Role Call! A Walk Through My Resume

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid!

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It’s been a hot second, and I don’t know if/when I’ll be posting regularly again on this blog, but I was feeling inspired so here we go. I have been doing quite of bit of other writing, most notably on my new freeform blog, Deb Declamations. (Including my never-ending posts about the Twilight/Forks trip).

I was going down a rabbit hole of re-watching Broadway.com videos (one of my go-to sites for Broadway news, behind the scenes vlogs, and general awesome content) and re-discovered a series called Role Call, where notable Broadway folk are asked to pick roles from their careers/resume to match with a prompt. (Examples here). And outside of Broadway.com one of my favorite theatre-centric YouTubers Katherine Steele also did this on her channel. (And speaking of Broadway, can we just take a moment to collectively scream/celebrate that BROADWAY IS BACK!?!?)

Anyway I thought Roll Call it looked like fun so I decided I’d do it for my theatrical “career” thus far. I decided for each prompt I would choose no more than one role, and I could only use each role once. But do know that several shows could fit more than one category, and vice versa. I’ve been very blessed in terms of the shows I’ve done and what I got to do in them and it would be impossible to include everything. (I’m quickly approaching the milestones of 90 productions participated in, and 20 years of involvement in theatre).

“How do you measure, measure a year?” A musical for every time of year!

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid!

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Happy new year everyone, hope y’all are staying sane and safe despite…you know…the state of the world.

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But with a new year set out before us, I thought it would be fun to lay out for my readers some shows/cast albums to listen to that coincide with (almost) every month and time of year. We’ll look at shows that mention specific dates, specific seasons, holidays, etc to get you in the mood for whatever is going on in the year time wise.

Judy Journey: Deb finally goes to Minnesota (And vlogs about it)

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid!

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Hope y’alls spooky season is going well despite….well, everything.

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But hey…Aaron Tveit is now a Tony nominee!!!!!!!!! (Took the Tony voters long enough!)

Longtime readers/friends etc. may remember that I had planned a trip to Minnesota to visit family, Judy Garland’s home in Grand Rapids, and more. Initially scheduled June 2019, that trip was put off due to living through a tornado. I had reschduled for earlier this year, but once again I had to put of the trip to to COVID-19. (A big part of this trip was visiting my Grandma, who lives in a nursing home and for a while she was not permitted visitors due to COVID-19).

But the first week in October I finally made the journey, so via my vlogs I took along the way and a selection of pictures, we’ll bring you along on the adventures.

“What comes next?” What to watch on Disney+ post-Hamilton

Wecome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid!

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If you’re anything like me, maybe you got Disney+ for the sole reason of watching the proshot of Hamilton when it dropped this past July. (Perfectly valid reasoning if I do say so myself).

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But maybe, just maybe, it’s occurred to you to check out what else Disney+ has to offer. So I offer you suggestions for theatre-minded people to watch next. (Until the new Once on This Island movie drops, of course).

“The waiting, the waiting, the waiting…” Online resources to get theatre people through quarantine

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Welcome back, everyone!

I hope you’re all staying safe, wherever you are. For me I’m physically safe, but living through such a tumultuous time is taking it’s toll, but I’m managing.

Though in the grand scheme of everything in the world, I can acknowledge that Broadway being dark and the fact that very little live theatre is happening (and rightly so, for the sake of public safety) is, as the kids might say, a big sad.

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I wish I had some sweeping words of wisdom, but the best I can offer are some little digital joys I’ve found to keep me going, that I can hope add a little sparkle to the rest of my theatre-loving folk.

“I Know Things Now…” Advice to my younger self

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Hey everybody! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy while social distancing.

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I myself am struggling to an extent, mainly because my productions of Bonnie and Clyde and possibly Evita have been pushed back (but thankfully not cancelled) and all of this is bringing back the trauma from last year big time.

But I’m still here, still writing, doing what I can. And I needed to write/think about something that wasn’t COVID-19. So here we go! (Big thank you to my dear friend Josh Lehto for this suggesting this months’ topic. We’ve done many a show together, most recently Gomez to my Grandma in The Addams Family).

More than once I wished I could tell my younger self about all the unbelievable adventures I’ve had growing up in the theatre. But for the purposes of this post, I’m going to pass on five pieces of advise I would give eight-year old me first starting out, ready to make her debut in One Man’s Dream. (What, you’ve never heard of it? It was written specifically for the bicentenntial of the Lewis and Clark expedition celebration in Jefferson City, performed by ACTPAC, the first kid’s theatre program where I got my feet wet and never looked back).

Me and my sister Carolyn, who actually played Merriweather Lewis, getting ready to perform, summer of 2003.

“Give me a full tank and an open road…” Becoming Blanche Part II (Missouri State Penitentiary, Joplin Apartment…and surviving COVID-19)

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid!

So in case you haven’t noticed…there is a freaking pandemic and everthing has gone to heck. (To quote my sister, “The Black Death” from Something Rotten! is suddently way too relevant).

Much like you, I’ve been holed up at home, going to work and back home again with only the occaisional, necessary errand. And in my attempt to keep from completely losing all of my brain cells, I’m here trying to create content for myself and others. But let me take you back, for a moment, to a simpler time…like the start of this month.

In my efforts to truly dive into playing Blanche Caldwell Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde, at Capital City Productions I chose to make several pilgrimages to historical sites in Missouri pertaining to Blanche/The Barrow gang, and vlog about it! (Be sure to check out Part I of “Becoming Blanche” if you have not already)

“The Last Five, no scratch that, Ten Years” A Revisit with the Tony-Winning “Best Musicals” of the Decade

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid for the final post of the year, but also the decade.

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Navigating through the social medias this month, I couldn’t help but notice a trend of reviewing/reminiscing through the two thousand tens, aka the first decade where I was old enough to be cognizant of the world and its goings on from start to finish. I thought to myself, “What theatre-related thing of the past ten years can I write about on Memoirs of a Theatre Kid?”

Eventually, I decided I’d dive into the ten winners of the highly sought-after “Best Musical” Tony award from 2010-2019, and what the original cast and creative team of each show has gone on to do since their respective wins. (Obviously it would be impossible to chart ever accomplishment and accolade from every individual who mounted these musicals, but I tried to squeeze in the bigger ones with a somewhat logical and well-transitioned narrative).

So travel back to me to the start of the decade…when your humble author was an underclassman in high school, Obama was in his first term of office, and Toy Story 3 was released.

“At the Moment We Start Weeping, That’s When We Should Smile” Full Circles and Farewells

Picture it: January 12, 2012. Jefferson City, Missouri.

It was a happy day in the life of Deb for numerous reasons. For one, it was opening day of one of my all-time favorite musicals and one of my favorite productions I’ve done to date: Man of La Mancha. It was also the very first show I would do with a group then known as Capital City Players, now called Capital City Productions at Shikles Auditorium in Jefferson City, MO.

(I’m the one in the donkey head. It was quite the time!)

“And One Day, I’ll Shine For You…” The Chaz Chronicles Part IV

Welcome back to Memoirs of a Theatre Kid, and the fourth installment of “The Chaz Chronicles”. (Be sure to read Part I, Part II, and Part III if you have not already done so, for the full story of my unexpected and life-changing friendship with actor Chaz Wolcott.

When last seen, Chaz had just finished competing on So You Think You Can Dance, and I was a fresh college grad trying to find her place in the real world.