Blast from the past.

This is the video bio they had for me on the CBC How Do You Solve a Problem... site (I know, I know, stop talking about Maria already!). My favourite part is the completely unenthusiastic air I have about me in the first clip. I think I was getting tired of the cameras at that point. If the embedded video below isn't working, you can view it here.

Another suitcase, another motel.

We're on tour in Windsor right now, and I've secluded myself in a corner of a Starbucks with my laptop in order to keep myself from shopping. 

We had a blast last night performing at the Essex Retirees' Social Club. They laughed at everything. The energy from the audience made the show so much fun to perform. Afterwards we drank Pomtinis and ate chips in Paula's hotel room. So many chips. Touring isn't great for my health, but I like to think that the manual labour involved in putting together and taking down the set every day is counterbalancing my intake of Chex mix and all-day-breakfasts. 

There's a fireplace in this Starbucks. Is that normal? Class-ay.

Youth Challenge International

In the fall of 2006 I volunteered for 10 weeks in Bijagual, Costa Rica with Youth Challenge International. While I was there, the Costa Rican counterpart of the organization, Reto Juvenil Internacional, filmed a documentary celebrating their 15th anniversary. The Program Director for Reto, Alvaro Madrigal, has just posted that documentary on YouTube, so I thought I'd share it with you. You'll see me digging and teaching and stumbling over my Spanish...

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Backstage on tour.

Extraordinary rehearsals.

I'm in rehearsals right now for Extraordinary with Smile Theatre. We'll be touring seniors' residences for two months, starting in Peterborough next Monday. Rehearsals have been a pleasure, as I am finally getting the chance to work with Jim Betts, and am so very lucky to be playing opposite Paula Wolfson. She is a heavy-hitter in the musical theatre world. Check out her website here.

In other news, my CTV Weather spot has been airing and I'll be getting a copy soon to put up on my YouTube channel. In it I play Janice, an unstable woman with deeply-rooted emotional issues connected to snowflakes. Yeah, I was pretty much type-cast.