Sunday, July 8, 2012

And that was that...or so it seemed.




JULY 8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Dear cast, or God, or whatever...
Today we wore every piece of Idiot paraphernalia we owned, wore it all in public where passersby stared at us, wondering why three girls who are nearly eighteen were walking around in matching outfits, but we didn't care... if you don't care. We blasted the soundtrack in the car, attempting to do the choreography while driving, and came home to make a video for Kelvin. But why did we behave so, err, idiotically? Today marked the closing of the FIRST NATIONAL TOUR OF AMERICAN IDIOT!!!! This show has meant a lot to us, and we wanted to thank you for being a part of it and bringing it back for a little while for everyone to enjoy. Here, we thank you in three parts- one from Blue, another from Miranda, and another from Emily. Blue's up first.

     I was pretty much born and bred a storyteller, so I guess I'll start my entry in a story-like format. Once upon a time, there was a teenage girl who loved to perform. But after being cast in very small roles for years and years (She threw her arms over her head and shouted "SHELLEY!" in Hairspray and played Juan Peron's mistress in Evita.), she didn't think she was good enough to keep going. And along came a little show called American Idiot. Now, of course, you've all figured out that the girl was me. I'd always wanted to see American Idiot, but I never thought I'd get the chance. When I did, I was absolutely ecstatic. From the minute the curtain opened, I was enchanted. The music, the emotion, the... everything. It got me back into performing, something I didn't realize I missed that much. Now, I'm back in full swing and am up for a part in a little local production of Chicago (fingers crossed!) this year. But more than get me back into performing, American Idiot led me to two of the greatest things I never knew I'd meet- my friends. Miranda and Emily understand me like no one else, and without the show, I'd never have met them and realized what else we had in common and made two really fantastic friendships that I know I can keep for a long time. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to attend the stage door after the show (I only went once, and with my dad, who had no concept of it), so I never met any of you. I really wish I could have!! But I did get the chance to say a few things to you through Twitter, and that's been pretty awesome. However, there are some of you I never got to say anything to! I'd like to take a little time to say something, if you don't mind.
Nicci, if I hadn't seen you as Extraordinary Girl, I don't think I would have been fully convinced to get back into performing. You were FABULOUS. In my dance program from this year, my mom referred to me as the Extraordinary Girl, and it was really an honor. :)
Gabe, thank you SO MUCH for tweeting my sister a hello. She thinks you're adorable.... and so do I! You are great at what you do, and I wish I'd gotten to see you as Johnny! 
Scott, um, wow. I gave you a follow Friday when I said you were my favorite, and I totally, totally meant it. When I saw you as Tunny, I was seriously stunned that someone could make an audience buy into a character that well. Thank you for being so awesome at what you do, and for telling me happy birthday, and for liking Tunnybear. :) I do really wish I'd gotten a chance to meet you... after all, you are quite handsome. Rage and Love.
That's really all I have to say. Thank you so much for a great show- the catalyst to making my life the awesome thing that's been recently. 
Rage and Love,
Blue @lovelybdream24
P.S. My birthday is February 24- I feel quite honored to have an Idiot date as a birthday!!




     As I am sitting here with Emily and Blue, I feel like I can be myself. Idiot did that to me. I found myself. I can be myself whenever I want and I don't care what anybody else thinks. We are sitting here bringing up every Idiot memory that we have laughing and crying. 
If I could ask for anything in the world, at any time, it would be to be there in San Fran seeing the one show that changed my life. Yes I have been asked multiple times how a simple broadway show can change my life. That's just because they just don't understand!
Idiot left me with some amazing memories that will always be here with me. Every time I walked into the theatre, no matter what theatre it was, It left me with this nervous/excited/anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. During the show there would be so many feelings that went through me that I couldn't even keep track to how I was feeling at that moment. Thank you so much for making me feel like that. I want to thank each and every one of you for bringing Idiot back into my life once again. I couldn't have chosen a better cast to keep the Idiot spirit alive. Idiot has made us do some crazy things! I mean we made Matt a bear, made Kelvin a whole book, and made signs for everyone in the cast! We are almost 18 years old and we are still not too old for arts and crafts and Build-A-Bear! ;) Thank you for putting up with all of our "fangirling", all of the embarrassing messages/tweets that were sent to you, and just thank you for being you. Even though I am embarrassed with myself at some of the things that Idiot has lead me to do, I still do not regret anything. No regrets. My heart will always be filled with Rage and Love. I am going to be one of those grandmothers who tells that one story over and over again. My story will be all of the 6 times that I have seen American Idiot and how each and every one of them was a night to remember. I have my poster that I made when you guys came here in Detroit, signed by the whole cast (except Omar and Oke! :( ), hanging up in my room. I look at it every day and it makes me smile. Although I am not much of a writer, I hope you enjoy reading this and maybe makes you smile too! :) Today, the curtains closed once again and what was left on the stage was glitter, rage and lots love. <3 
Miranda (@ChanManTatumLuv)


     I can't believe it is all over. It seems like just yesterday I was crying alone in my room because Idiot closed on Broadway...I know a handful of you were there to experience that. I felt empty for months but then this tour came along. I was wary because I thought nothing would ever compare, but every single one of you proved me wrong. You brought the rage and love that I so craved back into my life. I am so, so grateful. For every drop of sweat and blood you gave, I have given a tear or a laugh. All I wanted was to be in San Francisco to share this final show with you, but I have no reason to complain since I was able to experience this show 8 times...from New York, to Detroit, and finally in Chicago. You are some of my favorite people in the world and you have brought so much happiness in my life. Through this show, you taught me how to live. I can finally be myself and have found friends from all over who can accept me for that. That was something I never had before. Although all of you brought Idiot back into my life,  there's a few memories I'd like to point out.


Kelvin, of course I love yah! You were the first to ever talk to me and you haven't stopped since. Remember when you told me to audition for the show? That will never happen!(: You are honestly so hilarious and kind. I can never tell you how happy it made me when you brought me a pick to stage door because you knew we had crap seats in the balcony. I will miss your puffy yellow coat and seeing you dressed as Eeyore, but I'll always have the memories! I hope you cherish the book we made you because even though most of it was obnoxious, we really meant the serious stuff. You are an inspiration and a true talent. Keep doing what you do and you will go far...with your fan club never far behind!! 


Matt, so sorry for making you feel so left out with all the Kelvin love, we love you all the same. I mean we walk miles through the night to Navy Pier to make you a freaking Matt DeAngebear! Hopefully the one and only RepBEARsentative of Jingletown has found a good home! We saw you in Hair last summer and I wish we would have known your awesomeness back then! Thank you SO much for the tour blogs, they seriously made my life, I just wish they would have started earlier on in the tour! You rule and so does your mom! PS - This is me and Miranda eating our feelings away with ice cream watching the final vlog! 


Van, I never saw you in NYC but you quickly became my favorite Johnny. I'm sure you saw us freaking out from the front rows all the time, but we were honestly having the time of our lives. Do you remember when we ran into you at Walgreens in Chicago and when we argued about the bean sprouts from Jimmy Johns? You told us once that your favorite crowd was the audience in Detroit and that made me so happy, because that meant our support and energy was felt by you. Thank you so much for drawing the St. Jimmy heart for me, I did get it tattooed and now I have Idiot with me wherever I go, forever.


I have so many little favorite memories with all of you, though like poking Tommy in the back with a marker, yelling, "I LOVE GABE!!!" down the couch alley, telling Jen we definitely loved her more than a hairless cat, getting yelled at by Scott for saying his full name even when I didn't (SCOTT J CAMPBELL!!), when Vince thought he couldn't swear in front of us,  seeing Jarran as Favorite Son for the first time, and group hugs from Matt and Jake. 


I just noticed that I wrote the most of the three of us and I should probably stop babbling now. I just want to thank you for all the laughs, tears, and memories I have made and to wish you luck with everything you do in the future. You are all rockstars!


My beating heart belongs to you.
Emily (@andscreaming)

Saturday, April 28, 2012

A Little Favor May Make A Difference :)

Dear Idiots,

HEY! So I have a little slight favor to ask of you guys. Now you can do this or not, its up to you, but it may make you guys happy inside, and make two girls VERY happy. My friend Emily ( @andscreaming) and I are trying to plan a trip to San Francisco to see you guys again. Yes we have seen you guys twice in Detroit and twice in Chicago, but HEY! whos counting? Well as you may not know, it is difficult for two 17 year old girls to travel somewhere alone. You have problems with parents being afraid of something happening to you. It's also a problem when the parents have no desire to go. Could be for many reasons. So the adult you went to Chicago with may not be able to go. Last resort is gone. So you try and make plans with your friend Blue ( @lovelybdream24) and her trying to convince her grandma. Well my point is we REALLY want to see all of you at LEAST one more time. Its pretty simple actually.

By the way:
Remember those two crazy girls in Detroit that had the American Idiot posters they made? And had ALMOST the whole cast sign it? And poked Tommy in his back with a marker... ( @andscreaming).


Also Remember those two crazy girls who are part of Kelvin's personal fanclub who put together a WHOLE book of things that took 1234343 hours to make. But we had to do it because well Kelvin deserves it. To be honest if we had 13737487795454  more hours, we would have made ALL of you guys one!
There was also a letter in there to the whole cast. Talk to Kelvin if you didn't read it!


Remember those two crazy girls (plus @sunshels)  in Chicago who walked 2 miles from their hotel to Build-A-Bear to make Matt DeAngelis, Matt DeAngebear , because he was mad that Kelvin got a whole book. And we thought that he made an angry face on our playbill, but turns out it could have been Okie's signature... heh. ALSO if we were rich, we could have made everyone a bear! :)

Remember those two crazy girls in Chicago that made EVERY SINGLE ONE of you guys a hand-made mini poster? That said something like: "We <3 Dan because he has a voice of an angel", "We Rage and Love Tommy!" , "We <3 Jennifer way more than a hairless cat!" , the one that said "Even though your new we still <3 you" one (he was new to us :) ) , "We <3 Jillian because she's small but FIERCE" , "We <3 Kelvin because he talks to us!" , "We <3 Vince because he is OUR Favorite Son" , "We <3 Talia because she goes.... YEAAAAHAHHAAA YEAHHAHAAA,,," , "Never thought there would be a better representative from Jingletown #untilwemetmattdeangelis" , "Jimmy Never dies" , "We <3 Leslie becayse shes our first and favorite Heather" , "We <3 Larkin because he's a ROCKSTAR" (LONG STORY) , THE WORST ONE: psst sorry Omar "Oh Hey OMAR! ... Again." , "We <3 Craig, We <3 Melchior, We <3 Will, so of cource We <3 Jake!" , "We <3 Van even though he forgot to take a shower... AGAIN" , "Scott, we <3 you so much we even gave you the same size heart as Kelvin", "We <3 Gabe even when everyone else is picking on him" , "Nicci is an extraordinary girl", "We <3 Gabrielle because shes a Rebel, shes a saint, shes the salt of the eart and shes dangerous" , and last but not least "Okieriete be OUR rock and roll boyfriend?"


This was not to guilt you into it or anything, I just wanted to admit to you that we were those crazy girls... who did all of those things, because American Idiot (also the cast) is like a drug to us. WE NEED MORE. All together I have seen it 6 times. And it has changed my life. Emily has seen it 8 times, and Shelly (@sunshels) has seen it..... Too many to count.

Also Emily just got a tattoo! :) One that Van drew when we went to Chicago




THE FAVOR:
Our friends Amanda (@lolas_ramblings) and Cara (@cgtheatregeek), also a part of Kelvin's personal fanclub, are going to see you guys in Dallas. We were wondering that when they come to stagedoor, would each of you be able to say at least one thing, on camera, or SOMETHING to convince our parents to let us go to San Fran to see you guys. It could be something funny, something serious, um pretty much ANYTHING. We believe that if you guys do this, it actually might help convince our parents to let us go.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you do it, I guess I will write a whole other blog  to thank each and every one of you after. If you are going to be busy that night or anything, we will understand and are still very grateful.

Keep up the great work and HOPEFULLY we will be able to see you guys once again. <3

Rage & Love,

 Miranda Agrusso
( @ChanManTatumLuv)
                &
Emily Reitzel
( @andscreaming)

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Mystery Murder Story.

Written by me in 6th of 7th grade I believe. I find it really funny. ;D
I am not going to correct anything so there may be a lot of grammer and/or spelling errors.
I think it makes it better than fixing it.

Intro:

It happened on a gloomy day at 6:45am at Studio 1A Rockifeller Plaza. Matt, Ann and Al were waiting for Merridith because she was late. All of a sudden the power went out. 5 minutes later the lights came back on. Matt Lauer was laying face flat on the floor with a knife stuck in his back.

7:00am:
I walked into the studio. Everyone gathered around Matt. I went around them to look at the dead body laying on the floor. I examined the body.
"What happend here?" Said Jerry Dogon
"Well I was fixing up my set for the news, because there was a glare in my eye, and all of a sudden the lights went off," explained Ann.

7:15am:
I wrote down some notes. Asking everyne what they were doing when this happened, seemed like a good explanation. First I asked Al.
"What exactly were you doing before the lights were out?"
"I was going over the weather, and practicing it with the t.v Crew when the lights and cameras went off." Said Al
"Thank you," Said Jerry, skhaking Als hand. "That is all I need from you to figure out this mystery."

7:30am:
Next I went to merridith who was putting on makeup when I walked in her dressing room. "excuse me, what were you doing when Matt Lauer got murdered?"
"Oh, I came in the door late, because there was traffic out. All the lightes were out when I walked in." explained merridith.
"Well, let me ask you, were you good friends with Matt?" asked Jerry Dogon.
"Well, I was'nt really friends with matt. We act like we are friends on the news but we are not friends." exclaimed merridith.
"So, you are saying you don't like Matt?"
"Yes. I am saying that, Mr. Dogon." Said Merridith.
"Thank you for your time Mrs. Merridith."
Merridith left for her dressing room. I looked around in merridiths dressing room for clues. I opend up a drawer and inside I saw a knife box. I opened up the box and the knife was missing. I wrote down some notes. Now I had 2 suspects. Ann and merridith.

8:45am:
Everyone went out of the set, and let Jerry Dogon in to investigate. I found finger prints on the knife. I also found black scuff marks on the floor about 2 feet away. I took some more notes.

9:30am:
First, I looked at everyones shoes. Ann was the only one with black shoes on. I matched up the finger prints from the knife. The fingerprints were Ann's. I figured out who the culprit was. The culprit was Ann. Ann took the knife from merridiths dressing room while merridith was running late. The most important clue was that it was raining out. There was no glare in Anns eye. She said there was. Ann got thrown into prison for murdering Matt Lauer. Al became co anchor and merridith became head anchor. That was what happened in studio 1A Rockifeller Plaza at 6:45am to Matt Lauer.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Forever In My Heart

Ever heard of American Idiot? Yeah I know you all have, at least the Green Day album. Well I am going to tell you a little story about Green Day's American Idiot; the Broadway show that blew my mind.

What do I think of when people talk about American Idiot? I think of New York City, Broadway, an incredible cast, Green Day, all my new friends I have made, the way I felt when I saw American Idiot, etc. This list can go on forever. But the thing is that no one else wants to talk about it with me except for Emily and the friends I have made through American Idiot. Obviously I have no problem with that, but sometimes all I want to do is share it with everyone. I talk about it at school with my friends and all they say is "American Idiot; blah blah blah; It sucks; why would I wanna see that?" You know what? I get sick of it all the time.

Here is what I'm thinking. If you have never seen something, don't judge it. Those friends don't know the things that I have felt while seeing American Idiot and they never will. All it is is their loss.

I got the chance to see American Idiot twice in one trip; One time balcony seats and the other front row. Let me tell you that they were two different experiences that I LOVED. I am going to tell you about the front row seat experience because honestly it is more entertaining and it is when I truly knew that American Idiot would be in my heart forever.


It was a wednesday and our 3rd day being in the big apple. I had seen American Idiot for my first time on that Monday and I loved it. After that show Monday I was told that our good friend Shelly gave us her front row tickets that she got on Idiot Nation, and we were going on wednesday night to see it. They were couch seats. Emily's favorite guy in American Idiot was Michael Esper and we got the chance to sit right in front of him for 90 whole minutes! I was ecstatic. But I really didn't know until after how much this was going to affect my life. So wednesday evening my friend Emily and I were super excited. We went back to the hotel, changed, did our hair and makeup and also gulped down a Monster. We thought that would help us get pumped up for the show. Little did we know that it kind of made out nerves worse. Emily's parents walked us down to the theatre and got us situated and then we were off on our own. Correction: Emily ran ahead of us from our hotel to the Saint James Theatre. (That could have been the Monster, or maybe not :) )We went to go get our cushions because we thought that we wouldnt be able to see over the stage. We got to our seats and sat down. Man, let me tell you... MY HEART WAS LIKE A BOMB! (hehe) I was nervous, excited and my heart was racing faster than my own thoughts. Mine and Emily's stomachs were upset because of all these mixed feelings inside of us and we actually took Tums. (no joke) So i looked at my phone one last time and it was 10 minutes before the show was about to start. I turned off my phone and put it in my purse. (LIKE A GOOD GIRL) Emily and I were waiting for the famous " 1..2..3..It's Fuck Time." Little did we know time flew and we heard it! I sat back in my chair, hands shaking, skin feeling clamy waiting for the show to start. The sounds of the multiple television sets blared and my heart bursted. I barely noticed that by the time the curtain rised mine and Emily's arms were linked together. We were right there, so close we could actually touch them if we wanted to. I remember when Michael finally turned around and Emily and I squeezed our arms tighter as we silently fangirled. I actually remember Michael glancing at us a few times. Or maybe he wasn't. Who knows. It made us feel good; thats all that matters. We got super excited when Andrew came slamming on the stage right in front of us. You should have seen our faces when John almost kicked the beer bottle at our face during Boulevard. Emily was tempted to grab it off of the stage but she was afraid she was gonna get yelled at. Jelousy became of us while being so close to Michael and Jeanna makeing out on the couch during Holiday. Honestly it was hard NOT to glance over there while trying to watch what was going on in the middle of the stage. (guilty as charged) We could hear the whispers of Michael and Gerard while on the couch. Michael whispered something about his pants being ripped to Gerard. We enjoyed all of the spit, sweat and flying garbage that was thrown our way once in awhile. I remember us linking arms AGAIN as Michael sang his solo Novacaine. I was nearly in tears. But I held back my tears because I was afraid to cry. Emily and I felt terrible when we noticed Michael choking on his water in the beer bottle while trying to finish singing. I remember us noticing little things on the stage that amused us. There was a picture of Jesus shaving his beard on the wall. Once Emily pointed that out to me, we couldnt stop laughing. We weren't laughing loud, but enough to have the people behind us thinking that we were freaks. Emily cracked up when I tried to catch a piece of confetti that fell during Whatsername. :) By the time the cast started to sing Good Riddance, I was happy. I was content with what was going on right then and there. The cast was right there in front of me. When they stepped even closer after Good Riddance, I was afraid to scream too loud because I am a fairly shy person. I wanted a pick though, so I screamed a little. After they walked off the stage Emily and I grabbed our trash and Love Happened Here flyer off of the stage and ran to take our cushions back. I almost twisted my ankle as we were running down the stairs. I didn't care though. All I cared about was getting to be the first ones to stage door. We ended up getting pretty close. We had stage doored Monday so it was a little bit calmer.I still had all this adreneline pumping through me though. What we really wanted to get was a better picture with Michael Esper because the first picture turned out blurry.
We stood there FOREVER waiting for Michael to come out.


Wait lets take a detour. So Monday while Michael was signing playbills, he accidently skipped signing mine. We called him back and he said that he would come back. Sadly he forgot. I forgave him though because I knew that we were coming back Wednesday. Anyways...

Michael finally came out. His hair all wet. We felt bad for him because it was really cold out. He came back to Emily and she asked him for a picture again. Well I didn't know that I was supposed to get IN the picture, so I was just off to the side. Then I got yelled at by Emily because I wasn't in the picture! Well in all that commotion, Michael skipped my playbill AGAIN! This time I was afraid to call him back (again) so Emily yelled his name. He appologized and signed my playbill. Michael signed on the words -_-. But I was still glad and I appreciate him coming back. Later that night Emily was explaining that his breath smelled like M&M's..... Alright now I wished that I would have been in that picture.


We also had a fun time chasing down Tony Vincent down the street. We got to see him for one of his last shows. He was in a huge hurry, but he stopped and took a picture with us anyways.


After that trip, I logged onto twitter and followed every single Cast Member. I met tons of people that loved American Idiot and Green Day just like me. They had other things in common with me too! I still to this day talk to them and they are my Idiot Family. These people will always be apart of my life. I know that I will not meet everyone, but only they understand and have the same feelings as me when it comes to this kind of love. We have this special bond together and it makes us all happy. We understand eachother and laugh when all we do is fangirl over someone from the cast or ANYONE for that matter. I am so thankful for them and I love them very much.

American Idiot means so much to me. It made me believe that I can truly be myself and do anything I put my mind to. American Idiot is about growing up. It is about finding yourself and dealing with everything in life. No matter how much you have going on in your life, there will always be people waiting for you at home that love you and care for you very much. American Idiot will always be in my heart forever. I will remember everything about it. Every detail. I will be able to tell my own children about it and hope that they have something like American Idiot to help find themselves. American Idiot made me open up! I am still shy, but I talk more and more every day. I open up more with myself about my feelings and accept them. American Idiot is an amazing production that if you get the chance to see it, you should. It changed my life forever.

American Idiot will always have a special place in my heart <3





If the touring cast of American Idiot is coming somewhere near you, or even if you can travel, I HIGHLY reccomend you see it. See it, feel it, taste it, be it. You only have one chance, so why not take that chance?