LA PICS part I

the current men in my life

with some random sparkly presents adorning LA

with Gypsy ROSE Lee's star---I tried to focus on the Mama Rose part of that one!

shopping in LA

AND FINALLY

thought this picture was appropriate for Jesus Christ Superstar in LA

Los Angeles

So here I am in the LA airport after an adventurous week performing in Beverly Hills and visiting wonderful tourist traps. I really like LA a lot, although I am much more of a New York person personality wise. It only strenghtened my ideas that I want to be an NYC-based actor.

But enough of that. Some exciting moments in LA:
***great crowds- receptive, wonderful, applauded Ted in his entrance to such a degree that I got goosebumps, standing ovations every night. This really energized us and propelled us through a five show weekend.
***drank LOTS of coffee during the five show weekend from an amazing coffee shop, Coffee Bean!!! new discovery: ice blends, taste like frapuccinos, but nowhere near as awful for you
*** had Playbills at the theatre with our pictures in them, and felt very cool.
***caught up my old middle school friend Lauren Mayhew who is acting out in LA
***made new friends with Tessa and Zac Neeley who came to visit their dad in the show
***met up with my best friend in life a couple nights, dished out our innermost secrets, and laughed at the ridiculousness of those innermost secrets
*** and finallyyyyyy I put my handprints in Judy Garland's handprints at the Chinese theatre and they fit perfectly, so I recorded a video of me singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with my hands in her hands.

Dont worry-PICTURES TO FOLLOW!!!!!

Happy 20th Birthday to my brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas quote
Peace on Earth will come to stay,
When We Live Christmas every day!

LOVE LOVE LOVE
HALEY

Alaska

(notice how deep blue the glaciers are underneath the snow)

is BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. and freezing. We have been here six days now, and it is a gorgeous place, but a very cold one. The sun doesn't come out for more than a few hours a day, and the rest of the time there is like a deep twilight during the day. The first two days were bearably cold, but then the front came in, and I froze walking the 100 yards or so from the hotel to the theatre. I didn't really go anywhere else because it was so cold, and if I did, I wore Uggs, a sweater, jeans, a polar fleece, a puffy jacket, a scarf or two, a hat, and earmuffs over the hat. I was quite a site. We had a five show weekend this weekend, which flew by really quickly and now tomorrow we leave for LA.

I did end up getting to go up in a plane to see the glaciers. My two friends were kind enough to invite me to come along to fill their empty spot, and it was BREATHTAKING. Besides seeing like 20 moose, mountain goats, and sheep, we came right up close to mountains and glaciers. We caught a glimpse of Mt. McKinley, flew over Lake George, and the Mat-su valley. It is hard to describe this experience for me. It took my breathe away and made me cry. It is rare living in New York City that we realize how small we are, the nature that lives all around us, encompassing us. Breathtaking mountains and glaciers surrounded me so that I had no idea where to look. Deep, turquiose blue glaciers and endless mountains, moose grazing around, sheep trudging through the snow. We didn't see any bears because they were all hibernating-which is what I would do if I lived here in the winter-that and eat all day long!!! I am SO glad I did the plane tour-it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It felt like a movie in parts, like I was in some IMAX film movie of some place I would never get to really go, but could imagine- and I was THERE.

And in one week, home I go for Christmas with the family, so here's a Christmas poem

And is it true?

And is it true,

This most tremendous tale of all,

Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,

A Baby in an in ox's stall?

The Maker of the stars and sea

Became a Child on earth for me?

By Sir John Betjeman, 1954

To Hollywood, my darlings!

XO

Haley

I can see Russia from my house!!!!!!!!!!!

sound check or somethin' (I'm the one on the left in the blue)

me and Misty talking to Ted about the Last Supper during a rehearsal hold and apparently being photographed ahhaha

As you can guess by the title, we have now reached the Alaska portion of our tour. We took a flight from Seattle to Alaska, which wasn't all that bad-about four hours. It was FREEZING when we came in, with a wind that seemed to just cut through to your bones. I walked across the street to get a bowl of soup and was practically blown over on my way there. Back at the hotel as I was warming myself by the lobby fire (a real maid by the fire character moment haha), I discovered when asking the woman working at the front desk if she had any chocolate an amazing local candy called the Polar Bear Kiss, which is milk or dark chocolate surrounding a pink/reddish peppermint crunchy middle. AMAZING.

The next day was a bit warmer and beautiful, and it began to snow in the mid-afternoon. This was our first snowfall since we've been on tour, or at least the first that I have seen. Anchorage is absolutely gorgeous covered in snow, and, when I dress appropriately with hat and scarf, is fun to explore around in. I went to the mall today and bought a bunch of local stuff for some Christmas presents.

Now about the show. We came to Alaska with absolutely NO set, they constructed a mini one for us here but it was COMPLETELY different. So the first day we got here we had a five hour re-blocking rehearsal, followed by a performance that night at 8PM. The performance was a little nerve-wrecking, but kept us all on our toes, and we got through it, minus a few technical things that no one on cast or crew could have controlled. A sound cue that was supposed to go off and was cued had a mind of its own and didn't go off, a moment when we were all around Ted worshipping him, and he just kept talking to us as if nothing had happened until the cue started, saying "stay with me", etc, his arms around us all. He is so amazing.

We had another performance tonight, which went even smoother, as we were all a bit more comfortable with our new blocking and were all settled in.

I am trying to see if I can get on one of those day plane flights that takes you to the glaciers, as I think that would be a really cool thing to see. We'll see what happens with that.

Ok, it's 3 AM, I need to stop going to bed so late. This show puts me in such an adrenalized (is that a word? probably not) after the show that it takes me hours to wind down and get ready for bed.

More Alaska to come.

Alas, bed time is approaching

I am putting the words to my favorite Christmas song because my google is not downloading to find something more philosophic.

I don't want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need.

I don't care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree.

I just want you for my own.

More than you can ever no

What more can I do?

All I want for Christmas is youuuuu

youuuuuuuu baby

HOME IN TEN DAYS!

Vancouver

me and my new friend Dee post-show in Vancouver

the theatre (I think this picture was Vancouver)

Since I got a little behind, I'm going to do two posts: the first on Vancouver and the next on where I am now, Alaska... First, however, let me talk about one of my new favorite cities in the world: Vancouver, BC, Canada.

WOW. Not only is the city GORGEOUS, it is full of amazing food, friendly people, great shopping, and constant things to do. Right outside our hotel on the morning of the second day, there was a Santa Clause parade with all these Santas marching down the street. A little frightening, but really cool!

The crowd in Vancouver was really receptive and all around were very warm and friendly people. The first night I was excited because my dad's friends and business partners came to see the show. It is always really neat to have people you know come see you in random cities, to share this journey with friends and family. They were SUCH nice people, we went out afterwards and had very fun cocktail drinks and dinner.

The next day, I bought a really stylish dress with feathers all over it from one of the boutiques, and wore it out our last night there. It was our weigh-in day, in that in most tours there is a policy where they weigh you to make sure you're not getting uber fat or skinny, so I was pretty stressed about that. I lost two pounds, however, so I felt relieved when that was done. Afterwards, my roomie and I decided that every weigh-in day we would go out and eat pizza and ice cream or whatever we wanted that night. So a few of us went out and had tons of amazing pizza from random pizza parlors all around Vancouver! It was amazing.

All in all, I could see myself living in Vancouver some day, it is just so gorgeous and wonderfully cultural!!!!!!!

XOXO

Haley

"To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world." ~ Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), American president. Presidential message (December 25, 1927).

Kamloops, BC

out after the show in Portland the first night

The last couple days have kind of flown by in a whirlwind- I had a BLAST in Portland doing the show twice as well as meeting up with my darlingest friends- Tim and Audrey. I was so appreciative that they made time for me, and we went out both nights and had a blast! They also came to see the show. It was our first time together since we left CLOC summerstock a year and a half ago. Portland is a really neat city, exactly as I imagined it. Very, very liberal, very wonderfully hippyish, with tons of stuff to do. The theatre was great there too.

Next we moved onto the Canadian border, where we stopped over in Abbotsfield,BC, a gorgeous, very rural town surrounded by mountains. So far in Canada I have eaten in one place- it's called the ABC diner. It's kind of like a Canadian Denny's but healthier food. They have amazing homemade soup and cornbread.

Today we went all the way to Kamloops, BC, Canada to perform, which was absolutely gorgeous as well. It is surrounded by mountains with snow all over the ground. I trudged down a couple kilometers down the mountain to find a Walmart, whethering snow and highways, where I bought peanut butter and bread, and picked out a Christmas present for a 16 girl on the giving tree there. This put me in the holiday spirit a little bit.

We performed in a hockey arena that had an ice rink underneath it covered up by our stage! It was really cool- at first it felt like I was Jessica Simpson or something about to give a live concert. We went up before the arena opened and bought nachos and soda from upstairs, as if we were at a sports game hahah! People sat in the boxes in the back moving around freely like sports game. Different, but cool, with a very appreciate crowd that gave everyone a standing ovation at the end.

I am really excited to travel to Vancouver tomorrow for two nights as I have heard it is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!

To close, I am closing a verse of Mary, Did You Know?

Mary, did you know

That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little boy

Youve kissed the face of god.....

interesting song to ponder

More to come!

Love,

H

it's December 1st, betches!!!!!!!!

Today consisted of- 13 hour busride, 45 minute run to get rid of my sitting cramps, shower, and now bed. fantastically exciting. However, below is a picture of my roomie's birthday party post-show on the 29th at a fabulous sushi/ sake place...YAYYY



me and my fantastic roommate on her birthday in Palm Desert, CA

To Portland at 5AM tomorrow!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO

In honor of December, I am going to end every day with a seasonal or spiritual quote to kick of the Christmas season.
Today's quote comes from Albert Einstein, as I reflect how lucky I feel to be a part of this wonderful tour and to be working in this wonderful career.

"There are two ways to live your life.One is as though nothing is a miracle.The other is as though everything is a miracle.--Albert Einstein"

On to Portland!!!!!!

XO

H

Palm Desert, CA

IS BEAUTIFUL. it is palm trees and mountains all in one. it is beautiful heat and zero humidity. it is shopping mall next to pool. It reminds me of where my family used to vacation growing up, Ocean Reef in Key Largo, FL. It's the closest place I've found to FL yet on tour so far. It was my roomie Erica's birthday last night, so a bunch of us went out for sushi after the show, which was amazing.

Shows? Well, we did 5 in like 48 hours. It felt great to jump right back into the show again, I really, truly missed it. This show is so much more than just a musical-it's an emotional journey that requires intense committment and faith. It's like spilling your soul out onstage. The show opens with my husband dying in front of my eyes, Jesus resurrecting him, riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday worshipping Jesus, to cheering for Jesus to be beaten and killed, straight to playing his mother at the crucifixition. It's an emotional whirlwind, and unlike anything I've ever done before. Unlike a lot of musical theatre, there's no tricks to fall back on, no funny characters to hide behind, only truth and absolute grounded reality and PASSION. When I'm not onstage (maybe about 15 minutes of the show) I am watching, drawn in to Ted's incredible acting in great moments like Gethesemene (ahh spelling sorry).

Tomorrow we have a 5 AM bus load for a very, very long drive on our way to Portland, Oregon or our next three shows and quality time with Audrey, Tim, and the Teasdales!!!!!!!!! My busmate David and I plan on watching Judy Garland movies all day long...love me some Judy, as most of you know.

Ok love you alll!!!!


XOXOXOXO
Haley

Maestro and I at his house after singing showtunes!!

Hello all! I am now out of beautiful Colorado and am in Palm Desert, CA, which is also very beautiful, might I add. It is so warm we all took a jacuzzi after the show tonight, which was really awesome.

But, before California, I had an amazing time on our Thanksgiving stopover in Las Vegas. Lonely for home and family at first, that all went away and I had a fabulous time when I re-united with a member of my CLOC family- Maestro Weiller and his brother- for a fabulous Thanksgiving evening. We ended up having an amazing dinner and then went and sang show tunes at his house! It was SUCH a blast! It's not letting me download any more pictures right now but will put some up tomorrow as soon as it starts working.

After that, I was headed up to my hotel room, and put a little money in slots, and ended up winning 1100 dollars which was a huge shock. I never win anything. So I cashed out, ended buying a round of drinks for some of my cast friends in New York New York (not actually New York but a place in Vegas built to look like New York) and then went to bed.

Today was the bus ride to Palm Springs, in which I slept through the whole bus, then performed. It's a 5 show weekend (well 4 to go) so it should be fun. Ted is so amazing, getting to work with him is the most amazing artistic opportunity of my life!

More to come when pictures work!!

XO

H

Birthday and Opening in Colorado Springs!

b-day jammin'- 11/24

The JCS ladies out on my birthday/opening night 11/24 (yes, there are only seven of us including Mary! )

a church on the way to Greeley today with mountains in the background- 11/25

Garden of the Gods- Colorado Springs- incredibly spiritual, breath-taking nature-11/23

next up: Thanksgiving in Vegas, then to CA

XOXOOX

Haley

my roomie and I at the pre-opening night party

In the dressing room in Alto, New Mexico

LOVE LOVE LOVE this show and this cast.

Opening night party was crazy fun-

Today Marissa and her Mom came to see the show and I was so excited to have someone there!!

Colorado Springs tomorrow!!!

XO TO ALL

Haley

Hey there, hi there, ho there, as ClOCers would say! It has been a few days since I've written, although not altogether on purpose as the internet has been funky and cutting out. I spent like half an hour writing a post two nights ago, only to promptly be signed off without my draft being saved. I needed a 48 hour frustration period before re-embarking. So I'll try to remember everything I said plus the last two days too.

I am here in Alto, New Mexico. Well, actually, right now I'm not. We are performing and teching in Alto, but the only things in Alto are the most gorgeous mountains you've ever seen in the US and a huge modern theatrical structure that seems to appear out of the sky as you are driving the mile upwards. It is a breath-taking drive up to the theatre (my friend David and I made our poor friend Billy pull over for several pictures,) and Spencer theatre itself is gorgeous.

There is really just too much to talk about about the last few days, so I'll just list my top moments here so far:
1. In the town where we are staying, Rudioso or something like that, there are at least four stores with signs outside that say "we buy antlers."

2. There is also a small hut in the middle of said town that is boldly labeled Times Square on it.
Not putting the town down though, it is gorgeous and has so many quaint shops, good eatin', and a fun karaoke bar, all one really needs!

3. oxygen masks at the theatre-yes, I'm being serious. The altitude is so high up in Alto that they provide oxygen masks offstage so that after big dance numbers we can go get some air.

4. Laughing at the oxygen masks, then running for them an hour later after dancing our big number, Simon's Dance, waiting in a line for it, and thoroughly utilizing it. Thank goodness for our lungs that we are doing Jesus Christ Superstar up here, not Hot Feet or Movin' Out!

5. On another more serious note, being onstage for the Crucifixtion scene even during tech., undoubtedly the most intense theatre I've ever done. I come on as Jesus's mother at the end, with Mary Magdeline across from me, and Jesus in the middle. I literally have to watch him die on the cross. I literally stood there and bawled for ten minutes, then promptly went up to Jesus after rehearsals and said "I really need to hug you right now so that I know you are in fact ok." He is an incredible actor, and I feel so lucky and blessed to be a part of this production!!!!!!

More to come,
xo
Haley

Three Days

Three days from now I will be previewing in Alto, New Mexico! So exciting! Still have a lot further to go, but have come a long way and am looking forward to the journey. Our creative team has been so encouraging and, for me, this has really brought out the best in me as a performer.

Packing has not really been happening. I bought and ipod and a dvd player, practically went broke on them, so that I have stuff to keep me entertained on the bus rides.
tty soon
xo
Haley

Rehearsals in NYC

Wow, what an amazing week it has been! We started rehearsals on the 30th, and head out to New Mexico to tech. a week from today. The people are so incredibly talented and committed, and I learn something from each one of them every day. There is a wonderful positive energy about the cast, I seriously love each and every person. There are only seven girls total and like twenty guys, so good odds for us girls :)

I am now pretty much feeling comfortable with my music, choreography, and actions. It's an exciting score to get to sing every other night, and a huge emotional committment and journey. Literally, I start the show with my husband getting killed right in front of me, and Jesus resurrecting him, fast forward to worshipping and following Jesus into Jerusalem, and then screaming to crucify him at the end of the second act. Every single actor on that stage is so committed moment-to-moment, its really amazing to get to work with them.

We hit the road a week from today to head to New Mexico for previews. I am excited, nervous, all of the above, but overall honored to be a part of such a wonderful cast for my first ever tour. I seriously cannot think of a better group of people to spend the next seven months of my life with!

OK, got to go do laundry and pack. more later this week.
XO
H

Getting Ready

Hi Everyone! As most of you know, I will be on the tour of Jesus Christ Superstar for the next seven months of my life, traveling all over the United States doing what I love. It's amazing to think that I am going to be paid for doing what I love to do more than anything in the world. I will be playing the Maid by the Fire (a cool singing solo part) and also understudying Mary Magdeline. I am so excited to go on my first tour, meet new people, and see the country. We are going all over the place, including Alaska and Canada, lots of cool places I have never been...

I am going to try to get a digital camera to upload pictures of the upcoming months as well as try to write as regularly as possible. Rehearsals start soon, and then we hit the road November 14th.

XOXO to all of you
Haley