Singer-songwriter Mika has just released a kick-ass single...and it mixes "Popular" into the chorus! I'm talking "Popular" from Wicked, y'all. I have special love for this because, (1) Ariana Grande duets with him, and she's great, (2) Mika reminds me of an attractive British man named Stefano with whom I once attended college, so sometimes I imagine we're secret friends, (3) musical theater is officially taking over the world, in a good, non-apocalyptic way.
Anyway, the single is called "Popular Song" and it's basically the coolest thing ever; the music video is all Tim Burton-y and sexy and empowering, somehow at the same time. Click below to give it a listen, or click here to buy it on iTunes.
Guest teacher, singer extraordinaire, and all around handsome dude Sam Port (you may recognize him from other such riveting videos as this or this) joins me as we discuss what exercises will help you to hone singing technique, why you should celebrate "crack," and how you can prepare for your next performance. Hope you like it!
Dear U.G. readers! Adding delicious spice (and "cheese") to the bloggoriffic concoction that is the U.G. Blog, guest blogger Daniel Robert Sullivan -- veteran actor, writer extraordinaire, and author of Places, Please! (Becoming A Jersey Boy) (which takes you behind-the-scenes of the Broadway musical Jersey Boys) -- is here to tell you all about his book!
Sounds like something you guys might like, right????????
(Also, he and I are both from Rhode Island! What are the odds? I'll tell you what they are: low.)
So, without further ado, heeeeeere's Danny!
* * *
The first big Broadway musical I ever saw was the 1st National tour of Starlight Express at the Providence Performing Arts Center. It changed me, but not in the way you might expect.
Little Danny Sullivan (I’m “Daniel Robert Sullivan” now, but back then my name was much more diminutive) didn’t need inspiration to pursue a life in the theatre; that had happened three years prior on opening night as tin soldier Colonel Cuddy in the Christmas pageant. No, little Danny Sullivan needed information. Little Danny Sullivan wanted details. Little Danny Sullivan wanted to know exactly how to get a job like this.
I offer my sincere thanks to Felicia for allowing me to guest on this WICKED COOL blog, but I offer her even more thanks for writing a book that is designed to help aspiring artists understand what it is really like day-to-day to perform in shows like this. Unnaturally Green is exactly the kind of book I would have devoured during my early days, and I hope its readers might enjoy a similar story from a different musical: Places, Please! (Becoming A Jersey Boy). I know the title is cheesy. But I’m pretty cheesy, too.
Somewhere deep in my two years auditioning for a lead role in Jersey Boys, I realized that I was in a position to write the thing I most wanted to read when I was coming up: an extremely detailed account of what it’s like to audition and rehearse a mega-musical. I read all the books about performing I could get my hands on back then, but none dove down deep into the things I wanted to know.
Who is in the room at the twelfth callback? How many pages of scenes are there to learn? What is a “harmony audition?” What kind of combinations are at the dance calls? How many actors are called back each time? How many onstage rehearsals before opening? What kind of notes are given by the PSM, dance captain, conductor, fight captain, associate director, and production supervisor? What is it like to have real fans at the stage door every night? Does anyone tire of their role after 500 performances?
Places, Please! (Becoming A Jersey Boy) attempts to answer all of these questions, just like Unnaturally Green does. Felicia does it with humor, I do it with cheese... And what’s more, both of us deal with, and attempt to be honest about, the emotional upheaval that comes with connecting relationships to work.
Felicia and I are blessed to have had the luck we’ve had with our respective shows, and I hope her readers might embrace my story like they’ve embraced hers. We have both been given a tremendous gift in the performing side of our careers. And I am proud to be in the small group of people who has been allowed to put the journey towards this gift down on paper with hopes of providing a little inspiration.
(Really cheesy ending coming now.)
Dream big. You just might succeed.
(That was the cheesy ending. Thanks for reading. Rock on.)
Are you thinking of buying Unnaturally Green as a gift for somebody this holiday season? If so, congratulations: you are one of the most brilliant people I have ever known.
Even more importantly...
If you buy a copy of my book, then forward me your confirmation email of purchase, I'll send you or the person you're buying for a videogram! (I'm at Felicia@FeliciaRicci.com.)
What is a videogram? It's a short video from me being like, "Heyyyy thanks for buying my book. You're cooooool let's be friendddddds" etc. in which I'll look very similar to the above screenshot, except my hair is shorter now.
When you forward me your Amazon/Barnes and Noble receipt, just tell me the name of the person I'm talking to and one or two fun facts I can throw in. I'll do my best to entertain, and will reply to your email with the link to the videogram by January 1, 2013.*
Note: Videograms are for paperback copies only and are non-retroactive, meaning the purchase receipt has to be from December 14, 2012 onward.
So what are you waiting for, my little elves? Make somebody super happy this year by giving them a really fun book and a video of somebody they've never met making no sense whatsoever.
Yo dudes! I hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Mine was celebrated alongside my boyfriend Marshall's awesome family -- and was lovingly termed "Steaksgiving," because we ate steak instead of turkey, because steak is way better than turkey.
Marsh, Sibs, Fel and Sophie the German Shepherd!
Later on in the evening, while I lay prostrate on the couch, waiting for the miracle of digestion to deliver me from my food-coma, Marshall and two of his sibs built a raging campfire!
From that campfire they made torches!
With those torches they performed "The Festival of Torches":
Let there be light, bitches
I was pretty sad I missed this in-person. Then, upon further reflection, I realized I wasn't -- because, being a safety-nut, I probably would have begun screaming and convulsing on the ground.
Anyway, Thanksgiving has come to an end. It's time to take down my Thanksgiving decorations: a gourd named Maurice and a mini-pumpkin-gourd named Bam, who had taken residence upon my mantle, and by mantle I mean Ikea shelf:
Maurice and Bam are friends & do their homework together
The parting is bittersweet! But all is not lost. Because, as we bid farewell to one holiday, we usher in the next!
Christmahannuquanza!
Don't worry: it takes a few days for the consumerist panic to set in. Before it does, allow me to direct you toward the perfect gift-giving solution:
Here is how you do it (make sure you view this on a browser, as opposed to a mobile device or iSomething)!
(And be warned: I only have about 10 signed copies on hand -- so make sure you don't snooze on this one!)
Unnaturally Green -- signed and personalized by me! -- is fun, breezy, comedic, and sure to put a smile on ol' Grandpa Phil's face. (Doesn't everybody have a Grandpa named Phil?) In short, it is the gift that keeps on giving. Until, you know, you read it.
In any event, whether or not you buy my book, let's all be sure to follow up this holiday of thanks with a wild consumerist frenzy. Hooray!
One year and change ago, I was convinced there was NO WAY I was going to be able to finish my book. One year and a month ago, I was pretty much going insane, trying to edit the final draft, keeping outrageously late hours, tossing and turning like a tormented weirdo! But, behold, one year ago to the day, Unnaturally Greenfinallyburst forth from my womb-brain, like a giant, aggressive alien that was also a book and also my child.
The point is: 'Twas born!
(Self-doubt, get offa my stoop!)
Since then, I've had the great pleasure of getting to know the coolest darn bunch of readers this side of the Mississippi -- which is every side, because y'all are from around the globe. (How cool is that?)
AND YAY I AM HAPPY ABOUT IT.
So. That being said, let's celebrate U.G's bday by getting down to business!
1) THANKS ARE IN ORDER! If you've been a fan/reader/blog-participant for the past year (or even before that) THANK YOU again for being so supportive and for making my job incredibly fun and rewarding. So many of you have left thoughtful Amazon.com or Goodreads reviews, emailed me your thoughts (side note: if you've emailed me in the past couple of months, I *will* write back; just takes me a while), tweeted nice things at me -- and I can't tell you how grateful I am.
2) I had a blast reading all your contest entry limericks! They were incredible! Thanks to all who entered! Random selection from the pool came up with these three illustrious winners --
Congratulations to:
Tricia L.S. Patricia M. Rebekah H.
Hooray! You each get a signed and personalized copy of Unnaturally Green! Double hooray! (Be sure to email me your contact info so I can get that book to you ASAP!)
And finally...
3) Please enjoy this OUT OF CONTROL video I filmed with my friend Sam (perhaps you remember him from our Snood video? or as the guy in Unnaturally Green who Facebook messages me about almost buying me a Wicked Witch doll, or something...).
(WARNING: Do not operate heavy machinery while watching.)
And thus we conclude a very exciting post on a very exciting day. I feel wistful, nostalgic, proud...and, as always, grateful to have all of you as my readers.
Dear ones! On this October 14, my book/lovechild Unnaturally Greenwill officially turn 1 year-old! To commemorate its birth and subsequent growth into a wee tiny spittling babe, I will be giving away SIGNED, PERSONALIZED COPIES (the perfect holiday gift, wut wut) TO THREE LUCKY READERS.
Didja hear me?
THREE SIGNED, PERSONALIZED COPIES!
Who is eligible? All creatures on this great spherical earth, regardless of locale, can enter (even you, Antartican penguins!).
IN ORDER TO ENTER, YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF THIS BLOG POST INCLUDING: 1) First name and last initial. 2) A limerick that (loosely) has to do with: a) Wicked, b) green babies, c) your favorite cheese, d) Unnaturally Green.
(What is a limerick? It's a poem like this:
There once was an author named Fel,
Who thought that her readers were swell.
When her book turns one year,
She will let out a cheer,
And cover her head in hair gel.)
Anyway, winner will be drawn at random and announced on October 14 on this blog -- but you can get submitted into the pool once, twice, or three times depending on the awesome-ness factor of your limerick.
Sound good? Everybody enter and tell your friends!!
Cool news from the Unnatural front! I've just recorded a video for Broadway Spotted in which I read Chapter 19 of Unnaturally Green aloud, moments after having woken from a nap!
Click the pic below to be taken to the book club's page, where the video resides (and be sure to comment on Chapters 12-18, last week's reading!).
Weeeeee! Thanks to so many readers' input, Unnaturally Green got chosen to be read for popular blogger/tweeter Broadway Spotted's Broadway Book Club! If you've already read my book, why not give it another go-around?
The Book Club will give you a chance to discuss it with others -- and maybe I'll chime in, too! It looks like they're reading the first 50 pages this week.
This is so exciting! We’ve never done any kind of voting with a sweep this crazy! Felicia Ricci’s book Unnaturally Green was far and away the favorite to be our fourth book for the Broadway Book Club!
A lot of you were voting for this book despite having already read it, so I can only assume two things. That you want to read it again and/or you really want a chance to discuss it with other broadway lovers. Both are great. Just remember not to give anything away for those of us who are behind the curve. For next week, please read through page 50. We’re gonna start slow just to give everyone a chance to buy the book and start.
Are you plan on joining the discussion? Leave a comment below to let me know!
UPDATE ON 8/25/12:
Looks like (1) we'll be reading up to Chapter 3 for tomorrow (page numbers are too confusing with e-readers); (2) the discussion will begin sometime in the morning or afternoon-ish. You can chime in by writing in the comments section of Broadway Spotted's latest Broadway Book Club post. I'll be sure to roll in sometime before 1:30PM, and will stay for as long as I'm welcome! Hooray!
Many of you have emailed/tweeted/Facebooked/beeped/booped/plappity-plapped me with the following question:
"What are you doing, Felicia?"
And usually I just avoid the question and am all like "I DERNT KNER!" (Translation: "I don't know.") (Translate your own phrases into ERMAHGERD-ese here!) But now, at long last, I'm going to tell you what I'm doing, at which point your hopes will either be met or dashed.
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