So, it's official! I am a vendor at The Pirate Festival! I am going to be dressed as a princess (who has a sword. Natch.) and my friend An will be a wench and help me sell books! So excited! I am totally doing a happy dance in my seat right now. I'd show you guys, but then I would have to hide in embarassment.

In other news, last night was the official opening of The Toronto Fringe Festival. Brian and I went and ended up standing with Denis and his crew for the show he worked on Mum and the Big C. I was delegated to be the bag watcher for the poster sprint. Basically what happens is this: Everyone with a show stands around holding tape covered posters of said show, and they wait through all the opening speeches until a bell rings, and then they all sprint in a crazy costume-filled crowd to the tents, walls, and dumpsters that line artist alley and the beer tent. Everyone then fights for space to put up the tape covered posters they were holding. It is complete artsy chaos. I was the bag watcher because I was told I would be best at it. I believe it was because I am the shortest of the bunch, can't reach over people to put up posters and have little legs and can't run very fast. Eh. I don't let it get me down. It enabled me to get pictures of the sprint and postering. See below.

Afterwards, we went for dinner, and saw three shows: Antigone (a Greek tragedy), Mum and the Big C (a comedy), and well, The Princess of P*rn (a musical). (I try to keep this blog family friendly.) Hearing of all of Denis's hard work, it was awesome to see how it all paid off for him. The show was hilarious, full of heart, and the entire cast rose to the occaision. It was great to see how well it all came together.

I love the Fringe. It really has something for everyone, and I look forward to seeing what else it offers.

Tons of stuff happening. So, last night was the Dora Mavor Moore Awards. This was basically the Toronto equivalent to the Tonys, and it was a huge party and ceremony. Angelwalk was nominated for three awards, and well, we didn't win. But this was okay, we were just thrilled to be there. I had a new dress, and was armed with bookmarks. I only gave out one though. Didn't want to be pushy. Maybe I need to work on that. We were there with a large chunk of our casts from both Off Broadway On Stage and I Love You Because, and together, we had a blast, especially at the street party afterwards. Lots of music, lots of food, lots of dancing. It was awesome.

As you can see, I have my bookmarks, and my poster is in the process of being designed. I also have sent a copy of The Dybbuk's Mirror off to the amazing Liz Man so she can design a cover for that as well. Things are moving ahead on all fronts! So excited! Anyway, I'll check back in here, and add to this when I have downloaded my pictures from last night.

First things first: This week has been amazing in the amount of news I have to share with all of you guys! I don't know how many of you follow the Toronto theatre scene, but Angelwalk has been nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore Awards! This is too awesome! I Love You Because has been nominated for Outstanding Production, and Jeff Madden has been nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male. Also, Off Broadway On Stage has been nominated for Outstanding New Musical/Opera. This is amazing! In other news, I will be returning to the stage. I am so excited about this. I got offered the role of Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof, and can't wait to start! I have always loved Shalom Alekhem's Tevye stories, and the musical that is based on them is phenominal. So much to be excited about. Yay!

This summer is gearing up to be a busy one. This August, I have FanExpo, and earlier that month, I may be appearing at The Pirate Festival. This looks to be a fun opportunity to dress up, meet readers, sell books, play with pirates! When I know more, I will definitely pass on the information.

As for the new book, I have added a page for it on the website. If you want to check out a short teaser, feel free to click the link on the header. Yes, I have not unveiled the title as of yet. I am strongly leaning towards one in particular. I will be making an annoucement shortly. I promise. No Leo, it is not called The Keys of the Piano, although I will admit I had a good chuckle over that suggestion. Stay tuned for more updates.

First thing’s first: I got the DVD copy of my Rogers interview. Once I learn how to post it here, I will definitely do so. Hopefully it will be as easy as everyone says it is to do. However, bear in mind that I am a newbie at all this website stuff. Things that are simple to some, remain impossible to me. I hope this is not one of those things. Maybe I’ll get Brian to help me out here.

In other news, Sunday was quite eventful. Not only was it Mothers’ Day (Which I will get to later), I also had my first musical theatre audition since the babies were born. I find the audition to be, without a doubt, the most nerve-wracking part of being a performer. Everything rests on how you do in your audition. Not only that, you are not handed the lines or the songs to sing. This is done at the callback (if you even get a callback). At the audition, you choose your song, you choose your monologue, you choose how you will perform it. It’s all on you. And to make matters worse, you are performing a mere few feet away from the production team. They are seated behind this table, staring at you, maybe scribbling notes, maybe ignoring you completely, reading your resume, looking bored, or trying to look pleasantly neutral. Ugh.

The show I was auditioning for is Fiddler on the Roof. I don’t really want to say which parts I put down, mainly because I don’t want to jinx anything. I spent the better part of this week, carefully selecting a song, carefully choosing a monologue, and practicing them for my captive audience of fifteen month-old babies. If their reactions are anything to go by, my dancing is laughable. I ended up doing a rendition of “Show Off” from The Drowsy Chaperone, and Buttercup’s monologue from the novel The Princess Bride where she realizes she does love Westley. You can check out the song below. P.S. Sutton Foster does a MUCH better job than I did.

I entered the room and chose to do the monologue first. I think I did alright. The director then asked me to redo it, and pretend that I was the WORST community theatre actress around when I did. So I repeated it as a valley girl who couldn’t remember her lines. I think that was what he wanted? Then I did my song, and I forgot a line. Ouch. That was fairly embarrassing. I absolutely hate when that happens.  The whole thing took less than ten minutes. Then we went for dinner.

Something to take note of: Babies in a fancy Italian restaurant is a recipe for a huge mess. Joseph now things alfredo and parmesan cheese make the best and smelliest of finger-paints. He was practically swimming in the stuff. Then when the babies were released from their high chairs, he ran for the restaurant’s foyer and locked himself in. Phillip decided he wanted to climb up to the restaurant’s second level where there was a private party, and Hailey just wanted to be held. It was glorious chaos. I don’t know how much they really ate that night. Hailey eschewed the penne for plain pasta and peas. Phillip seemed to enjoy my crème brulee and the focaccia bread that was on the table. I found it all noisy, messy, and crazy, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love every second of it. Brian got me a lovely necklace, and my babies got me some earrings. Brian said they chose them themselves. I believe him. Phillip has distinct ideas about fashion. He picks out his outfit every day. Now all I have to do is finish packing for our first family vacation and wait for the callback announcements.   I’m not nervous at all. J

Well, here we go again. Day after tomorrow I will be on Rogers. Hopefully nothing will happen to move it to another day this time. I thoughtfully went over my talking points and sent them off to the producer. Now I just have to cross my fingers and hope they stick to them.

In other news, Husband Brian and I actually had a date night last night. We went to Bar Italia on College Street and had a lovely dinner and saw "Once More With Feeling: A Musical Tribute to Joss Whedon". I won't lie. I am an unabashed Joss Whedon fangirl. I love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, and am ridiculously excited to see both The Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers. Husband Brian is getting a pass on The Cabin in the Woods, (I'm seeing that with one of my friends), but he is happily being dragged to The Avengers. I am going to also take this opportunity to make a rather embarrassing confession. I can not see a poster for The Cabin in the Woods, or a commercial without my brain singing that song from Evil Dead: the Musical. You know the one. "Cabin in the woods, oooo. Cabin in the woods, yeah. We're five college students on our way to an old abandoned cabin in the woods." Yeah, I'm a dork. Anyway, I loved it last night. Lots of fun. Lots of singing. I knew every word to every song. I think I may have annoyed Brian a bit. But at least my outfit rocked! Tall boots and a red leather jacket. I thought it was fitting.

In other clothing news. Still no clue for what I should wear on Wednesday for my interview. My goal: Look fun, friendly, approachable, but professional. Yeah right. I am open to suggestions. Now I shall distract you by putting a song in your heads!

Well, the show's over. I Love You Because had an amazingly successful run, and the past few days have consisted of my least favourite part of a show: The Strike. Basically, you take all your hard work on the production team and dismantle it. The sad thing about theatre, is that every show must come to an end. The final performance, the final look at the set, the theatre, the props all neatly laid out on their tables, and it all comes down, either to be taken apart or stored away. All my props were neatly packed up into boxes and packed away or given back to the many people they were borrowed from. Our basement gained a couch, and our futon is on its way back home. It almost feels like moving, but with nowhere to go to. Sigh.

In other news, our cast party was this Sunday as well, cake was eaten, ceremonial boxed wine was drunk, laughs were had by all. Now I just get to sit back, let my writer's brain take over once more and wait for the next show, which may be Fiddler on the Roof if my audition goes well (fingers crossed), and I will not tell you what part I want- don't want to jinx anything! This will be my first musical as a performer since before the babies were born. So excited!

On the writing front, I was supposed to be on Rogers Daytime talk show this Thursday, however I was told that some scheduling had to be reworked and I have since been moved to May 2nd. This is both disappointing and a small bit of a relief. I was nervous about it, and now have a bit more time to prepare. It's funny, people I've spoken to don't get why I would be nervous about this sort of thing. They tell me things like "Ali, you've sang and danced on stage, and interview should be so easy!" or "Ali, you've been in so many shows. You've been possessed, you've died and played piano. Why does this scare you? You're being so silly!" While all this is true, what they don't understand is one simple thing: The musicals I've been in all have one thing this does not. A SCRIPT! When I was Beth in Little Women, and Jack in Into the Woods I had a big book that told me exactly what to say. I had all these notes I took of my blocking telling me where to go and when. Here, I'm all on my own. True I'm giving them a small list of talking points, but I've no guarantee they'll follow them. It's up to me to present myself and The Strings of the Violin in the best possible light, and not look like a yammering fool. Yikes!

My brother told me that when Steppin' Out was on a similar show trying to drum up publicity for their production of Man of La Mancha, they were told by the interviewer that he had called the theatre to do research and when he had been told the show was about Don Quixote, he heard "Donkey Hotel" and couldn't figure out why anyone would do a show about a hotel for donkeys. Oy. Here's hoping my interview goes well, and is not at all like that.