Artist's musings

Fiddler on the Roof

03 22 12'

Written by Rita Dian

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I am pleased to announce that I will be portraying Fruma Sarah in the upcoming Maplewood Barn production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” I want to make her the most terrifying and memorable version ever.  I am also portraying Yussel – several women in the production are pulling double-duty and portraying men.

I am thrilled to be a part of this cast, and even more thrilled that I will be one of the first to perform in the new Barn.  Performances will run May 24-27, May 31-June 3, June 7-10. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the Maplewood Barn website.

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musicals, theatre

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March Update

03 13 12'

Written by Rita Dian

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Hello Bloggies,

It’s March.  Spring is close by… it seems like it’s already here in Missouri.  I’ve been pretty busy with the Maplewood Radio series.  I’ve got five recordings under my belt, and cannot wait for more.  Radio is an interesting medium to say the least, and I’m thankful that the directors have faith in my abilities.

Also coming up this month is my audition for “Fiddler on the Roof.”  I have not been in a musical since “Jesus Christ Superstar” (not for lack of trying though).  This will be the first production in the new Barn, and I really want to be a part of that.

My piano has been gathering dust lately, and I’m really behind on getting my CD ready for release.  It’s more than likely going to get pushed back to the fall, but it will get released – even if it’s just a three-song demo.

Short and sweet and to the point. Until next time, stay cool my lovelies!

~ R

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"Long Hard Road", auditions, music, musicals, theatre

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Upcoming Radio broadcast

01 17 12'

Written by Rita Dian

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I will be involved in two upcoming Maplewood Radio productions: “Another Way Out” by Lawrence Langner and “The Boy Comes Home” by A.A. Milne.  We will be rehearsing and recording both this week, and will be run on KBIA at a later date.  Once I find out the air dates, I will post them on the website.

I have been fortunate enough to be involved in the Maplewood Radio project since November, 2011, and it has been a blast.  It’s allowed me to stretch my acting wings a bit more than I’ve been able to in past productions, and I’m hoping to break out of the chorus, so to speak.

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radio, theatre

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Alien Voices, and why you should listen to them

10 18 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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No, I’m not off my nut… let me explain.  I had sent a tweet to John de Lancie a couple of weeks ago to tell him that I enjoyed meeting him in Chicago, and that I had downloaded the Alien Voices production of “The First Men in the Moon” and that I couldn’t wait to listen to it.  Normally the thought is “Hey, he’s a celebrity, and a busy one at that, and won’t respond to my little tweet.”  Well, late this evening, I received a tweet back asking me to tell him what I thought about it.  This is my response:

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John,

Thank you so much for the tweet-back – I honestly didn’t think I would get a response, so thank you for the lovely surprise this evening.  I really couldn’t sum up my thoughts on “The First Men in the Moon” in less than 140 characters, so I am bringing it to my blog.

“The First Men in the Moon” is phenomenal. Being able to listen to you, Leonard and the rest of the cast was a real treat for me.  Normally I don’t like to listen to something that I can read in a book myself because I thought that it would diminish my imagination in some way.  In the case of “The First Men in the Moon,” I was dead wrong.  You all were able to bring this adaptation such a richness of life, more than I could ever have given it by merely reading it.  All of the actor portrayals transported me – I truly felt like I was on the journey to the moon.  I am looking forward to purchasing and downloading the rest of the Alien Voices productions in the near future, and I’m hoping that the videos will be released soon.

I am actually getting ready to do a radio play myself within the next couple of weeks based on A.A. Milne’s play “Wurzel-Flummery.”  The Alien Voices productions have given me such inspiration, inspiration that I hope to implement into my part.  My heartfelt thanks to you and Leonard for this project, and I hope it continues to grow.

With much gratitude,
Rita

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For the rest, visit http://www.alienvoices.net to see what the project is all about, and to purchase and download all these wonderful recordings.  You won’t regret it, you’ll be entertained, and your imagination will be enhanced beyond your expectations.

 

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theatre

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October Update

10 16 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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Hello my friends (yes “bloggies” has been officially retired)!

I will be performing in the upcoming Maplewood Radio broadcast of “Wurzel-Flummery,” a play written by A.A. Milne (you know, of Winnie-the-Pooh fame).  Recording of this performance will happen at the KBIA studios at the beginning of November, and once I find out when the performance will be broadcast, I will make a post here.

“Long Hard Road” has yet again taken the backburner.  I simply have not had the chance to work on new material or record the songs that are ready to go.  It bugs me to no end that I haven’t been able to do anything with it.  I do have another project in the works called “Under the Covers” which will feature songs that have impacted me throughout my life, as well as a few thrown in that I love performing.  I am still finalizing the track list, but I am hoping to release this sometime in April, 2012.

I will also be auditioning for the upcoming CEC Theatre musical “The Spitfire Grill.”  I haven’t done a musical since “Jesus Christ Superstar” closed and I’m about going out of my mind here.  Between “Superstar” and now I played Egeus and Quince in the 5th Wall Production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which didn’t allow me to audition for the Maplewood musical “Return to the Forbidden Planet.”  Being in “Midsummer” was very stressful, having lost both the director AND assistant director, among other things, and if I had know in advance all that was to happen, I probably wouldn’t have auditioned in the first place.  Lesson learned, moving on.  Musicals is my passion, that is where I’m the most happy, and that is what I’m going to stick to from now on, and maybe doing an occasional play here and there.

It has been almost six months since my last entry.  Between June, 2011 and this post, I have started a new job in the web design industry.  This job couldn’t have come at a better time as the financial strain has been near back-breaking status.  We’re not out of the woods yet, and there are things going on that I will not discuss as of now.

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"Long Hard Road", music, updates

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June Update

06 24 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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Hello Bloggies!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted an update. Things have been pretty hectic in my world and has not really afforded me the time to sit down and chit chat with you. So… let’s get to it.

Theatre
Jesus Christ Superstar closed at the end of February – we had many sold out crowds enjoying the show. I just recently received the DVD copy of the performance, but have yet to watch it. I feel weird watching my performances back – there’s a DVD of a community music show I did back in 2005 that I still haven’t watched (and probably never will). The experience was a frustrating one (we’ll leave it at that), but rewarding.

I am portraying Egeus and Quince in the upcoming 5th Wall Production A Midsummer Night’s Dream. These are two larger roles that I am happy to be doing. We have a small cast and almost everyone is pulling double duty by playing more than one role. We open the weekend of July 8th at the Courthouse Square in Columbia. The performance is free to the public, but freewill donations are accepted and appreciated. This is my first time performing Shakespeare, and it has been a challenge, but my lines are down and I’m ready to go!

Music
My music, sad to say, has taken a backburner to everything that has been going on. I only recently picked up my Alvarez in order to recondition my fingers in order to play for any length of time. My Yamaha MO8 has been thoroughly neglected, as the dust will show, but I plan on tinkering with it tonight after things settle down a bit.

My daughter and I were fortunate enough to see Peter Gabriel in concert on June 18th in Kansas City (a separate blog post about this event will be coming soon). This man is a musical master, and he and his performance gave me so much inspiration that I’ve finally picked up pen and paper and began writing again. Right now it’s a bit of a jumbled mess, but with time it will become something that I’m very proud of, like I am of my song “Long Hard Road.”

College
I just finished up another semester at DeVry (the 4.0 GPA hanging in the balance, yet again), but I’ve hit a student loan snag which may cause me to stop my education for a while. This was very unexpected and came to me less than 3 weeks before the end of the term. I am hoping that I can get funding back in place so I can complete my Bachelor’s Degree – I’ve only got 48 more credit hours in order to finish and graduate.

Other Stuff
On top of everything else that’s been going on, I was told at work that my position was no longer required, but they are transferring me to another facility who desperately needs my help. I start this transition on July 5th, but I’ve got other job opportunities coming to me, and I am hoping this one will pan out because it is in my area of expertise.

Well bloggies, that’s the gist of things. Hopefully there won’t be a lag between updates, as I’m sure July will hold much for me to share with you.

~R

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updates

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Website issue resolved

06 18 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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After days of fighting with Google, my site is back to non-attack status. Just to reiterate, I do not host malware. I never have, and I never will. This site has been moved over to the new host, so hopefully this will not happen again.

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website

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Website concern

06 13 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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It has recently come to my attention that Google says they have found malware on my site. This is, in fact, an error on Google’s part, and I am working very hard at getting this issue rectified. You can access my site directly with the URL, http://www.ritadian.com – if you go through Google, you won’t get any further than their stop page. I have contacted Google and demanded that they give me specifics as to why they are blocking my site (their basic information was “unable” to send me the suspicious code in question).

Again, my website is NOT HOSTING MALWARE OF ANY KIND.

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website

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Upcoming Theatre event

05 23 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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I am pleased to announce that I will be portraying Egeus and Quince in the upcoming 5th Wall Production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This production is a part of the Summer Shakespeare Festival which will also include The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged. Performance dates are July 7-10, 14-17, and 21-24. More information will be posted as soon as I receive it.

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theatre

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Celebrating justice

05 02 11'

Written by Rita Dian

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Celebrating justice today, justice that has been overdue by about 10 years. Am I happy Bin Laden’s dead? Absolutely. Do I feel that justice has been served? To a point. A part of me wanted to see him held accountable for his actions in a court of law, but I know that he would never come out of that compound alive.

September 11, 2001 was hard for me. My daughter wasn’t even a month old when the attacks happened, and all I could think was “I brought my child into THIS world?” I can’t even begin to know the pain of those families who lost loved ones on that tragic day, but I mourned along with them. New York became America’s city, and in my heart at least remains so. I did get a chance to visit NYC back in 2003, but didn’t make it down to Ground Zero, something I regret, but knew that I wouldn’t have been able to handle the experience.

Bin Laden was a mass murderer, so it angers me a bit when people post the phrase “I will not celebrate the death of one human being.” This one human being brought about the deaths of thousands of individuals, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, who didn’t ask to die that day, and by God you know there were many in the Middle East celebrating their deaths. I figure I’ll return the favor by celebrating the justice that was brought down on May 1, 2011.

These are my personal views, and it’s alright if you do not agree with it, or if it makes you angry. I’m not posting it to tell you how you should feel. I posted it so you could see this from my perspective.

Category:

life, Open Letter Series

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