(I know this is a tad bit late, but)
HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!
I had a grand time waving good-bye to good ole 2011 in Arizona, celebrating the arrival of a new year and all its possibilities under a warm desert sky. It was a beyond heavenly vacation to my boyfriend Patrick’s home state where the sun was a radiant king for our week stay and a light sweater was all that we needed for our daily escapades. Our week was filled with hilarious board and card game nights with Patrick’s family, delicious home cooked meals, morning runs about Patrick’s neighborhood that reminded me of a Disney World resort, home videos against Patrick’s will, a trip to the Mesa Temple to see the massive Christmas Light display- SEE BELOW, fireworks and bonfires in the streets New Year’s Eve- so Legal there!, coffee shop dates on a ranch watching the sun slip elegantly away, unbeatable Mexican cuisine, a trip to Tucson to see Patrick’s college campus (STUNNING!), shopping and walking about Phoenix (I got a onesie decorated in whoopee pies for 4 bucks!!), and of course I couldn’t miss it- THE GRAND CANYON. I think throwing in a wonder of the world to our trip destined it to be beyond magical. Arizona was just an indescribable blessing, a refreshing break from the fast pace bounce between NY and Philly Patrick and I manage on top of auditioning and working. It was pretty hard for us to hop a plane back to the craziness that is our every day life, but without a doubt, we both felt refueled and ready for a new year.
And boy oh boy do I have a year in store for me…
.Upcoming.
I CAN’T READ MUSIC!
–a tara tag cabaret learned by ear-
I don’t know what possessed me one December morning, while sipping my coffee and scrolling Backstage and Playbill for jobs, to go on a whim and submit to this production company seeking solo cabaret acts. It must have been some unexplainable surge of confidence that simply saw I had nothing to lose, typing away a package of ideas and looking ahead into the New Year with great gusto! Well, I’m glad that I happened to feel like a queen that day for this whim has now blossomed into a true blue reality!
On 7 pm March 24th at the Duplex in New York City’s West Greenwich Village with JD Productions, I will be making my one-woman cabaret debut in an delightful evening celebrating a handful of my favorite lady performers, whom all claimed they could not read a single note when they landed in show business! These are also the dazzling women that have fashioned me into the performer I am today, most likely to blame for the old soul I possess in the Golden Age of musical theatre comedy. Lets just say I had no hope to ever be an ingénue and was fated a character actress right off the bat!
In preparation, I have been on a wild goose chase collecting the musical gems I hope to fill the night with (so much of it is out of print- but I am determined!) and have created a library of memoirs and biographies to get me more acquainted with my fabulous ladies. I feel like I’m back in school in an amazing way, staying up all night to finish a chapter that’s got me hooked, jotting down notes and connections I find between the 5 women I have chosen, and just generally filled with excitement to be learning all while letting lose and challenging myself as performer. You have got to make your own opportunities- its my 2012 feat!
I don’t want to give away much more except to encourage you to please come and share this experience with me! There will be Dirty Shirleys to kick back- I promise!- and a performance that is coming from the bottom of my heart! I hope to see you there!
A Huge Thank You to Miss Kellyn Uhl for her photography genius!
Poster by Jesse Havea and a Facebook Event Coming Soon!
CLICK THIS LINK TO PURCHASE TICKETS ON THE DUPLEX'S CALENDAR!
.the PHILLY life.
Walnut Street Theatre’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL rehearsals and performances completely made my holiday season a merry dream as well as the tree decorating party my roommates and I had! Our living room looked like an arts and crafts fair gone mad and our tree got completely spoiled by our friends’ outstanding creativity! It always pays to have friends who are artists. I also made the local papers in an advertisement for A CHRISTMAS CAROL, placed right on the spread in beauteous pink caroler garb next to none other than Billy Elliot (who’s tour was at the Academy of Music this past December)! SEE BELOW. That’s one for the scrapbook! I was lucky to have friends from all over Philly and even NY come out to catch the show and to go home to Jersey with Patrick for one of the best ever Christmas Eves. I believe the board game BE A BROADWAY STAR is a must among every theatre geek and musical loving family. I got it as a gift from my Aunt Maureen and we could not stop cracking up when we played it. Of course Patrick and I lost to my unstoppable Tony Award winning family. Lose $150 to a vocal coaching, Lose $10 at Starbucks before big audition- sounds about right! Haha- So genius! Then on Christmas Day, I got to travel up to Scranton to be with my other set of grandparents in their new assistant living home that even has it’s own house dog named Clark to greet you when you come in! I was glad I got to see a huge chunk of my family before heading to Arizona, and once again, am blessed to have them so close to me for my favorite time of year!
Right now, I indeed have my hands full back in Philly, working on two middle-school productions as well as a Visitors Experience Host at the National Constitution Center! I always hope to be interactive with children through out my career and am thrilled to be working on the Independence Mall strip in my first day job as well! I also just got surprised with an understudy opportunity at the Walnut (it’s been a line cramming weekend!), am performing in a cabaret for the Walnut, doing a teaching residency at an all boys school through the Walnut, assisting last year’s MT teacher at the Nut Heidi Hayes on an outside project, and am taking classes on scholarship as well at their Theatre School. Did I ever stop being an apprentice? Haha! I also monitored the Philly EPA and appointments (reader as well) for Pennyslvannia Shakespeare Festival, which was a blast for me. I can totally see myself being an Equity monitor when I’m old and gray, cracking jokes and reading peoples specials skills on their resumes non stop. :-)
A deeper look…
I am the Walnut’s Adopt-A-School Chester A. Arthur’s choreographer for ALADDIN, JR, which of course, has me pumped! The kids blew the dance call out of the water, one jumping ahead of the breadline, and have requested I add some hip-hop flavor to the moves. Well, that’s a whole new world (hehe!) for me, but I am up for the challenge! I also can’t stop humming “Arabian Nights.”
Through iTheatrics, a branch of Musical Theatre International, and in promotion of NBC’s SMASH, I am happy to be the project advisor for their Make a Musical program in Philly at Independence Charter School! Such a great gig! I’ll be assisting the directing team in their first ever school musical of ANNIE, JR., which will be going up in June. I think its so funny that the Jr. productions exist now because thinking back on my middle school shows, we made you sit in Anatevka for over 3 hours in our full length FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and did not cut a scene or song from THE SOUND OF MUSIC or ANNIE either. You bet your bottom dollar “Hooverville” was in! When I watch home videos of those productions, I usually have to fast forward the scene changes for a few minutes to get to the next scene. God bless our parents to sit through it all! So I definitely think Junior versions are brilliant! CLICK ME FOR INFORMATION ON ITHEATRICS!
I just started at the National Constitution Center and see it as a wonderful opportunity to be involved with a unique experience Philly has to offer! What a perfect place to be at during the presidential campaign too; it will force me to engage more politically, which is one of my New Years resolutions. I love wandering the center and traveling through the constitution’s origin to today in American history. Our country is pretty inspiring; I really love reading up on the individuals who called upon change, finding their freedom in the WE THE PEOPLE gift our country has given us. I sometimes forget how lucky we are. I also can’t wait for the Bruce Springsteen exhibit to open- I get a sneak preview in two weeks! CLICK ME FOR INFO ON THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER- COME VIST ME!
A Little Performing…
I will be singing “Shy” from ONCE UPON A MATTRESS in a fundraiser sponsored by the Walnut called A WHOLE NEW WORLD AT ARTHUR at the Adopt-A-School tomorrow night February 6th. Show is at 7pm and is located on 20th and Catherine in the school’s auditorium. Come on out and support! There will be a preview of ALADDIN, JR!
I also became the understudy for “Mollie Ralston” in THE MOUSETRAP at the Walnut St. Theatre, played by one of my Philly favorites Jennie Eisenhower, this week and have been trying to catch up to speed. I haven’t done a British accent in a while, so that’s really fun, and I adore murder mysteries thanks to being obsessed with CLUE as a child. So much gasping and finger pointing- its brilliant! CLICK ME FOR INFO ON THE MOUSETRAP AT THE WALNUT UNTIL MARCH 4TH!
On February 19th, my mom and my pop-pop’s shared birthday, I am travelling down to Scranton with fellow partner in crime Matthew Mastronardi to perform a cabaret in their honor as a public performance for my grandparent’s entire living community. We are on their entertainment calendar! I am lovingly calling the cabaret MATTY AND ME, and am most looking forward to our rousing sing-a-long of THE SOUND OF MUSIC’S “The Lonely Goatherd,” SEUSSICAL’S “Notice Me Horton” changed to “Notice Me Matty” Duet, and our “Sunshine Medley” combining my pop-pop’s favorite tune to sing to me “You are My Sunshine” with BIG RIVER’S “Waiting for the Light to Shine.” Matty will be on the piano and there will also be a guest performance by none other than Sharon Tagliaferro. I think this event would sell out if we brought it on the road!
Scranton Cabaret Stars of MATTY AND ME!
.the NYC Life.
Auditions, auditions, auditions.
Many not even seen at due to union rules and the jam-packed nature. It’s truly a tough time to be in theatre today. This is when I try to see holding rooms (where you sit and wait before your audition) as a place to reconnect with my friends from summer stock and college as the alternative to getting anxious or annoyed in a crowded sea of people. But in good news, the ones I’ve been seen at have gone well, and I will just keep plugging away until one bites! I’m building my rep book, seeing vocal coaches Sheri Saunders for pop/rock material to start busting out and Rosemary Loar while on my stays in the Big Apple. These two women have been more than helpful. I also have been taking dance classes at Steps and Broadway Dance Center, which feels amazing, and am falling more in love with my boyfriend’s neighborhood in Astoria. I don’t even mind my Mega Bus and Bolt Bus rides into New York, seeing it as a 2-hour time block to get things done. Thanks to the bus I’ve gotten through one of my memoirs, and two Harry Potters- Patrick got me the whole series for Christmas! PS Cannot wait for the HUNGER GAMES movie!!!!!
.other stuff.
My favorite time out from all this busy life of traveling to and fro is to go see my friends rock it out in the productions they are in. Kelsey "Kiki" Thompson was as sophisticated and brassy as they come on the DAMN YANKEES tour- I got to see their first performance!- and my Philly friends in the casts of 11th Hour’s ORDINARY DAYS, Walnut Studio 3’s PROOF, and Bristol Riverside’s GYPSY, were all exquisite and extraordinary theatre experiences. I also got to see the incomparable Audra MacDonald at the Kimmel Center in Concert and was overwhelmed by her magnificent presence and talent. I never wanted it to be over!
Kiki in her wig and Me!
I filmed PSA sketches for my friends from college Ari Frankel and Dave Murgittroyd's company, one being able to be viewed on YouTube! CLICK ME TO WATCH! It was actually a lot of fun and I got to hang with people I wish I saw way more than I do now. Ari is moving to LA and I wish him all the luck!
Lastly, here is a throwback to my fall production of CHICAGO at the Media Theatre! I miss being a murderess. ;-)
CLICK PICTURES TO MAKE LARGER!
Geez Louise.
My brain is in boot camp right now with all the lyrics and lines stumbling around, but it’s always a blessing to be busy because you don’t have time to be afraid. Thank god for the love around me.
Here we go 2012!
Much Love,
Tara Tag
