Hey ! Its My First "Blog" Post !

Hey Everyone !

Well, I decided to start a weblog, or a "blog" as it is most popularly known... Although I'm not a big fan of putting everything up about my life on the Internet, I thought that perhaps it might be fun to just "skim the surface", and post some things going on, here and there...

CMTO, Rhonda, and I, just finished up the "Broadway II" show at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater in Medford, and it was a huge success. We had a wonderful cast of 60 performers, and the show was quite exhaustive in its' coverage of popular Broadway fare... Although lots of fun, I don't think we'll be doing this sort of show again in quite awhile, as it literally took everything we had - energy, money, resources... did I say energy ? Well, it did. But it was worth it, as everyone had a great time, both performing and watching...

The next stop on the CMTO train ( CMTO stands for Children's Musical Theatre of Oregon, for those of you new to it ), is the wonderful musical, "Once On This Island". I'm creating the music for the show now, and the auditions are slated for May 30th. Rehearsals begin July 13th, and run until August 15th. We open August 20th, and run for four performances. This is completely different than anything we've done to date, so we're looking forward to a really terrific and unique show... If you can make to Medford, Oregon in August, we'd love to see you out at the Craterian for the show - it should prove to be BOFFO ( as Stephen McCandless would say...)

Other plans for us and me this year coming up, are a CMTO Holiday Show of some sort at the Craterian in December ( with a live band and me on keyboards - yee haw ! ), as well as yours' truly appearing on keyboards and music directing the Fall show at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre, titled "What's Goin' On - The Songs of The 70's"... A great cast of pro singers and dancers will be in this show at the Cabaret, and the show runs from mid-September to the end of October... C'mon by say "Hello" if you're in town for this one - I'd love to see you !

Spring of 2010 will feature CMTO back in action again for the musical "The Will Rogers Follies" at the Craterian. Another "first-time" event for us at CMTO, we're excited about the possibilities of this show - great music and dance, to be sure...

For the Summer of 2010 and CMTO, we're still weighing different options, but nothing concrete yet. Possibilities include "Hairspray" and Disney's "Aladdin - The Musical", but... don't quote me on these yet.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm enjoying the break from this last show - having pneumonia during most of it while having to orchestrate and direct was really a tough time. Remind me never to catch pneumonia again during a show ; its really something that should be enjoyed during your "off-time". I'm still hacking away from the illness - this darn coughing just won't stop...

Another fun thing that Rhonda and I have done this past week, was to re-adopt our practice of veganism. No, this isn't the worship of many gods, but a redirecting of our diet choices. No meats, dairy, or anything having to do with animals as food products. We haven't gotten rid of our leather sofas yet, so I guess we're not "true vegans" yet. But for the meals / food aspect of it, we have made the switch and haven't looked back. Just about a week now, I already feel cleaner, inside and out, and don't feel as sluggish and tired as I have. Perhaps not for everyone, but this way of eating / living certainly did agree with us right before we moved from Vegas. I was 40 lbs. lighter, and felt and looked much better. I'm now on a mission to get back to my Vegas weight of 190. I think with this new diet, I'll make it before the end of the year...

Thanks for reading ( IF you're reading, that is... ). I'll post more when I've got some interesting things to report.

Until then - stay happy and healthy !

- John.