Cast member Natalie Ellis gives us a one-of-a-kind perspective into a day at the Winter Garden Theatre.
Spend a Two-Show Day at Broadway's School of Rock with Natalie Charle Ellis
Natalie Charle Ellis
GOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOOOOOORNING! This is how my cat, Oliver, decides to wake me up, every morning. Sometimes it’s very hard to love him, but he’s so pretty. I’M UP!!!
Now I get to lounge in the plush fancy robe I got from one of our fierce girl swings, Ava Della Pietra. Sooooooo comfy!
My amazing girlfriend Mallory got me a Birchbox subscription for Valentine’s Day and I just got my March box in the mail. I love a beauty sample, so let’s give this one a try. Takes away the bags under your eyes?! Sign me up!
Here is one of my favorite items in my kitchen. My friend from Les Miz, John Rapson, recommended it to me and now I'm addicted. It is a breakfast sandwich maker. Yeah, that’s right. Best thing…EVER! GET ONE
Morning coffee time. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to keep a schedule, make lists, and journal. I discovered this thing called the Passion Planner and it is everything and more. I do it every morning. And yes, I'm drinking my coffee out of a Spiderman Mug. =)
And I’m off! First stop…Fly Wheel. I’ve joined Class Pass and now I try random studios and have a support group that goes with me sometimes. It’s awesome. Summer’s almost here!
I survived! And now because it’s beautiful out I decided to go for a walk through one of my favorite spots in the city, Lincoln Center
Hey! Have you guys seen where School of Rock is? I wish they had a big sign letting me know where it is!!! =) Pretty cool this is where I get to go to work everyday. I still have to pinch myself sometimes.
Step into my office. This is my dressing room station. No, this is not the children's dressing room. I like photos and stuffed animals, and I’m proud of it!
Ok, I have to show you a couple of things in our dressing room. I share with Cassie Okenka and Jaygee Macapugay, and we are very silly. This is our window garden. It consists of succulent plants, a solar bobble head cupid, devil, and lucky kitty (with rock fingers!) and a garden troll that I got from my Secret Santa.
And here’s another thing you have to see that we just giggle at and love. Our No Vacancy Boys (Jeremy Woodard, Merritt David Janes, Alan H. Green, Tally Sessions and Alex Brightman) gave us that photo for opening night and Jaygee received these figurines from her Secret Santa so we decided to model them as the boys. There is a lot of detail work. I mean, she used her false eyelashes for Brightman’s hair and beard. True Art.
Vocal warm-up time. Every Wednesday before our first show we do a group warm-up, which is a chance for us to be together and to get some notes. Gotta work on our craft!
We work hard, but we still like to have a good time. Not quite sure what John Hemphill is doing, but he doesn't have to do much to make me laugh.
And then there’s this fool, Steven Booth. We go back YEARS. So glad he’s part of this company now. =)
Birthday Club time! It’s our rockstar Brandon Niederauer’s birthday! Being in a big company means there are a lot of birthdays! Which means a lot of singing, and a lot of…
CAKE! SO MUCH CAKE!!! This one is especially good - red Velvet with cream cheese frosting. It’s very hard to be healthy around here. Everyone likes to bake, or bring cookies, and the adult ensemble has something called “meat club,” organized by Alan H. Green, where we go to a different restaurant every month. We all love to hang out and we like food.
I’m running a little behind. (I had to eat my cake. Priorities.) My wig call is at places and I was still in my normal clothes and I was told that Barb (that’s my teacher’s name) looked like she was from Montana. So, I thought i would share this with you!
These ladies of Horace Green loooooove their pretzels. One of our crew members, Frank, keeps some pretzels stocked for the company so Cassie Okenka, Jaygee Macapugay, Emily Cramer, Sierra Boggess and I take a seat in our “faculty lounge” and DIG IN!
We, (the female ensemble) like to call ourselves the “Aunties.”.It is kinda unusual having kids aged 10-15 as your co-workers, but we love them so much and share a very special bond. We give this one a very hard time. And you can tell how Ethan Khusidman feels about that.
I love this woman. I did my first national tour, 9-5 the Musical, with Mamie Parris and now were in a big hit Broadway show together.
WE MADE IT! ONE SHOW DOWN! Did I mention we have a good time? NAP TIME! Cassie, Emily, and I love a good floor nap.
After a quick nap, what do you need? Another coffee. A quick trip to Starbucks should do the trick.
My mom loves to send care packages. (That’s what a lot of those stuffed animals and pictures at my station are from!) So I decided to send my mom a care package for Easter. Who doesn't like Easter candy?
Because of spring break we are in a stretch of 16 shows in a row right now. Yup. So to keep everyone sane, our amazing stage managers decided to have some fun and planned a game or contest for every day. Today was the game Password. I decided to watch and not play, and I’m so glad I did. Here’s our stage manager Bonnie trying to explain the rules to Jaygee and Cassie. Oh how I wish i could post a video! Hahaha.
Spencer Moses and Mamie Parris teamed up!
My MD Darren thinks I’m the coolest. I mean look at my lounge attire. I am totally the coolest.
Alex Brightman decided to stop by. He sure does have a way with the ladies. (We love him, but it sure is fun to give him a hard time.)
Natalie Charle Ellis
Jaygee had seaweed snacks and our Dance Captain/Swing Patrick O’Neill and Cassie decided to give it a try…still can’t tell if they like it or not.
Ms.Barb B. Gordon and Mrs. Sheinkopf are festive party animals. Emily Cramer is my partner in crime. After we did the Les Miserables Broadway revival together, I decided I wanted to do everything with her…and look what happened! We moved to School of Rock together! She's stuck with me.
Its Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids time to collect! And we’re doing a fun thing where for $10 you can buy a postcard designed by a SOR cast member. Jaygee came up with this one. So fun!
Spencer Moses is right across the hall from our dressing room and he decided to bring some instruments in and the kids occasionally have a jam session in there. It’s so much fun. These kids are amazing. There is Gavin Kim, Ethan and Jersey Sullivan with Spencer.
Show #2! Cassie, Luca Padovan, Corinne Wilson, Jersey and Ethan chillin’ backstage.
Here are the Roadhouse chicks! Couldn't get a great photo cause it’s a fast change, but I love these looks. It is so fun being in a show where I go from being an old crazy teacher to a tattooed bartender and then a sassy mom in a fabulous poncho. Love my job.
Now here is Michael Hartney. It is very difficult keeping a straight face around this one. He makes me laugh so hard it hurts. And that happens quite often.
WE MADE IT! Show #2 down. Now we get to sit and chill and unwind with a beverage and some giggles. Didn't realize till the end of the day that we were denim sisters, so had to take a photo! Here’s Mamie, me, and our fabulous swing Lulu Lloyd!
And SURPRISE! We had a couple friends surprise us. Lesli Margherita and Travis Waldschmidt announced themselves as “the cast of Matilda”. I have some funny friends. Hung out in Brightman’s dressing room to catch up!
Now home. Tomorrow we have rehearsal as well as a show, so I gotta relax and take it easy. Read a little and have a snack, maybe watch some West Wing. The options are endless!
Thanks for coming along with me on this two show day! =) Hope to see you all soon!
The musical is based on the popular 2003 Paramount Pictures film about down-and-out rock guitarist Dewey Finn, who takes a job as a substitute teacher. But instead of sticking to the syllabus, he teaches them about the glory of rock, organizes them into a rock group and enters them in a Battle of the Bands — much to the displeasure of the school principal.
Tickets can be ordered online at Schoolofrockthemusical.com/tickets or by phone at (800) 447-7400. The Winter Garden is located at 1634 Broadway between 50th and 51st Streets.
