101 Things in 1001 Days

I am an obsessive list maker. It may be obvious to you from the insane amount I have already made on here but if not, here's another one!

I ended one of these this April and actually managed to complete a lot of the points. However when I made it I was in my first year of university and my goals and expectations were... less than realistic! I feel I have a better grasp on what I can achieve in three years and what I want to achieve by my 26th Birthday. 

The idea is to have points that aren't ambiguous. That way you have a clear indication of whether you have completed them or not.

So without further ado here is my brand new 101 things which I will do a monthly update of on here.

Start Date: Saturday June 15^th 2013

End Date: Saturday March 12^th 2016

Travel:

1.     Visit Croatia

2.     Visit Paris

3.     Go on holiday with a friend

4.     See a Romeo and Juliet at the globe  

5.     Spend the day at Alton Towers

6.     Relax in the country for a weekend

7.     See The Magic Flute

8.     See The Nutcracker at Christmas

9.     Take a road trip

10.  Visit 10 new places in the UK

11.  Spend my 25^th Birthday in a different country

Online:

12.  Write an ebook

13.  Redesign my blog to something I am proud of

14.  Get a new computer

15.  Create a brand for myself

16.  Rejoin youtube posting content I am proud of

Family and friends:

17.  Make the people I love a handmade gift for Birthdays/ Christmas (x5)

18.  Have a catch up with friends at least once a month

19.  Spend a day out with Kathryn

20.  Make an effort to send birthday cards to close family and friends

21.  Re-connect with at least five friends.

22.  Spend a day with my family at least once a month

My Mind:

23.  Learn French and be able to hold a conversation.

24.  Watch 20 Classic movies

25.  Cook 5 meals from 5 different countries

26.  Watch a movie from every year since moviemaking began

27.  Read a new book every month (x33)

28.  Read 10 Classic novels

29.  Organize my photos and scraps into scrapbooks and boxes.

30.  Watch 20 foreign films

31.  Watch 10 Classic musicals

32.  Take a photograph every day for a year

33.  Buy a sketchbook and fill it with drawings

34.  Learn a new skill

My body:

35.  Be 120lbs

36.  Half way to weight loss

37.  ¾ way to weight loss

38.  Complete the couch to 5k programme

39.  Cut out soda for a month

40.  Try pilates

41.  Take a dance class once a week for a month

42.  Keep a food journal for a week/ a month

43.  Improve my posture

44.  Go Vegetarian for a month

45.  Become flexible enough to touch my toes

46.  For one month get up early every day for a walk/ run

47.  For one month give up added sugar

48.  For one month give up caffeine

49.  Complete the seven day slim down

50.  Complete a tone it up members challenge

51.  Complete the Ballet Bar Challenge

52.  For 101 days give up fast food

53.  Take a yoga class

54.  Drink 2 litres of water per day for a month

55.  Whiten my teeth

56.  Do a full body detox

57.  Take vitamins every day for a month

58.  Floss my teeth every day for a month

59.  Wake up at 6am for a week

My soul:

60.  Write a list of 50 things I like about myself

61.  Write a letter to myself to be opened at the end of 1001 days

62.  Write a letter to someone I admire

63.  Write a list of 101 things I’ve already achieved

64.  Document my music taste over a year

65.  Get rid of 101 things

66.  Spend a whole weekend without the computer and smart phone!

67.  Unplug for 24 hours once every two months.

68.  Be working as a professional Actress

69.  Build a time capsule

70.  Meditate daily for a month

71.  Don’t say anything negative for a day

72.  Complete my own happiness project

For me:

73.  Get a massage

74.  Buy something designer

75.  Make Pinata cookies

76.  Carve a pumpkin

77.  Get a pedicure

78.  Watch a yankees game

79.  Make macarons

80.  Make a rainbow/ ombre cake

81.  Get a facial

82.  Fill my wardrobe with the basics from my list

83.  Buy a vintage dress

84.  Go for lunch at a tea room all dressed up

85.  Spend the day at the beach

86.  Own a matching pair of underwear from Victoria’s Secret

87.  Buy a new camera

For others:  

88.  Give blood

89.  Organize a charity event x3

90.  Send someone a care package for no reason

91.  Do volunteer work x15

92.  Make cookies and cupcakes and give them away

93.  Buy flowers for someone

94.  Throw Donna an amazing Bridal Shower

Money:

95.  Set a savings target

96.  Go a month without buying anything that isn’t a necessity

97.  Find an affordable apartment to live in

98.  Have a car boot sale

99.  Pay off my credit card debt and overdraft

100.                 Catalogue my expenses for one month in every year (x3)

101.                 Save £10 for every completed item

 Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

Les Miserables DVD Review (Of Sorts.)

On Monday Les Miserables finally came out on DVD in the UK and I have proceeded to watch it every day... I have a problem, but at least I'm aware of it. Acceptance is the first step right?

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The only problem with this is you begin to notice more and more mistakes each time. Of course the bits you love just keep getting better and as much as I adore the movie, it just doesn't live up to the theatre version.

It's also given me the chance to think about why people seeing Les Miserables for the first time aren't as affected by it as say, myself and my crazy friend who basically started crying at I Dreamed a Dream and didn't stop until we'd had a couple of drinks afterwards!

Now there are a bunch of articles you can read on the cinematography and they all make the same point. Every shot in this movie is created to make the audience uncomfortable. The eye contact you'd get in a theatre does not work on film, the dutch angles (tilting of the camera to create suspense and unease.) I mean there is a dutch angle when they're in heaven at the end... literally nothing bad is going to happen next! Unless you count the end of the movie. I won't go into this and bore you but basically it creates an unconscious affect on the audience making them uneasy, and in a film like Les Miserables when you're asking the audience to accept a lot in a very short time this is the last thing you want to be doing!

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Next we have the insane amount of close ups. I mean seriously, I was trying to show my dad where the end barricade and Lamarque's funeral were filmed as we have been there and it was all close ups! In huge crowd scenes, close up after close up after close up. The camera is always in the actors face and while in some scenes it's perfect. I Dreamed a Dream... flawless! In most scenes it doesn't work, instead it feels choppy and takes you away from the emotions in a crazy way. 

The most used example for this is A Heart Full of Love, we have a love triangle and yet not once do we see all three people on screen at the same time. 

Finally the cuts made to the musical. I really missed Dog Eats Dog and feel we missed a lot of the Thenardiers potential when that was cut. Instead of showing how completely evil they are they became pure comic relief. 

The biggest thing I hated was all the cuts to the Barricade Boys parts. Mainly Grantaire's verse in Drink With Me... well in fact all the cuts to it! Re- watching this part I realise you do not get attached to these characters, you don't have a chance to with each cut being so quick and moving away from each boy so swiftly. Drink With Me shows the fear they have along with the comradary. They remember the past, accepting that this could be their last night and then Grantaire speaks what they are all fearing, what if your death means nothing. Cutting that just made them another death in a movie full of it.

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Every person I know who has seen the movie as their first taste of Les Miserables has been left unaffected by it. They didn't cry, sure they were sad but it didn't rip out their hearts like it does to me. Being so involved I can't put into words why someone wouldn't openly sob at Empty Chairs when all his friends have died, especially little Gavroche who died in vain as the students didn't even receive the bullets he died to retrive. Or Javert's suicide, nearly reaching out to the screen to pull him into a hug and pray he doesn't jump. 

I love the movie, mainly because I can watch Les Miserables whenever I like now. But I wish it could be done again, in a way that focuses completely on the emotions. Not trying to be ground breaking with live singing and in so doing having shaky cameras that pull you out of the emotions, just focusing on making something that pulls the audience in and smashes their heart to pieces! 

A great movie musical I think of is Moulin Rouge, that manages to be spectacular with it cameras and scenery and costumes etc etc and yet at the same time it pulls you right into the heart of the story. Having said this my dream director would be Joe Wright, he did Atonement, Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina. Especially after Anna Karenina, seeing how he incorporated the staging I think he would be perfect! He knows how to get to the emotional core of something and still make a beautiful film.

Okay, rant over. I could speak about Les Miserables for years. There's just so much to go into, so much I would love to see done with it and so many people I would want involved I would bore everyone to death!

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle.

xoxo

The Break

"They told me that the wiring was somehow all misfiring and screwing up the signals in my brain."

For the first time since starting this blog I missed posting on my allotted days. Last week I basically had a break down and so posting on here was the very last thing on my mind.

To be honest it's been a long time coming, the past couple of months have been rough and I managed to deal with them, or so I thought. Turns out I was doing my usual trick of pushing things back and ignoring them until they built up and I broke down.

Let me set the scene for you.

Annabelle gets a work experience placement, she begins working, actually doing something with her days. Then it dawns on her this is actually delaying her return to London. She feels like she's suffocating in the office. It's so quiet and she really does not fit in.

Then half way through the week her car breaks down. She does not have the money to fix it.

Add this on top of giving up a travel job and realising she could have been in Paris at this point, the fact that the auditions she gave up said job for fell through and the loss of her Uncle and you can see where this is going.

Except I couldn't! Now I'm a stickler for doing things by the rules, even if it screws me over, which it has done in the past. This time around... oh boy.

I left the office on Friday evening and just didn't go back. 

Never in my life have I ever done anything like that and it worried me! It also showed me it's not the end of the world if you don't do every little thing by the book.

So now I am back being unemployed, trying to sort out my head. Let's try and make light of this situation.

What I learnt:

-I can cope better with set backs, but I still need help.

-You are on the right path, so stop doubting it!

-There are so many more options than you knew, start grabbing for them.

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

The Radio in my Head

On Friday night Broadway boy Aaron Tveit performed is first concert at 54 Below. He has cleverly named his show 'The Radio in my Head" and all the songs he performed hold a special place in his heart, they tell his story of performing and it got me thinking.

 As Musical Theatre performers our job is to tell a story through song, after all that is why we prefer it over straight plays. The addition of music heightens the emotion for us. So why not tell our own stories through music? Aaron's genius inspired me to make my own playlist documenting my story.

1. Good Morning Baltimore- Hairspray.

-This was my first taste of Broadway. At 18 years old on a school trip I saw my first Broadway musical and got to do a workshop with some of the cast. It was at that moment I knew New York was the place I would one day call home.

2. Born to Try- Delta Goodrem

-At 11 years old there was a character on the TV show Neighbours that spoke to me more than anyone ever had. She was called Nina Tucker, a shy girl who came alive when she sang. Two years later the actress released her first single, Born to Try and I knew I wanted to perform for a living.

3. Over the Rainbow- The Wizard of Oz

- This was my first show in high school. I played Glinda but desperately wanted to sing this song! It was my first taste of being in a musical and I was in love.

4. Idaho- Nerina Pallot

- When I was 19 I was lucky enough to record with a professional sound engineer and this was the song. I learnt it in less than an hour and since then it has been one of my favourite songs to both sing and listen to.

5. I Miss the Mountains- Next to Normal

- For a long time I avoided this show, the issues in it and this song in particular hit too close to home and upset me far too much. When I was finally in a good enough place to listen to it I was completely blown away. Since then Diana has become a role I would love to play one day.

6. On My Own- Les Miserables

- The Musical and role that started it all. (See last weeks post for a full length ramble on how much this musical means to me! I shan't bore you again.)

7. Dark Blue- Jack's Mannequin

- I adored this band in high school but I hit a creative slump in university and stumbled across the front mans documentary. It inspired me just as much as Delta had ten years earlier and they have done ever since. So much so that I got their symbol tattooed onto me!

8. Out Tonight- Rent

- It took me a long time to get into this musical. My friends would always play me the songs and while I enjoyed them I was far too innocent to really appreciate it. Now I am obsessed! While I'm still quite timid whenever this song comes on I let loose and Mimi has become another dream role.

9. Memory- Cats

- This was the first song I ever performed. It was my first year at high school, I was 11 years old and my music teacher asked me to sing it for the class. She saw something in me that day and all through high school continued to push me to my fullest.

10. With You- Ghost

- I wrote about this musical for my final year dissertation and fell head over heels with the music. This song in particular is just so stunningly beautiful and surprise, surprise. Molly is another dream role!

11. Candyman- Christina Aguilera

- This is my go to karaoke song! I heard this album in my first year of university and became obsessed with all things vintage, as well as the different ways I could use my voice. Up until then it had been all musical theatre or Delta Goodrem. Now I started learning how to growl and riff and really expand what I could do.

12. No Good Deed- Wicked

- During my second year of university I was feeling unfullfilled. I was doing a Drama degree and missed singing. My parents completely supported me when I applied to do a short course in Musical Theatre and this was the first song I performed with them. I barely remember the performance because for the first time I got so into character I didn't think and afterwards I was hit with such a high I just knew I was doing the right thing.

Encore. They Just Keep Moving the Line- Smash

-This show gives me my weekly dose of Broadway and this song in particular really hit home. I get a degree, but that's not good enough I need to keep going. I get experience but there's always something else to complete. They just keep moving that dammed line!

So there we go! If I were to perform my own show, that would be the set list. It may be interesting to come back to it when I'm 30 and see what songs I would choose then. What would be added and what would be taken away?

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

Hell Week

Every performer has a hell week, whether it is that one overly intensive week when you're in from 7am to 2am or the one where everyone stresses over costumes and lighting and props etc etc. I've also noticed that despite the name most people come out on a high, knowing that through their suffering things have become infinitely better. After all, haven't we fought long and hard to get there? No matter how hard the week is, we still enjoy it.

My hell week was not enjoyable, nor was it based around a production.

This week marked the first in my new work experience placement. I have been put into an office to get some admin experience and I hate it. As a creative person being stuck in a silent office doing mundane tasks with nothing to stimulate me it's been awful but that's not all!

 Half way through the week my car broke down, as a struggling artist I do not have the money to pay for a new one or repairs which wouldn't be a problem as I can usually get the train except just tonight I was offered a paid job in a place you need your own transport to reach! Typical!

 The rest of my problems are silly and little, being sick on Thursday, the train being delayed by nearly an hour, blisters from new shoes but add them all together and you get a very grumpy, very stressed Annabelle on this Friday evening.

 One who will never complain about an acting hell week again because quite frankly I would take ten of them over another day in an office!

 Is it time for my big break yet? I'm ready for my close up!

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

Top 5: Shows I've Seen

We've reached number one! Although I'm pretty sure this will come as no surprise to anyone...

Les Miserables

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This was the first musical I ever saw, it started this whole thing off! I was 13 years old, on a school trip where everyone fell asleep during the show except for my musical friend and I. We sobbed when Gavroche died, I desperately wanted to be Eponine. (I couldn't hit Cosette's notes so she seemed more realistic) and I fell head over heels in love with Enjolras and Marius, the latter being played by none other than Mr. Hadley Fraser himself! How strange that ten years later I would see him again as Javert and then in the movie! 

If I'm honest that's all I remember, along with an overwhelming happiness and the ultimate desire that I wanted to be on that stage. Now that will never happen as it's moved from the Palace to the Queen's but I could still be in the show!

I have been very lucky when it comes to this musical, I was at the 25th Anniversary at which I sobbed... a lot! When the original cast came out and I saw Michael Ball my legs actually gave way! It wasn't pretty! My view count is just into double figures now and I'm still not bored. Every single time I see One Day More I get goosebumps and cry, and by the time the Epilogue rolls around I am a sobbing mess. There is just something about this musical that has hooked me, and is yet to let go a decade later.

The good bits:

Really? Okay... everything! The simplicity of the stage, the story. Alright, pause. The story... Victor Hugo wrote and incredible novel with such compelling characters, the moment you add music to their journeys you know it's going to be a hit. And go, the music. Pause. God have you ever heard such rousing songs? Do You Hear the People Sing was actually being considered as the French National anthem at one point and who can blame them? It makes me want to run and build a barricade every time! Go. The actors that have enhabited these characters are some of the best in the world, Lea Salonga, Aaron Tveit, Anne Hathaway, Ramin Karimloo, David Thaxton, Alfie Boe, Wolverine! I mean come on!!

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Favourite song:

One Day More. So 1. I love a song that grows and ends with an incredible note that everyone belts out. 2. I adore it even more when lots of people sing different things at the same time. 3. I LOVE THIS SONG. Okay so I maybe should have put a warning at the beginning of this blog, and you've probably already clocked onto this but today will basically be me 'fangirling' about Les Miserables. Apologies.

With all the characters singing about their stories, marching in time and singing such a rousing song I am always left with goosebumps and teary eyes. Not only is it my favourite song in the musical this is my favourite song of all time.

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Favourite character:

Enjolras. (You were expecting Eponine weren't you!?) He is just fascinating, and dies so tragically. I have always fallen in love with whoever has played him and since reading the book I am falling more and more in love with the character. I think even Victor Hugo himself had a crush on Enjolras! He's so inspiring and strong and brilliant!

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Dream Cast:

Jean Valjean: Ramin Karimloo

Javert: Norm Lewis

Fantine: Ruthie Henshall

Marius: Craig Mather

Cosette: Judy Kuhn

Eponine: Lea Salonga

Enjolras: Aaron Tveit (Surprise, surprise!)

Thenardier: Alun Armstrong

Mme. Thenardier: Katy Seacombe

Someone please make that happen!

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo

The Age of Aquarius

 I'm finding age to be a funny thing in this business, one that manages to both worry and comfort me at the exact same time. 

 On the one hand you have the west end casting of Les Miserables, they cast young. Sierra Boggess mentioned that she was old at 29. It panics me that starting at 23 will mean I'll never achieve my dream of playing Eponine. But then if we hop across the pond to the Broadway production of the same show we see one of the best Eponines, Celia Keenan-Bolger, playing her at 28. One year older and she would be considered almost too old to play Fantine, who is older than Eponine! 

 It's confusing, as I said on one hand I'm comforted by the fact I still have five years left before being too old on Broadway, but in England (where I'm currently stuck) I'm pretty much past my prime.

 In fact, it seems to be a running trend that actors can still get a break later on in their lives on the great white way. Norbert Leo Butz, 29 when he got his big Broadway break. 

 Then again, I could once again turn the tables and confuse matters more by bringing up people like Jennifer Damiano, she is only 21 and already has three big broadway shows under her belt! Or my favourite Aaron Tveit who landed his role in Wicked at 23.

 I'm hoping you can see where my confusion comes from. I know there's the whole 'don't compare yourself to others' thing but when it comes to casting ages I can't help it. Especially when it's concerning my ultimate dream role.

 I have managed to stop obsessing over it all, I've accepted the fact I will never be a child prodigy like Miss. Damiano but maybe, just maybe I can still play the street waif I so long to be. Hopefully when I get the opportunity I won't be considered too old!

 It's such a funny thing to talk to 'real' people about. At 23 years old you are considered young, at the beginning of your journey with your entire life ahead of you. In the acting world you're old to be starting. I don't really have anything philosophical to say about this fact. It's just something I've found interesting... and stressful!

The only thing I have learnt is to keep going, keep learning, keep growing and when an opportunity comes along grab it with both hands and don't let go. I'm hoping that someday soon someone will take a chance on an unknown and I will be one step closer to those grubby street clothes!

Wish me luck, the same to you.

Annabelle

xoxo