at this incredible opportunity.  Read about it here!

I would like to just expand on it a bit, in a more personal way.

I need to go back in time a bit. I'm not sharing this to seek sympathy - it's part of my path and I have accepted it and have come a long way in learning how to find experiences that will be fulfilling to me in the context of the life that I lead and the responsibilities that I own.

For years when my husbands theatrical experiences were outnumbering mine 5 to 1, I was depressed and unhappy. I felt like I was stuck at home, barefoot and pregnant and alone. In many ways, I was. Steve would work all day and rehearse all night, probably 9 months or more out of a year. We had one car so I literally was stuck at home most of the time. It was hard. Mostly I was just feeling like life was passing me by and while I love my children and chose to make the sacrifices to do what I needed to do as a mother and be there for them, there wasn't much out there filling my cup. I was drained. Even now as I remember and write about it, I'm at the verge of tears and I have a stomach ache!

 I don't want to make it sound like during that time (about a 10 year period...pretty much my 20's) that I didn't do anything and my husband did everything. In the first few years, I was fortunate to play several wonderful roles and I don't discredit those opportunities. It was really once my husband started directing shows - in 2006 that it got really hard for me to do anything. From 2005 to 2010 I only performed  in 3 productions while he directed 7 productions and performed in 7.  Because his schedule was already planned, I couldn't audition for his shows or any others that would overlap because someone needed to be home with the kids, my skills got a bit rusty and my confidence plummeted after several poor audition experiences. Literally, his success was in many ways limiting my opportunities. Not in any way his fault or intended to be that way, just the logistics and timing of it all...and the fact that he's a guy - more in demand....and lack of a live-in nanny.

While it was a constant source of contention between my husband and I, I never asked him to stop. I never asked him to quit. There were a few shows he passed up - he made sacrifices, too, but not on the level I had. I know now that at the time I didn't embrace the concept that my children wouldn't be tiny forever and there would be more opportunities sooner than I thought. I'm also the type of person who far too often chooses to wallow in self sorrow. I am in a much better place now, seeking out and finding more opportunities to perform and finding joy in offstage production as well as working with my husband.

As I look back, I am proud of myself  for continuing to be supportive of my husband. I'm not saying it was lollipops and roses - it definitely wasn't! Harsh words and solitary tears were shared on occasion and maybe  a little more than that. There was tension! But the excitements, the successes, the learning experiences far outweighed the difficulties. It was a time of refining and growing for both of us.

Through these difficult times and in reference to the a-typical lifestyle we need, we are often asked why do we do it? Why have we sacrificed thousands of hours over our 13 years of marriage (and 12 years of parenthood), usually at our own personal cost to do theatre? Why put so much into it? Many of our family members have questioned the same, and I can't blame them. It seems a bit extreme. My husband, however, is completely driven by his creativity and his pursuit of excellence. He is fully committed to whatever project he dives into. That's just how he operates and he has inspired me in that way. And I'm thrilled beyond words that he has the opportunity to live his dreams and that we, together, are in a place where we can embark on wonderful new adventures.

Everytime an actor grows on stage. A set comes together. That last costume piece is finished. To hear an audience laugh the first time. To watch a video of a production years later and be moved to tears by it's beauty. That's why we do it.

Bermuda - this is the icing! This is opportunity meeting preparation.

To be recognized for our hard work and talents by TROIKA Bermuda to the extent that they would hire Steve to come direct the show and design the set, rent our costumes and props and arrange for housing for our entire family is one of those rewards life occasionally tosses your way. It's for all those nights I sat at home alone with 2,3 and 4 small children for weeks and months on end. It's for going to opening night and being so proud of what my husband was able to accomplish but the tears I shed because I would have loved to have been onstage. I never imagined that such good would come. I had learned to be content knowing that my husband was living the life he was meant to lead and not going slowly insane doing work that didn't take advantage of his creative talents. This is icing! And I'm still incredibly, incredibly grateful.

We don't have expansive goals other than to keep supporting our family through the arts and producing and contributing to great theatre.* And these experiences are just the start. There will be more to come! I truly believe that because I also strongly believe we do this for the right reason. For the love of it - because it is what drives us. And if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. So we'll continue to put our heart and soul and energy into production after production and whatever other opportunities come along.

That's how we got here. And that's how we'll keep going.

*I also really want to sing in a rock band, but somehow it didn't work in that sentence. 

Wanna meet a TRUE Diva?

Yesterday, or rather Wednesday, I had a lovely Starbucks date with my dear friend, KELLIE!

Now, Kellie is a REAL diva. Seriously. She's an amazing performer! She's performed for many, many ye...well, she has a lot of experience. I have learned SO much from watching her onstage. And - she's got a fierce divatude that I just adore! Oh, and she's from Australia. That's instant coolness in my book.

EDITED TO ADD: This current photo of the Kellie - looking more diva-licious than ever.

Kellie and I have had fabulous adventures together! Although our paths have crossed for years, we finally got to work together in 2009 in the fabulous musical THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE! She basically spent the whole show trying to sedate me so she could kidnap me and sell me into white slavery. Poison apple and everything.

 Kellie Wright as Mrs Meers and ME as Miss Dorothy

Not to be confused with....LOL!!!

During MILLIE, Kellie encouraged me to audition for a little broadway review she was doing. And I got the part! So, we "toured" to beautiful, exotic SPOKANE, WA to bring them a showstopping show the likes of which they've never seen....SHOWSTOPPERS, TOO!

We had lots of fun adventures!

We rehearsed....

 (Kellie and I are Center)

We performed...

Me singing "Memory" from CATS!

And Phantom of the Opera - yes, I had a BOAT!!!

Imagine Kellie performing such classic's as "Don't Rain on My Parade" and "Some People". You have to imagine because I know if I put a picture up she will kill me. Yes, she will. Poison apple or no.

And we PLAYED!

at "Intrigue"....Opening night cast party! Um...Kellie...what is Charlotte doing in this photo?

At the dueling piano bar where we ticked off all the locals by SINGING OUR FACES OFF!

and....

I met my very first real life drag queen....who promptly picked me up and carried me across the, uh, venue.

Now, if that wasn't cool enough....just a few months later, we headed up to lovely, exotic EDMONTON, CANADA to do a Christmas show for all the lovely holiday Canucks!

Our amazing cast...Me, Kellie Wright, Jimmy Emmerson, Kevin Sherell and Tai Lewis!
Dontcha LOVE our matching, bugle bead gowns. I. totally. did. n't. But, hey. We were fierce.

It was coooooold!

 BRRRRR! Seriously, it was cold....like -40 something at night!

But we totally had a blast! 

Then last year, in the summer this time, we headed back to EDMONTON, CA, to do a murder mystery, this time with DramaDad in tow. She spent most of the show belittling me and putting me down. 'Til she was MURDERED!!!!

We...

Posed for photos!

Partied hardy! (One should note that it was about 9:00 PM at the time...the sun didn't set until like 11 PM.

Umm...this is the closest thing I have to all of us together...sorry, Kellie. 

Sometimes, we lunch with friends.

Sometimes we lunch together or meet at Starbucks.

Facebook banter? ALWAYS!

And sometimes we get stranded at Walmart for HOURS (ok, like hour) waiting for the darned shuttle to pick us up.

Yeah. Kellie's the real deal. A tried and true DIVA!!! Been there, done that, facebooked it. I love her and I'm so glad we're friends!  

We have a show we want to do together....we both have a lot going on right now, but hopefully it won't be too long. 

Oh, and she loves my blog. That makes me so happy. So, Kellie, I'll TRY to blog more, because I know that at the very least, you are reading. And that's enough for me. 

I think I just blogged instead of working out. Hmm...maybe I should work out....