Grumpy Ghost

Space Hospital Promo Shoot

2009-06-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe but after all this time, Space Hospital is still going and is ramping up to shoot a new season. Yesterday we shot brand new advertisement spots that will precede Season Two.
Forgive the unedited quality of these shots, I just wanted to get them up here as soon as possible.

What is going on in this mystery picture? That's between Ratknee and her heat ray.

Rob communicating his vision.

Oh, that lovable robot.

OK OK OK. SO. This was my first ever INTERVIEW for a show. This is for an entertainment show that covers web series. The interviewer was so nice and I...I mean...if only you could have seen the depths of my ridiculousness. OH WAIT, you TOTALLY WILL see. Fantastic.

Wait, what is this? Could it be an even MORE lovable robot has entered the picture? Modeled here by the glorious Anne Ford.

In September, we begin work on Season Two. I can't wait!

Memory Lane: Phantom

2009-06-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

This was the Southwest Premiere of the Kopit and Yeston version of Phantom. I was very lucky to be one of the first Christines. In this scene, she has just gotten a job at the opera house as a dresser to Carlotta (ABSOLUTELY NO RELATION to the book, btw) and sings about how excited she is to be on the edge of fulfilling her dreams.

What you can't see well here is that the set was a really elaborate three-level affair that was designed as an architectural cross-section of the real Opera Garnier.

I've already gotten a few requests on the YouTube channel to post more from this show, so at some point when I get a chance I will probably show the rest of this scene.

Memory Lane: Sweeney Todd

2009-06-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've started a YouTube channel for my acting stuff. Don't even ask me why I haven't done this until now. Anyway, I will be featuring videos here from my back catalog. First up is Sweeney Todd, "Green Finch and Linnet Bird," with Musical Theatre Southwest (formerly ACLOA). Video is pretty bad but you can get an idea. I just went back recently to look and this show and I have to say, it was a really good production. Sweeney is, dare I say it, my favorite musical of all time.

Nothing but fond memories of this production. It is still very sad that ACLOA died the horrible death that it did.

I would do this show again in a heartbeat. The wonderful thing about Sondheim is he has great roles for all ages of a woman's life, so I'm aiming next for the beggar woman, and then some day Mrs. Lovett. All in good time.

Dispatched

2009-06-01T14:33:00.001-07:00

In case you didn't catch it on the Twitter feed, it was a fun weekend of shoots. On Saturday, I got to shoot a role for The Diamonds Of Metro Valley with the always amazing Mary and Aaron of Maron Studio. I was a sassy police dispatcher with a whole lot of blue eyeshadow.
As you can clearly see, I don't take no guff. It was really cool to see Mary and Aaron in their element doing what they do best. I am so proud and excited for them. They have been working on this movie for what feels like a hundred years and these are the final re-shoots. David is also currently doing sound design for one of the characters in the film, a giant robotic lizard named Ron.

Then on Sunday, we shot the green screen component for our music video for Hunt For The Heart. You can read all about that here. All I will say is that explosions did occur.

Space Hospital Season Finale - "Omagone"

2009-05-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

Last episode for this season, more being filmed this summer/fall! This one really made me chuckle, with the introduction of Prince Plodd. Enjoy!

Fable

2009-05-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

I went to an audition today for the musical The Light In The Piazza, which is a show I have deep regret that I missed when it came out in New York. What can I say, I'm an idiot. I think at the time, musicals and I were going through a rough patch. But we are back together and learning about this show has been really wonderful. The score is complex, challenging, and lush. Listening to it tends to make me weepy, which is a wonderful thing to still be surprised and moved by a musical at this point in life when most of the latest crowd-pleasers are disappointing drivel like 9 to 5 (sorry, Dolly) and Shrek the Musical. Bluh.

Part of this renewal comes from hooking up with my old voice teacher from Albuquerque days, Kathleen Clawson. She is the best, most wonderful teacher I ever had. She essentially gave me a nice slap of reality and I left with a list of music I need to listen to and learn immediately. She is helping me find my post-ingenue roles and figuring out how to transition to being a mature soprano (extreme suck) and to not be afraid of my belt voice (yay). I have a lot to work on and catch up with and I am up for it.

I do hope I get a chance to do Piazza some day. I am pretty sure I am destined to play the mother in about 15 years. In the meantime, the Italian in me dearly wants a shot at Franca. Thank you, Adam Guettel, for writing such great roles for sopranos! Yay.

Speaking of Italian, we started Italian class yesterday at LA City College with probably the most hilarious and stereotypical Italian teacher you could possibly imagine. Hands a-flyin', arms a-wavin'! It's going to be miles of entertainment, just watching him alone. He spent an inordinate amount of time telling us about the ways Italians differ from Americans (Italians enjoy life and love! Italians can be late for work if they see a beautiful lady! Italians consider The Law guidelines and not unbreakable rules! Italians wear suits! etc). It was awesome.

No Blondes

2009-05-15T15:31:00.001-07:00

This is a REAL casting call that came into my LACasting inbox just now:

Film: Scientology Training Film #10

Role: WIFE
Gorgeous woman who is madly in love and married to a Chief Officer of a spacecraft. She gets drugged by the Chf Offs best friend and then becomes a pothead and leaves the Chief Officer. No Blondes.

Busy Bees

2009-05-12T11:20:00.001-07:00

We have been so to-the-minute booked lately it's been hard to take a step back and assess this year as it stands thus far. It is coming on summer and I feel out of breath by all the time I need and don't have to do the things I care about creatively. We have our fingers in a LOT of different pies at the moment. As things come to fruition, I will share them here. Suffice it to say we are working like bees to make many sweet things.

In cool news, after some awesome interviews in Albuquerque, we have picked a recipient for this year's Camilla Rowe Memorial Scholarship. The theme this year was American History. More on that when it is announced, but if you are on Facebook, please come and befriend us there. I say this every year but this is the most fulfilling and befitting way to honor my mom's legacy I can think of. It is five years on May 30th that she has been gone, which is hard to imagine, and there's still not a day that goes by that she isn't painfully missed. I don't know what it is about this five year mark but it has made things extra intense, all the way around.

Speaking of mothers, I hope everyone had a beautiful Mother's Day and let the people you love in your life know you care.

Hanging With My Padre

2009-05-05T15:36:00.001-07:00

My dad is in town. We went to go pick him up in Las Vegas where he was attending a conference. We got to see the Las Vegas production of Phantom, which was really quite good. I had much skepticism towards it for many reasons, one of which is A) It's the Vegas production, and B) It's shaved down to 90 minutes. But the cuts were really tight without compromising story and the talent was probably the best I've seen in the show since the early 90s (oh GOD saying that is depressing). I now feel less sad about them not calling me back for the show, however, as the Phantom looked like he was about 5'7" which meant the Christine was miniature. Oh, 5'10", you blessed/cursed thing! Great for seeing over peoples' heads, terrible for acting careers.

We got to stay at the wonderfully swanky and practically abandoned Red Rock Resort in what I do believe was the nicest hotel room I've ever seen. I managed to come away with my wallet in tact (Gabriella will be SO proud of me, I totally rocked the Rapid Roulette - and by rocked I mean that I broke even - this is a step up for me).

Dad's not feeling all that great, so we had to take it super easy, but I'm glad he decided to come back with us to LA. He got to visit us at our work today and attend a tour of the lot with Victoria and Carmelo, and it was cool to show them around. I like that he's getting to stay with us in our house, if even just for a couple nights. He hasn't been here in an extra long time and I just appreciate getting to be the host for a change instead of him always hosting us. I wish we had more time together but we must savor what we get.

Space Hospital - The Survey

2009-04-24T16:54:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, good news! Space Hospital lives on! There are plans to shoot more episodes this year (yay!!!), and our producers have started a survey to find out more about what you like and want from the show. Please take 2 minutes of your time to fill this out:

http://www.zapsurvey.com/Survey.aspx?id=455f7b62-40af-4734-8714-48acbdaa1efd

And please tell them how much you love Nurse Ratknee and want to see more of her on the show! Also, Space Hospital now has a Facebook fan page. Please become a fan!

Ratknee forever!!!

Happy Earth Day

2009-04-22T14:37:00.001-07:00

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a little something I did in our apartment complex. We have a very depressing area in the front of our building that looks like this:

Dead ground, nothing going on. For some reason I got it into my head a few months ago that if no one else is going to do anything about it, then I will have to beautify it myself. So I started planting things.

I planted a small lavender bush that was dying on my balcony. Now it is that giant shrub on the right. That mess of green on the left is the quickly sprouting seeds for wildflowers I planted only two months ago.

There's a calla lily that someone else planted, and on the left is an onion plant that I stuck in the ground after finding a very sprouted onion growing in my pantry (and I'm not sure what to do with it now, in fact - I'm not sure if those flowers means there's a new onion growing below or what).

And KABOOM! A whole mess of wild flowers that just started blooming in this last week. Two months ago this was all barren dirt. There is a rose bush in there too which I saved from death on my balcony. It's already way happier than I've ever seen it and I think after four years of nothing it might actually bloom this year. These cell phone pictures don't do it justice but I am very proud of my little wild garden that managed to bring a bit of color and sweetness (and butterflies!) to an otherwise dreary front area. Hooray for Spring!

Easter Weekend in Ventura

2009-04-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

We had a little mini-trip this weekend, the main goal being to take a boat to the Channel Islands and hike Santa Cruz Island. Things didn't go exactly as planned but as you will see, it was still nice.

The San Buenaventura Mission

We arrived in time for Good Friday service, which for reasons I cannot understand was being given in Latin, with the women all wearing mantillas and the priest facing backwards and everything. Maybe we had stepped into a time warp.

Then we walked along the Ventura beach and pier.

Lots of surfers here. The water looks freezing. It was quite cold this weekend.

Pelican patrols

So, the next morning, we got to the harbor at 7:15 AM (!!!) only to discover all boats had been canceled to the Channel Islands due to high winds and 7 to 9 foot waves.

It was disappointing. But we decided to drive to Santa Barbara instead for a hike.

It was nice.

Then we went to the Santa Barbara Mission.

It was in this small graveyard that one short line in the brochure read that along with those buried in the marked graves, there are about 4,000 native Chumash bodies buried here as well. NOWHERE ELSE in all of the mission literature did it explain WHY there were 4,000 dead Chumash here, nor was it mentioned anywhere in the museum. You just get phrases like, "Here is where they taught the Chumash stone masonry!" I think this was handled poorly and needs to be corrected. The only one telling the true story is the incredible giant tree enveloping the graveyard.

Tree growing in the wall of the church.

Another wall grower.

There's always room for one more!

Santa Barbara coastline

Quite possibly the happiest dog in the entire world.

Probably the biggest-buildup-to-biggest-disappointment ratio on the planet.

We had dinner at a Greek restaurant on the Ventura harbor.

We thought we were just going to have a relaxing meal...

And then suddenly there were belly dancers! And men dancing with wine glasses on their heads!

AND TABLES IN THEIR TEETH. WHAAAAHH?

So, Sunday morning (Easter) we had brunch at a weird place and then got on a whale watching cruise. The water was quite choppy. This photo is from the second floor of the boat. Kaboom!

Sea Lions kicking it on the only buoy in the vicinity.
We then spent a long time tracking a grey whale, who looked like an incredible sea serpent. He was shy but ended up giving us a good show (sorry, no pics, he was too elusive).

And then all of a sudden...DOLPHINS!

DOLPHINS EVERYWHERE, as far as the eye could see.

And birds following the dolphins. You have to click through to see these pics up close.

A baby!

It was seriously incredible. I have about a hundred more pictures. They are all fantastic. It was so beautiful I could barely breath. I still get happy just thinking about it.

Anacapa Island, one of the Channel Islands.

There is a sea lion in the center of this shot.

I'm all glow-y dolphin-y island happy. And freezing.

Ventura harbor

This, my friends, is why I married this guy.

Sophia is Wisdom

2009-04-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

As of Thursday night as a gift from the full, full moon, we have a new niece. She weighs in at a hefty 9 lbs, 10 oz, and Daniel and Shannon are very happy. After a lot of deliberation on their part, she is being named Sophia.

I'm pretty sure there isn't a better, fuller name to be given.

Pics to come soon of our trip this weekend to Ventura, including our visit with over one THOUSAND dolphins.

Happy Birthday, Mom

2009-04-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

Some Highlights from Gabriella and Paul's Wedding

2009-03-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

The complete collection of photos can be downloaded from our gallery here.

It was a beautiful wedding, one of the best I've ever had the good fortune to witness. I got to sing for them, which was nice, and I got to see my oldest, bestest friend marry someone who genuinely loves her. What more could anyone ask for?

Back

2009-03-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Back from a long-ish trip to Albuquerque for Gabriella and Paul's wedding. It was really, really wonderful. Pictures are to follow. I got a lot of amazing ones.

Working on many band and acting-related things. Lots of things in pipelines. More daily updatedness can be found on our Endless Twitter page.

London Day 5, 6, & 7

2009-03-09T11:17:00.000-07:00

Day 5
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, bangers, bacon, fresh fruit, toast, jam, juices, tea. Stomachs: full. We head to the National Gallery in search of fine art.

On the bus ride on the way over, David catches this man in action. Because if we just told you, you'd never believe us. I'm still not sure what's going on here.

Trafalgar Square, home of the National Gallery. The collection is filled with world-famous images. Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, Boticelli's Venus and Mars, Velazquez's Venus were among the standouts. But the painting that really took my breath away was Seurat's Bathers at Asnieres. It was just impossibly luminous.

We were also delighted to see Delaroche's Execution of Lady Jane Grey, which was HUGE and stole all focus in the room.

We then peeked into St. Martin's in the Fields and then went to Wagamama for noodles.

We NEED this place in LA. It was so good. They're opening in Boston so perhaps the West Coast is in their future.

We then had great tickets for another top-rate production from the Donmar of Twelfth Night at the Wyndham's theatre. Derek Jacobi starred as Malvolio. Need I say more?

Heading home.

Cool British girls on the tube.

Ok, where are we, Day 6? Our last full day in London. Another huge breakfast, and it's on to the Tate Modern.

At a grove of beeches in front of the museum.

I can't even tell you how sad I am that we missed the Rothko exhibit, which began just one week after we were there in September, and ended two weeks before we arrived. This was the only Rothko displayed at the moment. I liked it because you could really see the layers of paint and the process that goes into blending the colors.

There was so much that was good and challenging about this museum. A lot of art from this last century is filled with so much darkness, doubt, and pain, and it is illuminating because it really helps you understand where the human psyche is right now. We are adjusting to so much change and art is helping us make sense of it all.

A lot of stuff that I saw I didn't necessarily like in the moment, but it has stayed with me. Miro's paintings, for example, are not generally my cup of tea. But I find I can't stop thinking about them, and their color. The colors and shapes are haunting me, like my brain is trying to understand and process them on some deeper level I don't quite get yet.

Something wonderful to witness was the way children were engaged in the museum. There were tons of them everywhere sitting under paintings with their kids' packet making their own art. It was great! I think making the major museums free in London has been an incredible boon to the community and I wish someone would take up that cause here.

We then wandered around the South Bank a bit. This house says "Take Courage" (it's a bit dark here) and I'm guessing it's from WWII.

Under Southwark Bridge

Wandering side streets before our show, we came across this. I love this city.

The pub directly across from Cross Bones. I'm assuming this is where the Winchester Geese plied their trade.

We then went to the Menier Chocolate Factory to see their revival of Sondheim's A Little Night Music. It's a small Off-West End house in an old factory with a restaurant attached. Apparently we caught the show right before its transfer to the West End, which it richly deserves because it was FANTASTIC. We were in the front row in this tiny theatre and I was just bawling my eyes out. Because I didn't know the show well, it was like seeing a new Sondheim show for the first time and I just can't tell you how magical that was. A perfect, perfect way to end our trip.

Day 7 - Time to go. We did a little exploring in Kensington before we had to get to the airport.

It was hard to say goodbye to all of this again. We'll just have to come back soon.

London Day 4

2009-03-06T10:02:00.001-08:00

I think this was the day our host made us apple fritters. It was soooOOOOooo good. Thus armed with full bellies, we headed to the British Museum.

David caught this pic of the quintessential older British gentleman.

The Rosetta Stone! Like, for reals! It's one of those things I've read about my whole life but never really thought I'd see in the real world.

Slug and bunny.

The Assyrian art! So scary and unsettling after the cold and simple majesty of Egyptian design. But I can't stop thinking about it. I especially loved this lion hunt mural (this is a detail from it) and the giant stone figures that guarded its entrance.

Ahhh, the Greeks.

The Nereid monument was my favorite room in the whole museum. Something about the grace and fluidity of these gorgeous sea nymphs took my breath away. These statues surrounded a tomb and these goddesses were coming out of the sea to escort the soul to the Underworld. I can't think of a nicer way to go.

The outside panels of the Nereid monument depict battles, and here a woman holds her head in dismay at an influx of invaders.

Easter Island statue - silent, creepy, mysterious.

The story behind this crystal skull is almost more exciting than the piece itself. It was originally thought to be a genuine Aztec relic, and recently was found to be made in the 1800s. The museum does suggest, however, that the genuine skulls are quite possibly in the hands of private collectors. Regardless of when it was made, it's still a beautiful piece of art.

Mummies! Mummies GALORE! Never have I seen so many complete, in-tact mummies and sarcophagi.

This is a REAL MUMMIFIED CAT. Also there were mummified birds, eels, dogs, and calfs. All this mummification produced a real, visceral reaction in me. I'm still feeling a bit woozy weird just writing about it now. How wonderful for something to be so affecting! The thing that was fun was watching children enjoy this part of the museum. They were SO into it.

The Lewis Chessmen. These were found hidden in a sand dune in Scotland!
One thing I really loved about the museum was seeing the wealth of Iron Age and Celtic artifacts from different areas in the UK. It's just something I've never seen in America.

This was a lot of world history to process. I think we got to see about 60% of the museum, so I definitely want to return there to see the whole giant wings that we missed.

We then made our way to the Novello Theatre (after taking in another great Indian meal nearby) to see the RSC production of The Taming Of The Shrew.

It was like no production I'd seen of the play before. The show is, in our present age, problematic at best and they managed to find a way to make it utterly searing and devastating by the play's end. Kate's journey ends up being one of the taming of Woman through several centuries and it was a bold interpretation of the piece.

London Day 3

2009-03-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

After another huge breakfast (I think it was waffles with special English soured cream, blueberries, apples, bacon, toast with lemon curd, tea, and juice - OY!) we decided to do some wandering with our first stop being Covent Garden.

And oh joy! In the antiques market, we saw the coolest art made from antique letter press materials.

This stuff was just made for David.

I wish we could have gotten one of these but it was just too big and unwieldy.

A fontographer's dream! Or nightmare.

Loved the antiques area.

And then there was a toy shop that was directly out of your ideas of what a toy shop should be in England, filled with beautiful reproductions of old toy theatres.

We then walked the Strand down to Fleet Street and the City of London. This is the dragon that guards the Westernmost lines of the ancient city.

We had gone by this area back in September and I took a picture of this building for no apparent reason other than that I was drawn to it. I later learned that it is the legendary address for the barber shop of Mr. Sweeney Todd.

The store front on the right would have been his Tonsorial Parlour. There are connecting tunnels under this area that go through the church and into another street that would have housed Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie shop.

It is probably a myth but a fun one indeed.

A steeple of St. Paul's, the center of the old city. For some reason I didn't get a picture of the famous dome from the outside.

The history of this place is complex and wonderful. It is thought to have been a sacred site all the way back to Roman times.

We attended a Eucharist service.

Pics not doing the beautiful mosaics justice.

We then wandered to the Spitalfields neighborhood and met up with our friend Sarah, whom we had met when she worked at WB last summer as an intern. She came all the way from Cambridge to meet up with us! We went to Brick Lane, which is the famed street filled with Indian restaurants, and picked the first one that looked good and had an delicious Indian meal.

We then wandered around the neighborhood in search of good chocolate, and headed to our destination for the evening: the Dennis Severs House. People, do yourselves a favor when you go to London and see this place. It's not quite a museum, and it's not a performance, it's something in between. A living still-life of a restored home with rooms ranging in historical appearance between 1724 to 1914. Each room represents a different time period and is meant to feel that its occupants have just left the room. The tour is conducted in silence, by candlelight, and is really stunning.

Afterwards, glowy and speechless.

A truly memorable experience.

On the tube on the way home.

London! Days 1 and 2

2009-03-03T14:55:00.000-08:00

Finally I have a moment to post these London photos. Again, it's impossible to impart what happened there. The heart, the love, the cozy fun behind it is missing. But you get an idea.

DAY ONE

We got off the plane (our very, very empty plane) on Valentine's Day and after checking in to our awesome B&B, we headed down to the South Bank to the restaurant Canteen, which might be becoming a first night tradition for us.

The city was aglow

Love was everywhere, even in the Thames

After dinner we happened upon this interactive art exhibit at the Royal Festival Hall about Bibliomancy. Think of a question or intention and pick from a wide range of books to find your answer.

David writing down what he'd come up with on the scrolls.

Click to read closer.

We then strolled along the South Bank.

The London Eye was lit in red and there was a very long queue to ride. Lots of lovers getting engaged that night, I'd guess.

The Thames was thick and dark and something more than water-like.

Husband spent but happy.

Lovers at Earl's Court

DAY TWO

We meandered for a while after our big breakfast and tried the TKTS booth at Leicester Square to no avail (London doesn't do theatre on Sundays, which I still find baffling). We had some fun gawking at Harrod's and then went to the wonderful Victoria and Albert Museum. Joy! A whole museum about decorative arts! It was a great surprise, as I hadn't done much research on this place. It was filled with wonders and I hope we get to return there as we didn't see everything.

The chandeliers in the cafe!

This was a lunch room. I was drawn to this room and had to eat here. As we were sitting trying to compose ourselves and out-wit our jetlag, we slowly realized that we were surrounded by Burne-Jones paintings and stained glass! That's when we learned that we were in fact in a room designed by William Morris. So very beautiful.

We then were wandering around and ran into Rossetti's "The Day Dream," one of my all-time favorite paintings. What a lovely surprise. It is so beautiful especially in the context of its frame and the poem Rossetti wrote himself etched in it. Learning about the model, Jane Morris, and her relationship with Rossetti has added so much to understanding his paintings of her.

And then here was this just awe-inspiring Burne-Jones designed piano, right next to the Rossetti. What a room! All the art in it was from one person's estate. Can you imagine?

There is also an excellent clothing history exhibit there which we inhaled quickly before the place closed. We were quite knackered at that point but had a lot of time to kill before we could go to sleep, so we went to see Doubt at the local movie theatre, which was great.

More tomorrow.

Space Hospital: Log .25 - The Courtship of Nurse Ratknee

2009-03-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

Log 0.25: The Courtship of Nurse Ratknee - watch more funny videos

First Things First: Oscar Party

2009-02-24T10:24:00.000-08:00

We are back from London but before I show you those pictures I will quickly post these Oscar Party pics because every hour that passes their relevance fades:

Harvey Milk Chocolate ("It's NOT For Girls!") and The Twinkie Defense

Mac On Wire

Randy The Ram's Jello Jammer Cake! This was our prize winner. So awesome.

Changeling Chili

Wall-E Trash Blocks. SO adorable!

Hollywood Specialty: Refried Beans

Slumdog Sludge (I also made a Slumdog curry that I forgot to take a picture of)

We also celebrated Tifanie's birthday!

Lovely Birthday Girl

...and a good time was had by all.

Splendora - How Like Heaven

2009-02-13T16:37:00.001-08:00

We're off on our latest journey. Will try to Twitter it. Here is "How Like Heaven" from Splendora, newly minted on YouTube. Click through to watch in High Definition.

A Scene From Splendora - "Say Goodnight"

2009-02-11T11:17:00.000-08:00

I found this on YouTube today - a scene from Splendora. I miss singing with Ben. Such a beautiful voice.

New Video: Getting To Know Space Hospital

2009-02-03T13:51:00.001-08:00