Happy Cyber Monday! I know I am not sponsored by Harpo and many of my favorite things are no-brainers. But "Picks" rhymes with "Mix" and "Chicks"… so I just felt it was my moral obligation to write a list of the stuff I liked from 2013… stuff that made me a better performer, teacher and/or person. Favorite new performances or old performances I just happened to discover this year and some other fun stuff!
Fun Home is a new musical with a score written by Jeanine Tesori and it was one of my favorites this year. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, it is playing for another couple of weeks at the Public. The writing and the acting is fantastic, but one of my favorite things about it is that each of the three actresses who play the protagonist (age 8, age 18 and age 43) sing just like they speak. They do a really nice job at making seamless transitions from scene to song while still singing some very difficult music. See immediately for some "mixing" mastery.
This is what musical theatre should be about, folks. This show got totally overshadowed by some of the bigger stuff playing this season, but this is a must see. I hadn't laughed like that in a longgggg time and, again, the acting is phenomenal. It reminded me why I like Musical Theatre and I'm not kidding.
This is what musical theatre should be about, folks. This show got totally overshadowed by some of the bigger stuff playing this season, but this is a must see. I hadn't laughed like that in a longgggg time and, again, the acting is phenomenal. It reminded me why I like Musical Theatre and I'm not kidding. 
This is written by the woman whose TED Talk went crazy viral. Oprah started working with her and having her as a guest on Super Soul Sunday and doing online courses with her. She writes about some difficult topics like Perfectionism, Shame, Vulnerability, etc., and her writing is totally accessible. Her stuff really changed my thinking this year and I think any performer could really benefit from hearing what she has to say. I also appreciate her because she admits she's having NBD's just like the rest of us. If you haven't heard of her yet, take a look at Brené Brown's Ted Talk 
This is a cool new band that I am now obsessed with. They're called MANICANPARTY and they're based in NYC. After a really hard day I like coming home, turning the lights off, lighting some candles, closing my eyes and feeling like I'm having some kind of earthy, meditative experience with this in the background. I'm a little biased because the lead singer has come into the studio a couple of times, but I just really like her voice and their sound. You can actually download their FREE EP here. And I love this video:
This is an iPhone photo of an oracle card reading that was given to me as a gift by my very talented friend, David. Basically what happens is he hears you speak (I chose to speak about things that were bothering me this summer) and he finds a common thread between them (my common thread was "relationships"). Then he draws cards from a deck and teaches you about the ascended masters on each of the cards (Buddha, Jesus, etc), what they taught in their lifetimes and how those lessons would apply to what was bothering me. The process was ultimately (again) life changing and he is like a messenger from the universe. His blog is here. Life changing. LIFE CHANGING! 
This microphone is called The Snowflake and I recently purchased it from Amazon.com. This microphone is GREAT for anybody who wants to record submission videos/recordings and/or voice lessons. And it's only 40 bucks! It's pretty small… doesn't clip onto your clothing but it sits on the music stand or on the computer screen… and it is a USB so it goes directly into the computer as the external microphone. Highly recommended for those of us who hate the way the iPhone makes our voices sound. Look at it here.
I am a new Netflix customer this year and these are my top 3 choices. Breaking Bad (R.I.P.), Orange is the New Black and Scandal are like acting masterclasses. Superb stuff going on in the non-reality TV underworld. The only bad thing about these shows is now I'm able to guess all the endings to every other show and movie. I'm like a certified television crime detective now. 
These saved my life this summer and I know this is a singing blog but whatever. I went on this ludicrous diet (no sugar, no fruit, no carbs, no alcohol, no caffeine) and ThinkThin bars saved mi vida. They're very low sugar (3g) and high protein (19g) compared to other bars and they're also GLUTEN FREE... AND they taste good. Hello! Then when I really needed a treat I went to Chloe's (maybe 3 times… I didn't cheat too often). And I get the banana soft serve with strawberries and peanut butter drizzle. I know. I cheated and I didn't even get the chocolate. I'm strange but I lost 20lbs with those things. 
Louise Dearman played Galinda on the West End from 2010 to 2011 (she later returned to the show as Elphaba and when you listen to this you'll understand why). My friend, Lindsay, brought this clip to my attention and she and I had some fun figuring out what this Galinda was doing and recreating it. Listen to the words "The wicked die alone." I think of the 5,000 views this video has and the 11,000 the full version has, my friends and I are responsible for at least 2,000 of the collective 16. Ridiculous.
Saw Violet at Encores! and it was an unbelievable, unbelievable staged reading. I can't even imagine that seeing it with the sets and full costumes next year could be any better because this was pretty spectacular. I was sitting in a far back row with a friend and my foggy contact lenses, and Sutton Foster's absolutely heartbreaking subtleties in this role were just as impactful as the full gospel choir. She totally mastered the ability to make Violet the ingenue without playing "an ingenue." It's one of my favorite roles in musical theater (has been ever since I saw my friends in a production where I went to school) and I LOVED what she did with it. They even lowered "Lay Down Your Head" a step or two and I was like, "You GO, Sutton Foster, you're a BOSS." I am really psyched for the upcoming revival. (Another Jeanine Tesori… I guess she wins the award for 2013.)
I enjoyed this show so much, not even really because of the singing but because this is story-telling at its finest. She says some of these stories aren't even true but you don't really care if they're true or not. I think one story was even about being under water and making strong eye contact with a fish, if I remember correctly? She says, "All the stuff that isn't made up is true." in her usual sort of ironic, dry way in an interview for Broadwayworld.com, but regardless of what is autobiographical and what isn't autobiographical, this is just great close-to-life material that isn't gratuitous or masturbatory. Anybody who is thinking of putting together a cabaret (or just wants to see a very non-cheesy cabaret) should see this next time it comes around!
Aright, peeps! Those are my Mixie Picks! Did you have any favorite performances this year? Post in the comments section!
Happy Holidays!
