Doggy Playdate

Henry Rollins had his first playdate with Max on Saturday. Max is Gabby's dog. I have wanted to get them together for a playdate for such a long time. But Max was still a puppy, so we had to wait a bit. I didn't know how they were going to get a long, but they had an amazing time. People kept stopping us and asking to pet them. One guy said "Henry Rollins huh? I see the resemblance. Thick neck and all!" Afterward, Henry was so tired from all the running around that he slept right on the floor in the apartment and didn't want to get up. It was great!

Morphing Pug

A little busy today. But never too busy to add the best video out there in YouTubeland! Enjoy.


MY TALENTED FRIENDS!
Today I honor my friends who are killing it out their with their commericals!

My best friend Gabby's General Commerical!

Check out my friend Adrien's BeepBeep.com Commerical


George's Tecate Light Commerical

"Baby" Moving into the Theatre

Last night we moved for the first time from the rehearsal space to the theatre. Although the stage was bare (all for the bed) everything seemed to change. I suddenly got this boost! My mind was racing! "We are doing this FOR REAL!" I think actors are in denial until they move into the actual space. Or maybe it's just me. Up until now, rehearsals have been just fun with nothing tangible to fear. Now we are playing to a semi round space instead of a square. With RickNick on vacation, Patrick was nice enough to step in and be a warm body as we had the stage manager or Cornelia saying the lines from the house. It was kinda funny. Tonight we continue to work through the show. I know everything will change again when the actual sets come in next week. I am so excited! I am so nervous! I love it.
Took a few pics of my "basketball baby". That's as close as Pam is going to get to a baby anytime soon. I love rehearsal pics. It's wonderful to see the transformation from rehearsal to performance.
Happy actual birthday RickNick!

Boychick, Get Smart & Frozen Yogurt

Had a great weekend! Boychick was sold out yesterday. I think it was almost over sold. Starting next weekend, we are moving the "party" section of the show next door to the world famous "La Fonda". I think this is going to pump new blood and energy into our show.I will blog about the experience next week. Should be interesting. After seven months I thought Lenny and Lizzy Lizzard should have some new pictures taken. My eyeliner looks like a bad Cleopatra wanna be. When audience members comment on my make-up I always tell them " I did a semester at Barbazon and learned basic face."
We now have the side of the Hayworth Theatre painted with our show flyer. It looks amazing! I am amazing how they did that!

The rest of the weekend was great too! Tom and I went for sushi on Friday night and then on Saturday we went to see Get Smart. I think this was the first time we have been to the movie theatre in months. It was the first time we actually weren't distracted during the film either by the following elements:
-people texting
-babies crying
-people getting up and down
Did I mention I had some great frozen yogurt as well in downtown Burbank? I think it was some place called Yogurtize or something. I am obsessed with frozen yogurt. Best combination? Non-fat peanut butter with yogurt chips and or crushed peanuts. I loved it because it was one of those serve yourself places. My favorite yogurt place is YogurtLand in Sherman Oaks. Anyone who tells you Pinkberry is their haven, has not been to YogurtLand. If they need a spokesperson, I'd do it for free. Well, not free but for yogurt.
Took a few more pics of Henry Rollins this weekend too, relaxing on his fave spot, the couch. I gave him my leopard blanket when we first rescued him and he sleeps on it everyday.

Quick post before the weekend!

Googling yourself
Alrightyyyyy, I am not afarid to admit that I Google myself, and often. You never know what you are going to find. There are show reviews, mentions of Henry Rollins the pug and other random things. I found two of my headshots on their too. Once is so old (circa maybe 2000). I wish that was gone. Don't we all hate our old headshots? I remember thinking how fantastically professional b&w shots looked at the time. Then I was the chick for a long time who was the only one in b&w. So for the past few years I finally jumped to color.

-Had an amazing rehearsal last night. We were there until 11:30 last night. I love when you have a fantastic rehearsal and feel so connected to the material. However, with my scene partner going on vacation ( I don't even remember the last time I went on one of those), I have a feeling when we get back into the scene work, things will be rough again. Anyway, he will be all tan and relaxed and I will be all pale and frazzled. My boss said I should be better acquainted with the ever lovely Mystic Tan. Better to fake n' bake then cancer n' bake.

-Going to do Boychick this weekend. Really excited as I think my friend Nicole will be joining the cast. As I mentioned in an earlier blog about my friend Gabby, she is also in the show. Come just to see her as Penny. It's worth the price of a ticket to see her work her magic comedy genuis.

Have a lovely weekend,
ANK

Have you Boychick yet?

My current show,THE BOYCHICK AFFAIR: The Bar Mitzvah of Harry Boychick is now in it's seventh month. It has been one of the most challenging and exciting experiences of my acting career. I have never been in an interactive comedy before. The challenge is to keep the show fresh, but also stick with some of the things that you know work. It has been such a great run so far. I love watching the audience interact with the cast and really get out of their comfort zone.

My favorite part of the show- by far is when everyone is having their meal and I go from table to table and take requests for Broadway shows. I often get Phantom, Cats, Wicked and Fiddler. However, I have had people tell me that I look like Idina Menzel, so I do a tribute to her (a bad medley of Wicked, Rent and See What I Wanna See). I love when people try to stump me with Sweeney Todd or anything Sondheim. My favorite mega mix though is of course Phantom when I play both the Phantom and Christine in a duet. Haven't seen me do this yet? Come on, you gotta go see this show!
The Boychick Affair is a great play not just for those who are Jewish, but anyone who has a family. Do not be afraid to admit your family is a little dysfunctional! I have to give a shout out to the other part of the duo, Sam who plays my brother Lenny. He is hysterical. I just look at him and crack up. He is witty and so fast with the quips. He is making me so much better at improv.

So....
HAVE A LAUGH! HAVE A NOSH! Every Sunday @ The Hayworth Theatre! If you haven't come to see the show yet, check out these vendors for tickets:
BrownPaperTickets.com
Goldstar.com


Check out out show website for current reviews, cast photos and videos!
boychickaffair.com

I feel totally unprotected

I have been wearing my red string for over the past five years. My bestie Gabby took me to the Kabbalah Center when we were doing Saturday Night(CHECK OUT THIS PIC OF GABBY AND I FROM LIKE 5 YRS. AGO!) in Hollywood. Everything for me just started to change. My negative thoughts that were useless started to go away. I was active in reading the books and even the cd's for the car. I have been trying be as Kabbalah like as much as possible since then. Until, well... my string fell off last week and I haven't gotten my new set of string yet. It was like my license of being aware of myself had expired. Example from last night: I was really excited to stop at the Coffee Bean and get a large iced-t before rehearsal. I was really, psyched about it. I have issues, I know. It's just tea! Anywhoo, I get to the Coffee Bean and I walk through the door and they tell me the place is closed. Without even thinking, I snap back " That's fine! I'll just go to STARBUCKS!"
What is wrong with me? Why am I being a total bitch to this poor girl who doesn't have anything to do with the hours of the store? It was when I got back in the car that I realized, this behavior needs to stop.
I am aware that it is impossible to not have negative thoughts. I have them all day...
-I look fat
-I'm not pretty enough
- Why can't I make more money

But, I need to crack down on the ones that I can control. I am working on trying to judge myself and others too harshly. So, although my red string is suppose to keep the evil eye away, not having the string has been a great lesson for me.

BTW-I never did go to Starbucks. I ended up at a gas station buying a Diet Snapple and a Diet Brisk. I barely drank either of them.

Henry Rollins- the PUG

Yesterday after work, I took Henry Rollins over to visit my parents dog Newman. Newman is a three year old Labradoodle who was named after the character from Seinfeld. He is the happiest dog in the world. I think he is also one of the smartest. Anyways, my mom calls Henry, Newman's cousin and they love playing together. When we get close to Newman's house, Henry gets so overly excited in the car that I fear an accident will ensue. Once out of the car, he runs to the front door and cries until he is let in.

Henry Rollins is a rescue that Tom and I found through Little Angels Pug Rescue. We have had him for over a year.The vet thinks he is around four. His original name was Don Henry. He never responded to that name, so we changed it to Henry Rollins. He really is the coolest pug, so we named him after one of the coolest people ever.

Through this last year Henry has become more and more independent making the couch his home. He loves perching on the top of the couch trying to peer out the window. He is out mini mastiff and we love him so much. Besides walks, he loves food. If he was a person, he would probably be the world's fattest man. Seriously, all he wants to do is eat. We don't know too much about his previous home, but our vet told us he had to be the runt of the litter. When we take him to Newman's home he runs around like a savage looking for any drops of food. I try to remind him that Newman's house isn't a buffet. Sometimes when we eat, he just can't control himself he starts his little boy bark. Most of the time though, he tries to contain himself when possible. But PetCo can be a huge challenge. Or anywhere that food is, like Baja Fresh.

Call me ANK- day one

So today is my first time with this blogging thing. Okay, so I do often blog on my myspace page as well (myspace.com/alissanicole818)but this is my first blog on a blog site.Anyways, I thought this would be a great place to post info on my shows and life.
INDULDGE ME IF YOU WANT....

I am currently in rehearsals for the musical "Baby" at the West Valley Playhouse. I am playing Pam Sakarian. According to my friends from my last show, The Full Monty (I played Pam Lukowski) I can now only play roles where the characters first name is Pam. Anyways, I am having the time of my life so far with the show. I have been a fan of Baby since I heard the score back in college (you, know, like the 90's!). I love the character of Pam becase she is so flawed and she has an amazing growth throught the course of the play. I love her sense of humor and voulnerability.

Of course the best part of any show is the cast. I made an instant connection with Nicole, who plays Lizzie. She is amazingly talented and can sing the crap out of "Our Story Goes On" (Act 1 closer). We meet at the initial audition. Her real-life talented boyfriend Patrick is also in the show playing Danny. My husband is played by Rick and we are just having a ball (literally-us and a basketball) so far. Rick playing Nick ( I call him RickNick)and we are both not the best basketball players. We constantly ask our director Noel "Who would cast two Jews as athletic teachers?" I think we will get the basketball thing down or atleast try to fool the audience. We hope that mostly theatre people and not sports enthusiasts see the show, so we don't get heckled for our attempt at dribbiling, passing, etc!

Enjoy some of the rehearsal pics that were taken last night as we ran through the opening of the show.