Meet Erin

Hey everyone!

Today you'll meet the oldest member of the ensemble, Erin. This is Erin's first year in the ensemble, and we will miss her so much next year!

Meet Erin!

Where did your name come from? My parents got the name from a character on The Waltons.

How old are you and when is your birthday? I am 18 years old, and I was born January 22, 1991.

What career to you plan to have? I'd like to be a pediatric cardiologist.

Favorite:
Color? Purple, or aqua. Anything vibrant.
Movie? The Labyrinth
Food? Pasta & Sushi (not together, though!)
Place? The Beach
Actor? Johnny Depp
TV Shows? House & Lost
Book? Velocity by Dean Koontz
Sound? Peppermint patties breaking
Smell? Clean clothes
Musical? Guys and Dolls
Ice Cream? Cookies and Cream
Cereal? Cocoa Krispies

What is the first thing you notice about someone? I notice their body language and facial expressions. Good body language makes them seem approachable.

Do you have a secret talent? If I do, it's a secret to me :)

Where were you born? Homewood, Alabama

Tell us something interesting about yourself. I'm really good at Guitar Hero.

Tell us about a happy memory. One of my favorite happy memories is my third grade birthday party. We rented a hotel room for my friends and me, and we stayed up all night doing 3rd grade things.

What is your favorite Rising Star memory? My favorite Rising Star memory is attempting to win at Nerts (a card game) with Emily, my partner, on the ensemble retreat. We played for at least 2 hours and never did win! But we had fun practicing playing cards. Sometimes we even pretended like we were playing without hands...

What is something you want to learn to do? I want to learn to play the piano.

What is something you are looking forward to? Graduating high school and going away to college. I'm so close!

So, now you've met Erin! Check back regularly for more updates!

We got a phone call yesterday...

So, I got a phone call yesterday that the current ensemble members will be interested in...

Our representative from Disney's Magic Music Days called to see when we are planning to come back to WDW to perform. I was able to tell her that we plan to return either in December/January or March of next year!

Disney World 2009/2010! Woohoo!

Let's do one more today...Meet Julia!

Since it's our first real posting day, we'll do one more interview today. This time, lets...

Meet Julia!
Where did your name come from? My parents liked the song Julia by the Beatles.

How old are you and when is your birthday? I am 10 years old and my birthday is November 25.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a restaurant owner and an architect.

Favorite...
Color? Purple
Food? Korean Food
Place? Disney World
Actor/Actress? Morgan Freeman
T.V. Show? Avatar, Scooby Doo
Book? The series of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and A Day In the Life of a Musician
Sound? Someone and me laughing at an inside joke and everyone staring at us!
Smell? Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
Musical? Finding Nemo
Ice Cream? White Chocolate Mousse
Cereal? Coco Puffs

When you meet someone, what is the first thing you notice? Their laugh.

Where were you born? Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham

Tell us something interesting about yourself. I have play-doh-offs with David in rehearsal. And I'm very colorful.

What is a happy memory you have? Being at Applebees when David was trying to explain Tom Sawyer Island (He is pretty convinced that the Rising Stars went to Tom Sawyer Island at Disney World. No one else remembers this.)

What is your favorite Rising Star memory? Disney World!

What is something you want to learn how to do? I want to learn how to make elephant noises like Megyn. (Note: please remember that this is only the 2nd interview and you've heard about this noise twice. It's a big deal.)

What is something you are looking forward to? Going to Gatlinburg with the Rising Stars!

What is one question you wish I had asked? Umm...my favorite animal. It's a pig!

So, now you know Julia a little better. Keep checking back...9 more Rising Stars to go!

Meet Jessica!

OK, as promised, here is our first interview with an ensemble member. I can't get my pictures to load right now, but I promise that there will be pictures of each member soon!

Meet Jessica!



Where did your name come from? I don't know where my first name is from, but my middle name (Lee) is from my great grandmother. My grandma and mom also have it.

How old are you and when is your bithday? I'm 15 and my birthday is April 17th.

What career to you hope to have one day? I don't know yet. Maybe theatre. I also want to work at Julia's restaurant one day :) (Stay tuned for "Meet Julia" to learn more about that!)

Favorite...
Color? Red
Movie? Into the Wild or Elizabethtown
Food? Mexican
Place? Rising Stars!
Musical Artist? Ingrid Michaelson
Actor/Actress? Ellie Wolter
TV Show? The Office
Book? Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Sound? Megyn Mielke's baby elephant sound (stay tuned for that one too!)
Musical? Little Shop of Horrors
Ice Cream? Cake Batter
Cereal? Cookie Crisp

OK, enough favorites. What is the first thing you notice when you meet someone? Usually their clothes.

Do you have a secret or little known talent? Hmm... I play a few musical instruments... guitar, piano and mandolin.

Where were you born? Tuscaloosa

Tell us something interesting about you. I own 15 or so pairs of Converse.

What is a happy memory you have? Going to Ireland.

What is a favorite Rising Star memory? Probably hanging out in the "broken glass room" doing Seussical and making funny noises. :)

What is something you want to learn to do? Tap dance.

What is something you are looking forward to? The shows I'm doing in the Spring and Summer.

So, you've met your first Rising Star! Keep reading to learn even more!

Bonnie

Welcome to our new blog!

Hi everyone!

As you've read in our description, the Rising Star Youth Programs is changing! We are currently in the process of filing documents to become our own self-governing non-profit organization. We are very excited about this change, and hope that it will allow the continued growth of our programs.

We decided to make this change several months ago. In becoming our own non-profit organization, we hope to increase our funding as well as making better use of the helpful supporters that we have. We are very grateful to CenterStage for starting the program and allowing us to grow under them for so many years. However, our growth has exceeded our expectations in such a short amount of time. Our hope is that this will be a smooth transition and that we will be able to do great things in the coming years. We would like to thank all of you for the support you have shown so far, and we ask that you continue during this process.

What will you find on this blog? Well, this blog is not only for the (somewhat boring) updates on our non-profit status. You will also be able to find workshop information and updates, journals and photos of the ensemble weekly rehearsals, trip reports from our touring, interviews with current students and anything else related to our youth programs!

Want to be sure that you will recieve updates? Follow our blog! Join blogger.com (it's easy, and if you have a google account, you can use that). On you blog homepage, click 'add' and type in 'www.myca-bham.blogspot.com'. Also be sure to leave us your blog address so we can follow yours!

Thanks for visiting!

Bonnie