The show must go on....

SO scary how quickly time flies....

2007-06-01T21:10:00.002+10:00

HI guys,

WOW, i can't beleive my last entry was in January. So very sorry.

Gee where do i start???

Firstly, i am now a member of facebook and i think that's the reason why i haven't been so up to date with Blogger or Ringo.
I think you have to be a memebr too to view my page so if you're part of it, find me.
If not, try this link http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=780885065

When i update from blogger, it's automatically put on facebook so i'm no longer going to post so many pics on here, they'll mainly go on facebook.

SO....back to 2007

In February: My Cousin Becky came to visit me and i literally spent the whole weekend shopping and eating.

March was my birthday which was nice. I enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Hyatt hotel. Got wondeful pressies from the cast, then had a "kid's character party" on the weekend. You had to come dressed up so I went as Princess Jasmine. We were brought back to those wonderful childhood years and played kids games like pass-the parcel, but with a twist of soju!

April was a quick month:
We had 9 days off in total, 1 of which was a weekend. 2 days off in a row is rare so obviousy we tried to make the most of it by going away. A group of us sat on a bus for 4 hours and went to a place caled Gyeongju. It was spent looking at tombs of Kings and Queens from millions of years ago. It was totally unplanned which made it more fun.

May: I briefly visited Macau, China and Singapore. Got a little bit of site seeing done but not too much shopping. It's amazing how much development is going on in Asia at the moment!!! So good to eat chinese food!!!!! Look, Crispy duck!

Dance vs Real world

2007-01-30T17:39:00.000+11:00

In the real world the word FIERCE is used to describe a tiger.

In the real world dancing is a drunken Saturday night round your hand bag not a career.

In the real world throwing up after a meal is considered a disease not a weight loss program.

In the real world a Tic Tac is minty freshness for just two calories not a meal.

In the real world rolling out of bed is a metaphor not a consequence of yesterday's job.

In the real world putting on your make up for work does not take 45 minutes and your ideal objective is not transvestite.

In the real world Advil is an occasionally taken pain reliever not a dietary supplement.

In the real world experiencing the symptoms of arthritis at eighteen is medically unusual not a job related side effect.

In the real world Lycra bid an advisable farewell with the eighties and is not a dominant clothing choice.

In the real world you do not get paid to wear a bikini and shake your ass behind Snoop Doggy.

In the real world tights are worn only by the female of the species and for good reason.

In the real world your job does not depend on how quickly you can change your clothes and is a task you do maybe twice a day, not nine times an hour in the dark watched by middle aged male stage hands.

In the real world being creative does not mean rolling up one pant leg and following your hand.

In the real world people can count past eight.

In the real world you do not get fired for eating too many Mcdonalds.

In the real world getting a job does not depend on how tall, short, thin, fat, blonde or San Tropezed you are!

In the real world your resume lists your qualities and achievements not your vital statistics.

In the real world you don't have to pretend you like pain.

In the real world a job interview is a civilized conversation and followed by a few probing questions, it is not a circus that involves a cattle call, how high you can kick your leg or a ballet combination with fouettes!

In the real world physical and mental torture is called abuse not a class.

In the real world being good at your job does not involve turning really fast.

In the real world your work associates will not lift you above their head and spin you around the office.

In the real world you don't find out the day before that you are going to dance the Can Can in outer Mongolia to promote something completely unrelated liked heavy goods vehicles.

In the real world you do not copy the person in front.

In the real world the only bar you hold onto for support serves drinks and you certainly do not put your leg on it (unless your vodka consumption has reached a stage of clinical inadvisability.

In the real world, you do not have as much fun!

Sam's 21st Party

2007-01-26T04:43:00.000+11:00

One of the girl's in the show, Sam, turned 21 on the 21st of January so....naturally there was a party of her choice held up on the 3rd floor. It turned out to be a "P" party, so you had to turn up in anything that starts with the letter "P", and in the language of your choice.
Here are the pics - try and guess what we are xox

New Years Eve

2007-01-25T02:24:00.000+11:00

Work again (2 shows)....and then the nerve of me, to bring my mum to a famous Sheraton Walkerhill Rave Party. Dad had come and gone, and now it was mum's turn. I swear, the 2 of them visiting and leaving in such a short period of time caused me to go into a week of depression when they left. All the hype from Christmas and New Years was coming to an end and all I wanted was time to freeze or majorly slow down coz not long after, it was Ben's turn to leave :(

But I'm coping in this big bad world all by myself so for now, here are some more photos of my crazy friends at the New Years Party held at the hotel I currently work at.

Christmas Day

2007-01-24T04:31:00.000+11:00

Look at our wee tree. Good job filling it up with goodies. I was so lucky to have my dad to visit. Had to work (2 shows) but Phil, Ben and Alex cooked a delicious English Meal for the cast of 32 - plus guests. We set up the dining tables up on the 3rd floor living room and enjoyed a fabulous 3 course meal followed by prezzies, handed out by Santa and his 'little helper'.
My first time spending Christmas with the cast i work with and i must say 'thankyou' to the cast of SUBWAY for making it so enjoyable. Hope everyone had a good time wherever they were and got to spend it with someone special.

Snow in Korea

2007-01-22T05:11:00.000+11:00

Finally! We got some snow.....but unfortunately NOT on Christmas Day. Instead, it all came down when we decided to go out one Saturday night out on the town which was very annoying, however all was forgiven when we woke up to the most beautiful, white city I've ever seen. Aussies and Brazillians shouldn't be allowed out when it snows. Very embarassing!

Farewell Odyssey

2007-01-21T16:48:00.000+11:00

And Welcome to "Subway"

Gyeongbokgung Palace

2006-10-26T00:50:00.000+10:00

The rat won the race!

Other photos from NCL Dawn

2006-09-21T00:36:00.000+10:00

Sorry my entries are never in order but just to catch you guys up, here are some other photos from my contract with NCL in the Caribbean...
Doing Laundry during rehearsals with Kelsey and Christian

The Orginal cast from February 2006

Kay's English Fruity Lollie challenge which Gemma and i completed and proved wrong!

Crew Pyjama Party in the Disco

KOREA:The present location

2006-09-13T16:01:00.000+10:00

While we're on a photo of the Itaewon trip...ITAEWON: a location for the foreigners mainly American army soldiers and their wives or........ Russian models.

Jeff, Ben, Fabi, me and Linda @
the famous Polly's Kettle
$5 for a litre drink of Soju!

Fabianna and Flavio
at some Salsa club??!?!

Market shopping.....
just luv it!

Waiting in line at LOTTE WORLD

St Maarten

2006-09-13T14:36:00.000+10:00

The BEST port of all...

Tortola

2006-09-12T16:10:00.000+10:00

Don't you wish this was YOUR balcony?????

Relaxing on the Sandy beach.....

Then the most
peaceful, romantic
relaxing sailaway
I've ever had!
With a delicious
Italian Banquet to
follow @
La Trattoria :)

Goodbye Tortola!

Danze Fantasy Productions

2006-09-12T06:32:00.000+10:00

Hey guys!
Do you remember how exicted I was when I first started this STILL very
complicated blog thing? Well, i just made my debut on a website.
Check it out ---> http://www.danzefantasy.com/subwayinterviewshelena.html

And if you wanna just check the whole website out which i helped put
up visit www.danzefantasy.com

St Thomas

2006-09-12T05:51:00.000+10:00

1stly-Beaches, a K-Mart
and good calling cards!
2ndly-Water Island
Bike and Swim Tour
3rdly-Catamaran
and snorkel with
unlimited alcohol on
the sail back to the
ship!

Pics from NCL DAWN

2006-09-12T04:53:00.000+10:00

Once again i APOLOGISE for disappearing off the planet for a while. Over the next week or so I promise to fill you in on the past few months. But for now....some pics from my last contract....Norwegian Cruise Line's beautiful ship, the DAWN

Starting with.........NEW YORK - My main port
Satue of Liberty
Central Park
Trump Tower
Radio City
42nd Street on Time Square!

i lurve the Caribbean!

2006-03-24T14:41:00.000+11:00

Ladies and gentlemen,

I’ve just discovered the best mall EVER in the world. Well, actually I can’t really claim that because I haven’t been everywhere in the world. Maybe it’s coz I’ve been away from city life and is lacking normality that makes this mall seems so wonderful but if you don't want to be spending money, stay away from San Juan, Plaza Las America.

I’ve been on the ship for almost 2 cruises and since then have had a birthday, opened a show, moved rooms, swam with dolphins, visited a nudist beach, had a hair cut and dyed it while rehearsing every day since I boarded in New York. One thing that hasn’t happened yet, is get paid!

B4 I go on, thanks to every one who remembered my birthday. I’ve tried to reply to most of you who kindly emailed. Sorry it took so long, Internet access is sparse, I was still reading them 4 days after which in a way was nice coz it dragged the event out a bit. It was nice to have cake with my name on it (which suggests it was organised rather than bought at the last minute) and because it fell on the closing night of the old cast’s last show, we got free champagne! The drinking obviously continued in the crew bar.
And to those who msged, that was really nice too. Because of the time difference I was getting them all night and all day, so thankyou for making my day special.

Yesterday we were in St Maarten, which is made up of 2 sides, French and Dutch. As soon as we got off the ship that, docked in the Dutch side, we took a shuttle to the French and parked our butts on the nudist beach with hopes of getting rid of our tan lines, sipping on our Magharitas and enjoying the beautiful blue water. Cute little shops were nearby and French bakeries but rather expensive for this struggling dancer as the currency used was the Euro.

The day b4 that, we were in Tortola where my friend from Shore Ex kindly got my room mate and me free tickets to swim with dolphins. It’s been my dream for a while now, last ship was spent whale watching, I guess this time it’s dolphins. They were adorable and unbelievably well trained. Bought an underwater camera so hopefully will be able to put pics up soon. If anyone ever gets a chance to do it, I highly recommend it. Be prepared to spend money buying pics and the DVD. It’s worth it!

The day b4 that, we were in St Thomas where again, we caught a cab and spent all day laying on the white sand. This time, we weren’t so classy with our special cocktails. Instead, we’d gone to the grocery store and bought a bottle of vodka and mixes ourselves. Another thing I suggest to do as it worked out to cost only $4pp and we didn’t even finish the vodka! The only problem with Caribbean beaches, sand flies! Argh they are so annoying, I have at least 10 bites. Why didn’t any1 warn me?

Our main port is New York, which I visited for the first time a week ago. It’s so weird watching Sex and the city on the TV then visiting the actual place. Luckily the ship docks quite close to ‘down town’ so all the shops are walking distance. With only a few hours, I tried to walk as fast as possible going to as many places as possible, trying not to get distracted by all the wonderful signs and posters, especially on Broadway!!! Even though I only walked through, it was amazing. One thing I’ll give American credit for is the naming of the streets. Numbers make so much more sense, no excuses for getting lost unless you don’t know how to count!

Our cabins were a bit of a surprise to me, we have bunk beds and the room is teeny weeny. Guess I was spoilt on Celebrity with those passenger cabins. I’m on the top bunk and instead of spacing the beds evenly, they’ve given the bottom bunk enough room to sit up and shortened the space above the top bunk so when you lie there and close the curtain, you have as much space as you do in a coffin. I’ve bashed my head on the roof so many times! Other than that everything else is all right. From next cruise on wards, we’ll only be rehearsing on show days, which is 2 out of 10. However, for all of you who think it means I work 2 out of 10 days, not true, cruise staff duties will begin. Luckily on this ship we have a really nice ACD (assistant cruise director for you non-ship people) who is fair and only gives us about 4hours a week of duties. So yeah, I’m really lucky, this contract will be really easy.

So that’s this cruise, last cruise I only managed to get off once, in Cozumel, which I can’t remember AT ALL. Am I getting amnesia??? Anyway I’ll be doing that itinerary again so I’ll tell you about it all next time.

Until then, laugh hard + take care!
x

welcome to miami

2006-02-27T03:41:00.000+11:00

hi guys,

well i'm here in miami FINALLY.....rehearsals are going well. We're down a few people but am getting some today. It's sunday today and it's our day off. wohoo......you'd think i'd be at the beach but NOPE....it just happens to be cloudy and miserable today. It was sunny and gorgeous all week but today it's decided to be miserable.
Not to worry, plan B...shopping!

Our choreographer is aussie & worked at the moulin so knows a lot of other aussies i know. She's really fun and makes rehearsals a lot less stressful than normal.
We finished learning the first show in 3days and is half way through our next/last show so we might get another day off b4 we board the ship in new york.

My room-mate is English and heaps of fun too. We lost a dnacer after the first day coz her grandmother suddenly got ill. Bless her. We're still missing 3 singers and a gymnast but like i said b4 hopefully we'll get them today
Aren't we the mos organised cast!
Besides english and aussie, we also have people from Canada, Belise, poland, Ukrain, Russian and america. They all seem realy sweet and most have been on the ship b4.

That's all for now folks, will try to write one more time b4 i leave.

Apologies

2006-02-11T06:43:00.000+11:00

Hi,

Well i never thought any1 actually read my blog but apparently people do and i've recently been getting a few complaints about the lack of update acttivity so i hope you accept my apologies and continue to visit.

Let's see, last time i wrote was b4 the FAME audition......hm.......let's just say i need singing lessons b4 i try to audition for another musical.
And the Madame butterfly audition....they needed one girl and one boy. Seeing i was as tall, if not taller than the boys already at the audition, I knew that job was lost b4 we even started dancing.

Since then, holding my head high and determined not to give up, I continued trekking to London at wee hours of the morning in hopes to find employment. Went to a Son Amar (located in Spain) audition and went rather well however due to Visa complications am again left at sqaure one desperately trying to get rid of the title 'UNemployed'

The most interesting of all, was the audition for 'Wicked', 600+ girls turned up (goodness knows how many in total as boys were the day after, then private auditions later on) and we were made to wait OUTSIDE at FREEZING temperatures. Not kidding.....it started to snow! I waited outside, in line on the pathway for 4 HOURS. The things dancers do to get work. Luckily I met a few people on the way, starting with a friend of a friend then their friends and their friends, so 6 strangers laughing and chatting away trying to make time go quicker, that in the end, the experience from waiting in line turned out much better than the audition itself.

In the meantime, have been juggling whether to go back on a ship or not. The money is good, no responsibilities, experiencing new countries and cultures while doing the thing you love best. Why not? Turned down a few offerrs but in the end, gave up trying the 'square mile' and have decided to go back. Will leave England on 19th Feb and fly to Ft Lauderdale where i rehearse for 2 weeks then board the Norwegian DAWN in New York on the 5th.

There you go, so all you yankies, i'll keep you posted so we can meet up and if any1 else is in the Caribbean, be sure to let me know.

Hope you're all well....and i'll try to be better with my blogging.

Auditions.....ahhhhhh!

2006-01-14T11:35:00.000+11:00

So, things has happened since my last blog which i will fill you in later but for now......ahhhhhh!

well, good and bad news, actually just good news.

I sent my resume into two places earlier this week and i've been called by both and asked to audition for them. (BTW I'm now in England....and I hope everyone got my email wishing you all a Happy Christmas and New Year)

One is for Madam Butterfly which i'm stoked about coz there's no singing involved and it won't be very physically demanding, and i feel i have a good chance coz i look Japanese......however, i think they're only looking for one female and one male....so fingers crossed.

The other....is for Fame-European Tour (ie UK Tour) I'm stoked to get this too BUT i have to sing!!!!! AND I CAN'T SING!!!!!
I got the phone call today and I know i should be jumping up and down like Ben is and my mum is, but I'm too scared to be happy. The audition is on Tuesday so i have the weekend to prepare. AHHHHHH......shopping tomorrow for music and backing tracks. I haven't had a singing lessong in almost 4 years! (actually not entirely true as Deborah kindly assisted once while I was on the ship)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The rest of 2005

2005-11-23T23:45:00.000+11:00

Another contract completed, another holiday deserved

Seoul - Korea 3 1/2 weeks (October)........look..SNOW!!!!!!!!

As you can see....LOTS of fun! Went to two theme parks, saw 'Odyssey' almost every night, ate good food, won a bowling game but then got slashed in the 2nd, had a bit of a history lesson by visiting the demiliterised zone between the north and the south, shopped till wee hours of the morning (3am) and celebrated Alonso winning F1!

Home for my brother's birthday and catching up with friends and family. A month that went far too quickly but.....'the show must go on' ......so off again to Singapore and England for Christmas. Not bad for only having 7 days to buy and decorate the christmas tree and all the lovely pressies under it.

2005

2005-11-23T22:21:00.000+11:00

Had enough of the sound of Music...

New years in England, accompanied by loved ones. Then a few days into the new year.....Barcelona here i come!
What can i say? Lovely weather, lovely place, lovely food....loved it. Good shopping, good sites to look at and good streets to walk down.

then...

Februray 14th: Got on a flight from England to Atlanta, Atlanta to Nashville Tennassee! Country capitol, here I come!
Rehearsed for a month then flew to Fort Lauderdale where I embarked on my first ship....Celebrity Infinity!
Best contract I've done: great shows, great cast, great ship and great intinerary.
Places I visited:
Hawaii - Kailua Kona, Nawiliwili, Honolulu, Lahaina, Hilo
Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Huatulco, Punterenas (Costa Rica), Panama City, Jamaica, George Town (Grand Cayman), Aruba,
Canada - Victoria, Vancouver, Grays Harbour
Alaska - Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Icy Point
Astoria, Oregon and of course, good times in San Fran!

Swam with stingrays, went zip-lining, whale-watching, relaxed on beachs/resorts, cheap drinks...hard life?

When you Read you begin with 'A B C'

2005-11-20T15:35:00.001+11:00

Well yeah i guess the english are best to teach how to read, but that's not why i was there. Realising i'd done nothing except holiday, I finally did something useful with myself, making myself feel less guilty. Being asked to Assistant Choreograph a small contract, i accepted the job and it went very well. The contract didn't last as long as it should have but the experience of being involved in pre-production was nothing but exciting and rewarding.

Then in October 2004, rehearsals for Thursford started. Beginning in London then moving to Norfolk. My contract was spent avoiding the flu, knitting and drinking lots of tea with my 6 housemates. Sad but true, we'd spend nights after the show knitting away, trying to finish them off before Christmas rather than hanging out with the cast. (but bear in mind the only place to 'hang' was the pub)

Another successful contract was finished with a full house every show. Living with so many people was a first and working so closely together was unexpectedly fun. The main venue for parties were held at the band boys' house which was conveniently 2 doors down. No designated driver needed! Our main shopping destination was Norwich Shopping centre (apparently voted 3rd best for Christmas in England) and I'll never forget the popular town of Holt, the best place for breakfast.

Finishing on the 23rd Dec, I stayed in England and had my first winter Christmas, I felt like i was a kid again. The atomosphere was so much better than in Australia. Every1 wrapped up warm around the fire, a big feast and the best pudding in the world. As usual, every passes out by the arvo from overeating b4 going for more wine as the night goes on...

A very good place to start...

2005-11-19T18:22:00.000+11:00

After 2 contracts back to back with minimal holidays, I decided to treat myself...
Starting in Singapore and Bangkok. Did lots of shopping, eating and the usual touristy stuff like seeing temples. Man! I wish I had this much Gold...

Finally arriving at the desired destination of England...managed to squeeze a little holiday to Paris b4 getting down to business...

(Sorry to all those arty farty people but i don't see what's so amazing about the Mona Lisa)

Let's start at the very Beginning...

2005-11-19T15:55:00.000+11:00

This trip back home has been an emotional roller coaster more than anything else. Spent a lot of time with friends and family and am sad to be off again in just over a week. Have realised I've kind of been a bit 'out of contact' in the past 3 years and so have decided to set up this blog page and keep in touch more.
Rather than writing the same email over and over again, as I'm crap with group emails anyway (and so end up writing more individual ones than necessary) I've set up this blog so that hopefully, on those rare occasions where 'Lena' pops into mind, you'll instantly open this page and see where, what, why, who and how I'm going.

But b4, I start with now, let us go back in time and start with.....

The ending of Storm...

For those of you in Sydney who knew about my desire to travel...my initial reason for the transition to the Beautiful Gold Coast had finished after a year. 'Rhythm Of the Night' was a great experience and the cast taught me a lot about the 'real world'. But, because I loved it so much and could see no reason to leave, I re-auditioned for the next show and was accepted into 'Storm'

As the picture shows, closing night of 'Storm' was on 29th May 2004 celebrating a successful season and not knowing at the time, but a farewell to Australia

First Timer

2005-11-13T00:55:00.000+11:00

So have set up a blog now FINALLY, after leaving home for 3 1/2 years. Sorry it's taken this long. I'm sloooooow!