Back to the Burgh

Remember in my last post how I shared about how wonderful RWS and Associates is?

Well, they're at it again!

Thanks to this incredible office of people, I had the absolute pleasure to drive down to my college town of Pittsburgh, PA for a performance and a visit!

I hadn't been back to Pittsburgh since I graduated, so I was truly jumping out of my skin to see this beautiful city I lived in for four years of my life.

In true RWS fashion, they teamed me up with two of the most wonderful people I have ever worked with! We learned our show in two short days, drove to Pittsburgh on the third, and performed on the fourth! Talk about a whirlwind experience. However, I made sure to get in all of my favorite, albeit touristy, spots on my Pittsburgh checklist.

As soon as we arrived in the burgh, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and drove through the Liberty Tunnel (You know that scene in Perks of Being A Wallflower?) to "dahntahn Pixburgh" for Primanti's sandwiches.

My Primanti's sandwich was comprised of freshly baked Italian bread, french fries, tomato, coleslaw, provolone, and sirloin steak! The classic!

Michael and Brittany were as in love as I first was with this sandwich! If you're ever in the Pittsburgh area, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

We went to bed early, however, because we had a show the next day! As much as it can be joked about, I love doing children's theatre. It's so magical to have children looking at you, so enthralled by your every word and movement. 

After the show we did some shopping, and I headed to meet one of my favorite dance teachers from college, Miss Maria Slutiak. This woman is a force to be reckoned with! She has four beautiful children and can teach anyone how to land a double pirouette. She's tiny, she's loud, and she has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen.




Eating my way through Pittsburgh! Primanti's, Pamela's, and Razzy!





Next stop, meeting up with one of my favorite people from college, Bucci! (Apparently he goes by Jonathan now, but I don't buy it!) We walked around one of my favorite places in Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, and then we headed to our old college stomping grounds in Oakland for the best frozen yogurt I've ever had: RazzyFresh. I actually can't talk about it for too long because truly, nothing compares!










My last morning in the burgh was the cherry on top of a perfect weekend. I met up with Bucci again, but this time the one and only Ian Sulkowski met us too! We pulled up some chairs at Pamela's, ordered big breakfasts, and got caught up on everything we've missed. (We took some jogs down memory lane, too!)

Then I headed back on the road with my country music Pandora station and my windows down. I hope you all had beautiful weekends!
Meghan

Welcome, 2015!

Happy New Year, friends!

This past year has been such a whirlwind, but I'm so glad I've kept this blog to keep track of it all! Illinois, New York, Florida, Hawaii! What a year it has been!

I spent the day ringing in the New Year with my awesome parents, my best friend Kathryn, her husband, and her mom at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay. Because what else is a Florida girl supposed to do except go to a theme park?

Clearly, Kathryn and I had a blast. There's never a dull moment when we're together! There truly is nothing like starting off a year with your best friend.

I hope your 2015 is off to a great start! I'm off to watch some serious championship bowl games!

XO,
Meghan

Some Early Christmas Spirit

Tonight I had an absolutely classic New York experience.

I went with my roommates, Kevin and Connor, to see the window unveiling at Bergdorf Goodman.

The event was magical. Children sang Christmas carols, Broadway's Nikki M. James performed, White Christmas was honored, and the snowflake was lit on 57 and 5th.

Then, the magic moment! A year's worth of planning goes into this one moment, and it was well worth all the work! Check out these windows!



It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! (and Thanksgiving hasn't even come!)
Meghan

The Boiling Pots

This past Tuesday in Hilo, Hawaii a few friends and I headed to the Boiling Pots. The Boiling Pots is a place located off of the Wailuku River, about a mile and a half north of Rainbow Falls. The Boiling Pots have their own falls, however, the Pe'epe'e Falls.

While this area can be dangerous while flooded, we made sure to go on a bright sunshine-y day! We swam through the first couple "pots" (pools created by lava flow!) until we got to where you can see the waterfall!

Meghan, Billy, and David before swimming to the falls!

Meghan pretending to be Ariel with Abe, the cliff post-mud fight, pre jump,
and Meghan and David swimming to the falls!

Abe was our guide, and we followed him out to the falls! (The Boiling Pots are Abe's favorite adventure spot in Hawaii!) We swam out, walked under the falls, had a big mud fight, and jumped off a cliff into the water! Then we coasted (Heel's Up!) back down the falls with the current. We were WIPED after, but what a blast!

After our day of adventure's in Hilo, we all went to a "family" dinner at the Skyline restaurant on board the Pride of America! I love these boys! I can't believe our adventure time is about to come to a close!

XO,
Meghan

  

Maui Ocean Center

One of the greatest things about living in Hawaii is getting to see all the beautiful wildlife that lives all over the islands. Turtles, fish, dolphins, and chickens live in perfect harmony with the natives and are highly protected on the islands. 



In that spirit, a few friends and I headed out to the Maui Ocean Center to learn more about all the beautiful inhabitants of the water we sail through everyday.





Hands down, my favorite wildlife in Hawaii are the green sea turtles, or, in Hawaiian, the Honu. These little (and big!) guys are just too cute and so much fun to watch play in the ocean. At the Ocean Center, they have interactive feedings where they feed the turtles a combination of spinach, seaweed, broccoli, and kale! (These guys definitely shop at Whole Foods.) This little guy is only two years old!




Only a little while longer to enjoy these beautiful creatures and the landscape (check out those palm trees in the aquarium reflection!) before I head back to big city life.

Aloha!
Meghan

The Na Pali Coast

One of the best things about working onboard the Pride of America is the wonderful people you get to meet who work onboard with you. I have made friends in many departments... That includes the Captain!

Captain Kjell calls me Dorothy because I sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow in our show
Lights, Camera, Music!

We have two Captains that alternate on the Pride of America. Captain Kjell Nesheim, however, has become very close with Production Cast as he makes a special effort to see our shows every week!

Every Friday onboard the Pride of America, we cruise past the Na Pali Coast. The coast stretches 17 beautiful miles on the North shore of Kauai. Many movies, including Jurassic Park, has been shot here and when you see it, you know why. I cannot describe it in any other words but breathtaking and otherworldly. It is definitely a highlight of our cruise.

Fortunately for myself and my fellow castmates, after our afternoon performance, Captain Kjell invited all of us to the Bridge of the Pride of America to see the Na Pali Coast Line.

The valley in this picture is the Kalalau Valley, only accessible by hiking or boat. There are no roads to access the Na Pali Coast.

















We even caught a rainbow on this cruise... Perfect!

Seeing Na Pali every week never gets old and having a new vantage point was a true treat. Captain Kjell is a gem, and I can't wait to see him when he gets back from vacation!

The singers with our Captain!

I hope the pictures I took captured some of this beauty, but there is truly nothing like seeing it in person. Definitely something to add to your bucket list!
Meghan

A Day in the Life

On our first day pulling into port, we were delayed by a tropical storm, but we would never let that stop us! A rainy day is choice weather for the Manahan's, even in Hawaii!

So we rented a car and headed off to explore the Road to Hana. As expected, the Road to Hana was much different in the rain than what I experienced in a couple weeks previous. (You can read about that adventure HERE.) But with rain came gushing waterfalls everywhere we turned!

It was positively gorgeous, and because of the rain the roads were pretty empty as well!

Although this wasn't my first trip on the Road to Hana, it was the first time my parents had experienced it, and that was just as fun!

My absolute favorite part of the trip this time around was the blowhole at the black sand beach, Pa'iloa Beach. The water was high, so the blowhole splashed even more water and created a spectacular effect which my father, of course, caught on his camera!

Needless to say, I was pretty soaked after that one! But it was totally worth it! Believe it or not, as soon as we finished our drive along the Road to Hana, I had to perform that night! I had two jazz sets to perform in the gorgeous Skyline restaurant. Luckily for me, my father didn't miss taking pictures of that either!

My wonderful duet partner, Vincent Teschel, and myself

There truly is never a dull day when you perform on the Pride of America!
Always more to come,
Meghan

Seeing Pearl Harbor

The first day my parents got here, I met them bright and early! It was a day that I had always wanted to experience since I was young: We were going to see Pearl Harbor.

Fun fact: When I was in 5th grade, I had an awesome history teacher, Barbie Spraker, and a fierce love of reading. I became irreversibly hooked on books about World War II. My grandfather also served in World War II, and he has always been one of my greatest heroes. To this day, I love to read historical fiction and nonfiction, as well as plenty of biographies. 

It was 7:15am, my Mom was already in line for tickets to the museums, and my Dad was picking me up and buying us coffee.

Pearl Harbor turned out to be an incredible experience, just as I had hoped. We started by seeing the USS Arizona. We took a ferry boat out to the memorial to pay our respects. With our tour group, there were three Navy sailors who I had the wonderful pleasure of getting to speak with. They were in Oahu from Arizona and brought a flag with them that they had raised all over the world. Today, they were allowed to raise their flag at the USS Arizona memorial. 

Luckily, without even knowing the previous story, my Dad was ready with his camera.

We Can Do It!

After we saw the USS Arizona, we headed back to ship for a soundcheck, grabbed breakfast, then returned to Pearl Harbor to see the Pacific Aviation Museum.

The Aviation Museum was awesome. Not only did it have an indoor portion filled with history and airplanes, it had a hangar filled with more aircrafts.

It was incredible. But, this is only the start of a week filled with awesome adventures!

More to come,
Meghan

Hawaii- Manahan Style!

Let’s start this blog out by saying that my parents are hands down two of the most amazing people I know. My parents are creative, funny, loving, encouraging, but most of all, supportive. 

So supportive that they traveled over 5,000 miles to come see me perform on a cruise ship in Hawaii. 

However, for those of you who know my parents, you know that they have never missed me in a performance. On top of that, they have taken pictures, recorded videos, made dinners for me and my castmates, taken us out to ice cream, and generally been the best Stage Mom and Dad ever. (I truly look forward to my Dad asking if he can take pictures of me during that dream Broadway show someday.)

In other words, I am so excited to share all of the truly wonderful adventures I went on during my time with my parents in Hawaii! 

Stay tuned!

Meghan

An Early Morning in Waikiki

This morning my fellow cast member, Qiana, the ship’s personal trainer, Chris, and I got off the ship at 7am with bicycles and a craving for a good breakfast.




We biked our way out to Waikiki Beach in Oahu and found a wonderful restaurant called Hula Grill. I had the croissant french toast with fresh cut strawberries and a fresh fruit smoothie. It was delicious! I love eating breakfast, and the thirty minute bike ride to Waikiki made is taste that much better.

After we finished our breakfast, we walked along the beach for a bit before heading back to the ship. (Qiana and I had to do our soundcheck!) As we started getting closer to the ship, we happened upon a parade!

Hawaii is gorgeous, but it is mornings like this with exercise, great food, amazing views, and even better company that remind you that you are living in a place people call paradise.

Expect the Unexpected

So, in the last 48 hours, I have left Florida, flown to New York City, seen some of my best friends, celebrated a friend’s birthday, and found out that I am moving to Hawaii for six months.

As unexpectedly as this adventure began, I found out today that I will be joining the cast that I was swinging as Production Cast Principal on the Pride of America.

Life in musical theatre really turns upside down when you least expect it.

So, tonight I am getting my life in New York together because I fly down to Florida to see my family for a few days before heading to Hawaii. Hawaii!

I already can’t wait to share all of my Hawaiian adventures!
Meghan

Surprises Around Every Corner part 1

It doesn’t matter how many times you get the call or the email, getting a job always feels like someone planned an extravagant surprise birthday party just for you.

Your phone is ringing, it’s a number you don’t recognize, do I pick up? Is it that weird product survey company again? I have to get on that updated do not call list!

Then you think, Oh My God, what if it’s Broadway? What if Broadway is calling? Not that I have auditioned for a Broadway show recently, or that this is a New York area code, but, what if?

Finally, and probably with a total of two seconds to voicemail, you clear your throat and answer, “Hello?”

Then, they offer you a job. They offer you a job and as they are giving you necessary details like pay and time, all you can think is, “I have to call my parents! I wonder if I know anyone else that got this offer? I have to text my best friend! How much time do I have to pack?”

You end the phone call, do all of the above, and get ready for the next big adventure.

Yes, I’m off again. I am headed to Florida to begin rehearsals as a swing for two Norwegian Cruise Line ships!

All of those 4am mornings paid off, what an amazing feeling.

Meghan

With Her Nose Stuck In A Book

Fun fact: I have always wanted to own a New York Public Library card. It is synonymous  with being a New York resident and provides hours of subway entertainment.

Today, I went out and got my NYPL card, Starbucks, and a stack of books to go with it! 

Some days, this city just treats you well.

Meghan

Bagels for Breakfast

So, let’s talk a little bit about being a Non-Equity member in Manhattan during audition season.

The absolute hardest part of your job is waking up. It’s the worst! You probably just crawled into bed at midnight (or later!) coming home from work, and here you are again. You alarm is going off and it is only 4am.

I’m not joking. My alarm goes off on audition days at 4am.

Now, you might say, this is the girl I hate. This girl is “that girl” that wakes up to go to an audition at 4am! To that I say, which came first? The chicken or the egg? Someone else is always there before me, so am I truly crazy? Yes, but that is not the point. I didn’t start the Non-Equity madness, so I can only say that I am doing what I can to do my job: audition.

If you haven’t ever done so, you should read Audition Update. It’s the great, albeit insane, account of what auditions are happening where, what time the list is up, how many are on the list, what they need, if the gig is good or not, and everything else you could want to know... Run completely by actors. 

So when my alarm goes off at 4am, I open my iPhone to Safari, check Audition Update, pull on sweatpants, put on a coat, and walk to the train. I wait for the train, get off in midtown, and sign my name on every “Unofficial List” for the auditions I want to attend that day. (An Unofficial List is a list started by actors who want to start an order earlier than the time the audition starts. Most casting directors and theaters will take this list, but they aren’t required to!)

After I sign my name, I hop back on the train to my apartment, sleep for a little longer, and get ready for my auditions. I walk my subway stop, get my conveniently placed Starbucks, and get back on the train headed to midtown.

Usually when you arrive at an audition during audition season, it’s a madhouse. People are warming up, both vocally and physically in the hall. Some are furiously trying to cut and staple headshots and resumes, while some are changing into their audition clothes. (Audition clothes: A brightly colored, probably blue, dress and nude heels of varying heights.)

My favorite part of auditioning is running into my friends that I haven’t seen in a while. So yes, I am “that girl” too. The one who runs and jumps on her gay best friend that she hasn’t seen in a year, or like, since last weekend.

This morning I had the pleasure of auditioning for the Beauty and the Beast National Tour. The tour is Non-Equity, so as long as you get up early enough, you are pretty much guaranteed to be seen. However, this is a popular audition to attend, so when 8am rolled around, there were over 500 girls signed up for this audition. Being the awesome Point Park University graduates that we are, my friends and and I signed up really early, so we were in the first twenty people to be seen.

We got ourselves lined up against the wall and found out we were only allotted 8 bars of music to sing. (In laymen’s terms, about a sentence.) In and out we went! It was fantastic and all five of us were done singing by 10:30am. We collectively decided that it was time to leave and reward ourselves... Bagels for breakfast! (But not before we snapped a picture.)

Left to Right: Audra, Myself, Arielle, Nicole, and Kevin, being Kevin.

What could have been an absolutely insane morning was calm and wonderful because of the people in this picture. I love having a group of friends who all have the same amount of passion, dedication, and work ethic, but are all different types. We can all be so supportive of each other at every audition, and it truly makes all the difference. 

All Good Things Must End

The Mississippi River
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

With this post, I bid the Quad Cities and Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse adieu. I truly cannot believe that my time in this area has ended. I have had such an amazing time getting to know my cast and the midwest!

For now, I am off to drive cross country to my next destination... New York, NY!

Until next time, Rock Island.
Meghan

"So What Else Is Around Here?"

So many times, my parents and I end up somewhere awesome because my Mom talks to strangers. She can, at any time, without warning, begin a conversation about anything. There was no such thing as "shy" for me growing up, because every person along the way was someone new to talk to.

So many times I find my Mom asking, "So what else is around here?"

This time, it landed us in LeClaire, Iowa at Antique Archeology, the home of American Pickers.

Now, my parents and I love antiques. My house is filled with incredible little treasures that we have picked up at garage sales, auctions, inherited, or saved. So television shows like American Pickers are right up our alley. We decided to keep the close proximity a secret and give my Dad directions without telling him where he was going!

Antique Archeology with my Mom (and Starbucks)
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

Antique Archeology
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

The entire place was filled with picks seen on the show. And motorcycles. Lots of motorcycles!

Down the street in LeClaire there are about a dozen shops all very similar to Antique Archeology... It was hard to leave!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas vacation!
Meghan

Christmas in Chicago

Today my family and I arrived in Chicago for Christmas away from home! We decided to go to the Museum of Science And Industry, a place my Dad has wanted to take me for years and years!

They had an incredible room of Christmas trees decorated for every country, an entire wing dedicated to Walt Disney, and my Dad's favorite... Planes hanging from the ceiling! This museum was stunning and it was difficult to see everything in just a day, but just as every great theme park aficionado would, we made it through every wing!

The entrance at the Museum of Science and Industry

Merry Christmas, bloggers!

Meghan

It's Getting Close to Christmas!

My parents are officially in the Quad Cities! I am so excited to have them see my shows and to celebrate Christmas in Chicago!

You know my dad is around when I have amazing pictures like this for the blog:

Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

A Christmas Story at Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse
Photo Credit: Chuck Manahan

More adventures with my parents to come!
Meghan

The Next Adventure

Life here in Rock Island is off to a very busy start!

Photo credit: Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

I arrived in Illinois on the 23rd and began rehearsals with the cast right away! This cast is wonderful already. Everyone is older so there's no drama and the dishes are always done. The show has an audience on November 6th (that's nine days away!) and we've actually made quite a lot of progress in the short time we've been here!

Photo credit: Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse

Above are pictures from the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse Facebook page taken on the first day of rehearsal! There are ten kids in the show and they are so sweet and talented, albeit rambunctious!

The adults, including myself, all live in the Actor's House together, which is basically a gateway to practical jokes, late night laughs, and quick friendships. It's been a blast so far! I'm looking forward to more pictures of costumes and adventures to come!

More to come,
Meghan

Monday Music: Foy Vance

For fear of killing you all with my girly country Music Monday last week, here is a new artist with a completely different sound.

This Music Monday is dedicated to Foy Vance and his new album Joy of Nothing.

I first found Foy Vance on Amazon MP3's Artists on the Rise. If you have never enjoyed the beauty of Amazon's MP3 site, prepare to be amazed. He had a free download of his song "Closed Hand, Full of Friends." I fell in love at first download, went directly to Spotify and found the whole album. 

Foy Vance is originally from Ireland but grew up in Oklahoma. He has been said to be  similar to Van Morrison and Tom Waits, but he definitely makes his own sound. He has toured with Ed Sheeran, and you can totally tell. In fact, the two sing together in the song  Guiding Light on the Joy of Nothing.



So go check Foy Vance out on Spotify, grab his song off of Amazon, and enjoy this up and coming artist.

More to come, 
Meghan