I’m choreographing AND performing in Godspell with the excellent youngsters at Infinity Repertory. For those who don’t know, Infinity is the resident teen conservatory of the Eclipse Theatre Company (where I just did Legally Blonde). We’re doing a mini-tour of Westchester County, with the traditional 10-person cast of the original Broadway script, and I have the Sonia track—that’s the “Turn Back, O Man” track. Because, as anyone who’s ever met me knows, there’s nothing I do better than fake sexy. Like, if there were a Jenna Marbles musical, I think I’d be perfect for it. And speaking of fake sexy…

I’m returning to the role of Kira in Xanadu with Little Radical Theatrics. Been wanting to work with them for some time, but the stars never aligned properly…and boy, did they align this time. This role and this show are just as fun, fresh, and beautiful as I remember—perhaps even more so after being removed for a year. I bought my own skates this time around so I can keep them after the show, because roller skating is SO much fun and pretty much the best workout ever. Besides, I have to gear up for the next time I play this role. It has not seen the last of me. I highly recommend you come see this production and reserve in advance because the Sandbox is small and is filling quickly.

I’ve got some new songs in the works with my amazing producer, Gabriel Pressman, of echosuite. I have to say, it feels great to be tapping into the singer/songwriter part of me again...

One of these new songs is called “Take Back The Spring.” It’s a song about letting go, forgiveness, and renewal. It’s about writing a brand new book for yourself, about reclaiming control of your own destiny, beginning with the cleansing rains of spring and the life force that will inevitably follow. It’s a nice change for me…I’m actually writing FEEL-GOOD songs! Maybe this means I’m “maturing” on some level, the fact that I can be creative without being sad or angst-ridden like the emo teens in the corner…I dunno. It just feels amazing.

Life is too short to do anything other than what you love, what keeps you alive. It sounds cliche, but hell, it’s true. I wish I could delve deeper into it right now, but I have to go get some “real world” stuff done today, followed by Xanadu rehearsal. Skates and all! Talk atcha later, Tumblr.

So we’re in tech week for Legally Blonde, and despite some cast/technical setbacks, it’s actually going really well. I LOVE playing Paulette! I love how completely different she is from every other role I’ve played. I love her humor and her blunt honesty. I love her brassy demeanor that overcompensates for her timid vulnerability, and how she projects tough and independent, but underneath it all, she’s still a little girl dreaming of a fairytale romance. The show as a whole is really cheesy at times—I’ll admit that the first time I saw it (on the MTV broadcast) I wasn’t really a fan—but it’s REALLY funny and has so much heart, there’s really nothing to complain about.

In other news…it’s 2013. I think I should talk about New Year’s resolutions. Because let me tell you, I’m AWESOME at New Year’s resolutions, and I’m one of the few people who actually follows through with them. I’m not the “try this for a week in January” type. Granted, few things ever turn out exactly the way I hoped or expected, but every year when I go into reflective pseudo-philosophical mode, I almost always find that I have made substantial progress.

This year, my goals are a little less measurable. Because my number one resolution is to NOT fall back into the trap of being a doormat.

My beautiful grandmother, Evangeline Tierson, passed away last night.

She was a healthy, active, loving woman—my mom, the sixth of her seven children, described her as the most selfless person she has ever known. A long battle with Parkinson’s disease took its toll on her brain and body, confining this otherwise healthy woman to beds and wheelchairs, taking away her lucidity and her memory, robbing her of the ability to communicate or control any aspect of her existence…or so it seemed.

She contracted pneumonia last month and never fully recovered, and soon after, she lost the ability to swallow. The doctors put her on a feeding tube, but things were shutting down…so they removed it, expecting her to last, perhaps, two or three days.

She lived for 24 days. No food, no water. The doctors couldn’t explain it; it is likely that she has set, or at least has come very close to, a world record. The only theory any of them had is the fact that she knew we were still there, and that she loved and cherished us enough to stay with us as long as she could.

Times like this make me pause to seriously consider the spiritual realm, for as much as we know about the human body and the physical processes surrounding death, anyone who has ever been around a dying person knows that there is also another, less definable part of us that takes over when science stops and the unknown begins. This part of her, this spirit, is the likeliest reason that she staved off death for so long, but more importantly, her spirit is what gave her a full life even when her facilities were stunted. Her spirit was stronger than biology, stronger than anything any of us have the capability to measure or predict. She lived life to the fullest up until the very end.

I would say “rest in peace,” but I don’t think that a spirit such as hers would be content to simply rest after being speechless in a wheelchair for so many years…so I will say, Grandma, if there is a life after this one, you have certainly earned it. Congratulations and thank you.