Sometimes happiness comes in the form of a big purple hippo....with a tutu!

In the summer of 2010 I was holding my beautiful Godson, Zephyr, while Mommy (BFF Mim) was getting some well needed rest. He was only a few months old and I started telling him this silly story I created for my 1st and 2nd grade theater school students. It was about a bunch of animals that perform in a circus. And the lead character was a ballerina....a hippo ballerina. To my surprise Mim had woken up but stayed in bed in the other room and listened to my silly little story. When I was done she came out and urged me to write it down. I didn't.

Months had gone by and I continued to teach at the theater school, audition in NYC, perform and try to make ends meet. I went away in Nov/December to do a show in Westchester, NY and when I returned I had no paycheck, work, nothing....the bills piled up. I quickly got an Off-Off Broadway show in NYC where I was lucky enough to stay with Mim and Jay in Queens during the rehearsal/shows. Mim and I got to talking about my students who I was still teaching on Saturday mornings. I would tell her stories about my kids and the stuff they came up with in the story-telling portion of my class. Again, Mim urged me to write down my hippo story. Again...I didn't do it. I'm lazy! :)

Well, my show in NYC ended and I immediately started rehearsals for Nunsense - the show I'm currently performing. Then, my best friend, Beth, passed away and my world was turned upside down. I wasn't able to go home for her services, which still haunts me, but Mim and I traveled to our hometown of New Bedford, MA for a much needed family visit right after Nunsense opened. In the car ride up to Massachusetts I kept questioning whether or not I was supposed to be performing. But I always question why I would be given the gifts I've been given if I wasn't supposed to use them. Then, Mim asked God to send us a sign as well as asked Beth for her guidance to show us both if we were on the correct paths in life. I can't tell you the amount of signs we both received while home in New Bedford, on the car ride back to NY and since then. It's been 2 months since Beth's passing and I still receive signs that she is here with me still cheering me on. I am reminded through these signs that I'm supposed to be where I am today. And that ALL things have a way of working themselves out.

Oh and I FINALLY sat down and wrote my hippo story. POPPY AND THE MAGIC TUTU It has gone through three rewrites, and I've recruited a new friend, Greta Kleckner, who I met at the dinner theater I'm performing at. Greta and I have the same energy for performing and both believe we were put here on earth and graced with gifts that only God can grant and to use those gifts for good.

This had my brain working double time. And so the small birthday party business I started after Christmas - STAR OF THE DAY EVENT PRODUCTIONS - has now blown up to be a full scale entertainment company that will specialize in providing entertainment for special events, theater arts workshops, and original children's musical with fun music, colorful characters and wonderful moral lessons.

The script is receiving a lot of interest and we are hoping to have the show finished and ready to go for a fall tour around PA, NY,NJ and my hometown of New Bedford, MA. Ever since I was a little girl and I was introduced to the arts I wished I could go to a school like FAME. Well, I didn't get to go to FAME, but even better I attended New Bedford High School. Approximately 5,000 students and a theater and music program that would make any Performing Arts High blush! The sad thing is that my hometown, like most big cities, has taken a hit in the arts within the education system. The once booming marching band is finally starting to rebuild but has a mere 40 members. The music teachers and drama instructors are doing what they can to make sure these city kids get a great arts education but I feel its not enough. I was blessed to have received the arts education I did in a public school system which led me to the successful career I currently have. I want to give back. It is my goal to receive a grant to do a New Bedford Elementary School tour. To provide our show to more than 1,000 pre-K - 2nd graders at no cost to the schools. It takes money...and lots of it. But, it WILL happen. Mark my words!

I want to create a company where the employees as well as the audience have fun. That they are treated with honesty and integrity. That the performers will keep coming back over and over and over again! That we can continue to create original shows that will keep actors working and that our company can continue to educate and enlighten.

I will also be looking for sponsorships for the show. I'm talking to Carters, Toys R Us, Gap, Hasbro, and many others. Their partnership will allow Star of the Day Event Productions to perform nationwide and maybe allow a child to see their first live performance. I never want to take for granted what I've been given and I want to encourage our youth to strive to be more, take risks, and to follow their dreams. If I didn't do any of that I'd probably be sitting at a desk complaining about hating my job, single with 50 cats, and watching others do what I am meant to do.

IN OTHER NEWS....

• May 7, 2011 - OPEN HOUSE Accents Modeling and Talent Agency - Bethlehem, PA
  
• May 9, 2011 - Cat in the Hat - Allentown, PA
  
• May 13, 2011 - I will speak at Nazareth High School's Career Day about being a professional performing artist - Nazareth, PA
• May 29, 2011 - NUNSENSE CLOSES; HAPPY DAYS rehearsals begin
  
• May 30, 2011 - Cat in the Hat - Allentown, PA
• June 3-9, 2011 - The movie I was in last fall will be showing at the Hoboken Film Festival - Hoboken, NJ
• June 10, 2011 - HAPPY DAYS OPENS at the Pines Dinner Theatre - Allentown, PA
• Sometime in June 2011 - Table Reads for Poppy and the Magic Tutu.

Quote of the Week: "By striving to do the impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. Those who have cautiously done no more than they believed possible have never taken a single step forward." Mikhail Bakunin

Video of the Week: There is something about this commercial that just touches me deeply. I saw it for the first time during the airing of American Idol on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 and I just was so deeply moved by it. Enjoy!



Recipe of the Week: Lime Cilantro Saffron RiceOne box of yellow spanish rice
one bunch of fresh cilantro
1 lime

Make the rice according to the directions. Chop cilantro finely and add to the rice WHEN IT IS DONE!!! Zest the lime and add with cilantro and juice of 1/2 lime. ENJOY! It's soooo yummy. Chipotle grill makes a white sticky rice like this but I like using the spanish saffron rice. Knock yourselves out!

Kirsten Almeida received her B.A. in Theater and Speech from Wagner College. For twelve years, Kirsten doubled as a professional fundraiser for a large non-profit arts organization and an actor, director, choreographer, and playwright. She is currently performing for the Pines Dinner Theatre 2011 season as Sister Hubert in 'Nunsense' and Mrs. C in 'Happy Days The Musical.' She has performed in more than forty shows all over the U.S. She spent four months touring the country with the Omaha Theater Company's production of 'The Little Engine that Could' as the Red Dress Doll. She performed nearly 80 performances in 36 states. In New York City, Kirsten was part of the cast for the award-winning 'Skin Deep' by Mary Lynn Dobson (Fringe Festival winner 2009) which has won top honors from the 2010 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival and originated the role of Lavender Blue in the eerily funny 'Professor Von Awesome's Traveling Caravan of Cautionary Warnings.' Kirsten appeared in the U.S. premiere of 'Scandalous! A new musical based on the life of D.H. Lawrence' in New Orleans and appeared at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in the World Premiere musical 'The Butterfly Project' which raised money for children's cancer research. Other credits include Children of Eden (Mama Noah), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat(Narrator), Hello Dolly!(Minnie Fay), Beauty and the Beast(Silly Girl & Madame de la Grande Bouche), The Sound of Music(Mother Abbess), Annie(Star-to-Be), Oliver!(Widow Corney), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying(Rosemary), My Fair Lady(Featured Dancer), Promises, Promises!(Featured Dancer), Nunsense I & II(Sister Leo), Gypsy(Tessie Tura), Guys & Dolls(Featured Dancer), Back to the 80s(Debbie Cox), Seussical the Musical(Gertrude), Snoopy!(Sally Brown), Pippin(Featured dancer), Carousel, Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors(Chiffon), and many more.

In film/tv, Kirsten has appeared in the upcoming comedy 'Big Guns', 'Three Chris'', and filmed the independent short 'Westfield' with Clocktower Productions. She has also appeared in two episodes of 'The World's Most Astonishing News'.

She has also appeared as a guest artist with the Newark Boys Chorus and Triad Ensemble and the Spotlight Cabaret with Allentown Public Theater. She was a founding member of the Boonton Parks & Recreation Theatre Company for young performers where she not only directed and choreographed the shows for the company but also acted as lead fundraiser, costumer, lighting designer, marketing director as well as scenic and props designer. Kirsten also taught dance for the recreation department to children ages 7-12. Kirsten has also dabbled in play writing for children's theater. Her twisted version of "The Three Little Pigs" (a musical from the Big Bad Wolf's perspective) was produced at Playhouse 22 in East Brunswick, NJ.

Kirsten teaches drama classes at the Civic Theater in Allentown, PA to grades Pre-K through 4. She also is the Program Coordinator/Facilitator for the "Reading with Cat in the Hat" literacy promotion program where she tours to at-risk communities and performs as the Cat in the Hat. Kirsten also offers an audition class to high school students which helps students audition confidently. Her effective teaching style is requested by groups in PA and NJ and NY.

She is also the owner and operator of 'Star of the Day' Event Productions. A one-of-a-kind full service entertainment experience.
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