Author: sirein@sierrarein.com

I just got the great news that I’ve been “shortlisted” by the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus to sing for their Big Gay Idol portion of their Big Gay Sing 2 event! Hosted By Scott Nevins with Special Guest Star Petula Clark! This means that I get to sing at least once on either March 25th or March 26th. In one of those nights, and in the first half of the show, I (and three other contestants) will get to sing a portion of “Maybe This Time” from “Cabaret” the musical (others have the choice also to sing “IContinue readingI’m Singing for New York City Gay Men’s Chorus’ Big Gay Idol 2010!!!

First, some pictures taken by the management of the chashama, inc. Flickr gallery: Then, my view of my fellow singers from behind the scenes: More information about the event can be viewed here. You can see the rest of the pictures from the evening of March 3, 2010 with Andrea Dora HERE. You can see the rest of the pictures from the evening of March 10, 2010 with Raissa Katona Bennett and Candy Benge HERE. To view the Flickr collection of photos from the Chashama 112 West 44th Street location, go HERE.

Time for my actor-geek to lower her head and praise the late Peter Graves (March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010). I liked him in “Mission: Impossible!” I laughed and adored him in “Airplane!” and even “Airplane II.” And in the many episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, he was still a consistently solid actor, despite the inanity and stupidity of the script, directors, and chunks of cardboard flying on strings meant to look like alien vampire bats (seriously!!!!). Here are some great Peter Graves moments, a Peter Graves-inspired skit, and one infamous monologue he was forced to do:

This is my entry for the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus Big Gay Idol competition — “Maybe This Time” by John Kander and Fred Ebb from the movie musical “Cabaret.” I was invited to submit my entry for this competition after Marquee Five’s February 25th performance of our tribute to Kander & Ebb “We Can Make It: The Songs of Kander & Ebb.” Two gentlemen from NYCGMC saw me sing “Maybe This Time” in the show and invited me to take part in this contest. So here’s my submission! This performance isn’t very much changed from our Don’t TellContinue readingYouTube entry for the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus – Big Gay Idol competition!

Two weeks from today is my Birthday! And what better way to celebrate my life than by singing with four other AMAZING people: Vanessa Parvin, Mick Bleyer, Adam West Hemming and Julie Reyburn. Together, we’re MARQUEE FIVE! Come celebrate with me at the Wednesday Night at the Iguana open mic/musical variety show! March 24th – 8PM After a successful run of our show “We Can Make It: The Songs of Kander & Ebb” and before our last performance of this show on April 15th, catch Marquee Five singing handful of NEW songs! And come with your sheet music and singContinue readingMarquee Five sings at Wednesday Night at the Iguana, hosted by Richard Skipper & Dana Lorge!

For actors in the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend this class by Richard Lawson, who is a terrific actor and a terrific teacher. I took this class and grew a better understanding of my power as a self-promoter, self-creator, what my casting was, and how to handle my career in a more focused, controlled way. Please come to the open classes on March 12th and 13th if you are interested in learning more. “I would love it and appreciate it if you could tell your friends about our Free Open Classes that’s coming up this Friday Mar. 12 atContinue readingRichard Lawson Studios Free Open Classes March 12th and 13th in Los Angeles

March 03-11, 2010Sierra was featured in “Art/Song”, a unique combination of technology, art and music at chachama’s Times Square Gallery. This series featured work by deaf composer Jay Alan Zimmerman, visual art by Lisa Ingram, and utilized “layered video projections of real-time frequency analysis software” to make the human voice physical. More info: www.jayalanzimmerman.com and this BroadwayWorld.com article. To view photos of this event, click here.

This Weds, March 3rd and the Wednesday after that March 10th (both at 7:00pm) I’ll be singing original works by composer Jay Alan Zimmerman (the “Beethoven of Broadway”) in an extraordinary Art/Song exhibit in Times Square. The voices of singers will be actualized into visual representations via installations by artist Lisa Ingram. As he describes it himself in his website, “It’s hard to explain, so start with the Broadway World article here: BROADWAY VOICES MADE VISUAL BY DEAF COMPOSER 2/23 – 3/16“ Chashama times square112 west 44th Street, between 7th & 6th avenuesFacebook event can be found here