L.A. for Rehearsals & Visiting!

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Hello all,

OK, so now we’re getting somewhere…we’re finally almost to the blogs from our cruise ship - we just have this one more to post first. This blog is about the 6 weeks that Melanie spent in Los Angeles rehearsing for all the shows she is now performing on the ship, and the couple of weeks Larry came out to join her (not to dance, of course), but to see and catch up with good friends.

Melanie’s rehearsals were long and tiring - about 8 hours / day, but sometimes more, with only a one-hour break for lunch. Her and her cast had to learn 4 full-length shows (about 50 minutes long each), and one opening night show which was a little shorter and broken up into sections with game shows. The shows are all really great and fun to perform…they just got harder to learn as the time went on and her brain was filling up with all the new choreography!

But it wasn’t all hard work with no play while in LA. One weekend the cast went to Las Vegas to see Barry Manilow perform at the Las Vegas Hilton - a trip set up by the entertainment company Stiletto Entertainment, since they own / represent him as well. It was a really fun trip, and free for all of us too! We even got to go backstage after the show and meet Barry in person!!

Then Halloween came shortly afterwards. For Halloween, the cast all dressed up and headed out to a bar / club known as “The Abbey”. Everyone looked great - but I think we all agreed that Jason (dressed like a grandma) had the best costume. And he continued to entertain us all throughout the evening - especially when he rode the mechanical bull!!!

There were also some other fun outings throughout our stay in Los Angeles - a few that took place while Danny was out in LA (he was there on business and just extended his stay for the weekend!) For example, one night we went to Knott’s Scary Farm (normally Knott’s Berry Farm, but the park was transformed into a horror fest in honor of the Halloween season), and the next day we did a “Hollywood Homes Tour”. This is where you sit in an open van and drive around to look at where all the celebrities live. Our group was particularly excited about Debra Messing’s home, to which our guide surprisingly commented that he’s never seen such a reaction for that house before!

The next weekend Larry made his way out to LA from NY, where he had been busy catching up with friends and family, working at his friend Bryan’s car wash, and helping his parents redo their living room décor. He was now happy to be out in LA relaxing and visiting more friends, before boarding the ship and starting his new job. And when I wasn’t rehearsing, we stayed quite busy going out and seeing friends together. While in LA, we got to see and hang out with Ramit & Delia, Stephen & Michael, Terri & Dom, Lindsay, Andrew & Colleen, and Chris & Michal. Chris & Michal even invited us to a Lakers vs. Pistons game one night (they had a suite!), but unfortunately Melanie had a rehearsal until midnight that night and couldn’t attend. But Larry went - and the Pistons won!!

Well, that about covers it all. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog - even though it is about 3 months behind, it still leads up to where we are now. Our cruise blogs will be next…stay tuned!

Love,
Larry & Melanie

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Photos

Merrill Lynch suite at the Pistons vs. Lakers game!
PS - the Pistons won!!!