A Day at D23's Destination D

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the Magic Kingdom, so to commemorate the occasion, the official Disney fan club, D23, recently held a weekend event for its members at the Contemporary Resort.  It included information sessions led by experts on all things Disney, covering favorite attractions and films from years gone by, sneak peeks at upcoming projects, and even a look into the Walt Disney World that never was.  The weekend culminated in a concert called Magic Journeys that celebrated the music of Walt Disney World.

Why should you care?  Because I was in that concert!  I shared the stage with some of my Encore favorites (1) and Disney legends like the Kids of the Kingdom, the Main Street Philharmonic, Dreamfinder and Figment (6), and none other than Richard M. Sherman (2), a songwriting hero of mine who has won Oscars, Grammys, a Walk of Fame star, and the hearts of millions of film-goers and theme park visitors.  Sherman and his brother Robert wrote the songs for the most beloved Disney films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Richard Sherman sang and played all of them at this concert that I also performed in!  I geeked out to the max!  It was a major highlight of my career to perform with such a talented and well-respected performer.

(1) Cristi, Antony, me, Lynn, Tommi, Cliff, and Gretchen

(2) Our view of RMS on the Jumbotron from backstage

Backstage at Magic Journeys

A close-up on the choir

Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand

(6) Finale with everyone onstage

What's New with You?

The Time and Music Cabaret, a fund-raiser for Encore, was a major success last weekend.  I got to sing "To Keep My Love Alive," a darkly humorous Rodgers and Hart tune which was an audience favorite.  You may also remember from a previous post that I was cast in a production of Joseph... at the Garden Theatre.  Yesterday at our first rehearsal, I was promoted to the role of Potiphar's Wife!  I will still be singing with the ensemble, but I'll also be featured in the Potiphar scene in addition to my chorus duties. 

As for the house hunt, we decided to put in an offer on the Model Home.  We really liked it and feel it fits our needs best.  The offer has been approved by the seller, but since it's a short sale, we're still waiting on approval from the sellers' bank, which could take up to 90 days.  If we're approved, then we would have 45 days to get our loan and then hopefully we would close! 

Our 15 Minutes of Fame!

There haven't been many posts lately because since we got back from vacation, we've basically just been settling back in and catching up on real life...until we got an email from Encore, the charity choir we sing with during the summers. We've been asked to appear in the Christmas Day Parade being filmed at Walt Disney World and airing on ABC! The coolest part is that we'll be singing in the finale as back-up singers for a famous singer! The celebrity's identity was very hush-hush and we were all trying to guess who it might be until our first rehearsal last night when it was revealed to be the fabulous, the incomparable, the outrageous...Celine Dion!!

She's just as shocked and excited as we are! We are taping our segment this Friday on the Cinderella Castle stage! So if you have a DVR (or if you have nothing better to do on Christmas morning than to watch TV), tune in to the 26th-annual Emmy award-winning Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade to spot two of your favorite Browns!

Encore 2009

If you're wondering why there hasn't been a new blog post in a little while, it's because we've been incredibly busy in the final rehearsal preparations and in the performances of Encore! I've been involved in Encore! for the past 4 summers and Eric has been for the past 3. Encore! is an organization made up of Disney cast members and their family and friends who perform a large-scale musical production every summer to raise money for charity.

This year our show was entitled, Revolution! A Musical Flashback to the '60s and '70s, and it featured music from the legendary greats (and a few one-hit wonders) of the era. This show was a lot of fun because our audience identified with the music on a higher level. Even the year we did movie songs and themes (Hollywood! A Musical Tribute to the Silver Screen), there were as many obscure tunes as there were familiar classic ones. This time the audience was singing (and dancing!) along to almost every song and really got involved and excited, which we hope will keep them coming back year after year.

Here are some photos from the show, and even more can be found tagged on Facebook.

Below is a list of songs featured or partially featured in the show, just for the heck of it.

Overture from Jesus Christ Superstar
Because by the Beatles
Downtown by Petula Clark
Going to the Chapel by the Dixie Cups
Daydream Believer by the Monkees
Big Girls Don't Cry by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
These Boots Were Made for Walking by Nancy Sinatra
It's My Party by Lesley Gore
Can't Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley
California Dreamin' by the Mamas and the Papas
Surfin' USA by the Beach Boys
Surfer Girl by the Beach Boys
Fun, Fun, Fun by the Beach Boys
I Get Around by the Beach Boys
Reach Out, I'll Be There the Four Tops
Please, Mr. Postman by the Marvelettes
Stop in the Name of Love by Diana Ross and the Supremes
My Guy by Mary Wells
My Girl by the Temptations
Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch by the Four Tops
Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Respect by Aretha Franklin
Think by Aretha Franklin
Proud Mary by Ike and Tina Turner
Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia by Vicki Lawrence
Crazy by Patsy Cline
Pfft! You Was Gone from Hee Haw
Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver
Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette
Tie a Yellow Ribbon by Tony Orlando and Dawn
Jambalaya by Hank Williams, Jo Stafford, and others
All You Need is Love by the Beatles
All My Loving by the Beatles
Yesterday by the Beatles
Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles
Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles
Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles
I Wanna Hold Your Hand by the Beatles
Hey Jude by the Beatles
Let It Be by the Beatles
Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan
Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel
Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul, and Mary
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing by the New Seekers and the Hillside Singers
Make Your Own Kind of Music by the Mamas and the Papas
The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In from Hair
Theme from Star Trek
Theme from The Munsters
Theme from Dallas
Theme from Laverne and Shirley
Theme from The Jeffersons
Theme from The Loveboat
Theme from The Brady Bunch
Theme from The Addams Family
Theme from WKRP in Cincinnati
Theme from Gilligan's Island
Theme from Three's Company
Theme from The Muppet Show
Come Sail Away by Styx
Make Me Smile by Chicago
Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas
Over at the Frankenstein Place from The Rocky Horror Show
Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Show
Your Song by Elton John
She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel
You've Got a Friend by Carole King and James Taylor
I Write the Songs by Barry Manilow
Don't Cry Out Loud by Melissa Manchester
Through the Eyes of Love by Melissa Manchester
We've Only Just Begun by the Carpenters
You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone
Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon
All By Myself by Eric Carmen
Last Dance by Donna Summer
Boogie Fever by the Sylvers
I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
The Winner Takes It All by Abba
Dancing Queen by Abba
How Deep is Your Love by the Bee Gees
Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees
We Are Family by Sly and the Family Stone
YMCA by the Village People
We Will Rock You by Queen
We Are the Champions by Queen

Honors, Activities, and Awards

No, this is not our family résumé. It's just some recent news.

Honors:

My picture was featured in a cover article for The Eyes and Ears, the Walt Disney World cast member news paper, as a result of my performance at the American Idol Experience.

Activities:

I'm singing with a group of singers from Encore! in Tales of the Heart, a smallscale (well, small in comparison to Encore!) cabaret, to raise funds for this summer's production. The first two shows this weekend were very successful, and three more shows will be presented next weekend at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Awards:

Eric was nominated for Partners in Excellence, a very prestigious award presented to a select few Disney cast members each year. He is actually not eligible to receive the award until he has been with the company for three years, but just being nominated is a huge honor. Go, Eric!

Our Lives Thus Far

So you've read about the wedding and the events leading up to it. Now here's a quick update on what's been going on with us lately.

Eric moved to Orlando in June 2007 after resigning his position as a manager at the Herkimer Area Resource Center and selling his house in Mohawk, New York. Having earned his associate's degree from Herkimer County Community College, Eric had already begun taking courses online toward his bachelor's in business administration from Everest University.

He began his career with Walt Disney World as a front desk concierge at Disney's Boardwalk Resort. Very early on, he was chosen as a trainer for front desk cast and a facilitator of the training class for all new Boardwalk cast members. Soon after he was trained as an FSA (I don't know what that stands for, but basically it means you're in charge of the whole front desk), Eric applied for a management position and was chosen to be part of a pilot program designed for approximately 30 of the company's top management candidates. He completed the Emerging Leaders program two days before the wedding and, on that day, the official announcement was made that he had been permantently placed as a front desk manager for Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa and Disney's Old Key West Resort.

As for myself, after I graduated from Stetson, I secured a gig as a full-time piano player at the Marriott World Center for a while, and, until the show ceased broadcast in July, I also wrote for the online trivia game EAgameshow.com by EA Sports. I continued working for Disney in the entertainment department and consequently as a photographer up to the present. In January, my friend Gretchen open her own business, an after-school performing arts academy, and I joined the faculty as a part-time drama, piano, voice, photography, and ballroom teacher. I've also been performing at Kimonos at the Walt Disney World Swan since last May. It's a fun gig!

Outside of work, I sang with the Orlando Chamber Singers and the Orlando Chorale last season, and I also volunteer from time to time at Give Kids the World Village. My songwriting has been coming along as well. I entered a piece in the contest to select a new Florida state song, and it was one of the top 20 contenders. A holiday piece I wrote was premiered by Gretchen's massed choirs at East Ridge High School, and the Orlando Gay Chorus has expressed interest in performing it for their winter concert this year.

Eric rowed for a team from his work location for a regatta called Canoe Races of the World, held annually in the Rivers of America at the Magic Kingdom. The team didn't place, but he enjoyed training for the race and being in the park before opening!

We also both performed for the second straight year in Encore! Cast Choir and Orchestra, an annual charity performance put on by Disney cast members. This year's concerts raised $25,940 for United Arts of Central Florida. Also, we'll be performing as part of the cast choir for Epcot's Christmas Candlelight concerts.

We're keeping busy, that's for sure, but Eric secured vacation time for the week of my birthday in October, and we're going on a four-night Royal Caribbean cruise! 19 days 'til we depart! Bon voyage!