from Courtney Pierchoski (Columbia State Commercial Entertainment Graduate)

Greetings from Pigeon Forge!

  Working in the entertainment field is so exciting - so first of all, THANKS COLUMBIA STATE for the education and preparation for "real world" theatre. I feel so blessed to be able to go to "work" every single day doing something I am truly passionate about and my instructors from CState painted a very detailed picture of reality. They were right about everything - the good and the bad! Here's a link to the Commercial Entertainment (CEN) Facebook Page so you can stay up to date with current students and alumni! http://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaStateCEN

  A special and BIG congratulations to fellow CEN alumni Hayley Sorenson (Disney Live: Europe), Josh Lowrey (Pippin), Jessica Folly (Holland America Cruise Line), Crystal Grimes (Veggie Tales Live Tour), Courtney Blackmun (Bye Bye Birdie), and Seth Teegarden (Silence! The Musical). They are all working graduates of the Commercial Entertainment Program with incredible gigs right now and I am so excited for all of them!!! You can find them all on CEN's Facebook page! (Link is above:)

  Things are always happening to keep entertainers on their toes. One of the things I love about this show, in particular, is that it is changeable so we are always swapping numbers in and out and adding new and exciting material! It's been one month now since I've been put in and the show is beginning to feel more and more comfortable. The 30 second costume changes are now a piece of cake and with four to five shows a week, the show order is more than ingrained by now!

  Pigeon Forge is a happening little theatre town! There are so many incredible shows with so many talented people. Trip Advisor is one of the internet's great tools for finding what real people have to say about entertainment in your area and so I have attached a link to our trip advisor page! I'm proud to say that "America's Hit Parade" at the Grand Majestic Theatre is the #5 theatre show and the #2 musical theatre show in the area!!! ("Soul of Motown" is the Grand Majestic's other show and it holds #3 theatre show and #1 musical theatre show!!!) So here's the link! http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g55270-d1473629-Reviews-The_Grand_Majestic_Theater-Pigeon_Forge_Tennessee.html

  Make sure to let me know if you find yourself in the area and I can get you discounted tickets!
  ~Courtney

PS. My Mom is coming to vist and see the show tonight so I'm super excited!!!

PSS. More exciting things going on with Seth Teegarden in NYC so ask him about it!

Summer in NYC

With Court being in TN these next few months I have a lot of time to myself. Hopefully I will be able to start doing video song requests again. I'm making a lot of connections and such so maybe I can have some collaborations on some works which will be exciting.

Also the heat here really sucks. You don't have the open fields of TN for all the heat to expand. No the buildings and the streets keep the heat locked in the city. I can't walk anywhere without it looking like a just stepped out of the shower, with my clothes on. I would much rather NYC be Winter or Fall all year.

As far as theater goes, I'm still working for SILENCE! The Musical. Next week on July 17th we will be moving to a new location on Times Square  8th avenue and 42nd Street. Right now we are in the East Village at Performance Space 122 on 1st Avenue and 9th Street. This is really big news and it helps me out A LOT! The bus that we take from Weehawken drops us off at 42nd and 8th so I will never have to ride the subway to work again, which will save me almost $30 a week.

Recently I submitted for an audition for "Bound for Broadway N.E.W. Musicals" and I got an appointment. They do a series of staged readings that are on their way to a broadway stage. Unfortunately something came up and I was not able to attend the audition. Later that day I received a callback notice for a show in their series for a lead role. I was really shocked considering that I wasn't even at the audition. But they said because of my resume/reputation they really wanted to see me for the callbacks. I hope it goes well and nothing comes in the way of me going to the callback.

Other than that I'm trying to look for a second job. It's difficult up here because every business does all of their applications online. I hate that method so much, it doesn't give me the opportunity to hand in my application and shake the hand of a possible employer. And it really doesn't evaluate an individual to a great extent. A good way to push my buttons. Anyway, I do have a lead at an indie pet shop, which might be cool. People bring their pets in all the time.

I really want a pet.

-Seth

Summer News!

    I suppose it's about time for an update! I'm sorry it's been so long. Life has been crazy! The last two months in NYC have been filled with beautiful weather and spring/summer coming out. I've never seen NYC in the summer and I loved it! (Yes, "loved" as in past tense). I recently signed a contract for a gig that took me away from the beautiful New York City. However, I am very excited and grateful to have a job doing what I love! Just recently I had become a server at the restaurant I was working at on Times Square and as much fun as that was... ;) ... I would really rather be doing what I have been trained to do.

    I have re-located to Pigeon Forge, TN for the next several months - spending my summer in the Smoky Mountains! It is beautiful here as well:) I am working at the Grand Majestic Theatre in a show entitled "America's Hit Parade" so if you happen to be in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area of TN in the next few months then please come visit me! As I do every day, I had been searching for audition notices, came across this one, and less than one week later I had packed up and was making the 13hour drive all by myself. I'm living in cast housing and so far I am having a blast with everyone! There was another girl  joining the show at the same time as me so her and I had only one week of put-in rehearsals before we went on! We have just finished up our first week of shows and are beginning to settle into life in the area. The experience has been interesting so far but overall, good. It was the first time for me being put into an up and running show with two and a half hours of singing and choreography to learn! We managed to make it through! We spent the entire week in choreography rehearsals, vocal rehearsals, costume fittings and photo shoots and only two blocking rehearsals with the cast. That left costumes and costume changes, hair and makeup, mics, running the show in order (and in its entirety) and running the show with the cast...all for opening night!!! It was a bit stressful but mostly exhilarating and not as hard as I thought. Vocal rehearsals this weekend to polish things up and we go back into our run on Tuesday! Our shows are Tuesday-Saturday:)

    Kimberly Simmons came to visit me this weekend! Well, she was here for a completely different reason but it just so happened she could stay with me a couple days so it was lovely getting to see my CState roomie again:)

    Blogging is something I will try so hard to be better at! Thanks for the encouragement and support! Ask Seth what he's up to in New York!

Exciting Week!

Hello to all:) To CState students - Cathy tells us that the Pro-Company show was AMAZING! I'm so sorry I missed it - also heard "9-5" was right on track! Congratulations to Josh Lowery for the Disney audition - get it Joshua!!!

The weather continues to be unusually warm here and I am loving every second of it.
Well, here is a bit about the particularly interesting week the city has brought:
A submission for a dance audition led to an invited appointment for a pretty prominent new show here in the city. My friend had been on the audition before and was able to tell me exactly what to expect - technical combination, no improv, act the part.  So I show up to this place where we audition ON SET with 45min of improv. My mind has never been so exhausted!

Work has been very interesting this week! I've worked many more hours than usual. One night I was actually recognized by a woman that was eating with Broadway legend Sara Gettelfinger! This woman (Mel) asked me over to the table and I stood there for five minutes while we threw around random possibilities as to how she could possible recognize a girl from TN that's only been here for seven months! Mel said she didn't know how but she just KNEW that she recognized my smile. She asked what I did outside of work - I told her theatre, she asked if I was into childcare services - I told her no (but this sparked an idea). I said to her "This might seem extremely random, but by any chance are you associated with James Wilkie Broderick?" In response, she grabbed my arm with both hands and said "THAT'S how I know you!" As it turns out, she was one of James' nannies that I had only met once, very briefly, but she recognized me from the show I did with little James over Christmas! She introduced me to everyone at the table and explained how she didn't recognize me in my "trendy" clothes in comparison to looking like a 30 year old mother of three in "A Christmas Carol" but she knew it was my smile:) Well that made me very happy!

The other exciting event that took place at work is I found out that BR Guest Company forms a softball league every summer and we can sign up and get t-shirts and everything! One game a week all summer! I haven't played softball since high school but it's the only sport I've ever really cared for and am super excited about getting some exercise in the city park every Monday morning:) Oh! AND...I am finally beginning my server training at the restaurant this week!

So many crazy things are going on - today is my one day off so I'm spending it doing taxes, searching and scheduling auditions, stapeling and cutting headshots and resumes, and creating business cards (on Pat Addiss's orders:) Ximena (our amazing roommie:) secured the three of us tickets to see the midnight showing of "The Hunger Games" on Thursday night so that should be fun!

Don't forget to
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PS. Whatever you do - never come to NYC on St. Patrick's Day. I've declared it much worse than Halloween...which is really saying something:/

~CourtneyLynn

This is my mental image every morning when I wake up:)
True for anyone but very personal.
Life is all about choice.
Fierce!

Next Alumni Blog..with friends!

First Alumni Blog (Columbia State)

Hey everyone, Courtney and I have been asked to do a video blog for Columbia State. Soon these will be on their website for promotional use. Why not also put them on here?! Enjoy.

March 2012

On the Pier viewing the Statue of Liberty

Central Park Bridge

Well, here we are in what should be the dead of winter right now. Yesterday it was 66 degrees and sunny! Today the wind is scary and the temperature spiraled back down into the low 30s but we won't talk about that...

Josh kissing "Alice" on the cheek:)

We had visitors this week! Four friends from the Commercial Entertainment Dept. at Columbia State spent the entire week with us and we had a blast. Seth and I really enjoyed the company. Plus, I'm not going to lie, it's fun to go do all the touristy stuff that we never have time for otherwise;) so thanks guys for choosing to spend your spring break in the big apple with us!                                              
Currently, Seth and I are working on a video blog for CState so stay tuned to hear and see more about how that works out! We're pretty excited about it - as I type this I can hear Seth editing the video footage in the next room. Auditions are still coming around constantly - always working for that callback that will lead to a job! Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement and support:)

Friends: Josh Lowery, Daniel "Tumnus" Thomas, Luke Collins & Seth McGraw