Hi all,
A Merry Christmas and HappyNew Year to everyone! There are actually twelve days of Christmas ending with the Epiphany on January 6. On that day they begin the Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans and the Carnival season in Austria. I don’t like New Year’s because I have to say good-bye to another year and it makes me sad. I was especially sad because this is the first Christmas of my entire life without my grandma. I have been at home with the family enjoying the quiet time, lots of good food, and bundling up because it’s freezing cold up here. My Christmas was quiet with only my grandpa, aunt, parents, brother, and poodle gathered around the circa-1979 dining room table. The only excitement was that one of my brother’s two dogs came to visit and one bit me on my finger. I have a large wound on my finger and it still hurts. I’ll be visiting a few of my friends. I have a great deal of work to do once I get back to Arizona considering I don’t yet have a student teaching assignment. I wasn’t excited about that anyway. In more relevant news to acting, I have two auditions when I come back that actually pay money. I will once again audition for PCPA in Tucson, so wish me luck.
I went to see the movie production of Les Miserables and it was really impressive. I have been listening to the soundtrack since 1986, saw two productions of it, and even auditioned for it about 7 years ago. I have always wanted to be in the show so I am really jealous of anyone who is. Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean, plays the bishop in the movie, which I was extremely excited about. Everyone in the movie sang live so that makes the music really intimate. I thought Hugh Jackman did an incredible job as Jean Valjean and I had the thought during the movie about how funny it would have been for him to sing “I’m Wolverine!” in the song “Who Am I?” I hope that Anne Hathaway wins the Oscar for playing Fantine because she did such an incredible job too and had a really difficult part to play. I was most excited to see Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thernardier’s. They were so much fun to watch on-screen that I would love to see them do it onstage. I now have a major crush on the guy who plays Enroljas, Aaron Tveit, who is a Broadway actor. He is so lovely and revolutionary with his gorgeous blonde hair and brown eyes.
I saw a really funny and well-performed parody of the musical on Youtube by Abbegirl. The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa-EwjAQXEw
Anna Sahlstrom.com 