Seussical

 This post is gonna be crazy long, I can already tell.

I just want to say first that I loved Seussical more than i can say. And I really truly loved the entire cast. I may not highlight you individually, but that doesn't change the fact that you were all my whole life for the past three months. And i love you. SO. dang. much.
You're all nasty!

Wanna know something? I miss seussical like crazy... But there are a few things that i will NOT miss.

Like the hectic back dressing room before curtain:

too many bodies in one cramped space. plus wickersham hair. not pretty.

another thing that i won't miss? 

applying 2347 pounds of makeup to become gertrude.

I hate makeup, in general. I hardly ever wear more than mascara. It's a pain, it's expensive and it comes off by the end of the day so uhmm, why bother?

So icky thicky sticky stage makeup is even worse.

and because i hate makeup, i don't know how to do it all fancy. that had to change.

toward the end of the show i started doing my own but it didn't look good. hahaha. I was just tired of asking other people to do it. so oh well.

 Things I will miss?
the people. The entire cast, really. But i don't have pictures of all of them. They're all so good!

I love Alisan the dang lion.

 She's so flipping amazing!

How cute is she? and look at that hair! talk about dedication.

the techies.

Kim is the most patient person on the universe. helping me hook my mic EVERY show is annoying. I'm pretty sure that she wanted to slap me for being so lazy and not doing it myself. I love her!

David is hilarious. I'll definitely miss his "romantic" calls over the intercom, "will the most beautiful lavender bird please report to the stage so i can hear your amazing voice? Melissa Hansen? please come out here so i can check your mic, please. thank you." in a voice as sultry as a sophomore boy can make it. 

110 lbs of faux-hawked stud.

And i can't forget the lights! thank you ray and Aldiar for being the perfect spotlight guys. THE best.

 they're the ones who make it all happen!

I will miss freaking out in the wings because Truxton is improvising before his opening lines and i think he's just blanking. the kid kept me on my toes, what can i say?

And let's just talk about the fact that this kid is a sixth grader, but he can sing like dang clay aiken? he's amazing. go truck! (rue whistle)

 I'm pretty sure that I've discussed my lack of dance skills before, so i'll spare you.

but really, It's bad. hahaha. As you can see from this picture, I'm doing something COMPLETELY different than the rest of the cast. cool, Mel. smooth.

But honestly, I'm going the miss all the dancing. seeing dozens of people all do something at once gives me chills. even if it's just a simple clap, i get excited over a clean dance move. I'm glad i got to be the awkward bird because all the rest of the birds are uhmm, amazing dancers! ALL of them! intimidating much? yump.

I'm going to miss the set. watching it grow and change every day for the past three months has been incredible. and the set was amazing! Way to go brandon Giles for making us the best-looking sets in the dang world! But really though, i don't know how he thinks of these things.

one of my favorite things to do in this show was just to take everything in. look at all these colors! I love watching everyone's facial expressions and how well they get into character.

One of my favorites to creep on is Jared.

Horton the dang elephant. 

He's honestly SO good.

every night i literally just laid down in the wings and let my self fall under a spell for three minutes while he belted out 'alone in the universe' with truxton. Jared's voice is so deep and soothing! it's like chocolate! 

And he just got so into, i loved watching him talk to the clover like there was someone actually there.

He's just so flipping talented!

My favorite parts of the ENTIRE show? the bird girls and the wickershams. 

they all rock! the dang bird girls can just sleep me to sleep at night with their beautiful harmonies. and the wickershams just make me want to dance! they're so captivating and funny! gahhh, i feel like i'm just ranting. I just can't express how i feel about this show.

before i rave about Aretha Franklin , I mean... Zhanel...can i point out Tami's face in the picture below? 

love it.

Zha-dang nel flipping carter-martinez.

she just opens her mouth and out come these sweet sweet notes of honey!

She's singing at my wedding. 

the end.

I. oh my. i can't even explain the extent of my love for this girl. and? I love her voluptuous tail.

she needs to be on broadway asap.

I'm going to miss giggling at Brandon's angry voice during the military scenes.

 I'm going to miss spending literally every moment of every day with my best friends in the whole world

 performing with my adorable cousin, Teddy Bear.

being an annoying morning person and whipping my hair in the crowded back room and making everyone want to kill me because i sing Hairspray and Into the Woods at the top of my lungs non stop.

I'm gonna miss the butterflies in my stomach before every curtain.

And especially when i know there are people i love in the crowd.

I love performing. I love seeing the looks in kids eyes when the lights go up and the entire cast floods the stage. I love seeing hundreds of people sitting close to each other in the crowd on packed nights. I love the electricity of it all.
When we all sing at the very end of the play, those last bittersweet lines are the most powerful and strong of the entire show. Everyone's voices fill the audience and i feel so proud i could burst.
It's right then, right when everyone is giving 100% when i realize how much i love them.
In that moment - when the whole crowd is just mesmerized, their faces longingly gazing up at us - that i feel tears coming. and i hear a lump forming in my throat.
and i just love it.
too much to explain. 

I'm going to miss pretending to be in love with this guy:

yeah, yeah i know. It's hard to believe. but I've played opposite him two musicals in a row and gosh dang it! what can  say? that smooth voice gets me every time. 

just kidding.

But really, I love the guy! 

He's a good kid. and some days, in between afternoon and evening rehearsals while we drove to get a quick bite to eat, we'd just be laughing or in a really deep conversation and i would actually have to remind myself that we weren't together in real life. that i didn't love Jared, Gertrude just loved Horton. 

hahaha! i know, i'm a creep.

But really, He's so talented. and I've totally gotten used to depending on him being there and giving his all. We make each other look good.

We play a good couple.

I'm going to miss all the close-knit relationships that evolve over the run of a show. When you spend that much time with someone, you're bound to either kill each other or become best friends. luckily, Seussical was just a whole lot of laughs and friendship.

I'm going to miss this girl.

My dang Sav.

She's my other half of Gertrude. we bounce well off each other's ideas and quirks. I dang love the girl! She's    the reason why i felt so confident in my role. She was 100% supportive all the time. She always lifted me up and when i was a little bent because of a missed note or a stumbled line, she was there to roll her eyes and tell me it was fine. She was there to boost my ego when i needed support, and she was there to knock me down when i got cocky. Savannah is wonderful! And I'm glad that we got to be so close. thanks Gertrude for giving me a new friend and confidant. 

I'm going to miss driving with Jenae. as cheesy as it seems, I love driving. I love being able to think and ponder and (dream, far and wide as you dare. oh the thinks you can think!) talk and let my heart open. and for some reason, that happens best on car rides home. It's what made me and Derek close. It's definitely a daily routine that HAS to happen with Marissa, or i just feel empty. And slowly i can see it working with Jenae. But don't tell her i said that, or it might stop, hahaha. But really, I love driving her a round. even if it doesn't seem like it when i'm yelling at stop lights...

I am Gertrude McFuzz.

You don't understand.

I am she. she is me. we are the same being. only, she's a fictional bird and i'm a real person.

but we are literally the same.

We're both awkward and purple and crazy and kind of a stalker, but we have the best intentions at heart.

Gertrude tries relentlessly to get the guy of her dreams. she goes out of her way to impress him. 

but he's too busy with his heroic deeds to notice the girl that's been right in front of him all along.

Hm.

Story of my life?

I think yes.

she gets all depressed over her little one feathered tail. SO depressed that she gets surgery to get a HUGE tail. JUST to impress him! But finally she realizes that it doesn't matter how big her tail is, or how many ugly sweaters she owns, or how many feathers she has in her hair, or if she wears a fanny pack all the time... impressing a boy is not the reason you were born! you could do so many better things in your life than mope around waiting for someone to notice you and tell you that your dress is pretty.

finally, I uhmmm, Gertrude realized that!

so then, she was just happy!

and once she was confident, she got the guy just by being her awkward, creepy, purple self! 

So cheer up, freshman and sophomore girls. 

It WILL get better. 

life DOES go on without a boy.

You ARE beautiful. 

no one is a lone in the universe! ever! 

you've got brains in your head and feet in your shoes, so steer your self any direction you choose!

Thank you Gertrude for teaching me to be myself no matter what.

And to always smile. Even when you can't fly.

ah,  the sappiness. wonderful.

Thank you Seussical.

For making me the happiest I've been in years. 

For giving me friends i never would have come across otherwise.

for sneaking motivational messages in every song.

For depriving me of sleep and food, for clogging my brain with endless rhymes. For making me hate make up even more than i already do. for giving me a renewed respect for tap dancing. For making me love Mrs.Bricker. For forcing me to realize that putting on a show is not as easy as it looks, and Ginger Latimer is one of the most selfless people I know. for giving me my first power dollar. for making me sing so loud and so often i thought my throat would fall out. For making me fall in love with my school, again. For convincing me that Theatre is my niche, and i can never stop doing this.

And for reminding me how blessed i am.

Look at all these happy faces!

I love them all so stinkin' much!

this show was pure MAGIC.

From the very first Oh the thinks you can think in January with Joel, To the Green Eggs and Ham last Saturday night that ended it all, there was an undeniable glow in this production.

If you didn't get to see it, you missed out.

I already it miss it more than i can bare.

I'm going to keep missing it.

All of it.

All of them.

So thank you Seussical, For making me happy, for setting my future in motion and for changing my life.

Anything's Possible!