Godspell National Tour: Week 3

Today marks the end of week 3 on our Godspell National Tour!

Right now, we're in St. Louis, Missouri and have our first show here at the Peabody Opera House tonight! We arrived here on Wednesday afternoon after 3 days of driving and nightly pit stops from New Jersey, so tonight will actually be our first performance since last Sunday!  

Since getting off the bus on Wednesday, we've been making the absolute MOST of our time off and have been having an amazing time in St. Louis so far.  Just some of the things our group has gotten into include visiting the Gateway Arch (a 630-foot monument), getting spa massages, enjoying the food, daytime strolls and a trip to the St. Louis Zoo.

The highlight was our excursion to an NHL game last night at the Scottrade Centre! I'm certainly not the world's biggest hockey fan and yet it was still an extraordinary experience. We had great seats, "our" home team the St. Louis Blues SLAYED with a 7-3 win, we got to meet the players and coaches AND Godspell got so much love on the big screen. A huge thank you to our generous stage manager Paul Pembleton for organizing, and to Jesus, *ahem*... Jake for his star-power connections. It was a wild night!!!

I must say, our good times have been well-earned at this point... We recently came out of a crazy, hectic journey of 8 shows in 6 days in 6 different cities. That means daily traveling, one-nighter hotel stints, lots of go-go-go, and most notably; little time to rest our bodies and vocal chops between shows. Here's how it went down:

Tues Nov 5: Capitol Centre in Concord, New Hampshire

Wed Nov 6: Zelterion Theatre in New Bedford, Maine

Thurs Nov 7: Symphony Hall in Springrield, MA

Fri Nov 8: Tilles Centre in Greenvale, NY

Sat Nov 9: Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, NY (2 shows)

Sun Nov 10: State Theatre/New Brunswick, NJ (2 shows)

Symphony Hall, Springfield MA

Inside Proctors Theatre, Schenectady NY

Tilles Centre, Greenvale NY

If you've seen our production of Godspell, than you are privy to just how much physical and spiritual energy we put forth in our performances. So having this many shows (and this much travelling) in that short amount of time was a challenge. But what was truly incredible to me was watching how each one of us gave the show our EVERYTHING, every single time. Our passion and commitment to the show and to taking care of eachother became even more apparent when we all needed it the most. As one cast member emphatically put it (and I paraphrase): "I would rather DIE than miss a moment on that stage!" Extreme? LOL maybe. But that individual was dead serious and wholeheartedly understood. It's called LOVE, baby! And we have so much of it. Well... except when we're fighting over a game of Euchre (WWJD?!?).

Aaaanways... it's time for me to get my game face on! Hit the gym, warm up those vocal chords, eat something delicious and prepare for SHOW TIME! I'll leave you with this crrrrazy video from my beloved (and did I mention, crazy?) cast mates Stacey Kay & Rebecca McCauley. This video was clearly made before that hectic week I described above and it's... Oh geeze, it needs no intro. Just laugh. And pray for our sanity. Lol

Click here: PRANK ZONE!

See you next week!
~ Lisa Michelle
Twitter: #GodspellNationalTour

Godspell National Tour: Week 2

It's Friday! Time for me to encapsulate the happenings of week 2 on our Godspell National Tour.

In case you missed the first post, we are the FIRST national tour of this production, and we are still letting that sink in and fester in our happy (and tired) minds, bodies and spirits.

Before I get into the factual business of where we played this week, (venues, cities etc), I would be remiss if I didn't speak about the relationships between our cast, band and crew.

We spend a LOT of time together. There's the show of course, but outside of that, we choose to eat, laugh, play, shop, gossip, meander, sing, facebook, tweet and instagram... TOGETHER. We LOVE this show and more importantly, we LOVE each other! Apparently the kind of chemistry we have flowing between us isn't common place. Even singing & dancing can start to feel like any other kind of work after a while, but we've still got that joyful thing going on. We look after eachother in ways that a healthy family would. If someone is hurt or sick, virtually everyone will offer a hand, an ear or a remedy to help. If one of us is stressed or blue, you can bet another cast member (or two, or three) is on the case and ready to kiss it better. And don't even get me started on the shoulder rubs. With all the physicality Godspell demands of us, there are lots of friendly massage circles happening at any given time. 

Our pre-show group sing/love-fest

Guacamole fights.

Outside Symphony Hall in Springfield, MA

Being far away from home, I've found this closeness to be one of the best things about touring another country for what will be a total of 13-weeks. I miss my family, I miss my home, but all the while, I know I'm wholly loved and taken care of by my Godspell family while we're out here on the road. We really are living out a beautiful, crazy dream.

It's super late on Thursday night/early Friday morning as I write this from my beautiful hotel room at the Sheraton in Springfield, Massachusetts. We performed at the Symphony Hall tonight, which is right around the corner from our accomodations. It's a stunningly beautiful theatre with a grandiose exterior and glamourous interior to match.

Outside Symphony Hall in Springfield, MA

Symphony Hall

Since last Friday's post, we've performed in St.John's NB, then crossing back into the US for New Hampshire, Maine and now, Massachusetts. Some of the more adventurous souls in the bunch spent their downtime discovering these new towns on foot, snapping away at local sites and nature. It is them you have to thank for the following few pics... my downtime was more often spent enjoying the hotel beds and hot tubs :-).

Day off in Maine! Zzzz...

Jesus discovering New Bedford

The show itself has been going well, and many of us in the cast even marvelled at the fact that we're still discovering new things within our characters and stories every day. I think we're all grateful (and surprised) that no matter how many times we do this, it never gets old. 

I mentioned our tour bus in my last post, but only briefly. Well it's AWESOME, and not because it's decked out with comfy beds, a kitchen and a living room (it's not), but because a) we still like eachother, b) we all packed headphones, pillows & snacks and c) we have the coolest, down-homiest bus driver anyone could ask for. His name is Robert and he's funny, kind, and plays sweet throw-back tunes when he's good and ready.

Ok, my lids are getting heavy and I really want to get up on time for the Lobster Benedict I saw on the breakfast menu before we have to leave.  We're off to Greenvale, New York in the morning and performing at their Tilles Center at night.

Please wish us broken legs! And check back for next week's new news :-)

Xo

~ Lisa Michelle

Twitter: #GodspellNationalTour

Godspell National Tour! Week 1

We've just hit the end of week one on our 13-week National Tour of "Godspell"! It's already been a fun & crazy ride and we still have so much more to go.

First stop was Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut (with a one-night stop in Syracuse along the way). I don't know if it's possible to exaggerate the magnificence of this particular venue or how excited we all were to be performing there. But it was INCREDIBLE! Built in 1914, it has 1600 ruby-coloured seats, golden nostalgic design and a rich Broadway history... which OUR cast of Godspell is now blissfully a part of :-)

We spent the better part of our first soundcheck taking photos (shhh!) from the stage, OF the stage, of eachother on the stage, the marquee... you name it, we were taking pictures of it. We all had the same "I'm-doing-something-right-with-my-life" grin on our faces the whole damn day. It's not that any of us are new to performing in theatre... some of us may have even played bigger houses than the Shubert. But it wasn't about size... the MAGIC in this building was undeniable.

We opened the show, and ultimately our tour, at the Shubert on Friday October 25th. It's safe to say 'we brought it', because they loved us as much as we loved them! We had new friends/fans waiting for us at our stage door for pictures, autographs or just to tell us to our faces how much we made them laugh, cry and love.

Our experience at the Shubert was THE perfect way to kick off this tour and after our four shows were done (two nights, two matinees), it was hard to say goodbye. After all, they even hosted our opening night party rife with hot eats, drinks on the house, and lots and lots and LOTS of dancing. But... we did leave our mark, as indicated by the signatures we scrawled on an inside wall* as the 1st EVER National Tour of this Stephen Schwartz musical. Thanks New Haven!!!

We got on our tour bus that Sunday and headed for our next venue: Fredericton Playhouse in New Brunswick, but with another one-night stop in Portsmouth to ease the stress of an uber-long drive. Oh, someone remind me to say more about the tour bus and border crossings in next week's post. Fun times. (Was that sarcasm or do we really love it? You'll have to wait and see!)

The Fredericton Playhouse has 763 seats and has a very intimate set up. I felt like we could reach out and touch the audience at any time (and if you've seen Godspell, you know that we DO). I, personally, love the feeling of being physically close to the people I'm performing for. They can hear us breathe, see our sweat and our tears. They have the opportunity to be a part of our world in a way that's not as accessible in larger venues. But let's be honest... I love it all and I would perform just about anywhere.

Anyways, we had one of our best ever shows on our second night in Fredericton. The chemistry and connection between us just seemed especially 'right' and it shone through. Meh... Perhaps one or two cast mates may have seen it differently, but 'alas for you', I'm the one who volunteered to write the weekly blog ;-).

Right after that show, we had THE best Hallowe'en party in our hotel's party room. The cast, band and crew came together in the form of a grease monkey, a couple kitty cats, a hamburgler, a lumberjack, a girly boy (nothing wrong with that), a botox junkie and more. Definitely more. (You really, really need to meet these people).

As I write this, we have one more night here in Fredericton than we're off to St. John's! At some point, we're heading back into the U.S.... I can't remember where and I'd check for you, but my room service has just arrived (See ma? I told you this was a real job!).

More updates next week!

~ Lisa Michelle
Twitter: #GodspellNationalTour

GODSPELL! (again:-)

This morning, I embark on the first day of the second chapter of what was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  It's Day One of rehearsals for the musical GODSPELL which I had the blissful pleasure of performing in last summer with (almost) the same cast of awesome human beings.  Last time around, we did this show for a few weeks at Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia, which might be the sweetest small town I've ever been to. Think the town of "Charming" in the TV show Sons of Anarchy, but without the sexy motorcycle gang.

Well this year, our cast of 10 was invited to re-live this vibrant telling of the Gospel of Matthew in another small town called St. Jacobs (Waterloo, Ontario). Godspell is an amazing piece of work composed by Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Wicked, The Prince of Egypt) so the show's success since it's conception in 1971 until now is not surprising.  In 1972, it played at the Royal Alexandra Theatre and starred Victor Garber as Jesus, and also Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner & Martin Short.  Yeah.


Since then, Godspell has been staged in countless high school productions, community theatres, multiple stints on Broadway(right up until last year) and now... it's here, with us :-).  And this makes me SO happy!  Because in addition to our love for the story and the work, we had this crazy-cool-bond-y-connection-y thing going on that no one wanted to let go of - the cast, the crew, the band... everybody got caught up, at least a little.  So... by the time our six weeks together had flown by in Petrolia and the show was coming to a close, we were all praying for some sort of remount, swearing that we would all remain friends forever no matter what happens, and exchanging necklaces with viles of eachother's blood as pendants.

Ok, maybe we didn't get into bio hazardous risks, but you hear what I'm saying. The show was undeniably special and we knew it. We FELT it! So imagine the spaz we all had when we got the news that it WAS going to be remounted! Drayton Entertainment, a prominent fixture in the Canadian theatre landscape, had picked it up and was taking us all with it!

So here we are, 2013, doing it again - praying hard and about to work even harder to make it as inexplicably awesome as we did before.

By now, you must be dying to see show, right?  I really think you should.  Godspell runs from October 2nd to 20th at St. Jacobs Playhouse in Waterloo, Ontario. There's a variety of show dates and times between there, so break out your smartphone calendar and get your tickets before it sells out... again ;-)  .

TICKETS & info: www.draytonentertainment.com
Directed by: David Hogan
Musical Director: Mark Payne
Choreographer: Adele Mackenzie


xoxox

Dear Erykah Badu...

“What good do your words do, if they can’t understand you? Don’t go talking that shit, Badu…” – Erykah Badu in the aptly titled song, "... & On?". (Not to be confused with her first major release "On & On".)
 

I love that lyric because I’ve often wondered exactly that when it came to the beloved Miss Badu and her music. And I know I'm not the only one, because it's as if she released this track on her second album (Mama's Gun in 2000) specifically to address a selection of her oft-perplexed fans/devotees. 

Since her first major release “On &On",  it was clear from the start that she had something to say. Her music is jazzy, funky, soulful, sexy and sometimes odd - and I like that. But once in a while, I'd feel like I was missing a certain point she was trying to make or a poignant message she was trying to spread. Be it a peculiar lyric (usually a peculiar lyric), a political statement, or a straight-up weird music video, every so often she would drop a body of work that I didn't fully "get". And I always wanted to get it because I revere her so much as a pioneer of the musical genre that changed my life as an artist and a human being: Neo-Soul. 

So... my adoration for her music and divinity has always been mixed with a teensy droplet of frustration.  Sometimes I wonder if by the time I get around to deciphering one of her beautifully melodic riddles, my opportunity to implement the wisdom will have long passed me by.

Geeze... I'm so dramatic, eh? It's really not that serious and more often than not, I do get her (I think). So I still love her to death. And it’s also quite possible that I’m putting wayyyyy too much responsibility on a person that I’ve never met, to tell me something about who I am (understatement-much?). I just always thought, you know… that that’s what she was trying to do.

 

The Montreal Jazz Fest & me...

HELLOOOO Good People!

I hope you're all feeling nice now that we're getting some hot, sunkissed weather!

As an artist, my life can go from extremely uneventful to extremely awesome in a matter of seconds - and sometimes back just as fast, ha!  But keeping things positive... I'm writing to tell you about my experience at the Montreal Jazz Festival!

If we're friends on Facebook or following eachother on Twitter, than I may have blown up your timeline with one of my 10,001 posts about it last Friday *tee hee*. Alhough it was very much a "you-had-to-be-there" kind of experience, I still wanted to somehow share every blissful moment with everyone and anyone who cared!

This was my first time playing this festival and I had the best combo of talented souls with me for the ride: my bandmates Chris, Dave, Irina, Steve and the one who takes care of all things Lisa Michelle (including my heart) - Mr. Kirk Cornelius.  To those I know who really wanted to be there with me but couldn't, please KNOW that I received the love and good vibes you were sending my way and I even put it to good use!

Road-tripping started a little dreary.  We had to leave super-early in the morning, and it was raining like hell for a good chunk of the drive.  I was starting to fear that our concert would be rained out, but Kirk reminded me of how the sun came out just in time for me and my band to deliver an outdoor performance on Sugar Beach just last week.  Sure enough, the skies beautified hours before we took the stage at 10pm that Friday night.

Now, I'm going to put my cute, Canadian humility aside and tell you that the band and I MURDERED our performance, haha! Our one-hour set was heavily stacked with songs from my latest album "This Moment" (executive produced by Solitair... he's someone you should know) and a dash of contrasting covers. Like Blind Melon, kinda contrasting. But it was good! WE were good!

It was an outdoor crowd of perhaps 2000+ festival goers - the largest crowd I've performed for thus far. Well....... I did sing the national anthems at a sold out NBA game once, but that audience wasn't my audience. They left their homes to see a basketball game.  But in Montreal, it felt like everyone came out to love on the artists that night! They blessed us with positive energy from start to finish, even calling my name for an encore once I'd left the stage!  Like, OMG I wasn't expecting that! We were so humbled and happy and... unprepared, lol. We didn't have an encore ready.  And while I should be ashamed at my lack of foresight, a part of me reeeeally likes the idea that I may have left some people wanting more ;-).

And before you read too much into the wink at the end of that last comment, I'll end this with a few pics and video clips I hope you'll enjoy.  It was just one night, but I'm learning to cherish every good vibration that comes my way!  I've only got THIS life! and THIS moment!

Sending you love & support for your own dreams-in-progress!

xo

~ Lisa Michelle

 

(more Festival photos by suilenrock)

 

 "Let's Ride"

More footage from the Montreal Jazz Festival

Waiting in Vain

As a self-employed artist, things can feel awry when you're experiencing a whole lotta "self" and not much of the "employement" side of things.  But as always, things start to look up again once I remember the obvious: I am the employer.  I am in control. So what am I waiting for?

As a recording artist, I create my own work. That doesn't mean that I don't have help: My music is supported by so many talented musicians, producers, writers... and the best husband in the world (fact.). All of whom help me breathe life into my art. So when I say "I create my own work", I simply mean that I have to instigate the work that I wish to bring forth. I have to be my own driver if I want to maintain a satisfying, productive existence.

Sure, my network of artistic friends invite me onto their projects and shows from time to time - I am incredibly grateful for that.  And they are grateful when I do the same. This is something we do for eachother, because we all need one another's gifts and support.  But if we always wait until we were "picked" by someone else before expressing our artistic selves, we become the weak link.  We strengthen the circle of our community by being the creator of something new.

I have learned that I personally must continually express myself or I get bogged down. I get so full of ideas, love and inspiration, that if I don't find or create the opportunities in which to release them, it begins to hurt. It starts to feel like a burden, and all the potentially beautiful art suddenly becomes the bain of my existence.

As of right now? I know I have many, many words and sounds swirled up inside me that need to be released. I've been debating with myself as to how I want to do it this time around... another album? A new song? Or maybe even my first book or musical theatre production! (I felt some of you wince at that last one... sorry, but I really do have a soft spot for this oft-cheesy genre of entertainment :-).

Who knows. What I do know, is that something beautiful happens with every new creation:  I thicken my sense of purpose, I get to share a piece of my soul, I get to connect and collaborate with other souls and I always learn something new about me, about you, and how we affect eachother.

All fancy thoughts aside... I have work to do. Because whatever this next project of mine is, it hasn't fully revealed itself to me as yet.  Perhaps it will be soon, perhaps not-so-soon.  Just know that it's coming. And it will be good :-).

 Lisa Michelle
*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"waiting in vain" - bob marley
(my 1st ukelele cover :-P)