Celine Dion is amazing...

Has everyone seen this video?

Not gonna lie.....I almost peed from laughing so hard. I love Celine and all but that was just ridiculous. And remember these little guys....?Apparently they're not a new tribe at all. They've been known about since 1910. I've been duped!!!

Whatever! I'll get over it.

See you later!

Patti

I really like to share music I enjoy with my Dad. I know he doesn't get all of it but he is always more than happy and willing to listen to whatever I throw his way.

I recently went to see Gypsy with Paul and was absolutely blown away by Patti LuPone's Tony-winning performance as Mama Rose. When I went home to MD to see my parents a few weeks after seeing the show I was so excited to tell them all about it. Unfortunately, though, when I mentioned Patti LuPone to Dad he didn't really know who she was.

I decided right then and there that the situation must be rectified.

THIS is Patti LuPone, Dad.....


Chills. I love it. I hope you did, too :)

Crack

No, not that kind. The vocal kind. The bane of the singer's existence.

I have cracked before in front of loads of people.....I'm pretty sure I've even been recorded cracking.

But never like this.....oh no, never like this.

I feel so bad for this girl. She starts off ok but it all goes waaaaaaaaaay downhill at the 40 second mark.


I'm evil for posting this on here.....but holy shit was that funny.

Now if I ever make it on Broadway or have to sing in front of a large crowd ever again I'm due for a good loud crack just for putting this up here. Oh well!

Sticky&Sweet setlist.....

For real Madge??!?Vogue? Rain?? Dress You Up??? RESCUE ME??????????????????????????????????????!!!!!

I Love it. I can't fucking wait. October 4th baby.

Oh. And the writing by the Latin section says she might sing Girl From Ipanema. I will FREAK OUT.

The Little Mermaid.....

.....was at my work today. She's so pretty :)

This is her singing Part Of Your World.....

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day, Pops :) I love you.
That's my brother Chris, my Dad, and me.....and a little bird on Dad's head?

Finding Frida Kahlo

A few weeks ago I was sitting at work when an important NYC casting director walked up to me and asked for my headshot. Now, since I have been auditioning for months now and nothing has come up, I was pretty thrilled. She told me that she was casting a reading of a new musical called Finding Frida Kahlo. Thrilled? No. ECSTATIC!!!!! I really enjoy Frida's work. It's pretty morbid and graphic, but it is also really powerful and has a way of connecting death with our daily lives. Scary, yeah, but pretty truthful. Also, my family used to live in Mexico so I have been to Frida's actual house in Coyoacan! We're tight, me and Frida.

Aaaaaanyway.....

A few days later, the casting director who asked for my headshot sent me an email offering me the role of Andres in the reading of Finding Frida Kahlo. For those of you who don't know, a reading is basically exactly what it sounds like. A cast gathers and sits around to read and sing through and new script for the writers. By hearing their work aloud the writers can then make any changes they think are necessary. Also, a reading is a good time for producers to come around to check out new work that they can possibly take to new and more exciting heights!

I'd never done a reading before so I was scared shitless. I had no idea what to expect. Were the people gonna be nice? Was I gonna fit in? Was I gonna have some singing solos? What if I cracked??? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Thankfully, I was able to set up an early rehearsal with the guy who wrote the music, who was very nice. There was a lot of music to learn so I brought my little tape recorder and he plunked out all the music for me. He also gave me the tenor line which is always fun since you get to sing out like crazy.

The first day of real rehearsals was on my birthday. Pretty good birthday present, huh? My first real NYC rehearsal had to fall on my birthday. Perfect! And I mean that, I'm not being sarcastic. Another amazing birthday present was the fact that the reading was featured on Playbill.com and my name was mentioned. Craziness!!!!! On top of that, the other cast members were very very nice. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing and also seemed to already know one another which was really refreshing. It gave me my first taste of the NYC theatre community which, from what I saw, seemed to be pretty close knit.

The one thing that kinda surprised me was the fact that we actually had a director (and a pretty damn good one!) who blocked the whole thing! I thought maybe we were gonna have to stand up to sing a song here and there, but no, we were up and moving around! All the better for me since I haven't been to a proper rehearsal in a long time.

Oh, and I need to mention this. We were asked to write a short bio so mine went a little something like this.....

Jonathan Atkinson is thrilled to be a part of the Finding Frida Kahlo reading, especially since he is such a fan of Frida's work. Favorite roles include George in Sunday in the Park With George and the Emcee in Cabaret.

I realize now that should have added some other things like where I went to school and a thank you to the casting director (cause she showed up to the reading!) but I really thought it was to the point and simple. Little did I know it was too to the point and simple. I read everyone else's bio's and almost fell on my ass. These people I had been rehearsing with were REAL BROADWAY PEOPLE!!!! Most of them were either on Broadway at the time or had been at some point in their lives. AND they had not only been on Broadway, some of them had worked opposite such legends as Patti LuPone, Gwen Verdon, and Chita Rivera. Holy shit. I mean.....HOLY SHIT!

Pretty cool, right?

So, the day of the reading came and we rehearsed from 11am till 6:30pm for a 7:30pm show. I was ridiculously nervous but it went really well. Since we had such a short rehearsal process we really just had to go for it and we definitely did. It was a great time. And once I got out there onstage my nerves kinda left me and I was able to enjoy myself. I great NYC debut, if I may say so myself!

I wish I had taken some pictures but since it was such a whirlwind process I wasn't able to. I'll just leave you with some of Frida's work.....

The Two Frida's

Love you all :)

PANDAmonium!!!

I saw Kung Fu Panda the other day. So funny, so cute, so cool. Go see it! Am I the only person in the world, though, who is kinda thrown off by those huge iMAX screens? I think they're kinda overwhelming. I hardly have enough time to catch everything that's going on!!! Anyway, that's not the point. Kung Fu Panda was great. Highly recommended!

And speaking of Panda's.....

A sneezing baby Panda.....what could be cuter?

Anyway, I promised to write a big blog entry soon and I definitely haven't.....but I haven't forgotten my promise! And now I have even more to write about!

See you all soon!

Dreamy Cloud.....

I just saw Daniel 'Cloud' Campos at work. He used to be one of Madonna's dancers and he is fucking dreamy. I saw him once before in some NYC subway tunnel and just had to go up and say hi. He was actually with another one of Madonna's dancers, Tamara Levinson. They were really really nice and even answered some of my psycho fan questions about Madge.

This is Cloud.

This is Tamara.

This is them dancing together during the Hollywood interlude during the Re-Invention Tour. Amazing!!! Tamara is the fire swinging girl, Cloud is in the weird ass clown costume thing.

M.I.A.

Oh my goodness, where have I been??! So sorry I haven't written in awhile. So much has happened! I just turned 24, I had my New York debut in a little musical reading called Finding Frida Kahlo, and I was working at Chelsea on top of it all! I'm pooped. Anyway, since I'm at work right now I can't write an extensive blog. I thought I would just let you all know that I'm alive, doing well, and will update soon with a real big mama blog about Frida, my b-day, and much much more!


Aaaaand since I'm a nice fella, here are some videos and a pic of things that have recently caught my eye.


First of all, Madonna's new video for her song Give It 2 Me just came out. She looks pretty great. I mean....she's in her underwear. For real, Madge? Oh yes, for real.



I just downloaded this song called I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry. I thought it was a little gem that I had discovered that no one else knew about, but apparently it's like #2 on iTunes right now or something like that. She actually used to be a Christian artist! Anyway, I LOVE this song. The video is kinda blah, but I must admit I have a bit of a crush on this girl. Weird......but appropriate for this song! Take a look, she cute. Think she might have some staying power?




Last but not least, since this entry is called M.I.A., here's a video by the actual M.I.A.! This girl has got crazy history and her musical presentation is unlike anything I have seen in years! I really like her but some find her a little too out there. I happen to really LIKE people who aren't afraid to be outlandish with their music and style. Here's her song Jimmy from her last album Kala. Just a warning......it's COLORFUL.




And did everyone see this picture that recently came out in the news?!!! A new Indian tribe has been found in Brazil! HOLY SHIT!!!!! Look at them shooting arrows at the plane! I love this stuff, especially since I used to live in Brazil. Apparently there are bunches of undiscovered tribes in Brazil and Peru. Crazy, right?


I love you all. I'll be back with a big bad blog entry real soon!