Then ~ all the places I’ve been
July 2019 Ghosted: The Musical @ The Toronto Fringe location: Randolph Theatre
Zohra signs up for a dating service – but unbeknownst to her, it’s run by demonic beings from a parallel universe who lure unsuspecting humans into a malicious trap! GHOSTED: The Musical, created by Alexandra Lean and Ana Trask, plays July 4-14 at Randolph Theatre as part of the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival.
2019 The Secret Singers @ various venues in Toronto
We went to open mic nights and sang songs written by Ana Trask. It was an escape for me. Me pretending to be a popstar – cause it was fun. We wore wigs and called ourselves Violet and Rose. We even did a couple of shows at Comedy Bar. These were a little more thought out – in that we added more characters and the premise was that we were from another dimension.
For the ‘nerdy with a sense humor’ type who wants to see a show with improv, music and sci-fi on a Wednesday Night. Violet. Rose, Lilac, Mauve, and Azure are here on a mission to save the universe. They need your help to figure it out.
Violet and Rose are on an important secret mission from a parallel universe but travelling between dimensions has caused them to forget it. So while they try to figure it out they decide to have fun by singing the songs of the most popular diva from their dimension. Appearing at a Toronto open mic night near you.
Truth be told when this group idea came up I was going through a really difficult time in my life with depression. I was on a leave of absense to figure out how to be in this world and following my friend Ana around to her various open mic nights. I was trying to be a supportive friend and loved her songs and it seemed like having a friend on stage with her would help. Then after we got into Fringe it morphed into a fundraising idea for Ghosted. I do not think of myself as a great talent when it comes to singing at all. There was also a part of me that felt like if I am to be deemed ‘crazy’ then that means I can do anything I want. The most outlandish thing I could think of was starting a girl group in my 30s; I mean what were people going to say ‘she’s crazy’ -umm…I already had that label.
June 19th 2018 @ Betty’s
I will be performing 3 original songs. I will be accompanying myself on piano whilst singing 2 original songs and be accompanied on guitar by Murray Foster whilst singing another song we wrote together. The songs I will be performing are: Waiting from Nobody’s Idol; Popstar from Character Assassination and Astronaut.
I even recorded ‘Astronaut’ – https://open.spotify.com/track/00RunGLWLnd75r7NyHUnlJ
Truth be told…I’m half embarrassed for recording the song. I like this song. I don’t like my voice. I wish to re-record and have someone with a better voice sing the song. Or maybe I’ll write other songs that I believe are worthy of such an act. I feel like I just need to say that when I recorded this song – I was going through a really, really dark time and was grasping at any kind of distraction to lift me up just a little.
Character Assassiation – A Writer’s Guide to Killing Your Literary Darlings
A comedy with a lot of character just in time for Halloween. A so-called writer can’t catch a break and has decides to get rid of her fictional worlds once and for all. Can her characters stop her? A comedy with a musical element that is also a page turner for people don’t read anymore. This was a staged reading in an effort to raise funds so I can work more on Mimi and the Music.
Music and Lyrics: Alexandra Lean, Murray Foster, Ana Trask
Featuring:
Sarah Horsman
Ryan Wallace Reeve
Ramona Gilmour-Darling
Andrea Ni Ealaigh
Nathanael Azevedo
Jodi Jahnke
The first workshop presentation of Mimi and the Music
Mimi Maya Hamilton hasn’t left her parents basement since high school due to anxiety. She is determined to meet the amazing, the incomparable, Hopera and be on her show but first she’ll have to leave her home. A staged reading is in the works for April 23rd at The Alumnae Studio. Please join me in welcoming this literary/musical baby to the world. More details to be announced when they are determined.
The First Reading of Character Assassination: A Writer’s Guide to Killing Your Literary Babies, Literally
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Allie Pike drives out to desert to kill her creations. I read this out loud in front of people and used stick figures to represent each character. This is what I have to work with! I love this play with music – it’s so fun and so me.
The First Reading of The Musical and I
It took place on Tuesday, June 28th at Betty’s On King http://www.bettysonking.com/
Actors who participated were: Ramona Gilmour-Darling, Murray Foster, Ryan Reeves, Ana Trask and Alexandra Lean. A big thank you to these folks.
Special Thanks to: Anne Marie Scheffler, Anita Beaty, Emma Leck, Sean Ban Beaton, Joanna Lean, Danny Pike for making it possible by either teaching me to do stuff or showing up and giving feedback. Thank you!
MoMondays
MoMondays was a positive experience I hope to do this again. Perhaps this will lead to becoming a speaker because I would like to inspire other artists to never give up on their dreams.
Lip Sync!
A night of lip syncing. It’s not really a night its more like an hour of crazy fun where you and I lip sync. I’m just saying it’s always really awesome. I’m trying out this game I made up called the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lip Syncing.
Nobody’s Idol ~ a musical comedy
https://nobodysidol.wordpress.com/
Misfits and wannabes duel with their voices for the grand prize, a ‘lifetime supply of fame’ at the world’s most popular televised competition. A kick-ass musical parody bursts onto the Toronto scene where Nobodies become Somebodies, or do they? What would you sing to become the ultimate somebody? Directed by: Ramona Gilmour Darling Choreography: Siona Jackson Starring: Jory Rossiter, Jajube Mandiela, Piper Hayes, Sean Ban Beaton, Emma Bartolomucci, Kevin Braithwaite Braulio Elicer and a cardboard cutout of Kaley Cuoco that was cast to play the great Mandy Paul. This was a great experience and I hope to one day do it again. Bigger, badder, uncut…sigh, who knows when all the elements will fall into place for this one to have its moment in the spotlight. Things I would do differently: TELL THE AUDIENCE THEY GET TO VOTE for the winner aka the ending they want.
Waking Dreams Up 