Penitentiary Perspective: WTF is Melissa???

 ...on the water.

So I decided (against my intuition) to board ANOTHER cruise line...a different cruise line....after a summer in Bedstuy...and after 3 months... October 6- to December 30, I have had enough. I was SA and dealt with forceful non-consensual touching, I was accidentally hit twice backstage by a stagehand who said inappropriate things to me while I was changing costumes.  Then days after being SA, I was stalked by the same monster. It was late after a crew bar hang, so instead of going to my cabin, since he was on the elevator with me, I diverted to the dressing room backstage on dk 3. I saw that he got off the elevator on the backstage theatre floor as well so I ran into the dressing room and locked the door behind me. Seconds later I heard the door knob wiggling to be opened!! This man was following me! I waited in the dressing room shaking until I heard a soft knock. It was my good friend one of the stagehands who I was just at the crew bar with and he softly asked if I was okay because he saw "that drunk man follow me into the dressing room". The next day I report the whole incident to HR & Security, I identify the guy on the cameras and as I'm coming back with security escort to get off the ship for air, I see the man during the daytime being escorted to security. We locked eyes for a second and my blood ran cold. 

When I returned to the ship after getting some air, HR called me to check on me. I missed it by one ring bc I was in the bathroom but it took me forever to find the number of HR to call back. I called crew relations, they directed me to the wrong numbers and every single person I asked for HR number was irritated with my question and asked me WHY I needed the number, except the Hotel Director. Why was it so difficult to get in touch with HR??? Finally I got the number and when I spoke with him, 1. he called me by the wrong name 2. He"reassured" me that if the guy approaches me again to call 911 3. He directed me to call **00 for emotional support. WHAT?? I was literally SA and stalked by a man on the ship and you tell me to call 911 if it happens again, you hear that I'm terrified so you direct me to an operator to calm down, AND you call me by the WRONG NAME (Melissa), then laugh it off and say oops I mean Allison....I literallly have the processing ball over my head rn because...WHAT???

Then I'm called to Chief Security and they tell me that "its handled and I don't have to worry about seeing him again". Mind you, this is after I enter the room and the female security guard slams the door in my face and reluctantly hands me a ROLL OF INDUSTRIAL PAPER TOWELS when I start crying again and the chief asked her to get a tissue for me. What do you mean "its Handled"? Did you KILL HIM?? Did you just tell him to "leave me alone?" This gives me NO assurance or security...like WHAT??

THEEEEN, I'm texted by my manager to call the cruise director. The same CD who called me to a meeting because one of the singers felt threatened by my giving her corrections AS THE VOCAL CAPTAIN...He advised me "make her feel more welcome and unfortunately this is a babysitting situation". YOU COW, I am not an adult babysitter to a paid adult!! I was so offended!! I have never been babysat in my entire life during a job that I was PAID to do. In Chicago Children;s Choir, we werent paid but we were expected to correct our mistakes and sing IN TUNE! Our director would have every singer sing individually to find out WHO was the person who was FLAT. In kenwood Academy concert, we were expected to correct our mistakes and sing in TUNE. Sometimes we had things THROWN at us. In undergrad, I learned vocal technique to sing in tune- to support the voice. In all of my professional jobs, I auditioned and was cast in jobs where I was expected to sing IN TUNE and when the dancer captain or director gave us notes, we wrote them down on paper or our notes app, TOOK the note and said THANK YOU. THANK YOU for giving us correction so we can sharpen our skills and be BETTER at what we do. But HERE, I am advised to make this woman "feel welcome" and "babysit" her. What an insult. So! That's a little backstory with my relationship with the CD.

So the next time I'm called into his office, this is during this whole security safety incident. and I tell my manager, I'm still traumatized and need a little time to gather myself. An hour passes and I get another text from him saying I NEED to call him ASAP. My question is, if you know someone from your team was traumatized, why not call them to check on them? HR did it, in their terrible way/ Security office did it. Yet you dont have the decency to. So I drag myself into his office with my manager as witness, because I DONT want to be in an office solo with a man I barely know days after I've been SA. I get there and he advised that my manager leave unless I want him to know about the incident. After my manager leaves, he informs me that the aggressor was a contractor and is confined to his room with security outside. WHY DIDNT SECURITY JUST TELL ME THAT???? instead of "its been handled" . After he shares this information with me, I break down again! Omg he doesn't even GO here, who knows what he could have gotten away with. Did he even get a background check? I literally keel over and crying. Here's where it gets crazy. As I'm shaking and weeping, he grabs me by the wrist, pulls me out the chair, pulls me into his chest and tells me to "be strong", "don't think to much about it", "tomorrow is a new day"......

.

.

.

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. from that moment. something inside me dies. the trust and faith I had in humanity. the remaining bit of safety and support I have with this company. a little part of my innocence. I need to GET OFF this BOAT. ASAP.

DEEP EXHALE...so I thug it out for one more week...and the same types of minor offenses are pouring in like water, the band director loudly interrupting me everytime I speak, its almost like he hates that I am hear and wants to wipe me out with his voice, the lack of responding and dismissing with my other managers when I need to schedule rehearsal time with the singers, the singers questioning and pushing back on anything I share with them, and as I watch the shows, I realize, this isn't edifying me as an artist. Of course, it aint Broadway, but it ain't something that really excites me...meaning the people are literally just doing the thing. No passion to express, no connection with the audience. It literally looks like moving paper dolls. or moving Barbies...the kind whose knees don't bend and the ones that arent smiling. I look to my left and right and I see completely disassociated people...but I also can't look away...

WOOO HOOOO! CRUISE NUMBER TWO!

 Good Morning from Miami! 

This is the second week of rehearsal at Royal Caribbean for the Sequins and Feathers Show! Mama, we aint at Disney no mo! This is show is so sexy and exciting...its a level of entertainment that I have NEVER seen before...its sooooo ENTERTAINING! How ironic! The show isn't anything to truly ponder over- like a Broadway play or show... but its exciting and mesmerizing to watch and I'm soooooo excited and proud to be a part of it! Granted I've done 3 Broadway shows and many many musicals but this is just different....its not better or worse, its just different. And I welcome the difference. I'm so happy to be in a place where I can learn new things about entertainment and people and myself. I'm happy to be challenged but most importantly to have fun and share joy. Is that selfish? But thats where I wanna be and how I want to live...and make bank! I dont want to be scraping pennies anymore or managing my dollars to get by, I want to LIVE! And since I've been in Miami already, I have been LIVINNNNNG! From rehearsals to going out and dancing with my fairy friends at the CLUBS and meeting handsome Black people and then last night going to the water to frolicking under the moon. And I see that the energy that disturbed me from the Cubans in Miami (the microaggressions) from 2022 is very different. Maybe because I have changed...but either way, I am excited to see how my world is opening up for me with grace. I'm trusting the process and remaining patient.

My main drag on every contract has been how i deal with the personalities in the cast. MTown was traumatic because I was young and there were so many STRONG DIVA personalities. I didnt feel safe. LK was challenging because I was entering into an already established Lion's Den of sorts-lol Harmony was rough because I didnt connect with the creatives, the STORY or the cast and was injured physically so I didnt feel safe in that sense. and recently my last cast was lovely but in the dressing room, there were complaining mean girls- truly just a few bad apples have an effect. I learned about protecting my energy in a STRONG FRIENDLY WAY.

I think with each contract, I've learned something about the sociology and psychology people and myself, my own limits strengths and weakness and I've gathered a lot of information in my years. I'm still open. I'm excited about RCCL. Most of the entertainers aren't  American so I welcome that cultural change! And the talent is TOP TIER! The dancers are dancing DOWN and serving body tea, its overwhelming and the singers are soooo GOOOD and polished. This feels like an iron sharpens iron type of thing. And I have no one to compare to- I just need to bring my best and learn from the rest....oooh I like that:

Bring my best and learn from the rest!

 

Summer in BedStuy so far... retrogrades and revisiting: a horror romcom

 Its been a magical summer...of chance encounters and recently karmic returns...

The weather has been hot and swampy and cool a breezy, all typical of a new york summer, but aside from the beauty of the flowers I see in the neighborhood (like flower bushes that can stop you in your tracks and demand to be admired) and the melodic bird calls and abundance of trees (or maybe its just my noticing of the trees in search of some kind of nature from the concrete jungle)...

its been the people who have made the greatest impact on me the most. All sorts of interesting characters. The first was a dreadlocked sister in all white and pendants and jewelry of all sorts. I met her at an impromptu movie screening of Muppets in Outer Space at my favorite coffee shop. I was drawn to her bc I usually wear white and it was my first day stepping outside with MY newly installed microlocs. I felt like my locs were connecting me...like antennas! We exchanged information and I met her one day at the park to hang with her friends but after I received a "soul healing" from her, I saw a scary aggressive bipolar side of her! It started when she repeatedly was pointing to something within a few inches from my face and it keep happening. I just asked her to watch out because it was making me feel really uncomfortable at how close her hand was to my face. I also jokingly said that I was from Chicago and that ppl dont get that close to each unless they about to fight...those words unlocked a BEAST and she went ballistic talking about how she didnt care where TF i was from i'm in NYC and how i need to get off her picnic blanket because I am a dark psychotic person. The switch was so fast and scary all because I spoke up about feeling uncomfortable that my space was being violated. Eventually I ended up pacifying her but deleted her information from my phone. Trauma1

Within this past week, I met two beautiful souls that I ended up going to Barclay with! One for a WNBA game and the other for a Tyler the Creator concert. The WNBA journey was with a beautiful woman I met at the stoop sessions in a skating rink, who I mistakenly thought her friend was her son (from a teenage pregnancy- blame it ear wax?) and the Tyler concert was with a beautiful soul I met at a vegan cafe after a yoga class. Oh! not to mention the random boat party I went to on Tuesday...where I saw the most beautiful views of the city but at one point thought I was going to DIE on the boat bc of lack of oxygen and water...there was a medical emergency and i ended up talking with the bar ad the host saying it was a safety hazard to NOT have water available FOR THE PASSENGERS ON THE VESSEL. We werent allowed to bring water on the boat and they were charging $5 for water on the boat....yet people were drunk and high and on a muggy boat with little air flow...it was so terrible and (folding chairs on a boat)ghetto and scary but I ended up purchases a few bottles of water and making a big enough fuss for them to have special on water bottles- a $3 discount....UGH. but the music was sooo good and when I wasnt panicking I had a GRAND TIME.

This retrograde this week however brought back a ghost from my past...the OGG...the OG ghost...an artist...a young man who I was in LOVE with. We spent our days together and it was a GRAND time being in his presence and being loved by him...until it alll crumbled. I all of a sudden was too much for him. My reaching out was "anxious attachment"...i felt gaslit...i felt like I wasnt enough and that I was doing too much. I was heart broken yet my heart had opened so wide for this man...and he was irresponsible with my heart...and I was hurt deeply by him. I dont think I recovered come to think of it...always carrying with me the weight of being too much, or expecting too much from someone but lying to myself for not feeling how I felt, afraid that my sharing affection would drive them away...I felt petrified and frozen...feeling so much but not knowing how to share my affection or being afraid that my affection would drive them away. So I tried to "stay cool" and hide my feelings but I felt like I was clipping my own wings and I knew that nothing I did would have the affection returned.... that I just had to wait until the wind blew in the right direction for them to feel comfortable and communicate....ugh what a terrible existence. 

so they returned into my life yesterday on a corner in Soho like out of a movie...my life has been feeling like a movie these days...and its frustrating bc everyone in the scene agrees and comments that they feel like they are on set of a movie...anyway...he returns, 3 years later with all his locs cut off and energy grounded...apologizing and saying how much he's missed me and loves me...in the moment i'm overwhelmed and weeping and then when the tears dry I'm "back to normal" but the next morning...I'm sooooo sad. soo heavy and its almost like the wound is reopened along with all the similar wounds of unworthiness. Of having to pine  and hope for return of affection. I just wanted to be loved. Easily. Tenderly. This has been my soul cry since I was a child. And my heart is heavy because I'm processing the pain of this. Falling for and being attracted to artists who cannot return affection or make it feel like a chore.Loving me isnt a chore. Loving me is easy because Im beautiful. and charming. and effervescent and light and warm at the same time. I dont understand why I havent found my life partner. Only people who have sucked my energy or that i freely gave and did not  have compassion or love returned. i feel that the only thing that CAN replenish me is nature with her loving nonstop flow of life and fruiting and being. in her peaceful dynamic. 

I now put up a microphone to my heart: where are you, oh love that can hold my tender depth? As deep as the lowest parts of the ocean and tender as a flower petal freshly plucked. tender and deep is my love. yet I feel bruised and empty whenever I share it and its not returned. I know I am unique but there surely must be someone who can gently hold my heart and not be afraid of its depths. this world is so shallow in its travels when it comes to heart matters. and although i dont typically have the language to express it, i feel so deeply to a place where words arent formed. words don't exist in the depths of my heart...so all i can do is ache a quiet ache searching and listening to songs that can express what feels inexpressible. for words to sigh the inexhaustible.  if i were to sigh from my heart, it would a fermata...a release that has no limit. is this a dying breath of my heart?

that got melancholic quick...

Transitions from the Disney Ship to the Bronx to BedStuy

 So Much movement in my life these days, my head is spinning. I'm not where I thought I'd be but I will vlog, Trust God, Have Faith and try to just enjoy the journey....

MAGIC ACTIVATED

 Costa Rica has been so wonderful. I have to leave a week earlier because of the Disney physical exam for the cruise. I want to stay here forever...Already, everyday has been extraordinary. I've gone to the beach everyday and communed with Mother and she's been gentle playful or fierce! I went with the Monkey King and Adam and spent the day with them. Got some of his magical cacao mushroom concoction and it felt so good to sit with these beautiful Black men and hear them lecture and discuss life...it always was a lot bc there was strong masculine energy and I had to yield...he talked about women naturally being subservient to men, us wanting men who were like us as opposed to stronger mentally physically and emotionally sound. At first I strongly disagreed but I realized that when I am at my most ease, I'm not leading. I'm usually being led and I can just relax and surrender to a force that I love and trust. 

Pura Vida Day 2

 Good Morning....from the buzzing jungle of Cocles...

The sound of howling monkeys, tweeting birds, crickets, roosters, and random coos from some kind of creature...My sleep was deep and vivid...dreaming about getting the BEST braided style I've ever had...and I woke up to a slightly tight scalp..remembering that I was in fact rocking a dope crochet...My dream also was of me telling me mother off in a way that was surprising cathartic and she was extremely receptive...it was like she had an ah-ha moment to everything I said...but upon awaking, the line she always tells me from "the book of aging" tell a person off about themselves and they will think...they will think about killing you.... in the loud natural buzz of this jungle...somehow, real life seems more intersteing than my dreams so  ----WHOA!!  in this moment I'm surrounded by cacklingtwerping birds fluttering about inthe  surrounding treetops...wow...I can't wait to be here forever...okay not forever...but at least for a month...I'm so glad I am here...

Since I hopped on the Caribe Shuttle yesterday morning and it was completely empty, a personal 5 hour shuttle with a handsome Costa Rican...Alvaro...I knew...ooooh I just saw 4 little howler monkeys climb to a sway treetop to hang out and eat....this place is magicalllll its just simply filled with life...even the GIANT BEETLE that made it's way to the middle of my kitchen and perched out all night without moving an inch...when I moved the carpet it was half on, it slowly extended one of his legs to readjust...as if it was doing a morning stretch...and stayed put!!It was so big...and just interesting looking...I just left him there...I shall call him...Layre...

When I arrived to the location there were tons of vultures perched on top the gate and a few feasting on a carcass not to far from the entrance...uh...okay...because I see signs in everything...that must mean...EEEE the horse is nearby...I just heard him blow his lips and I hear this feet clomp around....*sigh*...back to my original thought the vultures must mean that even death has a purpose in the circle of life...somethings feed on what had died and that there is nothing to fear because everything belongs...but it also made me buck up and muster my life force cuz YALL aint for me! I have a strong pumping heart and I'm still vital...anyway...my room wasn't ready and I wasn't called until 4pm (a whooping 5 hours) so I took the bicycle into town after getting lost for several hours...turning down trails that turned into dead ends...then a turtle crossed my path and I immediately slowed down

Just finished my second Yin Yoga class and we focused on the hips- with the matching meridians of the gall badder and liver...where we store frustration/anger/rage/criticism. Yesterday's yin session was heart opening and I was weeping at how grateful I was to go so deeply within myself. I deserved this deep inner time to release... to be continued...

Life as I knew it ends at 40

 Sooooo... "its been a minute but I'm back with the jump off"

I went straight from The Lion King North American Tour to a new Broadway show called  Harmony where I portrayed Josephine Baker in a tale about a half Jewish half Gentile boy band in Germany when the Nazi party was coming into power. Needless to say, I didn't read the script...all I saw was JOSEPHINE BAKER BROADWAY and I said I'LL TAKE IT!!!

Note to self, read the script of every show you go in for, Allison. This was the darkest most challenging contract of my life....well...Motown was pretty traumatizing bc of feeling hated and left out and not supported among an insanely talented Black cast, but being the only Black woman in a cast of a Broadway show is a whole different beast. And even sharing that I was the only Black woman in the cast made the two young cast mates  of color resent me because "they are Black too". The swing and my understudy, two insanely gorgeous biracial girls with light skin and curly hair iced me out (i found out drunkenly at the closing night party) because they felt offended I said on my personal IG story that I was struggling with being the only Black woman in a cast. Aside from the icy energy from them, there was the age gap, I was almost 15 years older than them. Aside from the shade from the two cast mates of color, I felt like a complete after thought in the show, just a TOKEN black body to add some flavor to the show. I was paraded around in a fuschia sparkly feathered bikini, surfed on a moving piano and was flipped around like a rag doll by young actors in their 20s who could actually care less about me. To this day, I'm recovering from tendonitis because I was improperly handled. I had to fight for grip shoes and a grip on the piano so i wouldn't fly off the piano and was just....treated like AN OTHER. I've never felt OTHERED or TOKENed before because most of the white people I grew up with were in a multiculteral neighborhood or organization. So for the first time in 12 years, I saw the white underbelly of Broadway, in a show about anti-semitism in the 40's....during the Israeli Palestine conflict...it was a horrible energetic experience that could have been powerfully healing but...

but..that's not my responsibility to manage the energy of an entire production. I was in SURVIVAL MODE for my soul.

AND ANOTHER THING! For the first time, I saw how mean spirited white actors could be and that was heart breaking for me. Maybe because I put them on pedestals of how I thought the experience would be. Also-I've only done Black Broadway shows at this point: Dreamgirls, Lion King, Book of Mormon, Motown, The Wiz, Bubbling Brown Sugar, The Color Purple... the only white actors I worked with played Mormon Boys and Motown executives.  I thought I would be fine but there was a HEAVY silence and sparkly discomfort I felt everyday walking into that theater. It felt like I was trapped in an unfamiliar hell and it was sooo dark backstage...in the wings in the dressing rooms...it was just thick with darkness. so when it closed I was RELIEVED but also so sad...why can't I win?? The  last Broadway show where I was a lead (2nd Motown the Musical) closed within 10 days and now, the 2nd Broadway show were I am playing a Black icon, closes as well. 

I started to believe that I was cursed. I know I'm talented but maybe the Broadway gods are cursing me....But for what?

Maybe because they know I'm a poser. I'm not really a Broadway girlie...I just love music and performing and people and telling honest stories and making people laugh and cry. But I would lose any Broadway trivia with flying colors. I don't know these shows like that...and I'm not really that interested in them. Especially these new shows and the new trend of acting and singing. Before, I remember seeing shows with grown people with Full bodied presence and voices and acting. The trend is pretty basic and fluff. I'm not impressed by the kids unfortunately but casting is...WOOF. I sound OLDER and semi Jaded...

But the gag is I feel like I don't even really GO here.

I studied Music and arias and opera then studied musical theater from NYU and then auditioned and only booked BLACK shows. Now, after 12 years of a Broadway career...I'm BURNED OUT. The level of mental physical psychological exhaustion is SO REAL. I went to Costa Rica for a week and it literally felt like a weekend. It wasn't a true vacation or rest. And now I feel like a zombie or a ghost trying to keep up with NYC and not get chewed up and spat out and I'm STRONG but....I'm not invinsible. I need a BREAK and complete regroup & redesign. Because to be honest, I WAS CHEWED UP.

I left my Harlem studio because I couldnt afford it after the show closed. I actually lost money while I was on Harmony, it didn't pay enough to live in NYC without roommates and I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't have roommates after 38. So luckily, my friend's mother has a brownstone in Bedstuy and is airbnbing and renting her rooms. I signed a month to month lease and thought I landed my dream Bedstuy SUITE with a shared kitchen that was a connecting converted closet and shared with a new airbnb person evry month. If my landlady wasnt such a NASTY TROLL PRISON WARDEN, it would be perfect....aside from sharing a tiny kitchenette with strangers. The language this woman uses with me and the complete utter lack of grace, respect, understanding or care this woman has is mind boggling. Being cussed out about putting my trash in the garbage outside, the way the kitchen smells and the times I come home ...its more like a MEAN DEN MOTHER than a landlady. The straw that broke the camels back was her banging on my door in the morning saying "hey" and talking about the dishes I used when I cook breakfast. I gave her my intention on leaving, saying I can leave in August because this is not a good fit and not good for my mental health. But the irony is that everyday, I'm finding my community and ways to thrive. From meeting the councilwoman to the founder of a community  art collective to meeting actual artists and film makers to volunteering at a community garden to conversations with my neighbors about starting a business to teach in the schools and the list goes on. The deli and business owners are starting to recognize me and it feels amazing. Now that I have to find a new place to live with NO income...is daunting. and its not like i'm not trying....

Every month since March, I've been applying for jobs, college jobs in Chicago, Brooklyn, NYU, not only applying for jobs but gigging every weekend and auditioning all like my life depends on it. I even said I would busk with a friend tomorrow on the train. and I'm not sure if I should just leave NYC and go hOME to Chicago but even with Chicago, I would still have to find a place to live and WORK. And the jobs seems more political there. I reached out the choir that I spend 18 years with for a job and they were shady with their response and basically said no. I had a masterclass that I was to teach and randomly I was replaced by someone else. I have a feeling that even though I LOVE Hyde Park and Chicago, it may not be as kind and welcoming to me as I thought. Part of me needs to release the idea that I'm supposed to be ANYTHING at this age. What if I am NOTHING?  

It is okay that I start OVER and LEARN AGAIN. 

Murry Crimmus...The Gift of God

 My parents are here! In New York City...for Christmas...it means everything to me. I miss home and miss my parents and being around family and people who KNOW my heart and care for me. NYC is hard...Broadway is hard...this World is hard and there is so much happening. Having family with me in this city I'm living and working in is grounding and helps me remember WTF I am. My parents are so special. God really was on something when They created my parents. I'm so proud and blessed to be apart of THIS family...I could have been born in any other circumstance...Though its nowhere near perfect...Chile we are all a mess...but it's a beautiful mess...and God Bless it!

I can't help but think about Jesus and death and the world...and the people of this world...and the collective energy of us humans and how messed up it is. I keep thinking about my purpose and how I want to spend my life...and fulfilling or at least living in my purpose here. I've never felt more ready to just DO IT. LIVE fully in the reason why I am here and experience HEAVEN ON EARTH. I have tasted and seen how good God is. I have been carried by the Lord throughout my life and my mind never ceases to amaze me with HOW GOOD GOD has been in my life. From when I was on the mountain peak to the lowest valley...to the driest dessert to the crispest rainforest...Wherever I go, I meet Him there. Alpha & Omega. It is not like a human being...we are so flawed and easily driven... by fleeting things. I want to anchor my soul in the Most High. I yield to the Divine Architect. The Creator of Heaven & Earth. The Gears to the ever rotating Universe. 

What is God? 

Is it the Impersonal All Conscious Isness?

Or Personal Beneficial Confidant & Friend & Teacher of Beingness?

Or is it both and everything in between? 

I'm feeling real deep right now. Just like the Capricorn that I be. We dwell in the the deep dark waters of consciousness with the merpeople and sirens or the sea...

...

...

just recorded a musical improv idea on my phone...

I'm learning how to use my voice...I have the tools and techniques and I have life experience to shape it...i'm excited about this coming year...I'm about to BLOW UP!

Activate and Energize in a whole new way...wow...and its not just because I'm turning 40...PHEW! But WHEW!! 40. I am turning 40. I'm 39 right now...I'm feeling it creep up...its so significant...it feels like Goddesszilla tip toeing...I feel like i'm going to be unstoppable...I'm a little anxious...super anxious but also so so excited in the best way! Its like everything that I have learned in my 20s and 30s are complete and now its time to not only execute the wisdom but also be open to the wisdom of the 40s to illuminate.

Illuminate. Thats the word for 40. or at least for 39 on December 26. In my mind I've actually already turned 40 but its not official until January...then I can GO THE VUG OFF! Oooh the concerts the things I've planted in so many journals...the tablets I've written down shows in detail...Will finally become manifest! Evrything Ive been prepared for will be go time.

My heart is full is not only the possibilities but the fulfillments of the plans that were whispered to me in dreams. 

Phew....goodnight.

It ain't over til it's over over.

 What a day yesterday was....

It started with an interview with Broadway News then a chiropractic adjustment since my neck is crazy (its lacking the  natural curve so its straight...which tells me alot about how I'm carrying myself in this world) then PT session and Christmas shopping. 

I dont believe in Western Christmas anymore...I hate the idea of buying things specifically for this day...especially since typically at the end of the year, my finances are dribbling down from the year. Its not about this. We are a pagan society that worships Money. Christ wasn't born in December...and its all the winter solstice celebration but we arent even aware of the natural occurrences that we dont truly observe or know what the solstice is. There is so much that is coming to light for me...although I've always felt these knowings rumbling inside...even as a child...and now they are surfacing and I feel crazy but at the same time I imagine a great global awakening where we see everything in the eyes of love and intuition. The war that is happening in the middle east...I have no words other than it is one sided and terrorizing to observe. Yet that same terrorizing energy is what is leading our society...and the Truth of humanity...the SOUL of humanity needs a cleansing...a spiritual baptism...where we are washed from the gunk of ego and fear and see our true identity and HARMONIZE to love frequency.... how ironic that I'm in a show called Harmony... but yet its only literal.

Ive never felt so underused in a show...but yet I am playing "the Black Goddess of France" herself...Ms Josephine Baker. My direction has been to be more grand and to code switch from "Fancy to Southern" Josephine Baker isnt from the South but she is Black...so maybe thats what they meant...for me to act more Black....*sigh*...then I was also told that Josephine Baker was riding on the coattails of the guy group...when actually she was a star in her own right and a pioneer of international racial harmony. But I just need to just do my job and shine. I'm frustrated that I'm not really seen as the diamond I feel like I am. On and offstage. And I'm not even doing ANYTHING in the show yet I'm mentally spiritually and physically exhausted and suffered more injuries in this show than any show ever. Is this what I prayed for?  This was my manifestation from Lion King. Would I go back to Lion King? I was REALLY just a number...a cog in well oiled machine. I LOVED that machine but I thought I was going to celebrated. I guess my mother was right, Berry Gordy spoiled me in treating me like a princess when I played Diana Ross. He showed me and celebrated who I was. He saw my potential. So did Stevie. Who did I enjoy playing more? Diana Ross of course...she had dimension in the story. 

So! Now that that is off my chest, how do I become better not bitter? The show is most likely closing before the year contract...I felt it was a limited run from the beginning for a few intuitive reasons. But maybe, just maybe it can become sustainable? but thats in the direction and formation. 

So now...I'm forced to look outside Broadway yet again... 2024 is coming and I'm going to be 40!!!! I'm actually really excited because I feel like everything is going to be different. I can already feel it...Like a stepping into my purpose 100% and actually DOING THE THING I was created to do here instead of adjacent assignments. Even in my thinking and coping and mental sorting, there is a Ah Ha! energy.

But as of right now...in this present moment, I am enjoying my sunny boho Harlem studio with plants. I'm not going to be swayed by the energy of the theater and cast because its unpredictable and stuffy and tense. I am grounded and light and bright. I will only give my energy to those who deserve it...and I ysed to hate saying that word but its true...I'm not Jesus...I'm not dying for everyone...I am only human and a sensitive one at that. Its time that I care for myself like the precious soul that I am. I of course wish I could have a partner who would cherish and appreciate and protect me...does that sound like a father or a partner? thats where I'm conflicted...what is a healthy balanced ask of a partner? Maybe I shouldnt even look but "become my own soulmate" and work out these imbalances that are bubbling to surface in my soul. Be my own soul's mate first.  My own soul's keeper. 

I want to continue the work I did in 2020. What if...I just contuinued as if I was still in Malibu making those meditations and songs and videos and teaching those young artists? I LOVED teaching performance at that LA colleges! Wow....how did I do that? I just believed I could and I did. I said to myself, DUH, youve been on Broadway, starred in touring productions, recorded and wrote for Stevie Wonder, and performed all over the country, of COURSE you can teach this next generation about finding their voice in performance in LA. What is stopping me from doing this in NYC or Chicago? Is Broadway the final goal or is there more?? 

Of course there is more, my soul shouts! Your concerts, Carnegie Hall, teaching in NYC, it AINT OVER til its over, ya heard! And I'm only just beginning! 

Crying on the Subway- #blessed

 Today was a day. I was overcome with introspection, gratitude, and reflection. I'm leaving my thirties, I'm living in an answered prayer, I finally have a place of my own in NYC, and I have a moment to just marinate on the beauty of where I am and how the heck I got here.

BACK ON BROADWAY! OBC- CHECK!

 GUESSS WHAAAAAT?

Ya girl is BACK ON BROADWAY! And she got HER OBC_- Original Broadway Cast  in a PRINCIPLE ROLE! Life, truly, is magical. I am blessed. Where do I begin?

January 2023, right when I was OVER NYC...right when I planned on leaving it all to head back home to Chicago and "figure it out", LION KING RAFIKI TOUR books me and I end up GOING HOME to CHICAGO ANYWAY for rehearsal!I got the role of Sarabi, Simba's Momma, Mufasa's Queen, and understudy NALA! I first auditioned for Lion King in 2016 and 7 years later I got it with ease almost! Because I was doing the Aida Workshop with Clem who is the musical supervisory of Lion King and he asked me why I never went in for NALA! A recommendation from the musical supervisor and my well connected agent DID THAT! (and me of course)

Anyway, long story short, I started the tour with the famed Lion King  as Queen Sarabi and didn't realize that I would be also be Hyena #15 and giant flower #29 in the background. Of course, as a "sunflower" (affectionately called by our dance captain) and spotlight lover, my face hungrily searched the "sky" for the light and told a multi chapter story with my eyes, while being hidden in the back, because as soon as I step on stage, the STORY is being told (thank you Dr. Ollie Watts Davis- Art Song recital training) and just in case some small child's eager eyes happen to fall on me! The Hyena and the spotlight? not so much. This was more like dancing in the shadows of the graveyard (which is fun in its own way?)  I DESPISED that costume with every fiber of my being- however, certain days, I used my anger and channeled it to excitement and zest. Anyway, there was a point where I felt like we were all pledging something together...but ironically the collective struggle that I felt was something I only felt and my experience ended up being one of the most lonely and challenging experiences of my career. The actor who played Mufusa was one of the coldest people I have ever met in my life, blatantly ignoring me and avoiding my eyes since day 1. When I fell down on the rock, offstage, he didn't budge as I struggled to my feet. To begin such a beautiful show in love singing about the power of the connection of life, I've never felt so disconnected and heart broken. BUT I am SO grateful because something inside me activated...ignited!! I REFUSE to let 1 or 2 or 15 people steal the light, gratitude and joy I have for being in this show. This little light of mine? I'm going to let it shine DAMNIT!! I will not be consumed in darkness!! I will shine, even though I am covered in drapes of fabric and energetic heaviness. I felt like I was at war with an energetic darkness and my weapon was light, joy, mindfulness, and FOCUS. I will focus on things that feel good, light, or NEUTRAL. The whole experience honestly was one of the most glorious productions I've ever been in  (THE STORY THE MUSIC inspired me DAILY) and the challenges made a LIGHT WARRIOR out of me. Now that I made it to the other side, I feel unstoppable!  

It was a moment on tour when I felt like my soul was starting to break and a dresser in DC told me to talk to my ancestors and tell them ask them for help. I called out to everyone! Jesus, Holy Spirit, Gramps, Nana, Grandma, Granddad, Woody, and whoever was on my angelic team to DELIVER ME out of my current place to a stage... a story where joy is present and easily accessible, where I feel like I actually add value and my soul can be replenished. I prayed that I GET MY OBC before I turned 40. I prayed and asked for BOLD SPECIFIC things and They HEARD MY CRY- Hallelujah. A week later, I got an audition for Harmony and within 2 weeks I was in NYC recording the cast album!!! Life CAN BE a MAGICAL MAGNETIC experience!

So now, here I am. Writing in my room in Williamsburg, the door to the terrace is open and I'm getting ready to do some Pilates Yoga before stepping out to rehearsal to learn my big dance number as Josephine Baker in Warren Carlyle and Barry Manilow's new Broadway SHOW! I've been floating through NYC...

Nothing is perfect, I am STILL OH SO LONELY, still don't have a place of my own, and don't feel super solid....but when I look back over my life, and see how God has opened doors and been with me through the valleys and mountains, TRULY I can say that God is REAL and GREAT. My family is still healthy happy and I have a roof over my head and money coming in the bank . and I'm OPENING a NEW BROADWAY SHOW called HARMONY - out of all the things....My favorite thing in the world. I couldn't make this up. The Universe is the Author of my life and I am the Co-Author. I intend to continue co-creating goodness and variety.