Good morning, my sweet friends! So lovely to meet you all. Can’t wait to take you all with me on our fun and, hopefully exciting, two-show day at The Secret Garden at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Snuggling in my bed for as long as possible …
Caitlin Cohn
I start every morning with my happy face almond butter toast, Emergen-C, a B-12 supplement and my Pinterest. Currently adding to my “flickers of florals” page to get me into my gardening spirit … hehe.
Caitlin Cohn
Eight shows a week requires survival and stamina, so a little bit of all of the above happens .. craziness … honestly can’t imagine life without a steamer … problems …
Caitlin Cohn
Good vibes for the day!
Caitlin Cohn
A refreshing morning run is a must for me, always nice to get some fresh air before being in the theatre. Playlist is rotating between some Sam Smith, “Cheerleader,” the Bridges of Madison County cast album (KELLI) and Pharell’s “Happy.” ☺
Caitlin Cohn
Spotted a rainbow on my run today! Love it when life gives you little presents. To quote the brilliance of Hamilton: “How lucky we are to be alive right now.”
Caitlin Cohn
My dear friend and cast member Tim McDevitt and I are swinging by Starbucks before heading to the theatre. Technically coffee is not the best for one’s voice, but I figured a couple sips of a tall skinny vanilla latte on a crisp fall day is not such a bad thing …
Caitlin Cohn
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park! Yay!
Caitlin Cohn
Our daily sign-in sheet.
Caitlin Cohn
Welcome to my dressing room! The pastel pink butterflies are all aflutter and ready for two shows today! I’ll show you a few of my favorite things …
Caitlin Cohn
Some stunning flowers from my wonderful family, a little terrarium with my succulent and my healing crystals. One is a rose quartz, which opens your heart chakra and gives love, and the other is called calcite which stands for Angel’s Wing and is great for grounding.
Caitlin Cohn
A few opening cards from our incredible cast and crew. So honored to work with such special people.
Caitlin Cohn
This is the beautiful quote that was given to me by our brilliant director, Marcia Milgrom Dodge. A constant reminder of why we are so blessed to do what we do. Thank you, Marcia, and Martha Graham.
Caitlin Cohn
My little box of keys that were given to me by Marcia on opening night. I make a wish on one before every show, and then afterward give them away at the stage door to other young girls to find their own secret garden.
Caitlin Cohn
My precious little pink bunny literally has the key to the garden and to my two-show day! Infinite Throat Coat, Emergen-C and Ricolas for the win.
Caitlin Cohn
We have some festive dressing rooms at Secret Garden. Anita Vasan and Carlyn Connolly are feeling fall with their super cute leaves.
Caitlin Cohn
Charlotte Maltby being silly and fabulous and Gayton Scott saying something hilarious, as per usual. Love them!
Caitlin Cohn
Dathan B. Williams and Cameron Bartell are also sporting a flare for fall with their pretty leaves! They also have a good candy selection and smiling faces.
Caitlin Cohn
Vishal Vaidya means business as Fakir, especially with his intense make-up that matches the slightly intimidating picture on his mirror. Timothy McDevitt is working the post work-out chic look. They also have a little eucalyptus tree growing …
Caitlin Cohn
Anthony Frederickson greets me with a peace sign and hugs! The sparkly star lights are a nice touch.
Caitlin Cohn
Kevin Earley is doing a little zoning out pre-show … but when 15 is called, he serenades the cast with his warm-up rendition of “At Last” and it’s kind of everything.
Caitlin Cohn
And he says, “Hey Playbill.com!”
Caitlin Cohn
Good afternoon to Adam Monley, on leave from Les Miz, and his wonderful dresser Karla Knochelmann!
Caitlin Cohn
Quick selfie with Brandi Burkhardt after our daily pre-show check-in. The most beautiful person, inside and out. Today we were chatting about her adorable new puppy, Mr. Smee, named after Peter Pan.
Caitlin Cohn
Brandi Burkhardt glowing as Lily! This dress, stunningly designed by Leon Wiebers, has its very own rose garden in the bustle. So dreamy.
Caitlin Cohn
It’s quite dark, but this is a little peak inside our amazing orchestra. Always nice to hear them warming up! It’s also fun ’cause they can spy on the people taking their seats but the people can’t really see them … hehe.
Caitlin Cohn
Places please! Time for show #1!
Caitlin Cohn
These are the unbelievable yet frightening Victorian puppets, created by Eric Wright at Puppet Kitchen Productions Inc., that are about to take the stage for the Prologue in Mary’s nightmare in India …
Caitlin Cohn
Brandi Burkhardt and I pray before every show. We say thank you for allowing us to be present, selfless, share our hearts and be surrounded by love and light. Then, no matter what happens, it’s always good … xo.
Caitlin Cohn
Mary’s quick change pre-sets are ready to go …
Caitlin Cohn
Archie: “Who dressed you child?”
Mary: “Martha tried to, sir …”
Mary: “Martha tried to, sir …”
Caitlin Cohn
Thank you so much to my Uncle Archie (Kevin Earley) for teaching me how to put on my coat correctly. Important life skills, check!
Caitlin Cohn
We call this “peanut (myself) + blue cholera lips” (with Jessica Van Kipp and Dan Beckmann)
Caitlin Cohn
Charlotte Maltby, one of our amazing stage managers Katy Ward, Anthony Frederickson, Anita Vasan and Cameron Bartell are excited we made it to intermission of our first show!
Caitlin Cohn
Intermission chilling …
Caitlin Cohn
This is the lovely Jane Austen puzzle that the cast of Pride and Prejudice left in the green room. They all signed it, and we put it back together again!
Caitlin Cohn
Another puzzle that our cast and crew has been working on. During the show, I never get a chance to help with the puzzles, but I always think they are very impressive. Our cast and crew do them so fast! Plus, our special Secret Garden coloring book that we each try to color in when we get a moment …
Caitlin Cohn
Cameron Bartell swings by for some gummy bears, sour patch watermelons and a little mid-show chat. ☺
Caitlin Cohn
It is my true pleasure to introduce you all to my sweet Cindy Saalfeld! She is the most fantastic dresser and one of the most genuinely kind and thoughtful people. From incessantly braiding my hair to icing my ankles, having my throat coat ready to go and feeding me candy during quick changes, I would be utterly lost without her … xo.
Caitlin Cohn
#SIP with the best at The Secret Garden!
Caitlin Cohn
#SillySIP … Now time for Act 2!
Caitlin Cohn
After Dickon (Cameron Bartell) and I sing “Wick,” I run backstage and Cindy Saalfeld braids my hair in approximately two minutes. We counted, and on two-show days Cindy braids my hair eight times! Eeeepp!
Caitlin Cohn
We finished our first show of the day! Yay! However, we have such a short turnaround before our second performance that, on Saturdays, we have a family dinner at the theatre. So nice!
Caitlin Cohn
One of my favorite parts of two-show days is when I put on my fluffy macaroon robe, and Anita Vasan and I curl up on the bed for our 20-minute power nap. Ahhhhh …
Caitlin Cohn
OK, time for show #2! Cindy Saalfeld’s busy braiding while I visit with our wonderful assistant director, Kristin Clippard.
Caitlin Cohn
I forgot to mention this earlier! This is Michael Yeshion and Dan Beckmann’s bird that chirps every show at half hour. The cast has a love/hate relationship with it … haha.
Caitlin Cohn
Wishing our stage managers Jenifer Morrow and Katy Ward a happy second show on the way to places for the top of Act 1.
Caitlin Cohn
So it’s currently intermission, and I am about to show you the intense process of my magic “cupcake” birthday party dress that literally transforms itself into Mary’s drearier gray dress within seconds on stage! It’s two dresses in one! Step #1: Pin curls and folding the gray underside of the dress just right …
Caitlin Cohn
Step #2: Cindy Saalfeld and Karla Knockelmann fluff and fix the party dress and use close-pins to fasten the gray dress underneath so it’s hiding in place.
Caitlin Cohn
Step #3: Cindy Saalfeld and Karla Knockelmann remove the close-pins, and make sure the magnets are all working correctly. Yes, some of the magic is helped out a bit by magnets … and we’re almost done!
Caitlin Cohn
Ta-da! Ready for my birthday.
Caitlin Cohn
Action shot! On two-show days, I get to celebrate my birthday twice ☺.
Caitlin Cohn
Brandi Burkhardt and I call this our Disney Princess moment because she is channeling Sleeping Beauty and I am definitely Giselle from "Enchanted."
Caitlin Cohn
Quickly run and say hi to Adam Monley before I change. We have some violent times on stage, but off stage it’s all love and hugs with this one.
Caitlin Cohn
Hurrying to the stage for my entrance but have to stop and do a quick check-in with Charlotte Maltby … so much love for this girl … watching her perform gives me chills every night.
Caitlin Cohn
Then some snuggles happen with Timothy McDevitt, Charlotte Maltby and me to celebrate the end of our week.
Caitlin Cohn
Brandi Burkhardt’s adorable puppy, Smee, gives Timothy McDevitt kisses and says good night …
Caitlin Cohn
I always end my evenings playing post-show Spa Night! It consists of rose water facemasks, lighting my floral Dyptique candles, drinking Throat Coat, steaming A LOT and listening to classical music (the soundtrack to "The Theory of Everything" is perfect for winding down). Also, I highly recommend Rodin Hand Cream and Sarah Happ’s birthday cake lip scrub.
Caitlin Cohn
Wow! What a day! Thank you all so very much for journeying with me throughout our two shows. Wishing you the sweetest dreams, xoxo …
Caitlin Cohn
Cohn has worked on more than 25 productions, as well as on television and films. Favorite credits include the Broadway national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and originating the role of Mary Marie in the new musical Mary Marie. Cohn is currently studying musical theatre at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts’ New Studio on Broadway.
* "When 10-year-old Mary Lennox loses her parents to a devastating cholera outbreak in India, she is sent 6,000 miles away to live with her inattentive uncle at his foreboding English manor. Like Mary, Archibald Craven knows suffering, having never recovered from the death of his wife, Mary’s Aunt Lily, a decade earlier." "Selfish and spoiled, left mostly on her own, Mary has a difficult time adjusting to the peculiarities of her new home, where it seems as though the spirits of those who’ve come before her are always just out of sight. That is until she is befriended by the plucky housemaid Martha and her brother Dickon, who introduces Mary to the wonders of nature all around her. When Mary discovers the locked-away secrets of an abandoned garden, she coaxes far more than its flowers back to life."
Marcia Milgrom Dodge directs a cast that features Cameron Bartell (Dickon), Dan Beckmann (Captain Albert Lennox/Ensemble), Brandi Burkhardt (Lily), Caitlin Cohn (Mary Lennox), Carlyn Connolly (Claire Holmes/Ensemble), Kevin Earley (Archibald Craven), Anthony Frederickson (Colin Craven), Charlotte Maltby (Martha), Timothy McDevitt (Lieutenant Peter Wright/Ensemble), Adam Monley (Dr. Neville Craven), Gayton Scott (Mrs. Medlock), Vishal Vaidya (Fakir/Ensemble), Jessica Van Kipp (Rose Lennox), Anita Vasan (Ayah/Ensemble), Dathan B. Williams (Ben Weatherstaff), Michael Yeshion (Major Holmes/Ensemble) and Talia Noelle Zoll (Alice/Ensemble).
Tickets to are on sale now. For more information, call the Playhouse Box Office at 513-421-3888 (toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800-582-3208) or visit www.cincyplay.com.
