Last Sunday I had the privilege of hosting the star of Food Network Canada’s “License to Grill”: Chef Rob Rainford. He was so easy to talk to, and spent a good deal of time in the office between shows relaxing and chatting. His 2pm show featured a BBQ’d salmon marinated in Gin and WOW was it ever tasty! The 5pm show got right down to the meat: Lamb shank in home-made BBQ sauce. It smelled divine! Chef Rob had a great turn-out, and invited the audience to “friend” him on Facebook: of course I took him up on the offer!

Today I will have a chance to meet and host Chef Anna Olson who is best known for her Food Network Show “Fresh with Anna Olson”. I wonder what she will be baking up for us!

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Yesterday I attended an all-day training session for a Blackberry promotion at TIFF starting next Thursday Sep. 9th through Saturday Sep. 18th. I will be one of the brand ambassadors at the various TIFF venues in a little-black-dress, branded with the Blackberry logo, talking about Blackberry Messenger, the new Blackberry Torch and the new 2010 TIFF app. Watch for me at the Roy Thompson Hall Blackberry tent Friday nights, the line-up at the AGO Saturday late- afternoons, at the brand-new Bell Lightbox, and in the filmmakers lounge on Peter street. Happy TIFF everyone!

The past two days of hosting at The Ex have been a whirlwind! Chef Lynn Crawford of Food Network Canada and Toronto Resto Ruby Watchco stopped by the @ Home Celeb Stage on Friday to make pulled pork sandwiches at her 2pm show, and Gnocchi at her 5pm show. She had a really big crowd to entertain, and boy did she deliver! That woman has so much energy! She started a mass rushing of the stage after her first show of people who wanted a sample of her pulled pork and just wanted to meet and greet with her! Crowd control was a little tighter at the 5pm show: we learned our lesson! Her restaurant Ruby Watchco is on Queen E in Toronto, and I would LOVE to be able to go for dinner sometime! Its apparently very difficult to get a table!

Saturday was Chef Michael Smith day. When I went to check on the stage just before the 2pm show, I was greeted with an audience larger then I had every thought possible fitting into that space. There were 15 or so people actually sitting ON THE STAGE and the aisle in front of the stage was also completely full. CNE management was able to secure paid-duty Toronto Police to manage the crowd and boy did we need the help! Chef Michael talked about his travels to Peru and integrated the stories into an “Art and Science of the Chocolate Chip Cookie” demo complete with audience taste-testing panelists! After his show, he sat on the edge of the stage for a book signing/ meet and greet session which lasted until 5 minutes before his next show at 5pm. He didn’t even get a chance to leave the stage from 2pm until the end of his next show at 6pm. What a trooper! He even surprised me with an autographed copy of his book “The Best of Chef At Home” of my own! What a sweet, sweet man! I can not say enough good things about Michael Smith.

Today’s guest is Food Network Canada’s Rob Rainford, AKA: Mr. “License to Grill” and I KNOW this will be a fun show for everyone!

Off to The Ex! Hope to see you there!

This past week I have been lucky enough to host and MC a number of really fun guests as part of the At Home Celebrity Stage at The Ex.

It started out with HGTV’s Peter Fallico who was accompanied by his designing colleague Liz Wharnsby. They were very fun and SUPER friendly! They put on a really beautiful power point show featuring some of their “Home to Keep” and “Home to Flip” material. “Home to Keep” premiers in the Fall on HGTV. Insider note: Both Colin & Justin and Tommy Smythe referred to Peter as “Fallics” as a nickname. Cute!

Next up was Colin & Justin whom, if you are at all familiar with, need no introduction! They were a hoot! Their stage costumes featuring full kilt/tartan in brilliant yellow (Colin) and bright pink (Justin) were quite a hit, and they easily had the largest audience of the stage thus far! I’m now very honoured to be their friend on facebook!

Sunday’s show featured HGTV’s Tommy Smythe, whom most people know as the other half of “Sarah’s House”. Tommy’s presentation was quite engrossing. He had me daydreaming about living in all the fabulous homes he has designed: quite tastefully striking!

Yesterday I hosted The Drake Hotel’s Executive Chef Anthony Rose and Jamie Drummond from the site “The Good Food Revolution”. Anthony prepared a gorgeous summer succotash with heritage chicken and “green goddess” dressing which was a deliciously creamy avocado/mayo/herb mixture. I was SUPER lucky to be able to have some chicken and dressing for my lunch (SOOOOOO GOOD!) and at the end of the second show, I was blessed with even more leftovers of chicken and succotash which are now in my fridge for snacking purposes! If you’re looking for a night out with GREAT food, may I humbly recommend The Drake if Chef Anthony Rose has anything to do with the menu!

Today I’m hosting Chef Lynn Crawford who has quite a large following on Food Network Canada and has a restaurant in Toronto: Ruby Watchco, which I would love to eat at someday soon!

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In between weekends at The Ex, I managed to work a corporate live-entertainment gig for Director Dave Hopkinson of Giantkiller Creative. It was guerilla theatre/comedy improv based. I was first dressed as a server for a catered lunch meeting at a company near the airport. There was a section of the meeting on healthy choices, and Dave apologized that his special guest, a Yoga expert, was unable to join them, but “does anyone know Yoga?” at which point, I come to the front, asking if I can lead the group, strip off my uniform to reveal a full goofy yoga costume and lead four company employee volunteers through a series of ridiculous poses. Everyone had a good laugh, and I think the event was a success! I had a great bit of fun!

Well, I’m off to The Ex now for Day 8! If anyone’s coming down to The Ex, make sure you visit me in Hall A of The Direct Energy Centre for the 2pm or 5pm show, Friday through Sundays until Sep. 5th. Hope to see you there!

So I haven’t updated in a while, but for good reason I suppose: I’ve been really quite busy!

I’m getting comments frequently from people who have watched the “Slasher Mondays” promo spot on Space TV. Its always nice to have someone recognize me in something I’ve done, it gives me a little thrill, and when they say it was funny it gives me a great deal of confidence. So thank you!

THE REAL M*A*S*H will play on History Channel sometime in September I have been told, and I hope to have someone PVR that for me. (I don’t have cable) If you happen to catch it, watch for me playing an SOC (silent on camera) nurse in the bar scene, walking around the camp, and with another woman as sunbathers. We are wearing 1950’s style lingerie, but not to worry, it covers more then any bikini you’ve ever seen me swim in, so there’s no weird family-seeing-me-naked issues.

I’m still working on the Kitchener Collegiate community project ONE SMALL ACT with Working Reel Productions. We have filmed the short film and are now working on the live event portion to be performed Sep. 29th at KCI. If you are a KW local, you are most welcome to join us for this free event, (dinner too!) at KCI, Wednesday Sep. 29th, 3-8pm!

I played in an industrial Vet video with Working reel. I played a veterinary technician illustrating how to brush a dog’s teeth. Wow, it must be hard to own a dog sometimes, I wouldn’t want to try that on even the best behaved dog!

I worked a day on set of INVENTIONS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD. Very fun, and a great crew to work for!

Pirate Festival ran last weekend and I played Mabel from the Pirates of Penzance story by Gilbert and Sullivan. It was really fun to do some singing again, and what a fantastic bunch of people I met! An instant family! I must have picked up 50 Facebook friends from that weekend alone!

I am learning a part for a scene in an Indi Feature called DRIVE THROUGH. I play a slightly air-headed actress. (At this point, all jokes of comparison may be hurled in my direction…..and that’s enough)

Next week I start my hosting job at The EX for THE @ HOME CELEBRITY STAGE in the Trade Centre. I will be there for two shows a day for the three weekends that The EX runs, finishing Sunday before labour day.

Its been a fun few months! I’ll keep working hard and hopefully keep this ball rolling and have a fun next few months!

Please feel free to drop me a comment on this post or if you would like me to publish any plugs or shout-outs for shows/events/arts stuff YOU are working on. I would LOVE to hear from you all!

Thanks so much!

Over the last few weeks I have been working on a Kitchener community project produced by Working Reel Productions in cooperation with Common Thread Consulting and Kitchener Collegiate called “One Small Act”. I am on a team of four adult actors and four youth who, with the moderation of Kitchener-based writer Randy Johnston, are putting together a short film script that will be directed and by Buddy Brennan of Working Reel Productions.

The goal of the project is to build a bridge of communication and respect between the youth of Kitchener Collegiate and the adults in the surrounding community. The short film will be showcased at a live “doors open” event on Wednesday September 29t, 3pm to 8pm at the High School.

The evening will also feature discussions, live performance, talk-backs, dinner, and many opportunities to meet and greet your neighbors.

The team is currently compiling ideas and elements that will go into the script and shooting is scheduled for July 15th through 17th.

If you will be in the Kitchener area on September 29th, and are interested in this event, please check out the details in the calendar section, or drop me a note in the contact session to let me know you’ll be there, or if you have any questions about the night. I hope to see some of you there!

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to work on-set for the upcoming short film JANUS. I auditioned last month for the role of “Mom” through Crystal Casting, and ended up playing “Nanny”. The story follows a man through his every-day life experiences and plays on the audience’s perception of ethnicity and prejudice. It will no doubt be eye opening and raise some interesting questions when its all put together.

Janus was directed by David Mcleod, written and produced by Rajan Verma. It stars Rajan Verma with appearances by Robert Nolan, Ryan Barret and others.

“Band geek, class president, intern, secretary, comedic supporting, Debra Messing, quirky college student, geeky clean girl, moody sister, quirky girlfriend, med student, Anna Kendrick in ‘Up In The Air’, young mom, closet heroin addict, girl next door, teacher, young lawyer, sweet, innocent, good girl, Laura Ingles in ‘Little House on the Prairie’, rich girl, spoiled daughter, quiet friend, nurse, ‘put upon’ mom, office type, police precinct cop, goofy best friend, sly girl, scientist, neurotic girl, hippy, protester, dysfunctional teacher�

These are all the different characters that the participants at Crystal Kramer and Tom Tkach’s Headshot Workshop thought I could play. I always had a rough idea of how others see me, but to have an entire room of fellow actors put me in these categories based on a thirty-second impression solidified my understanding of how I am viewed in casting. I can put this to use immediately by polishing my techniques for approaching these characters and working on scenes that utilize these types. By asking the questions “what roles have you played?� and “what roles do you want to play�, Crystal and Tom were able to provide feedback on my current headshots, and tips for getting the roles I want with my new headshots.

Gaining perspective on the casting process from a Photographer and a Casting Director concurrently was an invaluable experience. I was able to take away a better understanding of my character type, advice for using my look to get the roles I want to play and finally, a set of headshots that both myself and my agent were very pleased with. Happy auditioning!

I’m heading to Cambridge again today to work for David Hopkinson of Giantkiller Creative. He has been hired to produce an internal industrial video and will be doing some extra filming today to add to the initial shoot in October.

Giantkiller’s website is in the links section as well as a link to UberRiff Films: a cooperative creative team that includes Giantkiller that produces creative short films. Check it out in the links section, there are some great trailers!

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of working with Director and Writer Ryan Keller the production team Cancelproof on a new comedy webisode. The project will eventually form a series of five minute segments for broadcast on YouTube and other web-based video sharing sites. I played “Jennifer”, the date of the main character “Dave” played by Ash Catherwood. I won’t go into detail here until the episode is released for privacy issues, but as soon as its uploaded, I’ll be sure to provide a link. Warning: Adult Humour!

So it looks like there have been some administration/management issues at the venue, and the opening of I Ought To Be In Pictures has been pushed back until Friday November 20th. This is a blessing in a way because I have had very little time comparatively to rehearse with the cast since being re-cast in the lead female role of “Libby Tucker” last Monday November 2nd.

Rehearsals are really going well now, and it adds that extra time needed to really polish things and tweak the comedy so its Juuuuuust right.

Here is the final production team:

Stellar Productions Presents -
Neil Simon’s I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES
Produced by David Russell,
Directed by Gail Henderson,
and starring:
Chuck Therrian as Herbert Tucker
Victoria Murdoch as Libby Tucker
and Elaine Jarvis as Steffy Blondell

For venue, ticket and scheduling info, see the calendar section on the home page.

Thanks!