Hey Everybody!!
Soooo....stuff has happened. Lots of stuff. However, none of that stuff included blog entries. So, let's catch up a bit. December was pretty packed for us. We finished off the 2011 touring schedule with two quadruple weeks (four cities in one week) and a crazy week in Columbus in Ohio in which we had 3 girls out for most of the week, Rachel was on for 7 of 8 shows, Chris had to teach two new people and we threw in a benefit concert and a Christmas Party to top it all off!! (Whew!)
Every Holiday Season Broadway shows and tours across America raise money for Broadway Cares, Equity Fights Aids as well as the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. This year our tour rasied over $600,000! However, the concert occurred after the Broadway Cares season had ended so the money we rasied at the benefit went to The Huckleberry House, a place for teenagers escaping abusive homes in Columbus. The Benefit Concert was a lot work, but also alot of fun. It was a holiday concert, but we all tried to put new twists on classic carols. Rachel and I performed a jazzy medley of Winter Wonderland/Let it Snow that was originally recorded by Bette Midler and Johnny Mathis. Rachel and two other ladies joined Paul DeBoy in channeling Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters singing the timeless holiday song, Mele Kalikimaka! AND we were both ELVES in an all-elf, original mash-up of Chain Gang and Shout! We really had a blast and raised almost $2000!
As we previously mentioned December brought on a lot of shake ups in the cast. Not only did we have quite a few people in and out with sickness and vacations we also had 3 people put in their notice in addition to 1 member who was already scheduled to leave by Christmas. What this meant logistically for us (and especially Chris) was a LOT of rehearsing! The 1st replacement arrived our last week before Christmas in Columbus and so Chris began teaching him the show during the day and reviewing with him at night during the show. We also had a unique situation where two girls were out for the week who both happen to cover the same lead role (leaving us without a back-up were she to get sick) and so they ended up flying out a girl who had covered the track a year ago! While this was a wonderful treat for us who love her (and her gorgeous baby boy) she hadn't done the show for a year so she also needed rehearsal to re-learn the track "Just in case"!! AHH! Little did we know that this week was only a taste of what was to come in January!
As if we didn't have enough going on, Rachel thought it would be fun and festive if we did a Secret Santa type gift exchange to celebrate the Holiday season and maybe make a new friend. We called it "Secret Holiday Friend" to be all inclusive and make up little "get to know you" sheets for everyone to fill out. It was a nice treat for a lot of people to get little surprises throughout those crazy quadruple weeks and there were lots of hugs at the reveal party which made us smile. :)
So, we know we only caught you up to the point where we left tour to go home to visit our families and celebrate Christmas and New Years, but we will be back...soon....much sooner than last time.
Love,
The Crazy Myers! :)
