Back in NYC but not for long

I got back to the city about a month ago, and found a cute little apartment with my husband.  It is a great place, but the walls are very thin, so we can hear everything.  Phone calls, people talking, music, pots and pans, you name it!  I am getting ready to go to Colorado to perform the role of Mary Hatch in ‘A Wonderful Life’ at the Arvada Center.  It will be wonderful to spend some time in Colorado, and I will be very close to my sister and her family so that is very exciting for me.  I will get back to the city late Dec. and performing in a concert at Lincoln Center in January.

The Tour Begins Again!

I am excited to be getting back to the tour, after a two-month hiatus!  The show was on break for a while, and I feel grateful that I was able to travel to places that I never expected too!

My first vacation was around China with my husband and my mother-in-law, Laura.  We saw the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, an acrobatics show, and more in Beijing.  We then went on the Yangtze River Cruise for 4 days!  It had wonderful day excursions, like going on fishing boats with local fisherman (my husband was very sad that he wasn’t able to cast his own line).  We departed the Victoria Cruiseline in Chongqing, and flew to Xian.  Xian is an ancient city in China, and the history is so rich!  We got to look at and hold 3000-year-old antiques, and saw silk factories!  The tour went out to see the Terracotta Warriors, while I stayed the day in the hotel, needing a break from the traveling (I hadn’t had any days off for weeks, and I was exhausted).  This was the day of the earthquake!  It hit measuring only 4.0 in Xian.  I was in a high rise hotel, and I have never experienced anything like it.  I was running into the walls in the hallway before I finally stopped and sat in a doorway.  None of the housekeeping staff could understand what I was asking.  the doors were flying open, and things were falling off the walls.  The staff started running to the exit, and one of the girls reached behind for my hand, and ran with me down 12 flights of stairs.  When we got outside I didn’t have any shoes, so she gave me hers (the Chinese are perhaps the most generous people I have ever met!)  I waited outside the hotel for 2 1/2 hours, while the staff brought me water, and two other pair of shoes, finally settling with a man,s pair since my feet are an ‘American’ size.  Needless to say my day was extremely eventful!  But I was able to chat with my friend Vivian and arrange for her to meet me in Malaysia, so a day well spent, right? 

The tour then went to Shanghai!  Danny and Laura left Shanghai a little after I did, with Danny I and deciding that it would be best for us for him to travel Asia with me, and the idea that he would move all our belongings into storage and join me on tour!

I then left and went to Tioman Island, Malaysia planning that I would scuba dive!  Well, unforunately that didn’t work out too well.  After two medical offices saying that I couldn’t dive because of a surgery that I had in high school, I was saddened that I might never get to do this wonderful sport that I have heard so much about, and see a world that exists right under our swimming, flailing feet!  So I took up snorkling and swimming!  Well many adventures happened on the island!  I met a friend who will forever be a brother to me, who somehow convinced me to go out night swimming. On this night swim, I had a wrestling match with a few sea urchins!  Well, that match didn’t last to long, and there I was having to be hauled out of the water, asking questions like “Am I going to die?’, “Are sea urchins poisonous?’  “Do you have to pee on me?’  Well, luckily the answer to all of these questions was no, however the care was still painful!  I basically had 3-inch “cactus” needles sticking out of my foot, arm, and legs.   Once they were broken off they had to be soaked in boiling water (that is right, I had to dip my foot in boiling water) then be beaten with a board, and then have vinegar poured on them (but of course I had to look on the bright side, much better vinegar than someone’s pee)!!  And all of this was after a 2nd degree sunburn from that morning.  Well after that I, of course, went hiking through the jungle, getting blisters between every toe!  But the hike was worth it, and it was a wonderful time with the girls!

There was a lot of relaxation and reflection that happened on this island, and I got to know some of my cast members really well!  Danny met up with me and we spent a few more days on the island.  With my new found brother teaching Danny  to snorkle, motorcycle, and swim!  It was a wonderful time, but Danny and I were ready to go travel, just the two of us!  

Next we went to Singapore!  Perhaps the nicest city I have ever been to!  Very clean, and modern!  We went on a night safari!  That is basically a zoo at night, seeing all of the animals that you usually miss at the zoo because they are nocturnal!  The male lions were my favorite!  The beauty of the night safari is that there aren’t visible cages, if any at all, and that many of the animals can roam pretty much free!  It was a lot of fun!  The next day we went to Sentosa Island!  We saw a dolphin show, and Danny was chosen to be a volunteer!  He went into the water up to his neck, clothes and all, and the dolphin gave him a big kiss on the cheek!  Now, I knew he was handsome, but who knew that dolphins could see that as well! 

We then experienced the highlight of our trip!  A once-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity!  We scuba dived with sharks!   It was only a 4-meter dive, so the pressure they were worried about on me diving wouldn’t occur in the tank!  We got to pet sting rays, eels (they feel like nothing I have ever touched before) a white tipped shark, and my favorite - we got to hold a leopard shark!  This was great (although a little nerve-wracking when I realized my hand was right on his mouth, yikes)!  But absolutely the most wonderful thing I have ever done, and Danny and I were hooked!  Diving had to be in our future and we knew it!  So the next day we spent with a dive doctor, doing x-rays and tests galour to see if I was certifieable!  Well, you guessed it!  I am now certified to be cerified!  I have the card, papers, and certificate to prove it!  So watch out divers, here we come!  Unfortunately we have to wait two more months to get certified (I have to wait until my next transit week).

Well, after all of that excitement we decided it was time to go to Cambodia!  If anyone can make it to this country, it is a must see!  But please make sure you have extra one dollar bills (yes…dollar bills, this country is on US currency) for all of the beautiful children running around with boils on their feet trying to sell you the goodies that they have made.  It was a life-changing experience!  I would never give this experience back.  I learned so much about life, and the beauty of it!  I learned how talking to students in an English class for even 30 minutes can make a difference!  I learned that wars go on years after they are ‘over’.  (They still have 3-6 million landmines in the fields that are hurting innocent people everyday).  I felt so blessed to be there!  I had many life-changing thoughts ie. while in a hot shower, how most of the country doesn’t even get a shower.  They don’t have bathrooms, toilets, showers, or other conviences we take for granted.  They bathe in the same water they go to the bathroom in, and drink from!  Other thoughts ie. looking at all of my luggage and wondering how and why I ‘need’ all of this stuff!  I truly come from a country that always wants upgrades!  New cds, dvds, i-pods, tvs, furniture, cars, homes, more, more, more!  Cambodia taught me that it isn’t what you possess in life, but what you give that really matters.  You can’t take material things to the grave, but you can make a difference in the world, one smile, and one dollar at a time!  I hope and pray that we will return to Cambodia in the future and give whatever we are able to.

Now I am waiting for a flight back to the tour!  Tomorrow I have two press conferences!  One in Shenzhen, and one in Guangzhou!  I then have another in Nanning before meeting up with the rest of the cast in Harbin!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  I hope that reading about my journey will encourage you to take your own, and to give with open arms and a smile as often as possible!
Much Love and Light, until next time!

Wuhan

I am having and amazing time here in China! Chongqing was a different experience, there are so many people there (30 million), so the city feels very clastrophobic!  I had an incredible experience at a press conference there though- they had a competition to perform for me and the 2 and 3rd place were two paintings of Maria, then they gave me a chinese writing that says something like – “live your life with the love from your heart” – and then a speech about how everyone should learn from me about how to be a good person and parent because of how much love I have- needless to say, I started to cry and the press took a lot of photos!
 
Now we are in Wuhan!  It is really green here, and we are right on the Yanzhe river!  There are only 5 million people here, and there is a lot more open space, so I feel that I can breathe (I was picking up wierd energies in Chongqing).  I came to Wuhan a couple weeks ago for a press conference and talked to the people and I have been very excited to come back and see them all again, so I am excited to be here! 

On to Chongqing, China

We got to Chongqing safely and we have the day off today, April 9th, which is great for my birthday!  I am having the time of my life here, and it is truly such an amazing experience!  I wish you could all see this hotel!  I don’t ever want to leave it!  It is the most incredible I have ever seen!
 
Opening in Chengdu last week was really wonderful, but we were all ready for a day off, since we hadn’t had one since we arrived in China!  We start perfomances here in Chongqing tomorrow, through the weekend and then go on to Wuhan!  We still have no idea what happens after that, which really stinks because we were supposed to go to Beijing, but that has been cancelled due to the olympics!   
There really is so much that I could write everyday!  There are so many experiences on a daily basis!  I did want to write and let everyone know that I don’t have internet access here, but I will try to write as often as possible.

In Chengdu, it’s a hit!

I don’t normally look at reviews, but since it is difficult to even see what it is about except the fact that they loved it, I did.  Anyway, we opened last night, April 1st, with a very late cast party, and had to go early this morning to get work visas, so I am on my way back to sleep!  The opening went pretty well, although we still have better in us!  We have presenters coming all week from different theaters for bookings, so we are hoping to sign with a lot of them!  The producer told us that they are hoping to get as many venues as possible, which would extend the tour!  Possibilities, but not absolutes, are India and Russia.  If we get into India, it will be the first tour ever!  So we are keeping our fingers crossed for a wonderful week of bookings!
Anyway!  I am sorry that it is difficult for me to find time to make entries!  I haven’t had a day off since we got here!  When the rest of the cast has had off I usually have a press event!  Today I am rehearsing with local chinese children who will come up after curtain call and perform ‘do, re, mi’.  They are the winners of a competition to sing with me!  Tomorrow I am going to a local family’s house for lunch! ! There are things set up for me all the time, and I just wait for them to tell me where I am going and go!  I have to take each day as it comes, because If I look to far ahead it gets a little overwhelming!

March 6, 2008 NYC

Well we leave for Chengdu China in 1 week, and I am all packed and ready to go!  I get to meet a lot of the cast this Monday night, and I am looking forward to it.  As for now, I am getting everything ready to go!  I will be in the city now, until I leave next week!

Love and Light!

My travels- Feb. 15th from Colorado

I was fortunate enough to spend Valentine’s Day with my niece and nephew this year, giving my sister and Brother in law a chance to spend a nice evening out.  Then I went to the University of Northern Colorado to see my voice teacher, Joan Lader give a master class to the students!  I was so glad that I could see her work in that astmosphere, she truly is a remarkable woman and master of the vocal instrument! 

I have found out more information on our travels to Asia- we will be traveling China, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines!  Time is running out, the tour leaves 1 month from today!  It is really wonderful being able to travel around and see my family and friends before I leave!  The only hard thing is being away from my husband for these few weeks, when I will also be away from him for 8 months on the tour!  But seeing family is great, and I am sure that the children cast, and crew will all become a new family in ‘The Sound of Music.’

That is all for now!  Positive wishes of love and joy!

Feb. 2, 2008

I am still in NYC and will be traveling to Ocean City Maryland, Colorado, and Arizona before I leave March 15th for China.  I encourage you to keep up with my travels!  Thanks for your comments!

Broadway Asian Tour of the Sound of Music

March 2008 I will join the Broadway Asia Company Tour as Maria in “The Sound of Music”. The tour will travel China, Japan and Korea! You are invited to keep up with my travels and experiences by visiting this site. Visit my website.