Sweet cast of  Twelfth Night HO HO! It's time for us to open this evening and I couldn't be more excited! Our Olivia played by Julia is tremendously present, emotional, crazy, and wonderful. She is my soul sister in so many ways, if she only knew I was a chic. Our Duke Orsino played by Shawn is a great bad boy with tons of emotional depth that slowly comes to the surface over the course of the show. You can't help but love him (makes my job easier). Our Malvolio played by Noah is brilliantly creepy and fascinating to watch. He will make you laugh and squirm in your chair all at the same time. Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Maria, and Sir Toby which are played by Jim, Jenn, and Paul will have you rolling... They come together to make the Three Stooges of Shakespeare. Jim is an amazingly truthful drunk that you love dearly, Paul is a great drunk that Maria loves dearly, and Jenn does an amazing job of holding the boys in line cause she loves them all dearly, especially Toby. All their characters are charming and desperately needed amongst some of the more intense scenes in this show. Thanks guys. Feste played by Tom is a one of a kind Chesire Cat that keeps everyone on their toes beautifully. Watch out for this one. Fabian  played by Tracy is linked to the three stooges of our cast and does a great job with her/his one liners! It's so hard not to break when acting with her! Our dancers are so beautiful and lend elegance and mystery that ties the entire emotional roller coaster of a show together. Erica and Jessica have become very big parts of our cast and the telling of our story. Sasha playing the role of Valentine is very strong, sturdy and makes a great officer and old friend for the Duke. My brother Sebastian played by Chris is adorable, very light-hearted and makes it very easy to connect deeply with him. Courtney is our sexy pirate lady Antoni-A. She does a great job of being the bad-ass and also a vulnerable human being. My Captain and the Priest are both played by our loveable Carlos who definitely gives us his one-of-a-kind delivery and makes you smile. And I, as Viola...I am in love with her. She's shy and courageous. Innocent and wise. Content to be alone, but would truly hope not to be. I don't think I've ever been so connected to a role before. How that comes across to others I have no idea. I only hope it's in great ways.

All in all, this version of Twelfth Night is much more serious than I think people are used to. Twelfth Night is generally a slap-your-leg comedy. This version is definitely not that. We definitely have our comic relief played by our fools and some bits sprinkled in here and there. But for the most part, this a deep study of the human condition. Love, falling in love, hurting because of love and healing because of it also. I hope audiences will come with an open mind to let it be what it needs to be with our cast. Our Director Jeff Soroka did an amazing job of creating a story with ALL the elements. He has managed to give us the opportunity with this show to go much deeper than just making it another comedy. Anyone can do that. He's allowed us the freedom to make Twelfth Night a real-life, honest to goodness STORY. We have drama, we have fun, laughter, sorrow, confusion, anger, drunkenness, etc., etc... The audience will definitely leave feeling like they've received their money's worth. This is a truly great show and one that our entire cast and Jeff should be very proud of. Our lovely stage manager Erin, none of this could be possible with her as is usually the case. I hope she knows what a vital key she is in all of this being possilbe. I also have to shout out how amazing our set design is as are the costumes. All of those responsible have managed to give us our own world that is easy to get lost in. Thank you all so much for that. You'll laugh, you'll cry...it IS better than CATS.

As I leave to start my day, the show will be on the forefront of my mind. I can't wait to play with my new friends in Ilyria. And we all hope to see you there.