Once again, I am having a lovely night at The Derby Dinner Playhouse. Professional and just fun. The show is adorable and Sunday is Princess night so the audience dresses up. Love it!
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As usual I have tried to avoid growing any moss. My contract onboard the Crystal Symphony ended on May 26th, and since then I have been an auditioning and submitting machine. I've managed to spend some time with my lovely family, including my brother and his family, and I've even gotten some sleep!
I am so thrilled to be heading back to Louisville for a few months to play the Godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstien's Cinderella, and I cannot wait to see all of my good friends there. I also think it will be a great opportunity to focus on writing a headliner show and submitting it to different booking agencies. My expereince on the ship gave me some fantastic tools for creating an entertaining headliner show, and I met some of the most incredible musicians who create fantastic custom arrangements. Here's to making goals and staying on track. Returning to the Symphony has been a dream. Besides the wonderful people on the crew who I missed terribly, singing with the Harmonix always makes me feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. We may squabble and tease, but once we are in a performance and the four of us are making chords, swelling into crescendos, and feeling tempo changes together I just feel at home.
We’ve spent our afternoons learning some of the wonderful new material that our lead has arranged and the rest of the time we enjoy ship life. I have also tried my hand at arranging and while it doesn’t come as naturally as I had expected it would, I do feel I am getting better. My attempt at Love Changes Everything was only met with a few critiques by my fellow singers and they were easy fixes. It is a special treat for one of our passengers who has cruised with Crystal 200 times. It’s an unbelievable number and I truly hope he likes it. Well all, wish me good sailing! In three days I will be on my way back to the Crystal Symphony. I wasn’t dreading the 17 hour flight until I went to the gym two days ago and threw out my back. Fortunately, the light at the end of that very long tunnel, during which I will passing over the international, date line and losing a day of my life, is a life-long dream trip from my bucket list, Australia and New Zealand!
My attempts at ‘being still’ when it came to booking my next job has proven practically everyone who knows me correct, once again. At the urgings of my good friends Tyler and Megan, (sorry guys, once you are engaged you are no longer singly credited for anything)I sent the managing director of The Derby Dinner Playhouse a note listing my availability and practically begging for a job. Well, it payed off, and I will be playing the Godmother in Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. My hunger for the golden age of musical theater will be partially satiated by this piece from later in R&H’s career, but my luke-warm feelings about the show are brought up to a simmer by the fact that I’ve played this role before; In the eighth grade, at Meadowbrook Middle School, in Poway, CA. Here’s to coming full circle and here’s to always being drawn back to the place I call my hometown, North County San Diego! Not to mention a return to one of my top five favorite cities, Louisville, KY. Where: The Derby Dinner Playhouse What: Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella as The Godmother When: July 6th-August 15th Tix: www.derbydinner.com Going back to the ship was delayed for an indefinate amount of time, and it reminded me that I have a problem being still. According to our contract, our paychecks were not threatened by the delay, however their was no convincing my brain of this fact. Not to mention the deep dark places that my dreams took me, where, somehow and for some reason, our contract was completely terminated. Then this morning we received word that all was well and that we would join the ship on the 18th in Sydney. Now all of the stress and worry of the last week seems like a terrible waste of energy; a terrible waste of energy that my best friend, my mother, and even my ex-boyfriend will tell you I expend EVERY TIME I am not working.
So there are two things to be done, I can learn to quiet my crazy mind, or you, dear reader, can offer me a job. I am available June 4th! I'm gonna give stillness a shot. Well, only one week left until I go back to the ship, and let me tell ya, this vacation has flown by. That's not to say I'm not ready to get back to work! I didn't realize I would miss being on the ship quite so much. Fortunately, I spent this week singing my guts out with The Johnny Ray BAnd at The Hon-Dah Casino in Arizona.
Their were so many amazing things about hooking up with this band, who hired me based on a response to a craigslist ad and this website! First, it is always fun and educational to be around top-notch musicians who make a living doing what they love. I hate to be cheesy, but it is life affirming. Second, the six degrees of separation let me know that Vegas has been treating me well. The fact that PAul BAdia, our keyboard player, was on the Vegas production of Starlight Express, where he became friends with Jimmy Lockett, my musical director for HArmonix is just crazy! And if you followed that train of thought, you may be crazy too! Tony Q, Joel Richmond, and Johnny Ray killed at the Timbers Showroom, and we already have plans to go back in June. Finally, it was great to be in the mountains, in the snow, and to have a good book, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Good times and good fun! During the Buenos Aires to Valparaiso cruise, Michel Bell and Catherine Matejka gave me the rare opportunity to sing a duet from Porgy and Bess. It was a real honor to share the stage with such a well-known performer, and I absolutely adored Catherine's coaching. Sadly, the video feed didn't have any audio, so like most of my performances, I'll just have to take my friend's at their word when they say it was good.
Thanks again to bot Catherine and Michel for including me in their show. It was a blast. Crystal Cruises
My dear friend Carly Stotts agreed to road trip from Louisville, KY to Las Vegas, NV with Tracy Hammon-Hodge, wife of Corwyn Hodge, member of the a'capella group Mosaic. While in transit, Tracey got a call from another Mosaic wife by the name of Pilita, asking if she knew anyone who would want to sing back-ups in a little Michael Jackson Tribute. Next thing you know Carly, Pilita, and I are "The Pretty Young Things" in a Michale Jackson Tribute that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, garnered national attention, and was held at The Palms Hotel and Casino on their arena stage. Pilita promised me soon after that she was determined to get me a job, and I laughed it off but remained hopeful. A few weeks later she called me and said, "This guy is gonna call you. You need to go sing for him. I hope you get it." Next thing I know I am chatting with Tim Molyneaux about a cruise ship gig. I couldn't tell if he was offering me the job or if he wanted to meet me so I said, "How about I come in and sing for you and we talk about the rest afterwards." At 11am the next morning I was in his living room singing for him, some very smiley guy who didn't speak, and a black guy who was introduced as the musical director. At noon, Tim and I were in the next room talking contracts, and at 12:30 I was shaking hands with the smiley guy, Marvin, who turned out to be our tenor and our lead, and James Lockett, our MD. Realizing that the contract started in three weeks I said, "we leave pretty soon, when do rehearsals start...tomorrow?" To which Tim responded, "they start in half an hour." I said, "I need an hour," and thus began my adventure on The Crystal Symphony with Harmonix. A young and very tall violinist directed me to this website creation site, and I would be remiss if I didn't thank him for that. Check out www.gregscott.com. |
Brooke Aston
Since the age of sixteen my adventures in music have taken me all over the country. After years of bouncing around I've made Orange County my home. Here are my stories. Archives
February 2019
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