#brennaonbroadway

Yesterday I went to New York City! And it was wonderful! Since I grew up in mostly small towns and only visit Seattle or downtown Louisville every once in a while, so going to a huge city like this was a completely new experience.

Manhattan is so old, beautiful (a little smelly) and completely filled with history and music. 

I'm a big Broadway person, and the TONY AWARDS were happening. I walked by Radio City Music Hall during the big rehearsal, I didn't see anyone, but I was REALLY REALLY CLOSE to Kristen Chenoweth. There was one lady in a very fancy nude, rhinestone and black dress that looked very serious about being in New York. I wonder who she was. :)

Across from Radio City Music Hall

 I also walked past the Belasco Theatre, where I mentally met Darren Criss, who is currently starring in Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He was in Glee and pretty much wrote (and starred in) Harry Potter the Musical. 

DARREN CRISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I also sang at Carnegie Hall and saw The Lion King on Broadway ;)

Singing at Carnegie Hall

Look closely

We also visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, and it was beautiful. They were actually having Puerto Rican mass, which was completely in Spanish. I'd never been to mass before, but it was pretty cool. The building, though, was something else. Huge stained glass windows, sculptures and detailed stone walls. I bet the whole experience for a Catholic visiting the city is amazing. 

Front of St. Patricks

Stained glass in St. Patricks

Ceiling Detail in St. Patrick. 

At the end of the day, I saw the One World Trade Center, which is quite a pretty building, and seeing how smooshed together the places are, I was able to picture the 9/11 attack, and that day must have been one of the most terrifying thing anyone has ever had to experience, and America will never forget that. 

One World Trade Center

I also saw Lady Liberty from across the river, but it was too far away to get a good picture, so you'll just have to imagine it. ;) This was an amazing experience and I am really hoping to visit again in the not too distant future, but no promises. 

I hope everyone is starting off summer with fun memories and lots of sleep! 

Have you ever been anywhere really special to you?

Love, 

Brenna

How to Handle Being Busy

Hi guys! I've been rather busy lately especially of the after school variety (Aladdin!!!) so having to be ready for the most has become a little more real to me! This will probably seem like nothing to most of you but I've never really been the kind of girl in all the clubs and sports after hours, so it's a lot for me!
Here are some hopefully helpful ideas that can save you time and come to the rescue when life happens!

+Have at LEAST 2 ways to get into where you are going. Whether it's a door, a janitor, a back road or the digits of someone that is already there, I HATE being late! So know somebody that can help you get in if you can't by yourself. I have found it really helpful to know people on the inside ;)


+Always have a snack on you. You have no idea what a big difference a granola bar can do to your mood. Try not to eat super sugary foods when you are rushing around town, because you will crash and burn!!! Also, eating too much at once and then having to keep moving SUCKS! Don't make yourself miserable.
Be smart

+If you are wearing fancy shoes that hurt your feet or give you blisters, bring socks, band-aids and comfy shoes! A lot of people roll their eyes when others complain about shoe problems because they chose to wear those, right? Well be resourceful and bring a change! I recommend flip flops because they can be shoved in a back pack without being heavy or taking up much room.
 

+Your attitude is so important omg You guys! When your life is moving fast, you're bound to trip! Being okay with tripping is essential to dealing with this stuff. Be happy shake it off and laugh! You are okay.
Sometimes when you are too caught up and stressed out and you need to lay on the floor and cry for a little bit, that's awesome too, just not every night, that's unhealthy.
 
Being stressed out all day every day is most likely not worth everything you are doing. If you need to take a night off and have some alone time, do it! Say no to going out. Breaks are good so that you can be fully focused when you need to be busy. :)

So sorry for the extremely long post, but it's Tech Week at the theatre and the show opens tomorrow, so I felt bad for not posting anything fun this week. I hope you enjoyed/got something out of this post, leave a comment if I missed something, and don't forget to click follow!

Acting Help Wanted...pls

Hi it's me Brenna which you probably guessed and I really like performing arts!

Something you might not know about me is that I'm going on my 3rd year of school choir (with a different director each year) and this year's teacher has showed me the wonder of Broadway! So we went and saw Newsies and it was super inspiring! So now I'm taking a theater class in school and pretty soon I'm due to perform a monologue from Diary of Anne Frank. 

And perhaps audition for Aladdin Jr. at the local high school. I know acting isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you have any tips, please tell! 

 And while we're on the subject, let's talk about the best musicals out there! 

ANNIE

SOUND OF MUSIC

NEWSIES

HAIRSPRAY

QoTD: What are your favorites?

IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT CLAP YOUR HANDS

Sooo so sorry I haven't been able to blog anything in a while, but I just got so busy with trying to learn guitar and watching Bob's Burgers ( I know, I'm pathetic) that I haven't had much to talk about! 

I decided I needed to sit down and write something for you anyway.

Here is a collection of some great songs! They aren't really for any purpose other than they make me happy. 

•  How He Loves is a Christian song about how much God loves us, and I really enjoy the rhythm and flow and the description of His perfect grace

• Budapest by George Ezra it's a love song and if this guy didn't have such a deep voice, I wouldn't love it as much as I do. But it is very sweet

• Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran another cute love song. I've never listened to Sheeran before but it's a great song!

• A Whole New World by ALADDIN AND JASMINE aggh I just can't stand how much I like Disney. It's a bit dangerous

• True to Your Heart by Stevie Wonder The singer's confidence in this song comes across as cockiness to me but it's just so catchy and dance able I can't help it

• Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson I really admire the message in this one, plus it's Jackson, so who can't like it! 

• Let Me Fly arranged by Rollo Dilworth is a song we're doing in choir for competition next month. It's about wanting to go to heaven like Elijah did in the chariot. I love the jazz/soul swing!

• King of New York from NEWSIES!!!!!!!! That beautiful musical that I saw last year. Oh man. This is my favorite song out of all of them. 

• So This is Love by Cinderella and that Prince Charming of hers~when they realize they've found true love. It cheers me up about 500000000% percent

• How to Save a Life by the Fray It really hits home to me, because I've talked to lots of friends about this and I don't want them hurt

• Rolling in the Deep by Adele I'm not really sure why I like this. I think this goes in the same bin as George Ezra, I just love her voice!

• Lean on Me by Bill Withers Just brings back so many memories of my old choir in Washington
• When I was Your Man by Bruno Mars regret/break up song very sweet, again, choir memories! Miss you Ms. Flemister!

• Hey there Delilah by Plain White T's? I don't know who originally sang it, but it's this guy singing to his girl, and it's kind of the perspective of they are so foolishly in love and they don't know it because they love each other so much. Plus long distance relationship.

• Tomorrow from Annie I really really love musicals...Annie is one of my favorites :D

• Bird and the Worm by Owl City This is literally the adorablest love song I have ever heard in my whole life. 

Ok I am a music lover and I could keep going for hours, so perhaps a part 2 is in your midst! 

QotD: How would you explain your taste in music? Comment below!!!

Have a great rest of your week, lovely readers, and thanks for sticking around!

Disney's Into the Woods!

                     Today I saw Into the Woods! If you haven't noticed, I'm very into musicals, so I loved this! 

Into the Woods is a musical where fairy tales are mixed together, much like The Woodcutter, by Kate Danley, a very good book. 

In it are the Baker and his Wife, Little Red Riding Hood (plus her grannie and the wolf), Cinderella (with step-family and prince), Rapunzel, Jack and the beanstalk.

The basic plot is that the Baker and his Wife have been cursed by the witch to never have children, and the only way they can is by getting her 4 objects, a cloak as red as blood, a shoe of gold, hair as yellow as corn and a cow as white a milk to make a potion. They have to go into the woods to find the objects! And that is where they meet everyone else, but the plot thickens and the kingdom goes crazy! I'll leave it to you to see the rest. I thoroughly enjoyed it, however I'd much rather see it performed live because it was just so long!!! The singing, in my opinion was brilliant, but some of the lines were unnecessary. But I suppose since i was originally a musical, you can't really blame it. If I had seen the musical first, I'd definitely have a stronger opinion. Maybe when I get to see it live I'll review it again!

Q: Do you like musicals at all? Any favorites?

A: Yes!!!! Hairspray is my current favorite, and just barely above Newsies