More Les Mis

More videos of Les Mis

You can see me in this one. I am directly behind the conductor (Kevin Stites') right shoulder

Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl

Jason and I were privileged to perform in the Mitch Hanlon Singers in a spectacular performance of Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl August 8, 9, and 10. The show was quite spectacular. I must admit I did not really care for the show before. It always seemed to be overestimated as the best musical ever written. I always thought the solos/arias were quite simplistic and often sung dreadfully. But as I studied, learned, listened and performed the music over the last 2 weeks, I really learned to appreciate, even love it. I still believe the arias to be simply constructed, but the emotion and passion in the music really is what makes it beautiful. I also really got to hear all the recitatives and other incidental music in the show which one does not often hear. I thought that music is the most amazing. My favorite sequence of the show is called "Confrontation" between Jean ValJean and Javert, a fantastic recitative duet. Here is a clip from our production.

Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert and J. Mark McVey as Jean ValJean. Simply amazing!




I have been performing with the Mitch Hanlon Singers at the Hollywood Bowl since 1999, performing in such shows as South Pacific, Carousel, The Music Man, Mame, Camelot, The Sound of Music, South Pacific (again), and now Les Mis. I also had a solo in a special concert featuring the music of Woody Allen movies. I've worked with such performers as Marilyn Horne, Jeremy Irons, James Barbour, Susan Egan, Tom Bosley, Michele Lee, Christine Ebersole, Fred Willard, Eric McCormick, Kristen Chenoweth, John Scheider, Jeffrey Tambour, Michael McKean, Brian Stokes Mitchell (Stokes), and Reba McEntire, I really feel lucky to have been part of so many amazing experiences.
This production had the best singing of all of them.


This is me sitting on the stage of the Disney Concert Hall during the orchestra rehearsal on Tuesday, August 5.


Jason and I at the Bowl on opening night


The view of the audience from the roof of the Hollywood Bowl


Jason and Michael McCormick (Thenardier)



Rachel and Jason with Tom Lowe (Enjolras) hubba, hubba...


Kevin Stites was our musical director and he was really wonderful. He was very nice and treated us with a great deal of respect. And he definitely knew his stuff. I loved watching him teach music as well as conduct the orchestra.
Here is the Mitch Hanlon Singers (with Mitch in the blue in the front row with Kevin Stites sitting to his left.

Why Being Mom is Worth It

Today I had the most rewarding moment as a mom. Madeleine had a pretty good day - she played a lot, she got herself in the crawling position, and she took 2 naps (that right there is a good moment). However, she also didn't want to eat dinner (for the second night in a row), she made herself gag when she didn't like her turkey baby food, and she peed on the floor when I was getting her ready for her bath.

I got her ready for bed and she was fussy as usual, not really wanting to go to bed. She started crying in her crib, so I picked her up and rocked her in the chair in her room. She finally began to calm down. Just as she was drifting off to dreamland, she lifted her head from my shoulder, looked at me directly in the eye, moved in to my face, and deliberately gave me a wet kiss. She then put her head back on my shoulder and went right to sleep.

That is what makes poopy diapers, peeing on the floor, and temper tantrums in the grocery store all worthwhile.

Les Mis Video Clip

Here is a sneak peek video of this weekend's Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl. If you look closely behind the conductor's right shoulder, you can see Jason and I singing in the chorus. The show is going to be AWESOME!!

http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=30854

Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl

Jason and I will be performing a concert version of Les Miserables this weekend, August 8, 9, 10 at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Mitch Hanlon Singers. The production is shaping up to be phenomenal!!! The principal cast is outstanding, including J. Mark McVey as Jean Valjean, Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert, Melora Hardin (Jan from The Office) as Fantine, Lea Michele as Eponine, just to name a few. They are all amazing singers and performers and I feel honored to work with them.

How We Began

This is how the Green family began. Jason and I met playing as husband and wife in the Sondheim musical Company in the fall of 2004. We played the married couple Harry and Sarah who love each other dearly, but argue constantly and often throw punches. We enjoyed it so much we thought we wanted to be husband and wife for real!




Jason and I did lots of theater shows together before we got married, including Guys and Dolls (as Nathan and Miss Adelaide), Camelot (with Jeremy Irons), and Sweeney Todd.




Then in March 2006 we got married in the Newport Beach Temple, a glorious day!

We moved to Irvine, CA and then did some more theater together, including How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 1776, and The Sound of Music. I performed in A Little Night Music and Jason did South Pacific.

Then on December 11, 2007 we had our best production. Madeleine Elizabeth Green was born at 8:04pm, weighing 6 lbs 15 oz, and was 19.5 inches. She is the best thing that has ever happened to us. This blog will be mostly about her, our little superstar.

Starting this blog

After seeing how many of our friends are blogging as a way to document moments in their lives, I finally gave in and started a blog for our family. We often get caught up in the day to day grind of work, laundry, diapers, and church responsibilities and forget to take some time for ourselves. So here I am. I will make a concerted effort to keep up this blog up-to-date as best I can.