Rhodes

Rhodes (Roads) is such a beautiful example of history.  Walking through the giant wall that surrounds Rodos was like stepping back in time.  I especially enjoyed the ruins of the church dating back to the Byzantine empire.

A Holocaust memorial:

 

Of course, I HAD to have a gyro while I was in Greece!

Below are some pictures from our show Ritmo Caliente.

Singing ventriloquist Michael Minor and Grandpa.

Israel for the next three days!  Pictures to follow

Patmos & Kusadasi

 Patmos from the crew deck:

Turkey from my port hole

Welcome to Kusadasi! (coo-sa-dahs-ee)

Barcelona and Napoli

(Bar-cell-own-ah)

(Nap-oh-lee)

Flew in to Barcelona on Tuesday and had dinner on La Rambla.

The first night on the ship it was SO rocky.  Things were falling over everywhere.  I’ve never experienced rough waters quite like that.  It calmed down the following afternoon.

Yesterday was our first show of Postcards.  It finally hit me during curtain call that this is all actually happening and I’m living out one of my dreams.  I’m so thankful and so blessed.

Today I got the chance to explore Napoli.  It was wonderful to be able to explore where some of my family comes from!  I also reunited with my old flame, cantalupo gelato.

Nashville-Part 2

My head is spinning, but I officially know all the shows!  We have one more full day of rehearsal tomorrow, with Monday off to repack before flying out Tuesday.

I got my Chinese visa this week!  MUCH thanks to my Grandma, Mom, brother, and uncle for taking care of that for me.

We had a cast dinner with our General Manager and Production Manager on Thursday.  Good food with good people.

Now I'm just working finalizing a song list for my solo show for the piano lounge.  My theme is "Favorites of Yesterday and Tomorrow".  I'm taking suggestions!  I'm looking for any standards OR little known contemporary songs.  Any help is appreciated!

Nashville-Part 1

Nashville.  We all know how to say this one, right?  Ok, moving on...

What a whirlwind of a week.  So glad I have today off!

I got to Nashville on Sunday night and began rehearsals at 9:30 the next morning.  Typical rehearsals are 8 hours a day, Sunday through Friday.  There are 6 shows to learn, each with its own theme.  I learned Postcards (a show with songs from around the world) in the first two days.  My songs include Somewhere My Love, Oh Danny Boy, Santa Luccia, and The Sound of Music.  I then started work on our American Pie show, including Good Morning Baltimore, Kansas City, Blue Kentucky Girl, and By The Time I Get To Phoenix.  We finished that show yesterday.

Four more to go! ....in 7 days...

Tomorrow I'm learning Showstoppers, my songs including Everything's Coming Up Roses, Home (from the Wiz), Popular, Think of Me, and a Les Mis Medley.  At least I already know all of these songs!  Following that, I still have the Latin, Swing, and Disco shows to learn.

Last night I was able to go to downtown Nashville for the first time.  Despite going to college in the south for 4 years, I think that was my first real exposure to "country".  Lots of cowboy hats.

 Hey Elvis!

Today's agenda is to take care of this incredibly inconvenient Chinese Visa thing.  Then maybe shopping for things I didn't know to pack.  Or just staying in bed and relaxing while I still can.  Yeah, maybe the latter.