Krystina Alabado

A New Year's Eve of the Ages

2012-01-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

Alright Torontonians...so far, this city has been nothing but awesome craziness and I love it! Let's talk about opening first...we could not have asked for a better city with a cooler audience to open the show in! The butterflies that were happening when we met at the bed on stage to do our own new version of "fuck time" was contagious and so exciting. The whole creative team came back there with us and Michael gave us a pep talk just before that was so touching. After lots of hugs and break-a-legs, we taught everyone our new "fuck time" inspired by a very funny warm-up our MD Jared taught us the first week (listen close just before the show starts...you may just be able to hear it). Then it was time. The girls ran off, and the curtain started to rise...and just what we love, screams and hoots and hollers!! It pumped us up and we were crazy energized through the entire show until the last note from that cello! I hope all of you that came out to opening had as much fun as we did up there. And, to get a tad sentimental, I cannot reiterate enough how amazing you Idiot fans are and how much your support means to me, and to all of us. It makes such a difference having you guys out there, because we feed off your energy and rage and love that you have connected to the show, just as we do. So thanks for really being the coolest fans out there. :)

So, curtain comes down and now, it's party time! Us girls run off and primp and get dressed in our cute opening night dresses and head to the party! Everyone looked so amazing at the party and I'll just say it, collectively, I think we are a pretty attractive cast ;) There were so many pictures being taken, lots of loved ones, and so much support and excitement for what this tour is going to bring these next six months! It was a great night. Oh oh, can't forget the best part though. For some reason, Me, Jen, Nicci, and Jillian thought we'd be tough chicks and walk back to the hotel in our short dresses, no tights, and four inch heels, Jen being the main instigator after I realized it was a horrible idea. We get outside, and it is a hot. mess. Scratch that, FRIGID MESS. We scurry quickly to the doors that would have let us walk back pretty much inside the rest of way, and it was LOCKED. Jillian then broke her heel, and at this point none of us have any feeling in our thighs or toes and we cannot stop laughing/wishing we would have taken Talia's offer to get driven back to the hotel. We see some of our boys walking over and finally have an escort which is great. Me and Jillian continue hoofing it through the snow and then see Jen sprinting past us in her boots!! HER BOOTS! She brought her boots as a back up. Thanks for the tip Jen Bowles. We finally made it back to the hotel and let our bodies defrost. I literally have never been that cold in my life or laughed that hard. Anyway, the whole evening was amazing, but it couldn't last too long because we had to do a matinee the next day, but you better believe that the minute Richard Ouzounian posted that review around 1am, we were all hooting and hollering in the lobby of our hotel. In case you missed it, here is the incredible review he wrote.

Now, onto New Years. I will say in all of my years celebrating New Years with friends and loved one's, this one was definitely one of the BEST New Years Eve's ever!! We started the day with a soundcheck for this performance we were going to have that night at the big New Years Eve Live celebration in downtown Toronto. After we sound-checked and blocked everything out, we headed back to the theatre for our evening show and once that was over we all got all sparkled up for the evening and headed on the bus! Once we got back to the performance venue, we sat around for a bit, took silly pictures, met the Mayor, and finally went on!! There were SO many people there! Probably the most I've ever performed for, and it was awesome!! The crowd was so excited, and we had a total blast performing for everyone, not to mention that it got broadcast on National Canadian Television! In case you missed it...

The rest of the evening was a whirlwind and such a blast. Our producers threw us a party with great drinks and so much food! We all partied and danced and just enjoyed each others company. I know I say it all the time, but I really do love these people. Every single one. And it really was a perfect night and New Years Eve, with the exception of not having my boyfriend with me :( My friends took care of me though, and I did talk to him at midnight :) Hope you all had a happy and safe New Year and that we all stick to our resolutions!! Cheers to everyone!!

krystina :)

PS: Watch and enjoy this video of our adventures on the Toronto subway!

#UticaRocks

2011-12-30T08:32:00.000-08:00

#UticaRocks, the saying of our time in Utica, and even though there wasn't much to do where we were staying (mostly because we didn't have cars or any free time), the tech process brought on lots of bonding, laughing, and hard work that paid off to beautifully tech-ed and performed shows at the end of the week! This show is a beast to light and sound and costume and it really was amazing to see all of it come together! Most of my costumes are the same but I have a new AI look, and a new Rebel and Homecoming look. Everything else it basically the same stuff I wore on Broadway which makes me happy cause I love it but I also love the new stuff! To the right is a picture of my St. Jimmy outfit! Even though we had very limited free time, we had to eat! We spent most of our dinners eating at the restaurant Ancora by the theatre which we were so happy existed because there were not a lot of options! The atmosphere was nice, and the food was so yummy!! I recommend it to everyone! As for the other stuff around the theatre, there sure were some funny happenings between the hotel and the theatre. Our first day, we stopped at a place called "Green Mountain Coffee" and we were like, oh awesome a coffee shop! We walked up to the door and these old guys were like " What are you kids looking for?" and we told them coffee and then they said, "well this is sometimes a coffee shop but we are having a meeting today". We were like, uh okay. I will say though, between the Rite-Aid 20 minutes away, the wig shop down the street, and using our imaginations with what he could find at the hotel, our Secret Santa was a huge success that we had! People got creative, got thoughtful...Julian, one of our guitarists even whittled his secret santa an arrowhead out of his hotel soap!

Now onto more important things, CHRISTMAS!! How was everyones?? and Hanukkah? I had such a wonderful time having my first New York Christmas. Because of our schedule, I wasn't able to find the time to squeeze in flying home to Arizona for our few days off for Christmas which was super weird for me because this is a huge deal with my family! It was hard, but I will say, my small Christmas with my rommies was so much fun!! We watched Christmas movies, opened lots of presents to each other and sent from our families, and had a full on feast including a ham, mac&cheese, collard greens, tamales, beans (homemade Mexican refried beans that I made from scratch!!) and yummy desserts. Not to mention a breakfast feast too of cheesy eggs, cinnamon rolls, and a fancy southern apple sausage roll! It really was such a nice time being at home in my apartment with people I love. I missed my family, but I couldn't have asked for a better and more fun first Christmas in New York! What did everyone get for Christmas? or give?? My favorite thing I gave was a calendar I gave to my parents that I designed with a bunch of pictures of us kids when we were little and stuff. They loved it! And a few of my favorite gifts I got was a Juicy Couture perfume sampler, an awesome dress that I am going to wear for opening, and these beautiful diamond earrings with my birthstone in the middle (woah). I hope you all had a wonderful holiday full of love and lots of food!

Last but not least, here is a picture you Spring Awakening fans might enjoy!! Look who came to our first preview and brought me my favorite flowers??!

krystina :)

Next City: TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA!!

(remember to leave any and all recommendations for food, fun, sight seeing or just about anything in this city! Also, leave any questions if you have them about the rehearsal process, flying, life, or anything!)

oh and I have to give a shout-out to Katie Fitzmorris for all of her awesome recommendations to do in Utica! Thanks Katie! We never got a chance to check them out cause of our bonkers schedule, but we loved all your ideas!!

I want to be a part of it...New York, New York!

2011-12-13T21:27:00.000-08:00

Our time is coming to an end here in NYC, and it has been so incredible. It's funny, I thought that my body would be like, "oh yeah, I remember this, no problem" but instead it was like "ow OW OW OH HOLY CRAP OW". This show is the hardest show on your body but in the best (most of the time) way. We have had the pleasure of working with Steven Hoggett (original choreographer) every day and he is the definition of a warrior. Our "warm-ups" in the mornings are basically full on workouts/bootcamp and it is a sweaty mess. It's funny though seeing the difference already from week one to week two. We are still being worked super hard, but everyone (including me) is stretching farther, breathing less heavy in sprints, doing more push-ups, and looking fabulous. This show whips you into shape quick! It is really amazing getting to work with Steven because I actually never got to work with him when I was in the Broadway show except for one warm-up before a show when he made a special appearance. That is my favorite thing about being able to do the tour.

My experience being a Broadway replacement for this show could not have been more different. I had 8 rehearsals with just me and Ben, and sometimes with Justin Guarini, Davey Havok, and PJ Griffith the other replacements as the time. But mostly it was just me, the incredible Ben Thompson, and our MD Jared. But this time, it's crazy!! We are creating something together with everyone and it is so cool! Tom Kitt is with us every day tweaking the vocals, Steven Hoggett has incredible new ideas which you will all see and, if you've seen the show, will notice with some of the choreography, and it is just awesome because this time I actually get to have a full process. I get to hear Michael Mayer explain why we do this here, or fell like this there. It is a dream. Not to mention the cast. These new Idiots are unreal. It feels authentic and awesome and so fierce! Plus they are like the nicest people ever. I'm already making life-long friends...and they're funny too!

Enjoy some pictures from our rehearsal process! And check out this Playbill exclusive to take a closer look at our rehearsals in NYC! http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery/3398/?pnum=7

Last night after our last studio run which we performed for all the old Idiots, (such an awesome experience having all the Idiots in one room, plus it was SO nice to see everyone!) we all attended the premiere screening of NBC's new show Smash. Michael Mayer, our director, also directs Smash so he invited us all and it was a great way to end our NY rehearsals with a bang. It was at MOMA and we all dressed up, ate fancy hor dourves, took lots of pictures, and watched the show, which was so great! I can't wait till it premieres next year because I have a feeling people are gonna love it, ESPECIALLY theatre lovers! The acting was awesome, the performances were beautiful and fierce, and the show in general was superbly directed and written! Can't wait for you all to see it! And this morning, we had our Sitz Probe and man was in unbelievable!!! This band is SICK. My ears are still ringing!!

So tonight is my last night in NYC (minus the two days we have off for Christmas). It is crazy that we start tour tomorrow! Life is about to change drastically, but in the best way. I love touring and even though I will miss my life here in New York, I cannot wait to start performing this show around the country!

And now I leave you with a video introducing some of the Idiot girls and how we felt after our first week of rehearsal! I know a lot of you have been asking if I am going to make videos like I did for Spring Awakening...and the answer is...yes! Woo! Enjoy!

krystina :)

Next City: UTICA, NY

(remember to leave any and all recommendations for food, fun, sight seeing or just about anything in this city (especially Utica...what the heck is Utica? haha Also, leave any questions if you have them about the rehearsal process, flying, life, or anything!)

Flying Southern Belle's

2011-11-22T05:26:00.000-08:00

Flying home from fly school is not going as smoothly as flying did this week in Charleston. What a great week it was. And what a great city Charleston, SC is. Meet our newest Idiots, Nicci, Jillian (girls up there) Scott, Dan, and Gabe! We had some great times, and big laughs this week and it was wonderful getting to know everyone, especially suspended a billion feet in the air. It was such an awesome feeling getting back into the harness! As some of you know, I understudied Extraordinary Girl on Broadway, but haven't flown in over six months. Muscle memory really is fascinating because the minute I got back in my harness and was hooked up, it all came back to me pretty quickly. My flying partner for this week was Dan and by the end, we were all flying like Cirque de Solei performers/Tunny's&Extraordinary Girls. Also, to answer a question from you guys that I got a lot from my last post, I will be performing in the same track I did on Broadway, Ensemble/ u/s Whatsername & Extraordinary Girl!

The food here in Charleston was incomparable. Some of the best southern comfort, buttery food I've had. And I have spent some time in Charleston over the past few years, but for some reason this time around, woo! A few highlights were definitely Magnolias in downtown Charleston. I had these amazing barbeque pork sliders with sweet potato fries. The meat was so tender and the bread was perfectly toasted! We also had a really great celebratory dinner at a place called Hyman's close to our hotel which we were referred to by every cab driver in Charleston. We ate some yummy fish, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, and I tried a sip of a Bloody Mary for the first time. It's like drinking salsa out of the jar. Not my kind of drink but Gabe insists that a "Caeser" Bloody Mary is the way to go which has Clamato juice in it (clam juice). Apparently it's all the rage in Canada where he's from, but I can't imagine drinking salsa with clam juice either. We shall see. Our first night in we ate at Jestine's, another place the cabbies all told us about and I had pecan fried chicken with some of the best mac&cheese. None compares to Matt's grandmas, but it came pretty darn close. All in all, my food experience in Charleston was top notch and I would recommend any and all of these restaurants to anyone visiting!

Not only was the food great in Charleston, but the people were so nice! True ladies and gentlemen, and I mean to the fullest. People on the street said good morning, the waiters took only the ladies orders first, everyone calls you ma'am, and it seems as if every person around us had a big ol' smile on their face and was genuinely happy to see us! I think everyone (including me) could learn a little something from the South and how hospitable they are! Such a great atmosphere! And now, without further ado, my first guest blogger! The ever-so-talented, biggest Southern gentleman I know, straight from Charleston, South Carolina himself, Matt Shingledecker!

"Let's start with the fact that I'm so glad you recognize the FACT that my Mama's mac&cheese is the best on the planet. Still not sharing the recipe. Sorry!

The best way to describe Charleston's cuisine is French Gourmet meets Gullah Soul meets Seafood. If you're ever in the area, check out Laura Albert's. My best friend Elliott Elsey's mother and grandmother have a wine and beer shop on Daniel's Island which also does lunch during the weekdays, brunch on the weekdays, tastings, and caters. For the locals it also boasts dinners that you can take home, reheat, and serve as if you made a home-cooked meal. During the warmer months they have outdoor seating and cornhole.

I learned I wanted to act and sing for the rest of my life at the Doc Street Theater, the oldest theater in the country. It's home to Charleston Stage, the regional theater that I worked the most. It also is one of the many theaters that houses productions that are part of the Spoleto Festival which brings in artists of all sorts from around the world to Charleston as well as featuring local talent.

What you forgot to mention is how beautiful the city is. Downtown Charleston is a peninsula so there is water everywhere. There are many beaches just a short drive away. It also has the largest historic district in the country. My personal recommendations are the Battery, Market, and Rainbow Row. If you're a fan of the "The Notebook," the internet can point you to many scenes filmed in Charleston for the movie as well as many other motion pictures.

All in all I couldn't ask for a better city to grow up in because it kindled some of my greatest loves: food, acting, and singing".

Check out Matt in the Rent revival at New World Stages playing now eight times a week! He plays Roger and it is basically the best thing I have ever seen. Plus he wears really tight pants, and who doesn't wanna see that! Also, follow @bwaybites on twitter, a new food blog created by some of the guys from Rent, including Matt!

So now as I finish this blog post from my comfy couch in New York after being stuck in Charleston for an extra night, we move on to full rehearsals starting Monday at 9 o'clock! And from then on it is go, go, go! It really is crazy how fast time flies! Before we know it, we will be opening in Toronto and I cannot wait. But first, we spend the next three weeks in New York! This should be fun! Enjoy the below picture where some of us deliriously chowed down on a late night dinner at Chili's after we were stranded in Charleston due to our plane being broken. Until next time!

krystina :)

Next City: NEW YORK CITY

(remember to leave any and all recommendations for food, fun, sight seeing or just about anything in this city! Even though I live here, I and the Idiots are always looking for stuff to do. We will be busy, but still! Also, leave any questions if you have them about the rehearsal process, flying, life, or anything!)

Here we go again...!

2011-11-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Good evening bloggers! I am so excited to announce (as most of you already know) that I will be heading back out on the road rocking out with the 1st National Tour of American Idiot!! I cannot even express in words how excited I am to continue working on this show. I had the greatest time with it on Broadway, but my time was limited since we closed shortly after I joined the company. I was itching to continue, and now I will be! This tour is going to be mind blowing. We are hitting some awesome cities including LA, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, and my hometown Tempe, Arizona! We are just a week out from first rehearsals which will commence in Charleston, SC with fly school for all the Extraordinary Girls and Tunnys, and then will continue for the next few weeks here in NYC.

I decided that this blog is going to become very active again as it was when I was on tour with Spring Awakening. I almost find it easier to blog from the road because there are big changes happening almost every week with the new places and stuff. So from here on in, I will be posting a new blog after each city about how the show was received there, cool activities we did, awesome restaurants and coffee shops, our Idiot adventures, and must-sees in each city. I will also announce at the bottom of each post the next city to come and would love for you all to post comments if you have favorite spots for us to hit, restaurants, places to see, that favorite hole-in-the-wall we would never think of and anything else we should check out in that city. I will include pictures, guest bloggers, and maybe even a video or two! I would love to make this blog more interactive! So feel free to leave any questions you have too, about Idiot, the business, life, whatever! and I will take the time to answer them in my next post! Spread the word to whoever you think would be interested and maybe I'll catch you out on the road! Can't wait to hear from you guys!

Krystina :)

Next City: CHARLESTON, SC

Summer Summer

2011-08-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

I love summer, but it definitely leaves me with endless amounts of free time. Aside from auditions and a little work here and there, I do a lot of working out, art projects, and sitting in the park reading!! So this is what I ask you! I need book suggestions!! I read SO many books and I get super indecisive in the book store! So could you guys all tell me your favorite books? Currently I am about to finish the 6th Harry Potter book. I have been re-reading them all and although my next read should technically be the 7th book, I am going through a little bit of a mourning period about the whole thing. I don't know if you all know this about me (those of you who follow me on twitter do haha) but I am one of the BIGGEST Harry Potter fans ever. I am talking I stood in line for the books as they came out, went to every midnight showing of the movies, get literal goosebumps every time I hear the theme song, have a Gryffindor scarf and sweatshirt, have a an HP pop-out calendar hanging in my room, and have my own custom wand (the magic it possesses is that it parts my hair every morning with the flick of my wrist). I was 11 when the first book came out just like Harry. I think that is one of the reasons that I have a such a strong connection to the books. My teacher at the time Mrs. Simon recommended it to me, and I read it SO fast and I wanted to go to Hogwarts more than anything in the entire world. And I kept reading the books and felt like I was almost in it with them because we were the same age every year as the books would come out. I just feel like that whole thing is my total childhood which is why I am dreading it being over. I even waited to see the movie this year because I just couldn't do it! But I finally saw it in IMAX and I cried for the 2 hours and 10 minutes straight. I was so ecstatic that the movie gave the books and the finality of the whole thing such justice...Ok WOW worst Harry Potter tangent ever, focus Krystina...BOOKS! Ok so anyway, I am looking for anything and everything to read! So throw it at me! And I will post my book reviews as I read them! (do you guys like Hunger Games? I keep hearing about it but I have no idea what it's about)

As some of you know, it was recently my birthday! I just wanted to quickly say how grateful I am for everyone in my life, including you guys. I have never felt more loved than my birthday this year! So I just wanted to say thanks to you all and of course give a big shout-out to my family and friends who are my everything in life. I have been realizing more and more lately how thankful I am for it all.

Onto other exciting things, last night was the opening of the Off-Broadway revival of Rent and I was honored enough to attend the show and festivities. I could not give more praise to this show and the actors in it (I know I know, you think I am biased, and although I am a little I'm being totally honest) If you are in New York and get a chance, I highly recommend running over to New World Stages and catching this new production of Rent. Last night was my third time seeing it, and I tried with all my might not to cry my makeup off for the party after to no avail. It is impossible because when you watch this show and the group of actors living it together up on that stage, the heart and soul that is put into it is overwhelmingly beautiful and inspiring. I loved every second of it and am so happy I got to share in the love a bit. The party was a blast too with so many familiar faces. I know people say it all the time, but the theatre community really is smaller than you think!

As for other news, I have been doing quite a few recordings lately for my writer friends, and am going to be laying down a demo over the next couple weeks with some fierce belting ladies which I am super excited about! Also, check out Robi Hager in concert at the Bitter End on August 22 at 8pm! I will be singing some back-up vocals along with other Spring Awakening alumni, Ben Fankhauser, Anthony Lee Medina and Gabe Violett!! Other than that, starting up something awesome this coming fall ;) more details to come soon!

Krystina :)

Preggers Pact

2011-06-15T19:33:00.002-07:00

This is my second week living as an Ivy-leauger here at Yale. I even bought some cute track shorts which you know I will be sporting at Idiot softball next week! This campus is amazing, so Hogwarts-esque which just makes me giddy every day! Pregnancy Pact is the musical I am workshopping here with an AMAZING group of people. Written by Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald, it tells the story of 6 teenage girls in high school who make a pact to get pregnant in order to fill a void in their lives, something they are missing. The music is FIERCE especially for the six girls all together. It truly is epic. Performances are tomorrow at 7pm at the Off-Broadway Theatre at Yale in New Haven, CT and this Saturday at 1pm. You can purchase tickets here for only $10 with a student ID and $15 regular. I'm telling you guys, if you want to take a quick weekend getaway, come!! You will NOT regret it, not only to see this amazing musical, but you get to hang out in New Haven which is basically Hogwarts! haha. But seriously, I would love to have anyone and everyone there. The talent of the people in the show with me is mind blowing! You Spring Awakening fans will see some familar faces and hear some familiar voices of Remy Zaken, Eryn Murman, and Andrew Durand! Plus the amazing Allie Trimm, David Bahgat, and Bonnie Antosh! Not to mention our music director extraordinare Vadim Feichtner and amazing director Mark Brokaw.

Hope everyones summers are nice and relaxing and that you are staying out of the heat! Maybe I'll see you around campus ;)

Krystina :)

What to even say...

2011-05-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well bloggers, it has been a while. Sorry for the lack of posting, but it seemed that time flew once I started performing in the show and then before I knew it, April 24 was here.

Explaining my journey in this blog would not even come close to doing it justice. The three months that I was able to spend being a part of this mind-blowing show were three of the best months of my career so far. I jumped, I screamed, I flew, I learned, I flipped, and I could not have asked for anything more. The people I met were incomparable to any, the material was an honor to perform, and the experience was absolutely once in a lifetime.

As for closing...what to even say...I am sure those of you that were at our last performance on Broadway can relate, that night was unforgettable to say the least. I don't think I have ever experienced that kind of adrenaline and excitement in my entire life. The moment that I ran onto stage with the girls screaming, my head was pounding, my body was shaking...it was the coolest feeling ever! Definitely the best time I have had on stage thus far. Not to mention the wicked Green Day concert after the show. What a night of memories and beautiful friends. It is one I will never forget.

And now, onto the next journey. Thanks to everyone who made my time with American Idiot truly incredible.

krystina :)

First week of school.

2011-02-21T16:53:00.000-08:00

Whew!! First week is over, and man, was it incredible. I learned so much, my brain in on overload! It's been a week of watching, learning, dancing, hurting, and loving the whole thing. My body feels like it's being whipped into shape, and I have been sore since day one. The whole process started with learning all my ensemble music with Jared and then Ben had me and PJ for the next three days to teach us all the dances and steps. The steps are very intricate and everything is extremely specific, which is why it was so much on the brain last week. Not to mention that most of it is very rub-your-belly-and- pat-your-head-at-the-same-time kind of thing, so it takes repetition times a million to get it down. By Friday, Lorin came in and taught me my last few things, Favorite Son and Letterbomb, and then by Sunday, we ran the show from top to bottom! It was such a productive week! And mixed in there I did some flying which was just the funnest thing ever. For the first few days, it was about getting used to being in the harness and understanding how my body moved in the air. They would only take me about ten feet up, and I would flip and move and such. Nothing too scary. Until yesterday. Jim was like, "alright, lets get you all the way up there". So I stood on the X and got ready for the EG exit cue which is the one where she shoots straight up at the end of the number. I'm talking 70 feet people. So I held my breath and waited...and Jim said go...and it was SO FAST!! What a rush! Yeah it was scary, and I may have let out a tiny yelp of oh-my-gosh-im-gonna-die fear, but mostly, it was freaking amazing! This week, I'll be learning the entire sequence in the air, so I'm glad I got the scariest part out of the way.

This week is gonna be pretty crazy, but in the best possible way. We have rehearsal Tuesday-Thursday and then Friday is the big put-in rehearsal for all of us newbies. A put-in for those of you who don't know is kind of like a final dress rehearsal for replacements or understudies. Full lights, sound, costume, cast, and band. It will really be me, and Davey, and Justin, and PJ's first time doing American Idiot. It gives us a chance to really see how everything feels, sounds, and looks before putting it in front of an audience.

Today however, is my day off, which I am enjoying tremendously. As I tweeted earlier today, I spent a good deal of my day grocery shopping and cleaning my apartment. Who knew that those two "chores" as some call them could me so relaxing. As I was growing up, never did I think that I would say chores were nice lol. But really, isn't it so calming to walk around a grocery store, listening to your iPod or reorganizing your room? Maybe I'm just weird haha.

I also spent some much needed time laying on my futon being a bum watching TV. Oh how I have missed my TV. I caught up on Gossip Girl and Shameless (which by the way is a great show! Pretty out there, but great) and spent some quality time with my knitting needles. As some of you know, I love knitting. I know, I'm such a grandma. I got addicted to it on the Spring Awakening tour. I was a swing, so I had a lot of down time, which was filled with knitting and reading. Anyway, I started a new scarf that is this wheat cream color. It is going to be a normal scarf that can be converted to a circle scarf which I did by knitting button holes on one side! I'll post a pic when it's done!

All in all, my first week at A.I. was unforgettable to say the least. Everyone at the theatre, cast and crew and all, are the most welcoming, nicest people. I have never felt more supported and welcomed, which makes this process that much better. I feel like everyone has my back already, which will make me feel very safe my first show, cause as you know, this show is pretty nuts. Knowing that people are there for me and won't let me fall (literally and figuratively) is very comforting.

Until next time!

Krystina :)

AMERICAN IDIOT!!!

2011-02-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

Alright bloggers, sorry for the suspense, but I didn't want to jynx anything! I will be making my Broadway debut in American Idiot at the St. James Theatre on February 27th!! I am taking over for Libby Winters (who is now the new Extraordinary Girl, awesome!) as Ensemble/u/s Whatshername and Extraordinary Girl!! I could not be more pumped!

Now that I have a new awesome project, you better believe that this blog is going to start being seriously updated with all the cool new adventures I am going to be having! Let's start with the fact that this whole thing is going so quickly! My head is still spinning from last week and the whirlwind it all was. I had my final callback for AI last Tuesday, and then they called me to cast me just a few hours later! You can imagine how excited I was!

So the next day, got called from my stage manager letting me know that I would have some costume fittings on Thursday! I went to my first fitting and got to try on my Whatshername zip up dress which is super fierce, and, the best dress of them all, Favorite Son! Since Libby is being bumped up, I am actually going to be in a red one instead of silver!

Then it was off to the shoe place to get fitted for my Favorite Son heels, and finally, I headed over to the theatre. When I got to the St. James I met up with my new stage manager Jim and immediately got fitted for my harness for the EG u/s. It was awesome and I was like, "wow I cannot wait to start flying" and they said, "well you are right now! We have to see how the wires fit with the harness". So they took me up to the stage and hooked me into the wires and removed the little step stool under me, and I was flying! Well, only like 3 feet off the ground, but let me tell you, it was a really awesome sensation, so I can't even imagine how it will be when I actually learn it! I then headed out to the house to watch the show, which was freaking sick!! I cannot wait until I am up there rocking out with the rest of the Idiots!

So my next step is rehearsal which starts this Tuesday with my music director from SA tour actually, Jared! And then, 12 days later, I am on stage jamming with the ensemble. I can already tell that this is gonna be the best workout of my life haha.

Anyway, thanks already for all the support and congrats from you guys. I have never felt more loved. Hopefully you can all catch the show soon!!

Krystina :)

Camp Wanatachi!

2011-02-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

Hey Bloggers!

Don't miss out on a brand new show I am performing in called "Camp Wanatachi"! We are running Off-Broadway at La MaMa E.T.C thru this Sunday, February 6, 2011! I play the role of Tit O'Malley and you will not regret coming if you do! The music is wicked!! Here is quick review on the show, and I really hope to see you there! More to come soon!

Krystina :)

Broadway Speaks OUT!

2010-11-29T08:35:00.001-08:00

Morning!

Just wanted to quickly post that I will be performing in a Gala tonight for Broadway Speaks OUT and would love to have you all come! Tickets range from $20-$100 BUT if you are a student and get there at 6pm tonight, there are a limited amount of $10 student tickets! This is a night you guys do NOT want to miss! So many amazing performers and Christmas songs in one night! Plus, me and Matt Shingledecker will be singing a duet tonight! It is the first time we are singing this song for an audience and we are really excited about it! Don't miss it!

Here is the article with all the details from Playbill http://www.playbill.com/news/article/144805-The-Very-MARY-Holiday-Benefit-Honors-Laura-Benanti-Nov-29

Would love to see you all out there! Special blog update coming soon for a new show I am doing starting in January!

Hope everyones Thanksgivings were yummy!

Krystina :)

Update Coming Soon!

2010-09-19T18:45:00.001-07:00

Hi bloggers!

I am such a ditz. It has literally been a million years! I am planning a big update soon I promise! In the meantime, I will leave with you with a few videos from my last cabaret which I need to blog all about! Update coming this week! And exciting stuff coming up! First video is from a benefit cabaret I did for Shannon Tavarez (doing another one soon). The song is called "Holding On". The second video is from our "Voulez-Vous" girls cabaret of me singing "Breathe" from In The Heights!

Krystina

NYC Cabarets!

2010-07-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading the book "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, and I have to recommend it to all of you. It is a very uplifting and just a fun book in general, and makes you kind of look at life with a little more perk even when stuff sucks sometimes. Now that I am done with that, I am starting my next book adventure. I am going to ready Harry Potter 1-7 all over again and I am so excited about it! Unless someone can throw a book recommendation at me to postpone the magic? Let me know.

Three days left in NYC until I take a little vacation back to my west coast. I am so happy. It is funny, I never realized how much I would miss the west coast until I moved here. I am spending four days at home and then about a week in LA for my birthday on August 7! It is going to be just the best time with my favorite people in the whole world.

Wanted to let you all know that I will be performing in a few cabarets in August both in New York City. One on August 16 that I posted about prior to this entry and the big one, VOULEZ-VOUS COUCHER AVEC MOI? A one night stand with five girls from “Spring Awakening”. Me, Krista Pioppi, Steffi D, Gabby Garza and Kayla Foster are coming together for a one night only cabaret about the greatness of being women. It is going to be such a fun night! Directed by Kristen Lee Rosenfeld, you will hear songs about love, sex, relationships, songs by our favorite women artists, and dream roles we want to play. It is going to be a night not to miss. This cabaret is on AUGUST 21 at 7pm at the LAURIE BEECHMAN THEATRE in NEW YORK. Please call 212.695.6909 to book your reservations! And please do it ASAP so you get a good seat. You will just be making reservations over the phone, and will pay when you get there. It is $10 cover + $15 food/drink minimum. We have been working on this cabaret for months and would love to have as much of you awesome people there as possible, so spread the word! It is a Saturday night, so plan a road trip, or bring your parents! We all cannot wait! And we are really hoping to see you all there! For more information please join our event group on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135021873201462&ref=mf

Songs For a Cure Cabaret

2010-07-23T22:32:00.000-07:00

New York City Summer

2010-07-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

SO, this is my first official blog entry post- Spring Awakening!! So strange still, but now comes a new chapter in my life and I cannot wait for it to start!

This is now my fourth week living here in the city, and I love it! But, I will be honest, it can get kind of boring sometimes, so I am calling on all you New Yorkers! What can I do here that is a) fun and b) inexpensive on my down time, which I have a lot of. I have been doing the usual, going to Central Park, rushing shows, taking dance, etc. I just am looking for some creative options. Also, to everyone in NY or not, what do you guys do in your free time when you are bored? Like hobbies and stuff I can pick up? I have started knitting and reading a lot, and watching shows online, but I would love to hear about what you guys do in your spare time to give me some ideas!

It has been really interested getting used to living here in NYC. It is definitely a strange adjustment because before tour, I was living at home, and then going on tour, I was living in a new place every single week. So now that I am somewhere I know I will be for a long while, it is kind of weird honestly. Very fun, but a bit weird. I love it though, I just know it is going to take time for me to get used to it, just like it took me time to get used to touring. It has been great though because a lot of my Spring family is doing the same thing, adjusting to life in the big city, and it has been great having them all here to hang out with and talk with. I am so thankful for Spring Awakening because I truly have life long friends from that experience. It has been so much fun seeing everyone here in NY and knowing that we are still so close even though tour is over.

Right now I am reading the book, "The Happiness Project" and I am in love with it! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good, uplifting read. It is written by Gretchen Rubin and is all about her conquest over a year in her life to enjoy the little things and lead a happier more pleasant life. It is a wonderful book. I am only half way through, but it is already on my top ten favorite book list.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. It is a hot one out there today so stay out of the heat and become best friends with your air conditioner cause I'm cuddling with mine right now. :)

krystina :)

A Loss For Words

2010-06-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

It has been two weeks since our last and final performance of the 1st National Tour of Spring Awakening. I have not yet grasped the fact that this whole thing is over. It has been two years for me, and I cannot even express how incredible it has been.

Our last show in Orlando was one of the most mind-blowing experiences, and a show that I will NEVER forget. We were all huddled back stage hugging and kissing and prepping for our final show at about 5 minutes till curtain. I thought "Ok, I'm doing all right, I am not gonna cry yet". I took a deep breath, grabbed Justin's hand and got lead on stage for the last time by the usher. My heart was pounding and the feeling in my gut turned into complete excitement for what the next two and a half hours would bring. But then, little miss "No I am not gonna cry yet" Krystina burst in to tears when Justin and I got applause when we were being seated by the ushers. Applause. And not like a meekly few claps, but honest, heart-felt applause. I had never felt so appreciated or loved being a chair of rock that entire tour. Not to mention that on top of the applause, Krista, Chase, and Todd (original A.M. understudy) were sitting on stage across from me, Eva (original costumer) and Charity (assistant music director) and Kate and David (understudy Adult Man and Woman) were sitting across the aisle from me, and Tyler (usher from San Fran turned bff of the tour cast) and none other than my original SL boyfriend Perry Sherman were sitting right next to me. So you can imagine how I felt when we walked out on the stage for the last time to applause and all the people I love so dearly onstage with us. I felt like such a dork sitting in my chair before the show even started, blubbering like an idiot. So I finally pulled it together and took a big deep breath as the "May I have your attention please..." announcement came on. The rest of our cast walks on and we ERUPT in some seriously rock-concert-esque hysteria. Christy steps on the chair and the applause lasts for what felt like 10 minutes. And then the tears started streaming again. It makes me feel like the luckiest person alive to be performing a show with such incredibly devoted and loving fans. So as the show went on it was so much "that was the last time I'll see BoL", "that was the last time I'll sing Touch Me", "that was the last time we will do act one" etc. It was such an electrifying experience. All of us were performing as this single unit. With energy and passion that I have never felt before. With emotion, that although was full of tears and snot, was absolutely breath-taking. By the time Taylor's incredibly moving suicide and "Left Behind" hit, it was real. That was the last time I would EVER perform in what was my dream show, "Spring Awakening". It was almost like we were dropping the flowers for our journey in this show, and saying a peaceful, beautiful goodbye to it. Then came "Totally Fucked" and let me tell you, if you were in that audience, I cannot imagine how the "blah blahs" sounded. I was literally giving it so hard and putting all of that emotion and tears and weird feelings, and sadness for the end, and fear for the future and the unknown into those last moments of the song. My body literally did not allow me to produce more sound than I did, and I was literally screaming the blah blahs, as were so many of us. In my life, I will never forget the feeling and look and sound of those last phrases of "Totally Fucked". I actually am getting worked up reliving it right now haha. On the last "Totally Fucked!" I held on to that bar for dear life and just looked out onto the abyss of people yelling and shouting for what again felt like 10 minutes.

When it was over, I sat down and was literally shaking in my chair. So the rest of the show went on, and as the end came nearer, and the songs passed by, I just took a moment to look around at everyone on stage, all of the musicians, cast old and new, friends, family, the set, everything and just smiled. I felt this intense emotion of happiness fill my body during "Those You've Known" as Melchior said "I'll walk now with them, not gone, I'll never let them go, not gone..." Because it just kind of summed up my experience with this show and just reminded me that these people I met, and experiences I had will never leave me and will always be with me. I have never had closer friends or stronger relationships than I made on this tour. And despite that it was ending, this beautiful thing that we had, it will never really be over, because I will carry it with me forever. It has helped shaped the person I am today, and I will always remember it all. "Purple Summer" happened and although the tears were streaming, I just looked across the stage at my family on SR, and then my family on SL and then my family in the band and family DS and just had a moment of pure and utter thankfullness that this was my life. We turned and the lights dimmed for the last time as thunderous applause ensued and I broke down, but in the best way possible as strange as that sounds. My journey had ended, and as I took my last bow, I thought to myself how amazing it had all been. And how much I had learned and grown and seen and experienced. And as I have said before, and I will say again and again, thank you so much to all of you fans and guilty ones and supporters out there. You have made this journey like a dream and have made me feel like I can do anything with all of your support and love. You guys are truly the best most devoted fans ever, and I really won't ever forget it. So thank you :) And please keep checking back here on this blog and my twitter and facebook. I am not going anywhere, and I will let you all know the second I get good news on my next adventure!

To all of my cast and band mates, the crew, producers, fans, family, everyone: I love you all for making this part of my life so astounding. Goodbye Spring Awakening!!! It has been an honor.

krystina :)

ps: I apologize for typos, that was a big brain dump, and I really didn't feel like going back and correcting it all haha.

Time To Say Goodbye

2010-05-18T09:28:00.001-07:00

As we approach this last week, my heart seems surprisingly full of joy. Not because I am happy for the end, but because these past two years have been nothing but the greatest most rewarding years of my life so far. We officially have just 8 performances left of Spring Awakening, and I am so thankful to have made it to the end of this incredible journey. Michael Mayer our director and Tom Hulce one of our producers came out last Saturday to bid farewell to us all as they have the Drama Desk Awards this Sunday on our closing for American Idiot. As the last show on Saturday ended, we all headed into the performers lounge for a meeting with them both. All of us, cast, band, management, everyone together listening to these two incredible men with such moving words. It was difficult for me to actually accept everything they were saying and it was quite an emotional few minutes for everyone. They talked about how Spring Awakening has been their baby for so many years, and how grateful they were for each and every one of us, for performing and spreading the word of this show around the country. It was incredibly moving to listen to both of them because they are so passionate about this show. It made me think, wow, I have been working on this show for 2 years and I am freaking out about it being over, but these men, and Ira, and Dunkan, and Bill, and Kim, and Steven and everyone, have been working on this show for 10ish years, it must be an insane feeling for them that Spring Awakening is over. So hearing them speaking of the end was actually something so beautiful, because it has been their everything for so long and they couldn't be more appreciative and content about how it all panned out with the show over all of these years. We each got to say our goodbyes to them, and that is when it finally hit me, that this thing, this beautiful piece of art that we have been working on for two years is coming to a final end. Of course I am sad and a bit overwhelmed with emotion about it, but I could not be more excited for this week. Everyone is ready to perform the hell out of these last 8 performances, and although it is going to be more difficult that I can imagine to sing that last line of "Purple Summer" on Sunday night, it is going to be a moment that I will never be able to forget, that I will get to share with my family on stage and the audience for one last time.

I haven't written in this blog for so long. Maybe because I did not want to talk about the end, but hearing the words of Michael and Tom made me realize that I and the cast will always be a part of this show, this masterpiece of a musical, and that will never end.

I hope some of you will be coming out to Orlando for our last and final performance of the 1st National Tour of Spring Awakening. We would love as many of you to be there with us on that last day as possible. You guys have been the most supportive and incredible fans and I am so thankful for each and everyone of you for loving this show as much as we do. So if you're busy, or broke, or tired, or grounded, or too young, just know that we all wish you were here. But, a little begging to your parents, or persuading of your friends for a road trip couldn't hurt right? We just want a house full of love that last night as cheesy as that sounds haha.

So here is too the best last week of Spring possible! A week full of lasts, but of memories that will be with us forever.

Krystina :)

What Gleeful week!

2010-04-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

Woo it has been a while! I promise a big post is coming soon, but for now I wanted to let everyone know that I submitted my video in for Glee! If you want, please go to this link http://www.myspace.com/gleeauditions?link=207475674 and watch! If you like it, give me a gold star and tell your friends to do the same! Thanks you guys!

So we are coming to the end of our layoff now. On Monday we start up again in Detroit and then 5 weeks later, we are closing. It is just the weirdest thing ever to think that Spring Awakening is over for good! Ah, I don't even want to think about it. This break has been awesome, I've got to see a lot of people and some great shows! Hanging out with our very own Andy has been awesome. He is doing wonderfully out here and it was so great to see him! It was hard saying goodbye, but it is good to know that he is loving it here in NY. On Monday I went to see Corbin in In The Heights and he was AMAZING!! If you haven't seen him yet, please do!! He took me and Matt onstage and we got to play in the store haha. But please guys, if you get a chance, go catch him as Usnavi!! I also got the pleasure of seeing our dear friends in American Idiot which is also just incredible!!! It was my second time seeing it, first time on broadway, and it once again blew my mind!!! Oh and duh, the other night I went and saw Kyle as Claude in Hair and he was just amazing!! Go see him if you haven't yet! So, it has been a rocking week in shows! And now I cannot wait to get back on the road to rock with Spring Awakening for another 5 weeks!!! TIme is gonna fly!!

krystina :)

Time is Flying.

2010-03-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

Eek, updating this blog is not happening as often as I would like, and I honestly think it is because this tour is flying by and before I know it, we are moving cities and a week has gone by!

Right now we are in Durham, NC. It is such a nice little city. Today me and Matt biked 15 miles on the American Tobacco Trail! I know right?! 15 miles. And that is a lot for a serious wimp like me. We biked all the way to the Southpoint Mall which is really nice by the way and then biked all the way back. It was way intense! Like my legs right now still feel like jello and I am light headed and no matter what I eat, I am still starving! I feel so good though and healthy and strong! My legs are gonna kill tomorrow though. The funniest part though of the day was me slowing down and getting my foot stuck in my pedal and then falling in a big puddle of mud. I had to bike the rest of the way and hang out in the mall with mud all over my butt and side of my pants haha. I am just thankful it wasn't a puddle of water, now that would have sucked, cause at least the mud dried kind of quick.

Ok now let me back track. In Rochester, as you all know, we had a new cast member join the cast as a chair of rock, named Jesse Pardee! I am just so proud of our company for allowing Jesse's wish to be granted. If this is new to some of you, here is the article...

ROCHESTER, NY(Feb. 10, 2010) – Wish child Jesse Pardee, an eighteen-year-old from Camillus, NY diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, will be performing in the Spring Awakening national tour during the Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13 performances at the Rochester Auditorium Theatre. Pardee’s original wish was to audition for the Spring Awakening national tour. This wish was fulfilled on January 20, 2010 in NYC when she auditioned in front of the Spring Awakening creative team, which included the director, Michael Mayer, the music supervisor, Kimberly Grigsby, and the associate choreographer, JoAnn Hunter. The team was so impressed with her talent and personality that they invited her to perform in Rochester as part of her wish experience.

We got along with Jesse so much! She literally is so talented and just the sweetest girl in the world! She got to perform 3 shows, and it was a blast having her. By the end of the weekend, we were so sad to see her go! The girls had a wicked girls night and ate pizza and prank called the boys haha. We also got to hear a lot of Jesse's stories, and they were truly inspiring. I have never met someone with such bravery. I made a video about her journey with our show, and a hot minute with Steffi D and Jesse! Keep a look out on totally trucked for it!

In other news, the boys did a seriously disgusting Man V Food Pizza Challenge in Hartford on Sunday that still makes me nauscious when I think about it. It was featured on the show Man V Food and takes place at Randy's Wooster St. Pizza in Hartford. It is a 10 pound pizza that must be consumed by a team of two people in no more than an hour...and let me tell you, it was the biggest thing I have ever seen. Here is a picture of matt with the pizza. Notice how much bigger each slice is than his face...and imagine eating half of that.

Now the teams competing were Matt and Justin vs Jake and Ben...again look out for a totally trucked video to see just what happened with these boys tried to take on this monstrous 10 pound pizza...

Only 8 weeks left of the Spring Awakening Tour. It is so strange to think that I have almost been with the tour for 2 years now...and it will be over so soon. Ah how weird...We have had so many visitors over the past few weeks since we were up in the east coast. We got a visit from Henry Stram in Rochester which was so wonderful. I have never learned more about acting than all I learned from watching him every night. In Hartford we had Ben Moss, Julie Benko and Blake Daniel come and visit us which was great! Everyone looks so good and I loved being able to catch up with everyone. It was a trip down memory lane though, and made me miss them all so much. Anyway, try to catch the show before it's over! We would love to see you there!

Krystina

Wisdom Teeth CHECK!

2010-02-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

It happened. My teeth are out and I am actually feeling great! I cannot believe how painless the procedure was. I got them out last Tuesday, and now it has been a week and I am almost feeling back to normal! I won't lie, I was super scared. I got into that dentists room, and I was freaking out a bit. They hooked me up to the heart monitor, and I was creeped out kind of. My mom sat with me while they were putting me to sleep, and I did okay until they stuck the IV in me. Then it was Krystina panic mode time. My mom said my blood pressure shot up so high when that happened and I started crying a bit, and then I was like, "ok when am I gonna fall asleep, when am I gonna fall..." and I was out. It was the strangest feeling because it didn't even feel like I fell asleep, and I didn't have any dreams and I didn't even really wake up very tired. I just felt like I blacked out or something and then came back to life. Being put to sleep is probably the weirdest thing in the world. Anyway, I woke up with a very numb mouth and actually no pain, a little groggy from the meds, but I got to the car fine, and actually was pretty coherent all the way home. When I got home I immediately lay down and turned on the Food Network (duh) and I fell asleep for maybe like 30 minutes and then I was up and awake. I took my pain pills but I just ended up staying awake watching TV which I was not expecting. Most people say that the anastesia really knocks them out for hours after, but I didn't feel like sleeping at all. And like 5 hours later, I was up walking and talking and alright. I mean, yeah in pain, but not dying. I thought it was gonna be so much worst. I was supposed to miss all of Charlotte, but I felt so good that first day, I called my stage manager and got to meet back up with everyone Friday in Charlotte! I was so excited because I kind of felt wonky about missing an entire city and not ever knowing what it was like. (And I loved Charlotte by the way, such a cool little city with an amazing store called Revolution that I fell in love with).

Anyway, I spent the next few days eating lots of pudding and jello and mashed potatoes. I'll be honest, the worst part and pain about it that I felt was this weird ulcer cold sore thing in the back of my throat. I didn't know that was a common side effect after getting your wisdom teeth out, but a few people said they experienced the same thing. I guess it is from keeping your mouth open for so long in the surgery, but lemme tell you, it was the absolute worst thing ever!! It was so painful, like I couldnt' breath without it hurting because of the cold air. I couldn't even drink water for a few days without some serious pain in there. Of all things, I was afraid my teeth would hurt the most, but it was my throat that got all jacked up. After that went away and I got to Charlotte, things were on the up swing. The show was tough, especially Saturday actually, but when Sunday came, I was feeling a lot better and now I feel almost back to normal! I am barely taking any more medicine, and I was actually able to chew on the side of my mouth today (still with softer foods of course) All in all, the experience, was much less scary than I thought it would be and I recovered so quick. And I am serious, I think it is in big part to you guys! All of your stories really gave me a good positive ora and you guys truly helped me through it! Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences! You are all just the best!

krystina :)

Thea and Martha and Airports.

2010-01-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

My dreams have come true. You guys, I have been jealous of all the swings because lately everyone has gotten the excitement and madness of slapping together some crooked braids/jank Wendla hair and running their butts on the stage mid-show, confusing the crap out of the entire audience. Well it has happened. Saturday night, I slyly took the place of a small asian in a gray dress named Thea. They didn't even know, I swear haha. Anyway, it was so exciting (minus the fact that Kimiks hurt her back) and the funnest ever! I was so ready! And my braids were not ever that crooked! I had the best time, and can now say that I have done what all swings either dread or wish for. It was a ball.

And now, I am sitting here in this airport, bored out of my mind, trying to find things to occupy me. Let's talk about the Martha action happening this week! Sarah is taking a few personal days so you will be seeing not one, not two, but THREE Martha Bessels. I will be going on Friday, the 29th! So if you can make it, come on out!

Now for some downer news. I need some serious uplifting words of wisdom (literally) from those of you that have gone through this heinous thing I have to deal with next week. Wisdom teeth. I am dreading it so much because a) I am a serious baby to pain b) I cannot grasp the fact that I am going to have trouble singing and talking for weeks and c) I just do not want to go through it! Cause I hate the dentist, I hate pain and gauze and blood and needles. And I am deathly afraid of being put to sleep. I never have, and I just don't know what to expect except that everyone says you don't even remember or realize that you are out. Which is freaky in it's own right. So I would love to hear some experiences (preferably only ones that will calm me lol) and how long your recovery took cause I do not know what to expect at all.

And the boredom begins again. It is only 1:46 and we do not get to Ft. Myers till 10pm. Today will officially mark the longest travel day on tour (We left the hotel at 10am) Thanks a lot delays in Philli. At least I am with the coolest people on earth. I'm sure we will find fun things to do. As I write, Ben with a reenactment of Mama Who Bore Me which was already reenacted by Chase. This should be fun after all. :)

Krystina :)

On The Road Again

2010-01-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

Woo I missed Spring Awakening. Here we are in Hershey, PA, the sweetest city in US. It's only been a week, and I may never eat another piece of chocolate again (I say that until tomorrow, when I see a piece of chocolate...cause I love it haha). Hershey has been so fun and snowy! It is great to slowly get back into the swing of things here on tour. The show is going wonderfully and the audiences are starting to pick up here which is great. We have a new bass player named Alan who is super fierce, so if you see him at stagedoor, say hello! Everyone is back and raring to go!

With all the craziness the last few days of tour, I didn't even get to talk about our last hurrahs and my Wendla-ness! So the last weekend in Denver, our entire cast and band, and I'm talking all 30 of us crammed into my hotel room for...Secret Santa!! As everyone was piling in, I thought to myself, "uh-oh...this may fall apart cause it is too crammed" but it ended up being a huge success! We blasted Christmas music, overloaded on Christmas candy, and just hung out together on our last night! I was Chase's secret santa and I got him a South Park flip calendar for his dressing room and a Rocko's Modern Life t-shirt! I fooled him! My secret santa was none other than the amazingly talented Ben Lively and I guessed on the first try!! He got me this Christmas iPhone cover and all this extravagant Christmas candy (he knew how much I loved the holiday!!) Everyones gifts were so thoughtful, and it was the greatest way to spend our last day together. Not to mention that I got to be Wendla Berg for those two shows! It was a blast getting to go on again! Poor Christy though with those sucky stitches! She is strong, cause I would have been such a wreck if I had to get stitched...anyway, the shows went great! It was cool getting to do Wendla for my 4th and 5th times, because I actually started feeling a bit more comfortable in the role. Of course, I will never be 100% comfy in any of my roles, that is the life of a swing, but I felt like I was starting to understand the art of going on for Wendla, but still hinted with that crazy nervous energy of going on! I also figured out my favorite part about going on as Wendla besides Mama Reprise (Mama Reprise no matter what role I'm on for is just the absolute best part of the show. It is insane) is the Mama/Wendla scene in the second act. I love LOVE working with Angie Reed, our Adult Woman. She has been an inspiration to me since day one, so having the honor of acting with her on stage is just amazing. She pulls it out of me, and each time I go on, that small scene is my favorite part of it all. It was a blast, but the best part was that I kept my Wendla hair in for the Secret Santa BUT I changed out my Wendla clips to these red/greensparkly and jingle-belly hair clips from Claire's. It was the best.

I am starting a new book section of this blog! I read so much and I figured it would be a good way to exchange book ideas with you fellow bookworms out there! At the moment, I am reading a few things. I am in the middle of reading the Gossip Girl series. I love the show, so I figured I'd try out the books, and I am really enjoying them for the most part. They are totally different from the show, which at first was bugging me a lot, but now, it's almost like they are two completely different series, and I love them both! Plus I get to see the characters take all these different paths, which is kind of neat when comparing the show to the books. I am also reading the novel Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates that the movie with Leo and Kate was based on and I am in love with it. It is so good and really keeping my attention. That is my trouble with books is that if I start to lose interest or get bored, I cannot finish it. I have kind of a short attention span, so it's important for me to have books I know will keep me in it! I would love any and all recommendations from you guys on what to read because I am always buying new books and looking for new great one's to read!

Let's talk cake. Mary Banderick. This woman is one of my mothers friends from when I was a little teeny baby and she is an incredibly talented baker and chef extraordinaire! She lives in the city of Topsfield, just outside of Boston, and is looking for business! She does everything from Wedding Cakes, to Birthday Cakes, to high fashion cupcakes! If you are looking for a show-stopping yummy dessert for a party and live in or around the Boston area, please give her a call or e-mail. She also is a brand new Tweeter! Follow her on twitter if you can HERE to see all her spectacular desserts!

Opening night of Cininnati today! Yesterday was a crazy day! I took a train early in the morning to NY, ran around the city and then hopped on a late flight to Cincinnati with Steffi, Krista, and Kimi with a connection. So lots of traveling, but the trip was totally worth it. This is hillarious, we actually were on the flight with "actors" from the Jerry Springer show! I had no idea that it was all scripted, so I felt pretty stupid. They were funny and told us all about the behind the scenes of the show. Anyway, I'm totally excited to be here and cannot wait for tonight!

krystina :)

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year, I sure did. My New Year was low key , but super fun. I got to spend it at my grandmothers house, celebrating with my family, eating posole (a Mexican stew that is oh sooooo yummy!) and hanging out with my baby cousin Ariana. She basically made me play horsies for like 3 hours. haha So my 2010 New Years resolutions...

1) Of course, stay fit and in shape. Gym at least every other day, no matter how tired I am.

2) Keeping my blog, facebook, and website much more up to date :)

3) Keeping in touch with old friends from home more than I do.

4) And again, a no brainer, staying really positive!

What are all your New Year's resolutions? I wish you all the best of luck in this New Year!! I feel good about 2010. My 2009 was incredible, so I can only imagine what '10 is gonna bring. I have made such amazing friends and relationships, and have learned and grown so much as a performer. I am so happy to start fresh this year, and cannot wait to see what it will bring!

Krystina :)

Breaky Break

2009-12-26T23:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope everyone had a fantastic and magical Christmas and Holiday! Start thinking about New Years resolutions! I'm racking my brain, and will post soon about what they will be! My Christmas was the greatest. I loved seeing my family (i missed them bunches) and just celebrating with them. I am loving my time off from the tour, but of course I miss that too! Just a week, and we will be starting up again in Hershey, PA! mmm...chocolate! I got some great gifts from my family this Christmas! Some of my favorites are Vera Wang Glam Princess Perfume (smells soo yummy!) music note ornaments, coasters that you can put pictures in, and this amazing keychain from Brighton! What did you guys get? But I will say, the best part about this year for me was giving. I know that sounds cliche, but truly, it was the best reward and feeling to give my family presents. I was way more excited to give than to get this year. It was a really new experience, and it was so much more fulfilling than I ever thought.

Just a few things, over the next couple months, I will be re-vamping my website, blog, twitter, and facebook. I just had a fun photoshoot with my brilliant photographer sister, Julianna Alabado and I am very happy with the pictures that came out of it (I am super picky about pictures haha). It is one of my new years resolutions to keep this blog and my website updated more frequently, so that is what I am going to do, and what better way than to make them both fresh and new! So keep a lookout!

Anyway, I wish you all a Happy New Year! I will leave you with my latest cabaret performance, from LA. It was the gender-bender cabaret and this is "Lost in The Wilderness" from Children of Eden :)

Krystina :)

Thanksgiving at Disneyland!

2009-12-01T00:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Hope everyone had a yummy time with a thankful heart and an over stuffed belly. Thanksgiving was a blast in SA land because...we went to Disneyland!!!! As some of you know, I have two favorite things in the world...Christmas and Disneyland...and for the first time in my entire life, I got to experience them both at the same time because Disneyland was completely decorated and themed for Christmas!! It was a very magical day indeed, I actually was able to find a Thanksgiving dinner at the park! I had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing and pumpkin pie, and it was pretty good! We went on a bunch of fun rides and I bought these super cute red sequined minnie ears with a green bow and mistletoe on them! So after the park, we headed back to the OC and did our show, which was surprisingly sold well! It was hard not spending Thanksgiving with my family for the second year in a row, but my family out here on the road sure makes it easier. My mom already said she is going to make me a home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner when I get home, so I am definitely looking forward to that. :)

Now we are here in Denver where it is literally FREEZING but I am loving it. I am a big desert girl, being born in Phoenix and all, so it is still so wonky for me to see snow all over the place! I am having my first ever White Christmas and it is amazing! I love walking around with snowflakes in my hair and sipping hot chocolate because it is actually cold and seeing my breath! Denver has been fun so far and very full of the Holiday spirit! Just this weekend, we saw the annual Christmas Parade of Lights that Denver has and it was so awesome. My toes felt like they weren't there anymore by the end, but it was so worth it! We also just had our Spring Awakening Holiday dinner on last Sunday after the show, and that was a huge success. Everyone got dressed up and we had a nice meal, and took some great pictures and, of course, danced the night away. And then on our day off, we all got the pleasure of having a wonderful party and dinner at Angie's parents house here in Denver and it was just the best. It made me want to go home so much, and it was such a great time to spend with each other. Their whole house was so warm and cozy and completely decorated for Christmas...which was just the greatest. The food was yummy, and the night ended with a whole lot of karaoke singing. Me and Ben Fankhauser's rendition of Rainbow Connection however, may have been the best performance of the evening haha.

We only have 4 shows left of the 2009 run of Spring Awakening, and I think it is so weird! I am happy to be back from New York to finish out this year and then on Monday I get to go home for Christmas! I cannot wait!

Halloween and Wendla Pictures!

2009-11-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a huge success!! As was the last couple weeks! I'm here in Sacramento, watching the weather get colder and colder, and really starting to get in the holiday spirit!! So I'll start with Halloween! Our party was the funnest! Everyone's costumes were so creative! We had Lady Gaga come by, Hello Kitty, some grim reapers, Steffi D, a Snuggie, Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Dead Ophelia, Dora the Explorer (me haha), The Chair of Rock, a Gypsy and so many others! It was a super fun night. We had our party in this spooky old hotel room in the hotel we were staying at with wooden floors and lots of decorations (and of course too much candy!) A few nights before that we had the pleasure of seeing American Idiot! Our producers and director are the same for that show so they had us all come over to see it and what a show it was! I was blown away by the whole thing. It was like watching a long music video. I was very moved by some parts and wanted to jump up and start rocking out at others. If you get a chance to see American Idiot, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is a brilliant piece of art, and I am so thankful I got to see it!

Onto other things, last week I got to spend a few shows being Wendla Bergmann and I had the best time! I am so happy that I got another chance to play the role because as you all know I have gone on one on once before, but this time, I got to do it twice! Being able to do the show twice was such a treat because I got to really find myself in the part and relax into it. I thought my shows went really well, and I just felt so happy the whole time. Of course a few things were iffy, but that is the life of being a swing...every time you go on, something new surprises you. Which is why it is so exciting! And of course I couldn't have done it without the complete support of my cast. I felt so safe stepping onto the stage because I knew that they would catch me if I fell. It was my first time going on with Jake and I really enjoyed performing with him. That day is one I will never forget! And here are the long promised pictures! I actually had my camera with me this time around being Wendla! Thanks to everyone for all your supportive and nice comments that day. It meant so much to me! :)

krystina :)

Wendla happenings!

2009-10-31T17:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween to everyone!! I love Halloween because its the start of the holiday season which is my favorite thing in the whole world. You start seeing lots of colorful leaves, smelling cinnamon and home cooking, and hearing the carols! I just watched some of Halloweentown and of course, like every year, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! If only I had Hocus Pocus! Halloween should be fun this year but we are actually having our Spring Awakening Halloween bash tomorrow since we have the day off Monday. With two shows tomorrow, we can't stay up too late tonight, but tomorrow, the costumes and candy come out! I am dressing up as Dora the Explorer! My costume is almost complete! The last thing I need is yellow socks which I think I am borrowing from Taylor! I will definitely post a picture next week! What are you all being??

I am so happy to be back on the west coast finally! It makes me feel like home to see all the palm trees everywhere and to not have to wear a warm coat. The past few weeks have been super fun. Austin was a really nice time. It was very nostalgic to be on a college campus again, and the audiences we had there were amazing! We had a big understudy put-in day in Austin where i got to see Justin, David, and Kayla perform for the first time and they were unbelievable!! I also got the chance to rehearse Wendla with Matt as Melchior for the first time which was so much fun!

Speaking of Wendla, I have some exciting news! I will get to play Wendla next week in Sacramento on Thursday November 5 for both the matinee and evening show. I am so thankful that I get another opporunity to play Wendla because the last time I only went on once, so I was still getting the kinks out. I cannot wait to play the part again :) So if you are in the Sacramento area, you should come out! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures this time and actually post them haha.

I will leave you with this excerpt from Great Pumpkin! Happy Halloween!!!

Krystina :)

Craziness!!

2009-10-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Oh man this week has flown by and been super crazy busy! Sorry for the lack of updating, but I'm still catching up with the fact that Milwaukee is already over and am now chilling out in good ol' Kansas City!

Last week was just the greatest. I truly missed being on tour and performing this show! But it was intense, that's for sure. We went non-stop from last Friday till now with a bunch of rehearsals, press, and shows and it's been a whirlwind. Milwaukee was a great stop though and a wonderful start for the tour. We all had such a lovely time together as a cast along with welcoming our two newest members, Justin my swing partner and Pinkie our new viola-ist with lots of after-show meals, a fun girls night, and a white t-shirt party to finish off Milwauks which is a party we will all never forget. I love being back with my second family. It feels so safe and right, and as I tweeted earlier in the week, it is the strangest feeling arriving at a hotel room thinking, "home sweet home" (I think I have been on tour for too long haha) My favorite part about Milwaukee was definitely...the cheese. For those of you who don't know, I LOVE cheese. I could eat it for every meal. Seriously. And in any form. It is just the best thing ever, so only naturally would I love Milwaukee! We went to this incredible cheese place right by the theatre that literally had the best cheese curds I have ever eaten. I'm sad that cheese curds only exist in some places in the US. The only other stop so far on tour that I have run into them was in Seattle. Hm. Anywho, if you haven't tried cheese curds and are a cheese lover, take my advice. Find a cheese curd and eat it. :)

krystina :)

Freckleface Strawberry

2009-09-29T02:39:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Alright this week has been unreal! I've seen some incredible shows, and actually worked on something new which is pretty awesome! So this week I got the pleasure of seeing "Next To Normal", "Hair" and "South Pacific" and I loved them all. N2N was just breathtaking. That show is so real and the performances are unbelievable. It was such a moving piece of theatre, and it was very emotional...I cried a lot haha. Hair was the perfect show to see after N2N because it was such an upbeat fun show. I would love to be in Hair, it looks like the funnest show to be in! I had never seen it before, and was also very moved by the message, and just had the best time watching the cast. We also ran up on stage at the end and danced around like hippies! I didn't even know you could do that! And last night, was South Pacific where I watched the amazing Todd Cerveris whom I've been working with for the past year sing "There is Nothing Like a Dame!!!!" and I loved it! Todd was so hillarious and awesome in the show and Lincoln Center is the bomb. I had not seen a show there before, and I throughouly enjoyed it.

Now onto some exciting news, while I've been here in NY, I actually got to be part of a reading of a

brand new musical, "Freckleface Strawberry" based on the book, and I had the greatest time working and creating with that project. I played the role of Dora, who is one of Freckleface Strawberrys BFF's. The show is about a little girl named Strawberry who has a face and body full of freckles and the way she deals with being different. The story is so cute and really had a great message, that everyone is different, and it doesn't matter. The cast and creative team was wonderful, and I got to work with some B-way Spring Awakening alums too! We rehearsed for 2 days and then performed it for a small audience, including the writer of the book "Freckleface Strawberry" Julianne Moore! It was an incredible experience and am so thankful that the timing was perfect because of this layoff from Spring which is now almost over! In just a few days, we are all reunited in Milwaukee to start up on rehearsals for the show! It will be an exciting year, and I'm getting pumped!

krystina :)

NY Week One!

2009-09-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

This past week in NY has been such a ball. I love this city so much, and living here for these 4 weeks just makes me even more anxious and excited to live here permanently after the tour! So me and Gabby settled in our apartment and are enjoying the company of the cat that lives here, Herman. I have never had a cat (minus when I was super little) only a dog, but I thought this would be a good test to whether or not I am a cat person. It is official now. I am, and forever will be a dog person. Herman is cute and all, but I don't know, cats kind of creep me out. It may be due to my past with cats. When I was 8, these cats used to fight and freak out at three in the morning outside my window and I was so terrified at the noises they were making that I would wake up and could not move from my bed to get my dad so I would sit there, crying until finally the sounds woke up my parents. They would hiss and cry and flip out for hours, and in a big, dark, room, all by myself, it was pretty much the most frightening thing in the world haha. I don't know...I just feel like they are always plotting an attack, like to hunt or kill me or something. Their eyes say it all. But I mean, Herman is pretty chill, super cute, and very cuddly, and he definitely relieved himself on the floor the other day which was not very fun...haha but me and Gabs are really comfy in our apartment just enjoying the city, and loving all the visitors we get! We have been reunited with Sarah, Lucas, Anthony, and Kimiko so far! We all went out the other night, and caught up. I miss everyone! This week we should be expecting Matt and Kayla! Yay for SA being in NY!

I saw two shows last week, "Mary Poppins" and "Burn The Floor" and they were both so much fun! But can I just say, "Burn The Floor" was the most amazing thing ever. For those who don't know about it, it is a limited engagement at the Longacre Theatre and it is a "ballroom dance on fire" show. The dancers were fierce, and it really got me and Anthony wanting to get up and shake our things! I liked Mary Poppins, but what made me just go "umm what?!!" were all of the effects. How the heck did she pull all that stuff out of her bag?? Kudos Disney, even at age 20 you are still wowing me with the magic that you create on and off stage.

I have also had a blast getting my body back into dancer shape. I've basically been taking dance classes almost everyday, trying to kind of catch up and get back into the mode. It is kind of a slap of reality, because I took off a year of dance for this show, and my body is yelling at me now. I am so sore that I don't think I can take class for a few day! But you dancers can attest, being sore feels great!

One last thing, while I was home, my amazingly talented sister, Julianna Alabado took new headshots and fun pictures for me. And here is a quickpreview. There arelots of fun ones that Ill start posting periodically, but here are a few. She has taken basically all of pictures I use of my blog, facebook, and website (with the exception of my professional headshots in the black shirt) Shoutout for her! If you are in or around Arizona and are looking for a photographer for headshots, senior pictures, etc, contact my sister! I will post her contact information in a few weeks once we get her facebook page up and running!

krystina :)

Vacation!

2009-09-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

So far this vacation has been so wonderful! I spent the first week in Charleston seeing the sights, and it was such an amazingly beautiful city. (above is a picture of the sunset...umm gorgeous!) My favorite part of that trip was getting to see all the places one of my favorite movies, "The Notebook" was filmed, especially when we spent the day at Cyprus Gardens (the part where they are in the boat with all the birds, video up soon!) and got to actually take out our own boat! It was so magical cause it was like the movie! I also got to walk around downtown where they lay in the street, the restaurant Noah see's Ally with her fiance, and the movie theatre they go on their first date! Anyway, enough rambling about The Notebook (though I could all day). I loved loved Charleston so much. The city was so quaint and elegant and so old-fashioned almost that it made me feel like I was in a movie. We spent a lot of time downtown which was fun because I had liked walking around the market which was basically this long stretch of street with a bunch of vendors selling things they make. I bought this adorable butterfly ring. So other than that, we walked along the Cooper River Bridge (i think that's what it's called) and saw a great view of the city and had a beach day like none other. You Californians can attest to this ; I have never really been to the Atlantic Ocean until then and I was shocked in such a good way because the water was luke-warm. It was amazing! I'm used to the year-round freezing cold California Pacific water that you always have to take a while to get used to and are still always chilly. But for the first time, I got to swim in the water, like all the way in, diving in waves. It was the best because the beach is one of my favorite places so I was a happy camper! My last day there, we ran into Claire who is now going to the College of Charleston. We got to hang out with her and her sister and visit her bf at the Citadel where he goes to school and she showed us her dorm! (Totally Trucked video soon!) All in all my trip to Charleston was such a fun one! And I would love to go back again!

After Charleston, I flew home to Arizona where I was welcomed by 115 degree weather with no breeze. I had a great time being home. It was nice to just relax and kick back for a second cause we have been going going going for so long. I took some voice lessons, and talked to my old high school, my siblings high school, and my old youth theatre VYT about the business and it was great. My time home was nice, my parents threw me a belated b-day party and my whole family came over. It was awesome to see everyone because I missed them all so bad. Family is very important to me, and one of the hardest parts about touring is being away from them, so seeing everyone was perfect. I also got to sit in on my sisters rehearsals. Right now she is playing Lucy in "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" and she was seriously fierce. I'm so proud of her!! I also got to go Swing Dance which I have missed incredibly since I've been out on the road. For those of you who don't know, I LOVE swing dancing and have been for about 7 years. So going out and dancing was the best!! Here is a pic of me and my younger brother and sister (They are tall right??)

We have about four weeks left of this vacation, and now I am enjoying the remainder of that in NY auditioning, taking class and seeing shows. I am very happy here, but can't wait for the show to start up again! I miss it!

krystina :)

Goodbye Originals!

2009-08-30T01:21:00.000-07:00

Leaving tour was very...difficult to say the least. Not only was I dealing with the fact that I was going to have no Spring in my life for two months, but also that it truly was the end of our Original Cast Era. We lost Blake, Ben, Henry, Julie, Claire (again), and Todd. I cannot even express the feeling of performing that last and final show with them. It was such an intense mix of emotions from nostalgia, to sadness, to tears, to happiness and laughter. Looking around the stage that last day was such an incredible feeling, and so sad because of the life that we have all lived together for the past year. That last show is a moment that I will never forget in my life because I caught each persons eye, and we all knew how the other was feeling, and we all understood the other and knew that this year was one that we will never EVER forget. It was a life changing experience for all of us, and we did it together. We grew up as people and as artists and created this piece of beauty together from scratch. And as I looked at the people staying with me, it was a mixture of sadness but such excitement for what is coming next. The next year of tour will be so different, but such fun with all these new faces, and in the end, a completely different and fresh show with Taylor, Kayla, Ben, John, David, and Justin. And how exhilarating to think of the new memories and experiences we will have with all of the incredibly talented and insanely amazing new cast members. My favorite moment of our last show was Totally Fucked. The entire song started as this insane release of all the emotions that we had been feeling for the past week, so we channeled it into this incredibly high energy TF. But what made the hot pot of water boil over was when Henry screamed "Melchior Gabor! For the LAST time!" and from then on, that was it. For those of you who saw TF you can bare witness, and for those of you who didn't, just imagine. Number one, if made us all smile when we heard Henry say that, and number two, it made the animal come out of each of us. The stomping was harder, the jumping was higher, the spinning was faster, and the singing was louder. It was just this explosion of emotions that we all let out on stage together, and there is no better way then letting it all go in Totally Fucked! It was so much fun!! So all in all, the show was a beautiful one that I will always remember. Purple Summer came and it finally hit us that that was it. No more original cast and it was hard, but we all knew that no matter what, we would always hold the memories and good times we had from this past year and never forget the experience that we had.

So after the show, we all went

home to get all spruced up for our goodbye celebration which was a Cruise on Lake Michigan that took us out for an amazing view of the Chicago skyline! (Let me give a shout out to all the party planners of this world...umm it is a stressful job. This was my first party I planned for the tour, and it was hard, but turned out fantastic!) The party was so much fun. There was great food, lots of dancing and everyone had a wonderful time together. It was a really fun way of ending the first leg of the tour because we were all there, old and new. We took lots of pictures and just relaxed with an amazing view of Chicago! And everyone looked so fancy and amazing that night!

In closing, I would just like to say goodbye and good luck to Blake, Ben, Julie, Henry, Todd, Claire, and Perry! I know that these six people will go on to do amazing things, and I just want you all to know how much I learned from each of you, and that I love you guys so much.

krystina :)

My Birthday Adventures!

2009-08-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

My birthday is now officially over, and let me say that it was one of my best birthday's ever thanks to my beautiful family out here on the road! I had such a fun and amazing time with everything I got to do for my birthday! So it all started out on Thursday night after the show which was August 6 the eve of my birthday. Me, Matt, Taylor, Chase, and Andy went out for an after-show snack with a couple cast members from Jersey Boys which was super fun. As we were walking home, Matt and Taylor kept whispering really secretive-like and wouldn't tell me what they were talking about. So when we got back to the hotel, they told me that we needed to stop at Ben Fankhauser's room really quick. I was like, okay whatever. So we went to his room and Kayla, Christy, Chase, and Ben were there and they surprised me with a little cake and a candle, and sang happy birthday to me at midnight!! It was so sweet! My birthday was already spectacular and it had just started!

So the next morning, my birthday started with a massage and facial at this spa called Exhale which was so relaxing!(if you haven't been there, I highly recommend it). Massages are like my favorite thing in the world so I was super happy! Then we walked through Lincoln Park through the gardens with lilly pads!! And ended up at this awesome breakfast place in Chicags called Orange. It was the most unique breakfast I've ever eaten! I orded a pankake flight which consisted of Fruity Pebble Pancakes, Raspberry Dark-Chocolate Panckes, Orange Zest Pancakes and Cinnamon Bun Pancakes. And oh...my...gosh. They were the best things ever in the world. We also ordered this special thing they make called Frushi. It was a sushi roll but full of fruit! So we headed back and I spent some of the day walking around Chicago since everyone had rehearsal. After rehearsal I had my birthday dinner at this amazing steakhouse right on the river. I ordered my favorite food in the world, Mac and Cheese and it was so yummy! Then we had the show

which was fun because even though this is my second birthday on tour, it is my first birthday where I actually performed Spring cause last year we were still in tech! It was an experience that will be with me forever, that I got to perform in Spring Awakening on my birthday! Pretty cool. So after the show, some people took me to an after-the-show celebration at this fancy hotel restaurant called the Peninsula. And just my luck, this awesome jazz cover band was playing! It was amazing because that is my favorite kind of music. So we ate, and I got the sweetest birthday dance ever in the whole world which I will never forget. And then, since we were the last one's at the restaurant, out waiter gave us all the desserts on their dessert buffet table for free! And they were like gourmet yummy desserts! Ah it was incredible! (oh and we saw the Killers at the hotel because they were performing at Lollapalooza!).

So Saturday passes and then Sunday comes! To think my birthday was over! haha. I woke up and went to the Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues which I got tickets for one of my birthday presents. I love gospel music and this show was the coolest thing I have ever seen. They were so good and the brunch was delicious. We had planned my big birthday party for Sunday night after the show so everyone could come since lots of people try to go to bed early during the week because of the shows. So after the show, we bought a bunch of junk food and just had a really chill birthday party with everyone. That is what I love the most. Just spending time with all of my Spring family. It was nice because everyone was able to relax and just have a good time since we knew we didn't have shows the next day.

My birthday was so special! And I got some awesome presents too! This is what my amazing friends on tour got me! Tickets to Gospel Brunch, Urban Outfitters gift-card, a CD with all the hits from 1989, a massage and facial along with some great facial products, music note pajamas, mole-skin notebooks, a music note visor, sippy water bottle, princess ring cupcakes, and the book Chicago Blues. I will never forget this birthday! Not to mention all the birthday wishes I got from all of you! Thank you so much for making my birthday even better!

krystina :)

Cabaret Re-cap!

2009-08-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out to the cabaret! It was a huge success! We had an amazing turn-out with a wonderfully enthusiastic crowd and raised over $4000 dollars for Make-A-Wish! We are so happy that it turned out so well! The night was super fun, and I had such an amazing time watching all of my fellow cast-mates perform their songs. It is so much fun for us to see each other do something other than Spring Awakening for once! I performed "Never Neverland" by Scott Alan and I had a wonderful time singing it. I just feel such a connection to that song because the story for me of it is so true to how I feel about my childhood and growing up!

Chicago so far is a blast! We are in a perfect area with lots to do and the city is just gorgeous with the river and everything. My birthday is coming up this Friday the 7th and I am so excited! It's weird though because in just one day, I will no longer be a teenager. It's kind of sad because I love being a teenager and now I will be in my twenties...eww. But oh well. I will embrace the fact that I am turning into a big girl now. But I will always be a little girl at heart. Definitely. I don't know that I'm doing for my birthday yet but I am excited that I get to celebrate it here in the Windy City. This is my SECOND birthday on tour which is insane!! I turned 19 this time last year when we were in San Diego! It was our first day of tech rehearsal and our company was still so new and didn't even really know each other yet! They got me these beautiful birthday cakes and the whole cast took me out to a really nice dinner! I actually posted about it my blog here! I cannot believe that it was an entire year ago! It truly feels like just yesterday! This tour is going by so fast. Looking back at this past year just makes me realize how much I've grown up and how much I've experienced out here, and the incredible relationships and friendships I have made that will last for the rest of my life. I am so thankful that I get to spend another birthday with my Spring Awakening family, and best friends out here on the road. To another year of fun, growing, and loving!

krystina :)

PS: Snaps to Cristina O'Connell for posted this awesome quality video! Thank you so much Cristina! You rock!!

"Season For Dreaming" Cabaret!

2009-07-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Alright so we are having a benefit cabaret this Thursday July 30 in Washington DC. All proceeds from the event go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It is kind of short notice, so we are trying to spread the word as fast and efficiently as possible! The cabaret will be at 10:30pm at the Town Danceboutique here in DC. Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the door. If you guys can come out, you wont regret it I promise! Almost every cast member will be performing a song all doing with our theme "Season For Dreaming". I will be singing Scott Alan's "Never Neverland (Fly Away)!! The night will be such a blast! There will be a bunch of performances by the cast and band and then we will be auctioning of gift baskets and signed props and posters from the show along with other merchandise. Again, all proceeds will go straight to the Make-A-Wish Foundation!

Make-a-Wish Foundation in a non-profit organization, established in 1980, which serves children with life-threatening and terminal medical conditions. Its mission is to grant singular wishes to these children in the hope of fulfilling their seemingly impossible dreams and enriching their lives.

Please help make this night a success! Not only will it be fun and entertaining, but you will be helping out those children in need, and making their wishes come true! Don't miss out!

Facebook Invite-please forward to all your friends!
Make-A-Wish Website
Town Website

krystina :)

Martha in DC!

2009-07-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am playing Martha on Tuesday July 28 at the Kennedy Center in DC! It has been a while since I've played Martha! I think the last time was in St. Louis! So if you guys get a chance, you should come out! This week was great at the KC. We had great audiences, I played Thea for the 16th time (right?!) and we are so excited to get all of the people in to start rehearsals! Especially the return of our original family member, Claire Sparks! Yay!

My Europe update is being written right now, but I want to post some pictures with it, which are not here yet! But while you wait please watch this truly INCREDIBLE dance that was on So You Think You Can Dance. I have watched it like a kajillion times. It truly is beautiful and so moving.

krystina :)

Catch-up time!

2009-07-12T00:21:00.000-07:00

Alright, before I delve into blabbing about my Europe trip, I am going to do a huuuuge update about going on for everyone in the past few weeks before vacation haha. Sorry for the delay peeps, but it has been cray over here! So...here we go!

In the weeks before vacation, is was sicky sicky and busy busy around here! So I'll start with three weekends ago, the 13th. I got super duper sick which really sucked, but now I am feeling a tad better. I took the entire day off Saturday and spent the whole day sleeping, coughing, having a fever, sneezing, having a headache and watching so many movies! i watched 2 episodes of Dexter, Juno, The Dark Knight, and John Q. The only one i hadn't seen was John Q and it was incredible. So I felt a little better Sunday and got myself up and went to the show. I rested up on Monday and then the madness ensued. Everyone caught this flu, it was truly like a Spring Awakening epidemic. I think total 3 or 4 people didn't catch this baby. I caught it at the beginning which was nice, but it was a slow spiral down from there. The shows last week were nutso! I went on for Anna Wednesday which was awesome! It was so weird though cause I was still getting over being a sicky, so I wasn't a hundred percent, Julie was playing Wendla, Lucas was playing Hanschen, and Perry and Krista called out from the chair of rocks, so we did the show without ANY chairs which was so weird! So that means that 5 people called out! What insanity. Playing Anna was so much fun! I have wanted to go on for that part for the longest time! It is my favorite ensemble part definitely and I am so thankful that I got the chance. For some reason ever since the beginning, I have felt this odd connection to Anna, even from auditions. She was the only ensemble part I technically got called back for (I mean I got called back for all of them since I am a swing, but she was the only actual packet and lines and stuff I got) I got to put my hair in curly pigtails which made me feel like a little girl! I thought it went swimmingly, a really strong show for everyone, but honestly it felt strange without any chair of rocks! It was so much fun bopping around stage!!

So then Friday rolls along. Christy had come back to the show on Thursday, so I figured that going on for Wendla wasn't going to happen. But then I get a call in the morning that I am going to play Wendla in the big rehearsal we were having for Jake in the afternoon because Christy wasn't feeling well still. So I got to do rehearsal with him, which was so much fun because he is so talented! He was the first Melchior I've ever done it with that wasn't Perry! I had a great time, and it felt good to run through that track since I knew there was a chance that I might be going on. So then me, Matt, Andy, Lucas and Anthony went to eat at this really good place that gave us soft prezels for a starter haha and I got the call!! I was going on for Wendla!!! My last and final part to go on for which was such a cool feeling! For some reason I never thought that I would go on for everyone, just because of the way the tour started, that the girlies never needed to call out. But now look! I have gone on for everyone and I couldn't be happier! So Wendla, I started getting a little jittery about it! She does so much in the show and my mind was all over the place as I was getting my hair done, and pulling up my stockings under my little baby doll dress. And my excitement was through the roof!!! The experience for me was unreal. I was so thankful that I was able to perform with Kyle before he left because he is just so brilliant to me. I thought the show was fun, but of course a little intimidating since it was my first time. One of the things I was most scared about, which was over about 2 minutes after the show started was putting on the dress and not stumbling off the chair and I did it! Not like earlier in the day at rehearsal when the dress got stuck under my shoes and it was all tangled which was extremely entertaining to my cast lol. What a sigh of relief haha. Other than that, the quick changes went well, I walked backward in Those You've Known without running into the band, and I felt very connected and into the show. Hopefully I will get to play Wendla again soon and also Anna. I only went on for each of them one time which I think is difficult as a swing. It is always nice to do a part two times in a row because the first time is always rubbing out the kinks when it comes to all of the technical aspects. Like, for instance, as simple as this is, the walks in Word of Your Body when Melchi and Wendla are holding hands on the first chorus are soo hard because of the spot light. I felt like I was going to fall over and I was just walking! So now I know for next time what that will be like before it happens which is why the second show is always easier. But now at least I got the first one's over, and I had the time of my life doing it! I promise to post a picture later on. My camera died so the pictures are on Chase's phone and I will get them soon! :)

So the next week which is Phillie! Everyone is slowly starting to feel better which is nice, and then suddenly, Kimiko has an injured foot and is out for the week! So us swing girls take turns going on again! My third role in 2 weeks! I went on for Thea Sunday which was an incredible experience because it was our dear Kyle's last performance which was so hard for us all. It was one of the most emotional nights for us, and I had a great time experiencing that as Thea. Of course the show was emotional with lots of tears, and the goodbye's later that night were even harder, but it was such a beautiful night for us all. The hard part about Kyle leaving, like when Claire left, is that this is kind of the beginning of the end, and the beginning of the new which is both sad and so exciting. It is just strange to imagine this tour without all these people we have been with from the start. We are all so comfortable with each other, and have grown up and experienced all of this together from rehearsals in New York, to opening night in San Fran all till now. We have been all that we know for a whole year, so losing someone and on their part, starting a new part in their lives, is a scary and sad thing because it will never be quite the same. Of course, it will be incredible in a different way with all the new people and all of the new experiences and memories we will have together, but these original memories and experiences will be something irreplaceable and ones that we will hold to our hearts forever as the Spring Awakening family that we are.We will miss you Kyle and Julie and we all love you so much! I wish you both so much luck in your careers!!

krystina :)

Cheers from London!

2009-06-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

I am here everyone! We got into London earlier today and we had an awesome day! I am going to do some serious updating when I get back to the states but I'll try to sneak on here as much as I can throughout the trip!!! Today was incredible, I have never been to Europe before and I just love it so much already! London is such an awesome city! So much culture! Our day consisted of a long flight, Buckingham Palace and seeing the changing of the guards, me almost being run over by a motorcycle, walking through Hyde Park and seeing Royal Albert Hall and the Peter Pan Statue, seeing the London show "Thriller Live" honoring MJ's and Jackson Five's music, and going to the Absoulut Icebar! Pictures to come!

Cheers,

krystina :)

PS: I swear you guys, updates to come also about going on for Wendla, Anna, and saying a horribly hard goodbye to Kyle Riabko.

Wendla in Baltimore!

2009-06-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be Wendla tonight here in Baltimore for my first time! I am so excited! If you are in the area, you should come!

krystina :)

Tweeting!

2009-06-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

Good morning!

I am now officially on Twitter!!! I did not understand that thing for a loooooong time, but now I love it! The only thing I still don't understand is the whole @KrystinaAlabado thing. What is that? Are those comments to me like my wall or messages or something? How do I do that to someone else?

Please follow me on twitter!!

krystina :)

Part Two. The Ilse Experience.

2009-06-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is over. My six shows flew by so quick! I honestly had the time of my life being able to play Ilse in Spring. I learned so much about myself as an actor and about performing, and I am so thankful that I did. My last night as Ilse which was Wednesday here in Louisville was the most insane show ever, and I am ecstatic that I was a part of it. So I was on as Ilse, Lukie was on as Melchi, and it was Krista's first show in the chair of rock so energy was already high. But, to add on to that, we had like the best audience we've had in a while. They were laughing hysterically and cheering like crazy after everything. They were so appropriate with the way they acted because sometimes when we have audiences like that, although they are so much fun and loud, they will laugh at the beating scene, and sometimes hoot and hollar after Left Behind. But this crowd was enjoying themselves and having a great time, but was also so smart. They laughed at the lines that most of the time go over audiences heads and there was dead silence after LB. No applause which was so beautiful along with no laughing in Beating. It was awesome. As performers, we naturally will feed into that energy coming from the audience, so that show for us was very high in energy and super fun. I ran on for my scene in act 2 and I could already feel that I was going to be an emotional wreck. The funny thing about being a swing is that you never really know if that will be the last time you get a chance to play that role, so that is how I treated it, even though the opportunity may arise again on tour. I gave every last ounce of what I had that night and it was an amazing experience up there. I was really connected to Blake and I rocked the hell out in DDS/BW. My hair was everywhere, on my mic, in my mouth, all across my face. It felt incredible, and hearing that huge applause after the song for some reason killed me and I immediately broke down and could not stop. It was a moment that I will never forget on stage, because at that moment, I realized that this life I am living is something that is so irreplaceable and some of the best times I will ever have. At that moment, I felt the most vulnerable I have ever felt on stage and in front of that many people. I let go of all inhibitions and let everyone in, and it taught me so much about myself as an actor. Thank you to everyone that I was able to share these experiences with as Ilse, and for all the well wishes and positive thoughts. I will never forget it.

Ok enough with mushy stuff. Here are some pictures from my run!!

Krystina :)

PS: My heel feels so much better thank goodness. At least now I will have a permanent scar to remember Spring Awakening!! Haha.

Part One. The Ilse Experience

2009-06-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Words cannot describe the feeling I felt as I walked onto the stage for the first time with my hair braided, wearing a green romper. Playing Ilse has by far been the highlight of the tour for me. And being able to play her six times in a row? What else could I ask for. This past weekend truly seems like a blur to me. I did four shows as Ilse and they all flew by so quickly. This weekend is one I will not forget. I finally got to see my family! My mom, dad, little sister and brother, and aunt all flew into Pittsburgh from Phoenix to see me perform as Ilse and I could not be happier. Before this weekend, I had gone on for Martha three times and Thea six times and unfortunately, no one in my family was able to make it out, but this time they did and it meant the world to me. I am a big family girl, so having them all in the audience and onstage (my brother and sister got to sit onstage Saturday night), was incredible. It is hard for my family to come out this section of the tour cause they live on the other side of the country and we are stuck to the east coast! You east coasters are lucky, I miss my west coast! Anyway, going on for Ilse was such a wonderful experience for me. I learned a lot about myself as an actor, and it was a great opportunity to be able to do it four times in a row because each show, I made something better, tweaked this, polished that, and tried new things. I get more and more comfortable as they go on which is great for tomorrow because I am playing Ilse here for Louisville's Opening Night!! So it feels good to have four shows under my belt, because I will be able to ease into it tomorrow. It's funny, my first show, as I was running out after saying "Moritz Steifel" with my hair all over the place, (for those of you that saw it, you can testify to that haha) barefoot, holding flowers with Gustav Baum's shirt on, I had that moment again. The moment of "Holy crap I'm actually doing this for a living" and that made my first moment as Ilse even more exciting.

So show story. Show number three, the Sunday matinee. It's time for Totally Fucked. As you all know, Ilse is barefoot the entire second act. For some reason I never thought about the fact that I could potentially injure myself with no shoes on, probably because Steffi has never spoken of it. Anyway, the still blah blah's go by and then the crazy blah blah's start happening. So I'm jumping and whipping my hair and dancing around when suddenly, I think I'm in Andy's way so I move over...no more like jump over...and end up slamming my foot on the corner edge of the middle platform and it completely gashed my left heel. It. Hurt. So. Freaking. Bad. Ah. So I hit my end pose in Fucked with more of a pained look on my face rather than pissed. I wasn't sure what happened, so I sat down in my chair to watch the Vineyard Scene, and I look down and sure enough. Blood everywhere. So I immediately leave the stage to find that my heel and foot is throbbing and bleeding everywhere. I quickly throw some neosporin and a couple Band-Aids on it and scurry back to the curtain to enter for the letter pass, noticing that each time I put pressure on that foot, I want to scream of pain. So I basically did the rest of the show with this really awkward limpy thing and got off stage to find that I ended up with a serious Spring Awakening battle wound. (To be honest, I felt sort of bad-ass about it, so I showed the boys all the blood and stuff...they were pretty impressed haha). But let me tell you. Ouch. I'm so happy I had only one more show to do after that and that I could spend today resting it up. It was tough at the night show last night because I was having trouble putting pressure on it. It is interesting however, because the adrenaline from performing made me not even think about it while I was on stage. Of course though, the second I start walking backstage it kills, but that is the power of performance. The show must always go on!

I am so looking forward to the beginning of this week. I have two more shows as Ilse here in Louisville, Kentucky. Tuesday and Wednesday so if you are in the area, come check it out! I am so so SO excited!! But don't worry, you won't see a limping Krystina Ilse cause it's all better now!

Krystina :)

Ilse in Pittsburgh!!

2009-05-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today is the day guys!!! My first time as Ilse is happening in just a few hours and I am excited! If you are in Pittsburgh, and get a chance, come to the Heinz Hall cause I'm Ilse all weekend! I'll post later about how it all goes!! Yay!

Krystina :)

Sick Night

2009-05-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well I did it guys. I called out for the very first time tonight at intermission. Ugh this terrible cold thingy is floating around our cast and I just feel like crap. It is a weird feeling, I'll have to say, sitting here in my hotel room knowing that the show is still going on...they are probably at Whispering now haha. Anyway, I'm feeling a bit better now, just laying in my bed. So right when I got here, I clicked on my TV and So You Think You Can Dance was on! Yay! I looove this show. Every time I watch it, it inspires me to be a better dancer and makes me wanna jump up and throw on my leotard and foot thongs and do some leaps lol. I thought I would share with you guys my all time favorite dance I have ever seen on that show. It is from last season, Kate and Joshua dancing to "No Air". The story behind the dance is that these two are a couple, and he has just been drafted. I cannot stop watching it. It is so beautifully danced and acted. If you haven't seen it, watch it. Incredible!

krystina :)

Farewell Claire Sparks! The end of an era.

2009-05-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

What a tough weekend it was. Claire leaving loomed over all our heads the entire time. It still hasn't hit me quite yet that she left us, and that we are no longer, and never will be the original 17. Claire said something the day she left that I thought was so true. She said that the thing that scares her most is that all she knows now is the tour. She knows nothing else. It must be such a strange feeling to step back into the world without having Spring Awakening. I can't imagine how that is going to feel. Our lives on this tour are Spring Awakening. We only know eachother, we hear the same music everyday and see the same people everyday. Our daily lives turn in to somewhat of a routine. Just like a normal schedule would be wake up, shower, school, eat homework, hang out, eat, sleep, ours is set in stone too just with a bit more lee-way. Wake up, shower, explore, rehearsal, eat, show, eat, sleep. And that is it. Every single day with one day off. So living without it and readjusting to a normal schedule would be so difficult, and really super weird haha. Being on a tour is unique in the way that we are stuck where we are. After the show, there is no going home to your apartment and doing your own thing. There is no hanging out with you buddies from college. There is no cooking dinner in your kitchen. Your apartment is a hotel room. Your friends are your cast mates. Your dinner is either microwavable or restaurant bought. Life on the road is a strange thing. So imagine losing a cast mate, it is like saying goodbye to a sister, a best friend, a piece of our complex puzzle that each of us fit into. We have all traveled this journey together, all 17 of us. It was everyones first Broadway tour so we got to experience that together, and learn about it together. We adjusted to this lifestyle together, and Sparkles will be surely missed because we have all only known touring life with her in it too. But even though we miss her so much, that girl is going to do so many incredible things in her life. She is by far one of the most genuine, kind-hearted people I have ever known. I learned so much from her. Claire, if you are reading this, we love you so much and miss you more than anything! Good luck in college and we all can't wait till you come and visit!!!

We had such a wonderful time spending our last time together. First of all, before the show as we were getting ready, we took loads of pictures. Everyone wanted to get a picture Claire and her new adorable hair (props to Kevin Maybee our hair designer). Everyone got dressed and we took so many pictures.

The 6 Original Spring Tour Swings!!

The Original 8 Girls of the Spring Awakening Tour!

The entire cast and band got together after the show last last Sunday and hung out at Jillian's. It was such a wonderful moment. Since there are so many of us, and a lot of the time we are totally wiped out after the show, it was so nice to be all together again, cause we haven't done that in a while. We all ordered food and talked for a few hours with lots of picture taking and goodbyes to Claire. As we were all sitting there laughing together, I looked around for a moment and realized how thankful I am for having these people in my life. Every one of my cast-mates is my best friend. I feel comfortable around each one, and we are all truly one big family. I could not ask for anything better. Touring life is made easier by the fact that I have 17 people I can confide in. 17 people that I trust. 17 people that I can call up to hang out with. 17 people that I love.

The Original 17 Touring Cast of Spring Awakening!

WE LOVE YOU CLAIRE!!!!!

Krystina :)

ps: I just proof-read and realized that I meant 16 all those times I said 17 at the end cause I obviously can't talk or be friends with myself or hang out with myself...but I'm not gonna change it cause I think 17 looks better haha.

We're going to Harvard!

2009-05-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

If you haven't been to Cambridge, MA home of the smarties at Harvard University, I highly recommend it. What a cool area! So me, Ben, Claire, and Steffi took a trip to Harvard last week because our one and only had to pick up his information packet and some stuff for his Freshman year there next year. It is such a beautiful campus. We walked around for a bit and it was so green and the buildings were so pretty. I love brick buildings for some reason, something about them seems so elegant and antique. I felt like I was getting the inside scoop about the school cause I never thought I would. I also realized how proud I am of Benjamin Moss. He has so much going for him as a person, and a brilliant musician. I feel so inspired each time I hear one of his brilliant compositions or when he plays dangerously difficult music on the piano. That boy is going to do so many wonderful things in his life.

So, loving Boston so far times a million! I had so much fun last week and I love performing in the Colonial. But I will ask this, I think everyone who reads this that lives in the Boston area should tell more of their friends and people about our show! We haven't quite been filling the house, and it would be great if we could attract more people to come! So do it. Ready? GO! haha anyway, last week I was on the radio with Chase. We sang Sadness/Blue wind on 88.9 Emerson Radio I believe. They have this musical theatre time slot on Saturdays which is super cool. It would definitely be my favorite time to listen to the radio if I lived here. We had lots of fun singing on there, we got to wear the fancy headphones, and sing into these huge mics in a sound studio.

krystina :)

Spring is here!

2009-04-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, and I have seriously felt it over the past couple of days in Providence, and definitely here in Boston. Today, I broke out my bright yellow sweater, and my big bug sunglasses and explored the city with flowers in bloom, green green grass and the weather being perfect. It's funny, sometimes I get so wrapped up (as we all do) in the crazy things in life, that I forget to stop and just appreciate everything around me. Like today, for instance, we walked by this gorgeous big park, with lots of trees and grass and it just, for some reason, made me feel like I could breath. It made me so happy. People were walking their dogs, sun tanning, reading, playing frisbee. One of my absolute favorite things to do on a sunny warm day is to (aside from going to the beach) have a picnic in the park! It is like the perfect date, perfect get together with friends, perfect family outing, and perfect way to relax. It's funny, because in Arizona, where I'm from, picnicking doesn't happen very often because we are so busy in pools trying to make sure we don't sweat off all the water in our bodies. But, one of my BEST memories from this tour would definitely be when we were in New York and went to Central Park. We got out early of a run-through rehearsal, so a bunch of us decided to go to central park and have a picnic and just relax. We were there for hours, eating, laying around, telling stories, and feeding the birds (bad idea lol). It was just such a nice way to take the rest of the day off, and it is a memory that will stick with me forever, because it was just so beautiful, sitting in this incredible park with these ginormous trees hanging over you...love it.

I got my first taste of spring though a couple of weeks ago when me and Chase got to fly out to Dallas for a press event. We had such a blast and got to see a lot of cool things while we were there. The weather was gorgeous, and everything was in bloom. We had a great dinner at this Mexican restaurant (which was almost good as my Nana's homecooked Mexican food), and then spent the next day running around from performance to radio interview, to tv interview, to newspaper interview all day! And then we hoped on a plane back to Toronto. It was a great experience and we had a fun time and got a nice taste of spring. We met this lady who should totally be on the Food Network Cake Challenges, which by the way, is my favorite thing to watch on TV lol. She made this amazing cake of suitcases that looked REAL and had little stickers of all of the shows going to to that theatre, including ours! Here is the video we shot of our time in Dallas! Yay for Spring time!!

Krystina :)

Thea in Providence!

2009-04-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hi guys!

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be on for Thea tomorrow, Thurday April 23 in Providence! Woohoo!

Krystina :)

Oh Canada!

2009-04-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ah...tonight is closing night. I cannot believe that Toronto went by so quickly. It is the strangest thing because all of our other five weeks stops felt like five weeks. But this one felt so short! I am going to miss it here in beautiful springy Toronto! So many fun things happened here! Just a few days ago, me, Matt, Christy, Andy, Ben, and Blake went for high tea in our hotel. It was so much fun and as we were sipping away at our tea and nibbling our finger sandwiches, Christy had us all go around the table and say what our favorite part of Toronto was. A lot of us shared the same feelings and memories...making new friends with the awesome Dog See's God cast...and some not so much such as having a 24 hour Tim Horton's available haha. (I do not like TH at all...sorry Canadians) But one thing was definitely a major consensus...Niagara Falls!

Last Monday, Matt, Andy, Ben, Gabby, Julie D, Kimiko, Lucas, Anthony, Claire, and I woke up really early, rented cars, and had a fun-filled day at Niagara Falls. It was so much fun! The falls are absolutely GORGEOUS and so much water! It was awesome to see, cause I had only ever seen it in pictures and movies like Superman! So we had a wonderful lunch overlooking the falls and then walked around and explored. We found ourselves eating candy from the Fudge Factory, looking at the falls from the ground up on the Journey Behind the Falls tour, and having the living daylights scared out of us at the Horror House, Nightmares. Oh, and a lot of comments have been going up about my comment that blackberries are crunchy. Let me tell you all what I meant by that, because after thinking about it, a crunchy blackberry does sound like a seriously bad one haha. The crunchiness that I meant was the seeds. You know how as you eat a blackberry or a raspberry, you feel the seeds too? That is what I meant, like I had to crunch on all the little annoying seeds in the berry. Just needed to tell you all that yes the blackberry was soft and squishy...but I did not enjoy the hard teeny seeds that I had to crunch on haha. You guys should check out our Niagara Falls Adventure videos! Part one is up right now on Totally Trucked and part two should be coming out next week so you guys will finally know what happens at Nighmares and you'll get to see if any of us had any luck at the casino!! Plus the falls at night and a lot of random singing. I'll tell you all about the second part of our day after the video comes out!

Tomorrow we leave for Providence and then Boston after that! These next few months, there is so much to look forward to! My family is going to be coming out in Pittsburgh to see me play Ilse! Oh, actually I haven't officially announced it on my blog so now I will! I will be performing as Ilse in Spring in Pittsburgh, PA on Saturday and Sunday May 30 and May 31 for

both the matinee and evening shows, and also in Louisville, KY on Tuesday and Wednesday June 2 and 3! I am very excited about being able to go on for Ilse 6 times. It is a very weird life, being a swing, because going on once for someone, or even twice is sometimes tough because you don't fully get to develop your character. You are still getting used to doing it, and kicking out the excited butterflies, so after the second or third one, you can really buckle down and learn a lot about the part, and actually do it. So I will finally get that chance with Ilse and I cannot wait! Hopefully some of you guys can make it out! But anyway, my parents, my aunt, and my brother and sister are coming to Pittsburgh on the Thursday before and staying through Monday which will be perfect! I will get to spend time with them, and they'll finally get to see me in a role (they've only seen me in the chair of rock). Yay!!!

Krystina :)

My Thea Experience!

2009-04-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

"Melchi Gabor...he's such a radical!"

Playing Thea was some of the funnest moments i've had on stage. It was cool because it was a completely different experience than being Martha. Martha for me the first time was unique in the fact that I had never EVER gone on before, so the butterflies and the excitement was different than this time around. This time around, I had about 5 days notice which allowed me to properly prepare myself, and I was just ready to go out there and have a good time. I was completely comfortable and ready on Tuesday so I got to the theatre and threw my hair in some inside-out french pigtail braids and got into Thea mode! I put on those glasses (there were wayyy too small for my face...thanks Kimiks you made me feel like i had a giant face but then I remembered that you have a teeny tiny one) and did a little Mama Reprise with the girls, grabbed my microphone and got in line to go on stage. I had a blast playing Thea. She is such a fun character because her track, as all the tracks in Spring, is really fun, but also has an emotional journey to ride. My favorite part about playing Thea was definitely the Junk Scene cause she is the one that drives it. It felt so good to be on stage and perform again. That is something that miss a lot in this show. So those times that I get to go on, I am so incredible thankful! But Kimi is back tonight and I am so excited to see her! We missed her on her vacation!

Ok onto other business...Toronotonians...You must tell me how no one ever told me that this existed. As some of you know by the bowling video from Minneapolis, my secret is now out. My nickname is Shasha. I know so random right? Well long story short, when I was about 2 years old, my parents kept asking me what my name was and I always said Shasha. Who knows why? I don't...my parents don't. But ever since then, that has been my family name. My siblings, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins...they never call me Krystina even to

this day my younger cousins actually don't learn that my real name is Krystina until they turn about 10 and I break it to them lol. I will say though, before that video, no one ever knew that except for my family and closest friends. So now you all know! But you can still call me Krystina, cause I don't let my friends call me Shasha ever. Unless you want me to smack your arm or whine about it until you go back to calling me Krystina. haha. So why am I telling you this? WELL I was at the Metro market here in Toronto a few weeks ago and I stumbled across these little cookies and guess what the brand name was? SHASHA CO. I was so shocked and excited. I bought 2 bags, and took pictures and sent them to all my family and everyone thought it was so funny!

krystina :)

Thea in Toronto!

2009-03-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let you all know that I am going on for Thea this Tuesday, March 31 at 8pm and Wednesday, April 1 at 2pm and 8pm at the Canon Theatre in Toronto while Kimiks is on vacation! I am so excited because this will be first time on as Thea. If you are in Toronto, I hope you can make it! It will be a blast for sure, and I found out a few days ago that I get to wear glasses hehe. Yay! Well, I hope you guys can catch one of the shows! I can't wait!

krystina :)

Cleveland Rocks!

2009-03-18T07:39:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how fast time flies out here on the road. We just had our first preview last night here in AMAZING Toronto, ON but...as odd as this is...it just hit me that we weren't in Cleveland/the United States any more...haha Cleveland was great. I had so much fun there and we were so busy the entire time, it went by quicker than anyone expected, especially that we were all highly anticipating getting to Canada. We got to do so many fun things in Canada. First of all, it is Jared's home town so not only did we get to have an incredible home-cooked cast meal at his house with his family, BUT we also got to do a performance at his alma mater high school which was super fun!

What also made my weeks go by so fast was that I was in charge of the TotallyTrucked videos this week! Keep checking back on our youtube channel to check them out. I made and edited six videos from Cleveland...an interview with our brand new cast member, Matt Doyle, Swing Awakening, our performances from Jared's high school, Opening night, a masterclass we taught to high school and college singers, and our trip to the Cleveland Rock Hall. It was so much fun taking my flip camera and recording all of our adventures so I hope you all like the videos! So this masterclass that we taught was super cool. Me, Gabby, Matt, and Ben volunteered to help our music director Jared teach this thing. There were about 100 high school and college students that showed up which was a great turn out. We started out by warming up together, and then teaching them belly-mamba! Then we took some time and taught everyone a section from "Purple Summer" and we sang it together. It was a beautiful experience hearing PS being sung by 100 people because we never hear it from more than 17 people when we are onstage. It was such a great feeling sharing our music with those students and hearing them sing the hell out of it. You guys will get to hear it soon on TotallyTrucked.

Cleveland was a definite whirlwind for sure. We had a lot of boy swings and understudies go on, which always makes the shows so intresting. I will give you guys a quick list...since everything was happening with Kyle and his pilot stuff, Cleveland got to see a total of FOUR Melchi's...Kyle Riabko, Perry Sherman, Matt Shingledecker, and Matt Doyle, which I think is quite hilarious. I'm sure repeat audience members were like WTF haha. We also had Chase go on as Georg and Otto, and we had Lucas on as Hanschen! Those boys...they love to callout...

I would like to say a huge HUGE congratulations to our very own, makes me laugh so hard I cry, Kyle Riabko. As you all have heard, he is off to Hollywood shooting a big pilot as the lead character and I could not be happier for him. If anyone deserves it...he does, believe me. It was very strange saying goodbye to him, even though it will only be for a month. We had a big pool party and it was great that we had the whole cast together to say our goodbyes and well-wishes. We'll see you in a month Kyle and have a freaking blast!

So anyway, Toronto is already one of the highlights of the tour, and we've only been here for 3 days. It reminds me so much of NY, especially right next to where our theatre is...it is like the Times Square of Toronto! Big lit up billboards, shopping, 24 hour food (which surprisingly is very hard to find in most cities) and lots of people just like the City! I could not be happier. And it is so interesting seeing and hearing the cultural differences. Yesterday, an onstage audience member asked me if I was going to school and I said that I was a Freshman in college, and he said "oh a 1st year...you must be from the States". It was so cool...and not to mention the loonies and toonies! Ah it is so fun to have pretty colorful and sparkly money in my wallet. Sorry guys...this is my first time out of the United States ever...so every little thing makes me a bit giddy haha.

Here is a picture of us at the Rock Museum and Hall of Fame! :)

krystina:)

So Cleveland?

2009-03-04T19:35:00.000-08:00

Alright will someone tell me what the deal with good old Cleveland is? For some reason, I was not expecting the constant chill of Antarctica shivering down my back here, but this may be the coldest I've felt on this tour yet! And we've been to Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota...what gives weather gods? Anyway, aside from being so cold that I can't think, I have enjoyed these first few nights in Cleveland. We got a nice surprise yesterday because our producers Ira Pittleman and Tom Hulce came to visit us and it has been a while! We got to chill with them at the opening night party which was so much fun!

Well, in case you guys haven't seen, I have my brand new website finally up and running. www.krystinaalabado.com. Check it out if you want, but be forewarned that it is not quite ready yet, so be sure to keep checking it for new and improved things.

krystina :)

St. Louis Cabaret!

2009-02-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

I never posted about the cabaret in St. Louis...wow that was a pretty active city sheesh. Lots went on! So the cabaret in St. Louis was so much fun! Me and Matt sang a duet of "Somewhere" from West Side Story and "In Whatever Time We Have" from Children of Eden arranged by our bass player Julie Danielson and it went pretty well I think. It was a fun song to sing for sure. The turn out was incredible! Almost 200 people! We were so pleased and we ended up raising a bunch of money thanks to our MC drag-queen extrodinaire who auctioned off a bunch of stuff for us for much more money than we ever thought. It was amazing because it was for such a good cause. So the night was full of love duets from everyone in the cast, started by a big Disney love medley, and ending with Seasons of Love/Purple Summer. It was a great night for sure!

Here is the video and a picture of me and Matt singing our duet! The night was a huge success and the cast had a great time singing something other than the show. I will definitely miss St. Louis! The Fox Theatre was the coolest theatre I have ever been to for sure, and performed at. I hope that I get to go back there one day. I did sign the wall in the basement and in my dressing room. If you haven't been backstage at the fox, it is full of murals and signatures of every musical, play, concert, and show that has ever gone through there since it opened. So you can imagine how many people have signed and now I am one of them!

krystina :)

My Martha Experience

2009-02-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

So I have has such a fun time these past three performances playing the role of Martha. Ok so day 1...I got to the theatre really early and started warming up, singing through stuff with Kristen our assistant music director, and getting my mic put in my hair while I braided it. I put on my cute green dress (the first time I ever put it on in it's life! Besides costume fittings in NY) and my brown tights and purple shoes. I tied on my green ribbons to my braids. Then I hear the 5 minute call and am singing through Mama Who Bore Me Reprise with the girls and I suddenly remember that I didn't put my bruise on! So now it is me in speed mode. I broke out my never used makeup wheel and powder and made my bruise with the help of Steffi. Then everything went so fast. They called places and I ran downstairs and grabbed my mic and the the green cue light came on which meant 20 seconds...I didn't even have time to think. All of a sudden I was walking onto the stage as Martha Bessel! Mama Reprise was such an incredible feeling. It was so exciting and intense and I was so freaking excited that I was doing it. Gosh and it was over before I knew it! And only with a few minor mishaps! All in all, the three shows went really well I think for being my first time ever. It is something I will never forget in my life. And if it couldn't get better, the Fox is my favotire theatre, and if I had to pick one to perform in on this tour, it would be the Fox, so I feel pretty lucky. Thanks to everyone who made it out for me, and for all of the well wishes left on here and my facebook. I will never forget this week in St. Louis!

Martha and Ilse all in green for Dark!

krystina :)

Show #3

2009-02-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

I am performing as Martha at the evening show tonight! :)

krystina :)

Martha Day 2

2009-02-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the supporting comments yesterday! I am on for Martha again today at the matinee and maybe tonight (I'll let you guys know as soon as I know) and I am so excited! Yesterday was seriously an out of body experience for me and the best thing ever and i am so excited I get to do it again today! I promise I'll give details about yesterday and today tomorrow! It has just been crazy over here, as you can imagine :) :)

krystina :)

IM ON FOR MARTHA

2009-02-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be on for Martha tonight, February 18 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis!!! Ahh I am very excited because, as you read in my last post, I have not been on yet on the tour so tonight is the night! I will say that I hope Sarah feels better though! I'll blog tonight about how it went!

krystina :)

Swing weekend!

2009-02-11T22:41:00.000-08:00

What a fun weekend!! Columbus, OH has been full of it's surprises! I saw my first frozen over river, went to a cool science museum, got fed great Italian food, and last...but...BEST...saw Perry go on as Melchi and Lucas go on as Georg (but also sad cause of kyle's poor foot and matt being sick :( )

The boys did so well and it was so much fun watching them. It always makes the show so exciting seeing the swings go on! And it gives me some hope! Geez those boys get to go on a lot! Soon enough I will go on! I just know it! haha. The luck I have had has been very interesting. The only two girls that have called out so far are Sarah once and Christy once and the luck of the draw was that I could not go on for either! When Sarah called out back in September, I had not learned Martha yet, Julie was the only one that knew Martha because we had only learned our first tracks where I learned Ilse and Claire learned Wendla. Bummer but soooo great and fun to see Julie Benks go on (she did spectacular by the way and her family was in town!! Perfection!!). Then, Christy called out a month ago, and Claire had learned and rehearsed Wendla more so got to go on first. Another bummer but once again sooo awesome to see Sparkles go on and freaking be amazing as Wendla! So I know my time is here...I will keep you all posted about when it happens! haha

On to other news, I am here in St. Louis!! The weather is so funny! When we got here I was like yay!! This rocks and the weather is so perfect! 70 degrees and sunny! Then it rained at night and was freeeezing! Not that I mind the rain one bit (it is my favorite weather in the world and clouds make me the happiest girl ever) but it was just odd how bi-polar the weather here is. The Fox Theatre is absolutely the most amazing, beautiful, humongous, INCREDIBLE theatre I have ever laid eyes on. By far my favorite theatre we have been to or that I have been to in my life, I am pretty sure it will stay that way. I feel so privileged to perform on that stage! I will admit however, that being in that theatre and lobby reminds me of being on the Indiana Jones Ride at Disneyland...anyone agree? lol I cannot wait to see what else St. Louis has in store for me besides the theatre, the crazy weather, and being the home of the always hillarious and super fun Gabe Violett the b-way Otto. We are having so much fun spending our time in St. Louis with him!

krystina :)

Blah Blah Blah Blah!!!

2009-02-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

We are now in Columbus, OH!! Not much around, but we went to this amazing sandwich place last night before the show called Potbelly and holy cow...it was like one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. I guess this is a chain? Except that I have never heard of it, but now am in love!

Anyway, yesterday was our opening night here in Ohio and it went pretty well. I am not sure the audience was as into it as Minneapolis was, but I think they'll loosen up by the end of the week. I was off last night, so I decided to watch a little of the show from the house. I went out for the beginning and for Totally Fucked. As I was sitting in the audience, watching everyone perform TF, it kind of was a blast to the past moment for me watching the Tony's in 2007 at home after a long day at Hamilton High School trying to juggle college applications, two shows, choir, and homework (those were the days...not lol). I had no clue was SA was, and I kept hearing them mentioned award after award. I thought it was some old English Play or something...weird huh? Anywho, so then they announced Spring Awakening was to perform and I was like, "oh a musical...weird" (yeah I was clueless about this show). So I decided to watch it and...oh...my...gosh. I was in shock. I had never been so effected by a performance on TV ever. I still remember the chills and me standing in front of the TV like a little kid watching cartoons awestuck with a lollipop in her hand. That was when I knew...I had to be in that show.

Over the next couple months (I had Tivo'd it). I would come home from school and watch the performance over and over...and...as embarassing as this may sound, I would turn it on and jump around my living room screaming "Blah Blah Blah Blah!". So sometimes, when I am standing on my chair blah blahing it up, or watching it from the audience, it takes me back to when I first fell in love with Spring Awakening. And how thankful I am that I get to be a part of this...and how strange it is that I am actually doing this show...on a real stage...as a real actor rather than in my living room with a remote in my hand in little old Chandler, AZ.

krystina :)

Snow Snow Snow!!

2009-01-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

Des Moines, IA = the coldest place I have ever been to! This week has been super fun in Des Moines which (honestly) really surprised us all! I saw it snow for the first time and it was so beautiful! Right when we got off the plane, it was snowing and I was freaking out! Then just yesterday, it came down again while we were eating dinner at this fancy French restaurant!!! It was so so beautiful. I'll post some pictures later. Oh yeah, and I saw real life icicles!! Like in the movies!

This week was also awesome because I got to play Wendla in a big understudy put-in at the theatre. I got to go through the show as Wendla with Perry as my Melchior with the full band, lights, sound, costumes, and microphones! It was such an amazing and crazy experience. I was not expecting some of the light things, and just how different the show is with everything happening. It is strange because as understudies, we rehearse 2 times a week for 5 hours each and it is always just on the stage with the 6 of us and our stage managers and our assistant music director playing piano for us, so being able to do the full show with everything was such a treat! We had such a supportive audience too! Lol it was the rest of the cast that wasn't in the put-in. That is what I love so much about this family on the road, everyone is so incredibly sweet and supportive of everyone. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my first time as Wendla (well kind of as Wendla lol)

Krystina :)

On The Road Again!

2009-01-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

We are back! So New Years has come and gone!! My New Year's resolutions are...

1. Lose 10 pounds and eat healthier (whose Isn't this hehe)

2. Stop being such a worry wart

3. Become a bit more patient

4. Journal and blog more!

Those are them. This year I am really going to try and go through with them for the first time. I always end up forgetting, but I have a good feeling about 2009!

So currently, I am in my hotel room in Houston, Texas! This is my first time in Texas, and so far I am really enjoying it. The theatre is beautiful, with a full starry night on the ceiling and everything! This city is a bit more hopping than Tampa, not gonna lie. But it is just wonderful to be back on tour because even though being at home was nice, I seriously missed the show, and my Spring family so freaking much! Getting back together with everyone was so much fun, and I didn't even realize how much I missed them until I saw them. This cast really is my family and I don't know what I would do without them! So as we enter this new year, 2009, I could not be happier with the place I am in and the people that I am sharing my time with. I love every second of it!

krystina :)

I'm Home!!!

2008-12-17T19:53:00.001-08:00

Wow, I could not have had a funner week performing with Spring at my hometown theatre, Gammage. Seriously, I had the absolute funnest time with everyone staying at my house!! We had our huge cast Christmas party the first day we got here and literally every single cast and band member made it! There were so many people at my house and my mother somehow in her incredible ways actually sat the 25 of us at the same table for dinner!! It was absoulutely insane and so much fun! We had a really nice secret santa under the tree that turned out great, and then had a wonderful homecooked meal around the table. There was guitar hero playing, a fire outside, and lots of christmas music! So the rest of the week was awesome. There was a lot of driving around on my part, but it was worth it. By mid week, the 7 of us staying at my house decided that we wanted to have a Christmas morning on Saturday, so we all bought eachother presents, put them under my tree, and then woke up really early saturday morning and had our own little christmas! We had such a fun time opening eachothers gifts and spending our own Chrismtas together! Then Julie and Chase made us breakfast and we all got ready to head to the theatre.

I had such a surreal time performing on the stage that I grew up going to and watching Broadway shows! I had so many old friends and family come, and it was so beautiful that I got to share this piece of art with them. My friends loved the show and thought it was the coolest thing. The picture over there on the right is with me and my two oldest and closest friends, Mohamed and Amirah! I have known them both and their family since I was born and they all came! I am so thankful that we got to play in Arizona! And it worked out perfectly cause now we have a two week layoff so I just get to stay home for two more weeks with my family! It is so nice to be home, but I know these two weeks are going to fly. They already are! I miss everyone already though, even though it has only been a few days. But resting is going to be good for me. I literally got sick the day everyone left. It was like I was holding out to be home. It kind of sucks cause right now I am stuck laying in bed, but I would much rather be sick at home, than sick on the road in a hotel room. Hopefully I will get better soon though, because I want to be super healthy for the best day ever!!! AKA Christmas!!!! It is coming!! Only a few more days and it is here!!!

krystina :)

Byeee LA!!

2008-12-07T23:52:00.000-08:00

Hunter Parrish visited us in LA and saw our show!

It is over. We closed today at the Ahmanson Theatre after a long 6 week run. We did really well in this city and had some great audiences. It has been fun being here. I've met a lot of very cool people, and experienced a lot in this crazy city. I can't believe that I spent two holidays here! Halloween and Thanksgiving! I leave many memories in this place, but I am very excited to move on. Our next city is one that I am most excited about...Tempe, AZ!! My home town!! I am finally going home!! I haven't been home since July! Before this tour the longest I had ever been away was about five days my entire life...so this is insane! I cannot wait until we get on that plane tomorrow, like I may not even sleep tonight I am so excited! We get in tomorrow and then me, Matt, Chase, Perry, Claire, Julie, and Anthony head over to my house where they are all staying for the week! It'll be like one big sleepover and I am very happy about having them in my house! Tomorrow night is going to be a blast. My parents are so sweet and invited the entire cast and band to our house for a huge homecooked Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner! This is something everyone has DEFINTIELY missed on this tour...a home cooked meal...I sure have. So we are gonna be having a big Christmas party with food, a SECRET SANTA! (EEE) and lots of music and movies. Yay!!

It is going to be such a surreal experience performing at the theatre in Tempe called Gammage. I grew up watching and seeing Broadway shows go through there, always hoping that I could one day perform on that stage in a tour...and now I actually am. And I am going to have the love and support of all my family and friends in the audience. I could not ask for anything more...seriously. I am so glad that I get to share this beautiful piece of art with the people in AZ. I think it is much needed and I really hope they like it!

krystina :)

An SA Turkey Day!

2008-11-30T21:31:00.000-08:00

This was my first Thanksgiving away from home...and I could not be happier with the way I got to spend it! I will admit that for the first time since San Diego, I was truly homesick on Thanksgiving. I think it was because I am very "tradition" based girl. I am used to doing the same thing on holidays and that has always been the way I am. So being somewhere new, and not the same as the past 18 Thanksgivings I have had was very strange to me. The morning was rough, but as the day progressed, I realized that I was with my second family, and they really took care of me and made me feel right at home. We ate dinner at this beautiful fancy restaurant in West Hollywood called La Boheme. It was gorgeously decorated and the entire cast, band, and some of crew was there. We enjoyed a great 3 course meal all together. My table was Me, Matt, Julie D, Kimiko, Chase, Freddy, and Alon and we had a blast. Everyone was all spiffy and dressed up and the evening just felt so special. I will say, I did still miss my family, but I was with my 2nd family so I ended up having a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of food, family, and thankfulness. Before we ate we went around the table and said what we were thankful for...totes my idea lol

So as we approach our last and final week here in LA, I cannot help but look back on our stay here...it has gone by so quickly I can't even explain it to you Some highlights would definitely be opening night, The Price is Right (ahh so much fun), Halloween, doing Wendla in understudy rehearsal, meeting JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (he came to the show and came backstage after with Jessica Biel and they said they loved it!) and becoming friends with the High School Musical cast. They came to see our show and enjoyed it and we all clicked really well! It has been fun hanging out with them these past few weeks. It is so weird being out on the road, because sometimes I forget that I am in a place that I really don't know a lot about. I adjust so quickly now to new cities that sometimes it takes me a second to realize that I am in LA and there is so much I haven't even seen yet. The city is huggggeee. So much different than NY. Everything is so spread out and it is a tough job getting around. I have spent so much money on cabs! Every time I meet with an agent or go to an audition, it costs me 50 bucks there and back! ahh...so I guess leaving LA is a bitter-sweet kind of thing. I will say that I enjoyed San Fran a little more. We are also in a not amazing area because there really is nothing around. No restaurants, no shopping...nothing. But it's all good cause we have 1 week left!

I will leave you with one last picture to ponder on! Here is me and Perry doing Melchior and Wendla in rehearsal! We had so much fun!

krystina :)

Shocking Moment

2008-11-17T23:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, as I sit in my chair of rock, I will look down to adjust my microphone in my vest pocket, and suddenly, as I look up to the picture of what is happening on stage, I freeze. shocked. for one moment because every now and then, I realize what I am doing, and that my life is Spring Awakening. This happened a few nights ago. i looked up at the four boys standing around Blake singing "None" and I had a slight freak out moment on stage where I honestly had to pinch myself. It is funny because I though after four months that these feelings and excited butterflies would mellow out a bit...but they really don't. I could not be happier than i am right now. This tour is such a blessing and what we create for an audience, and for anyone is so beautiful. That is my little sentimental rant for the evening hehe. Anyway! I just got back from singing the National Anthem at an LA Clippers game which was super fun! I'll post a video for sure! LA is a blast! We have 3 weeks left and I wish we were here longer! It is so much fun being able to see agents, audition for things, be in Hollywood, and have lots of celebs at our show. But don't fret, I am ECSTATIC about our next city cause it is my home!! Tempe, Arizona! I have a few of the cast...well 7 of them actually staying at my house for the week we are playing in AZ and I cannot wait! My family is super excited to have everyone over, and it will be a great way to end the first round of our tour, because then we have 2 weeks off for Christmas...ahh Christmas. I am obsessed. Every time I see a christmas light, santa chocolate, or fake tree I get all giddy and act like a 2 year old. Christmas is my favorite thing in the whole wide world. Ask anyone.

krystina :)

It's Been A While!

2008-09-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back! Wow, I am not being very good about updating this blog. But I will get better promise! So, as I am typing out this entry, I am sitting on my couch in my apartment looking out my window to the steets of San Fransisco, California and it is beautiful! I love it here in San Fran! We just arrived last Monday and I am already having a blast! The audiences here are incredible! Not that you San Diegans weren't amazing yourselves, because you were, but these San Fransiscans are just insane! In an amazingly good way! We are still in previews till Sunday so I can't even imagine how it will be once we open! I cannot wait! We are performing at the beautiful Curran Theatre and let me tell you, everytime I look up, I am just awestruck by this space. I love it and it is intimite which is perfect for our show!

Well, just to catch everyone up, we had a wonderful run in San Diego, and I enjoyed being there. Being at the Balboa was nice and comfy and we did some pretty fun stuff like going to LA for the day to audition for a TV show, lots of fun parties thrown by the awesome people of SD, having fun at the beach, and for me, having my family come to visit me and see the show. It was so great to see my family! The longest I had gone without seeing them before this tour started was like 2 days...so you could only imagine how excited I was to see them! They looooved the show and thought I was rocking it up there in my chair!

That's a picture of me, my mom, dad, and little brother and sister alec and julianna (even though they are not very little!

krystina :)

My SA Birthday!

2008-08-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

I am now 19! A few days ago it was my birthday! On our first official day in beautiful San Diego, CA! I had such a fun time. I got to spend the whole day in our gorgeous theatre the Balboa and everyone was so cool with my bday wishes! Everyone sang to me, I got to pick where to eat at dinner (and my dinner got paid for hehe thanks andy!) and the production staff got me two cakes! It was so nice of them to do all that for me! I even got to make a birthday wish and blow out a lit match haha. The best part though was being woken up in the morning with a package being dropped off at my room. My parents and siblings made me a birthday present box and shipped it to the hotel. It had a card, pictures, and some cute clothes and stuff. It made me so happy cause it made me feel like I had a little piece of home with me! I am doing better with my homesickness, I think it will just take time!

All of the boys look so different these days! They are all getting their hair dyed, cut, curled, and hairsprayed lol. Andy is a bright blonde (and the color changes daily), and anthony lucas and chase all have buzz cuts up half of their hair! It is pretty wicked cause they look so rock musical haha.

Anyway, this week is going to be intense! We have some long rehearsals going on. For the next 5 days (and for the past two) we are at the theatre from 1pm-midnight everyday for tech rehearsals. It is so exciting watching the show come together. And when we are in the theatre, it feels like we are in the Eugene O'Neil in NY cause the set looks identical! It is the coolest thing! The theatre is beautiful though and so authenic. I love it! Tomorrow we got invited by the tour cast of Phantom to see their show which is awesome, and my dad is coming to visit!! I am so happy because I really miss him and haven't seen him in almost a month and a half! It will be so nice to spend time with him and have him meet

the cast and everyone. Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that when our flight landed in San Diego, one of our fan bases called the Guilty One's were all standing at baggage claim with signs and yelling and stuff to greet and welcome us to San Diego! We were all very shocked and definitely not expecting that kind of welcome! It was a great way to start our time in SD!

krystina :)

New York is over!

2008-08-04T13:38:00.000-07:00

It is unbelievable how quickly time passes! Tomorrow is our last and final day at the studio that we've been rehearsing in for the past 3 weeks! I got my haircut today! They cut off 5 inches, but I'm sure no one can even tell since my hair is so long. Susan, our costume designer and Michael are still trying to decide what to do with my bangs. I am trying to grow them out, but they are exploring the option of either having me play Wendla with straight across blunt bangs, or with a headband holding them back! We shall see!

What a blur!

2008-07-22T18:05:00.001-07:00

So we are in our third week of rehearsals! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by! We finished blocking and learning the entire show this past Monday during our 13th rehearsal! And I mean the entire thing, choreo, all of the songs, every scene, all the fights, everything! It is too cool!

Just to update you all on my official role in this show, I am a Swing and understudy Wendla, Ilse, Martha, Anna, Thea, and the ensemble. I am officially the offstage swing, but the six swings will actually be rotating every week, so I will be performing in the onstage ensemble probably 3-4 times a week! So if anyone is planning on seeing the show in a certain city or on a certain date, please let me know in advanced cause I can request to go on that date for sure! They are very accomodating and wonderful here!

The cast of this musical is incredible. Words cannot even express the talent this cast embodies. And if talent weren't enough, everyone is so nice! It has only been two weeks, but I already feel as though I have made 20 new life long friends. The bond that we have as a cast is just the coolest thing I have ever witnessed.

Anywhozzle...(haha Steffi D), I will try to write in this blog a little more regularly. I am finally a little settled in and such so it will be easier now. We leave for our pre-tour run in San Diego, CA in about two and a half weeks!! Yay!!

krystina :)

Blogging time!

2008-06-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

So I have decided to start this blog as it was suggested to me this weekend at my farewell party! I think it is a good idea! I will update this blog a lot throughout my first year in the professional theatre world and this new adventure I am about to embark on.

Just to sum up the past few months and what is going on with me as of right now, I am currently cast in the 1st National Tour of the Tony-Award Winning Broadway Musical Spring Awakening! I first auditioned on a whim in Boston in March (thank you to Ms. Carly Vernon for telling me bout it no joke). I flew there and auditioned after waiting in 3 hours of snow in flats and a dress...seriously! Immediately after my first auditioned I was called back in to read for the role of Wendla. After that read, I was asked to come back the next day to read and sing for Wendla and Ilse! That Sunday, I went in and auditioned for Carrie and Kim and was told in the callback that I was invited to final callbacks in New York City and was given another packet for Anna. I was so excited and shocked. So to make a very long story short, I went to the Big City with my sister and mom, and went through one-on-one workshops with Michael Mayer (dir of SA) and Kim Grisby (music dir of SA), saw Spring Awakening for the first time which was the most incredible thing I had ever seen, and then that Monday morning, I auditioned in front of the entire Spring Awakening artistic team!! I then flew back to AZ and received a call the next day by Carrie Gardener offering me the role of Swing and understudy for Wendla and Ilse in the 1st National Tour! I cried on the phone with her lol.

So anyway, that pretty much sums up my life right now. I leave in 6 days to live the ultimate dream in New York City! I am so excited to meet the cast and everyone involved with what is going to be an incredible show! We will be traveling the country for at least the next 13 months! I will post a list of cities and dates soon. To buy tickets and such go to www.springawakening.com. As of this moment, I have no idea when I will be going on, but as I find out, if I do, I will let you guys know. :)

Until next time!

Krystina :)

Krystina Alabado

A New Year's Eve of the Ages

#UticaRocks

I want to be a part of it...New York, New York!

Flying Southern Belle's

Here we go again...!

Summer Summer

Preggers Pact

What to even say...

First week of school.

AMERICAN IDIOT!!!

Camp Wanatachi!

Broadway Speaks OUT!

More Videos

Update Coming Soon!

NYC Cabarets!

Songs For a Cure Cabaret

New York City Summer

A Loss For Words

Time To Say Goodbye

What Gleeful week!

Time is Flying.

Wisdom Teeth CHECK!

Thea and Martha and Airports.

On The Road Again

New Years Resolutions

Breaky Break

Thanksgiving at Disneyland!

Halloween and Wendla Pictures!

Wendla happenings!

Craziness!!

Freckleface Strawberry

NY Week One!

Vacation!

Goodbye Originals!

My Birthday Adventures!

Cabaret Re-cap!

"Season For Dreaming" Cabaret!

Martha in DC!

Catch-up time!

Cheers from London!

Wendla in Baltimore!

Tweeting!

Part Two. The Ilse Experience.

Part One. The Ilse Experience

Ilse in Pittsburgh!!

Sick Night

Farewell Claire Sparks! The end of an era.

We're going to Harvard!

Spring is here!

Thea in Providence!

Oh Canada!

My Thea Experience!

Thea in Toronto!

Cleveland Rocks!

So Cleveland?

St. Louis Cabaret!

My Martha Experience

Show #3

Martha Day 2

IM ON FOR MARTHA

Swing weekend!

Blah Blah Blah Blah!!!

Snow Snow Snow!!

On The Road Again!

I'm Home!!!

Byeee LA!!

An SA Turkey Day!

Shocking Moment

It's Been A While!

My SA Birthday!

New York is over!

What a blur!

Blogging time!