Alison Jutzi Talks Amongst Herself

I am very pleased to announce that I will be joining the My Pop Choir team in the new year when I start conducting a choir at their brand new Bloor West location. My Pop Choir is for people who want to sing because it feels good. There are no auditions, and no one ever has to sing a solo. It is just a group of people getting together for an hour and a half each week, singing in harmony and having a good time. Check out the My Pop Choir website for more information!

Big news, folks. I am making the colossal yet inevitable move from comedic folk to comedic roots. Yep, it's a big move, but one I think I'm ready for. Chelsea Manders and I are starting a comedic roots trio which will parody groups like "The Dixie Chicks", "The Good Lovelies", "The Wailing Jennies" and "The Be Good Tanyas", and we're looking for a name. Can you help? Our current front-runner is "The Do Good Fannies", but we think someone out there will have an even better idea. Please leave a comment here with your suggestion. A prize will be awarded to the winner! Thanks so much! Alison

Yesterday I appeared on the Ellen show for the first time. Click here to see my debut. :) In other news, I auditioned for a Ford commercial last week, which is shooting today. I did not book it as it turns out, which might be a good thing. The bitter irony of saying "I love my new Ford" today would be more than I can take.

Yesterday I was waiting for my mushroom and onion burger at Fresh, slowly getting the feeling back in the upper left part of my mouth after just having come from the dentist, when Phil called me with some very exciting news: The Dora nominations had just been announced, and the show I recently did at Soulpepper has been nominated in three categories! They are: Outsanding Musical Direction (the incomparable Marek Norman), Outstanding Original Choreography (the magnificent Candace Jennings) and Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role/Ensemble - the whole cast! I really enjoyed the Doras last year, and it will be even more exciting to attend this year as a nominee! We've got a very busy June planned, including a trip to Ireland, but fortunately we'll be around for the awards ceremony on June 28th. It will be a lovely excuse to reunite with my cast members. Here is a link to a list of all the nominees.

I just finished recording a musical theatre demo and will likely be posting the songs from that on my site soon. My good friends Mark Selby and Noel Webb helped me greatly with this recording, Mark on the keys and Noel doing sound engineering. I am so thankful to have such helpful and talented friends. Thanks guys! Oh, and while I'm thanking people I can't forget the incredible Mike Reid, my boyfriend and webmaster. Did you ever see my free bravehost site? That thing was appalling. This one is so much slicker.   Tomorrow I'm going in with the other 9 Marias to rehearse for the final show this Monday. I'm not sure what we'll be doing, but I heard a rumour that it will involve fight choreography. I'm no stage combat pro, but I  have some great suggestions. I want to do lots of hair pulls and aikido rolls, hopefully down the balcony. Maybe we could do a neck crack in there (you know, where you use an empty water bottle to make the sound?). But I'm just talkin...

A lot of people have asked me about buying my CD online, and now it's possible. Just go to my website  and click "Buy Now" to have my CD sent to your door for $10. I find that they sell really well at gigs, but not everyone is able to make it out to those because I usually only perform in Toronto. I'm very excited about this new feature on my website!  I went to the Maria taping last night where, sadly, Marisa was voted off. She seems to be taking it well though. Today we're having a barbecue for all 10 of us plus Gavin, and we are so stoked! I can't wait to hang out with all the girls (sorry, is that derogatory?). This experience has been so monumental for all of us, and I can't wait to chat with everyone else and find out how their personal experience has been.  Janna, Elicia and Jayme are the only Marias left in the competition. Next Sunday one of them will be sent home, and then on Monday the winner will be announced. How exciting! All ten of us will ...

I keep seeing ads for "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria" on CBC and I'm getting really excited to see the first show, airing this Sunday. I have just launched my website, www.alisonjutzi.com and I will be posting news and information about the show on there, as well as other things that I've got going on. Wish me luck!