If life were a musical...

I've seen my fair share of musicals in my time. I'm lucky enough to have attended numerous opening nights, after parties and private previews for musicals including Grease-The Arena Spectacular, Fame, Oh!What a Night, Floorplay, Ballroom, The Lion King, Singing in the Rain, Shout, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and probably more that I just can't remember! In fact, my first trip overseas was for the opening night of Fame in Singapore.
My dad travels a lot with his work- particularly when there's a good musical on. The Fame tour in Asia meant he was away for 3 months. That was probably the hardest- in those 3 months I only got to see my dad for one of the weeks- but we were in a new country so I think it made up for it! He's been all over the world with his work- a couple of years ago he visited the Great Wall of China TWICE in the one year- just because his job allowed him to. This week he's in Melbourne with Marcia, rehearsing for the Chaka Khan concert which they are supporting.
My favourite stage musical that I have seen would definately be Oh! What a Night. I've seen it at least 5 times, and it is the most fun I've ever had at a musical. I probably enjoyed myself so much as I love disco and funk music, and that was the whole point of the muscial!
Not too far behind in my list of favourites is Jason Gilkinson's Floorplay. I saw this one 3 times- the dancing was just amazing, one of the nights I took all my girls along and we had the best time!

The girls and I at Floorplay. No, we did NOT get into a food fight... :S


In fact, for the opening night of Floorplay (2 years ago) I made the Sunday Telegraph social pages! It was the strangest thing- I was randomly approached by a photographer that night, who asked for my name and then told me to pose for the camera- my god, I felt like the biggest dork. I totally didn't expect to make the pages- let alone be the main photo on the page! I was getting people come up to me all day at work (I make coffee, so a lot of people were reading the paper around me) and pointing me out, letting me know my face was on the pages. All I could do was laugh. Until I found out the teachers at my school had pinned me up on their notice board in the staffroom. That just freaked me out.
I made the social pages for a second time this year- at the opening of a club/bar in Surfers Paradise called Foxy Brown. My godmother's daughter Nat works in the media and decided to take it upon herself to show me a night on the town in Surfer's when we were up there visiting earlier this year. The photo is disgusting!!

Me, Nat and Unknown. haha Maybe I should have been wearing a dress?


When I was younger, I was pretty used to seeing my face in magazines as I was a child-model. That experience, I think, has lead to my love of the entertainment industry. My "modelling" experience means that I got to walk in Australian Fashion Week (I was 7 at the time- the youngest to take to the catwalk, in Wendy Heather's Swimwear range), audition for movies (the experience was good enough!) and star in commercials including Dairy Farmers (I was the ribbon dancing girl), That's Life magazine, Osh Kosh B'Gosh and, much like my little sister, good old Big W! I eventually stopped the modelling when my family moved from the Northern Beaches, as it took up a lot of my time and I was missing a fair bit of school. I do miss the opportunites that being in an agency can provide, but I really have no time to join one anyway, so I guess there's no point in complaining!

Im out.
Peace.
x

My life on stage.

My dad is one of those people who can be brutally honest. My mum is the same. When I watch shows like "My kid's a star" or even Australian Idol, I can't help but wonder how parents cannot be completely honest to their children. What I'm referring to in this case is how can a parent allow their child to audition for such a show when it is clear that they have no talent in that particular area? I know for a fact that if I was ever to audition for Idol or Top Model or anything else remotely similar, the first person I would be criticised from would be my dad. Not because he is mean. Because he is honest. With a musician as a father, it takes a lot to impress him.

I love to act. It's like second nature to me. I do miss it, as leaving school has meant leaving behind bountiful opportunities to take to the stage. In my short life I have performed in lead roles of numerous school productions : The Wizard of Oz (The Wicked Witch of the West), Blackrock ( Dianne), The Crucible ( Abigail), In Your Dreams (Snug) and Grease ( Marty). I like to think I performed well in all of these productions, but the pressure does still remain when you have a father who works in this industry and sees better performances than the amature ones I star in, every day.


Me as Marty: Grease, 2007.



So when one of my performances brought my mum to tears, and my dad on the verge, I must admit I was taken aback. What shocked me even further was dad saying that my performance was up to the standard of any stage acting he has ever seen in his life in the industry and that I should be taken to Hollywood and made a star (okay, maybe not that very last part- let me dream)! My performance was for my HSC drama piece- an extract from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde. It has been the last piece I have performed- and I must admit, although it was quite draining, I miss it with all of my heart.

That being said, I did have to sing solo in Grease, and although everyone else told me how magnificant I was as a singer and how they had no idea I could dance (I have had lessons for 13 years), my dad and mum were the first ones to bring me back to earth and let me know I'm not a singer, and I can't dance.

And it's so true.

PEACE OUT!

An Idol Moment

Me and Marcia- my first night on the job!



So one of the perks of being a musicians daughter is all of the behind-the-scenes stuff that comes with his job. In particular, I'm lucky enough to have done some work for Marcia during the Australian Idol season last year.
What my 'job' consisted of was sitting backstage (in the greenroom with all the idols) on both of the weekly shows, wating for the audience to leave and handing out information about Marcia's awesome clothing line - MarciHinesOnline. I got paid to gossip with Nat and the other girls, bitch with Ben and muck around with Matt, Carl, Mark, Dan and Marty. Other perks? Grandfinal tickets (+ after party!), inside gossip on what was going on in the house, free goodies (like Marcia's Patrick doll (from Spongebob) that she got from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards)) and free stuff from wardrobe and makeup, introducing the judges to the audience before the show (great experience as I eventually want to be a tv host) AND seeing the set of Baz Luhrmann's latest epic movie- Australia!


Me, Patrick and Ben backstage.


Who was the nicest of all last years idols? Well, they are all pretty great- but I had an instant connection with Ben. Not only is he extremely talented, but he is crazy and funny and a leo- just like me! We formed a pretty close bond while the show was on- the week he left was so crap, I felt lost backstage without him..But we still talk and stuff- his music is coming along great, not to mention his filming and photography. He's gonna shoot me soon so keep an eye out for some crazy photos!


Best Job Out? Andrew G and I judging it up!

What else? Well,at the grandfinal I was lucky enough to be introduced to Geoff Field (the news guy from 2DAY FM)at the pre-drinks party. I plucked up enough courage to ask him how to get a foot in the door of radio-journalism. What did Geoff say? He offered me work experience! I was so stoked. He told me to give him a ring in February and we would talk. So February rolls around and I give him a call- he was so lovely, I was worried he wouldn't remember me...but he did. He was busy at the time and so he took my number and told me he'd ring me within the next two weeks.

I haven't heard from him since.
Which is kind of frustrating because I totally got my hopes up...but I guess that's what you get when you work in entertainment- everyone is just so busy..
So this year I'm going straight to Kyle for work!


Me, Geoff and Lauren at Idol Grandfinal Pre-Drinks

Until next time,
peace bitches.

Model Behaviour!

Yes, I swear we are related!

Not a lot of people can say that they've won the Girlfriend Modelling Competition.
I'm one of them.
But my cousin can.
And I can claim part of her fame by saying I've got the same blood as her (minus the extremely tall, skinny, model blood)!
She's currently in New York, meeting with her overseas agent, Next Models...while still remaining committed to Australian modelling agency Chic.
For a 17 year old, she is pretty well travelled. Just this year modelling has meant visits to Paris, New York, South Africa and Tokyo..to name a few. AND get this. Every couple of years the brand Lacoste (you know the one with the crocodile?) releases a fragrance...and my cousin just so happens to be their international face.
I know what you're thinking.
She must be so hott.
And she is!
So what's it like having 'Australia's next big thing' as a cousin? It's kind of weird.
Take for example, a bus trip into Uni. I was minding my own business, listening to my Hamish and Andy podcast when BAM! There's a picture of my cousin on the back of the bus in front of me. Should I wave? Pointe her out to the stranger sitting next to me? Or smile to myself knowingly? (I did the latter!)
Or when you're sitting in a lecture on magazines, and up pops your cousin on the front of RUSHH in front of you and the 200 other people in the lecture. I lost my cool in this instance and proceeded to scream and point THAT'S MY COUSIN!!...maybe not the coolest thing to do.

But honestly, it happens all the time. Walking into Forever New and seeing her face all over the walls. Flicking through Cleo and coming across her face in a number of the pages. I see her more as a model than I do in real life, as my cousin!



Is it just me, or is that extremely weird?

Until next time,
Peaceeeeeeeee =]