Sharron in Tarbert and with Sheep...oh and Robert the Bruce!

After Kilmartin, I felt a bit sleepy but since I was in the front seat of the car I felt that it was my responsiblity to stay awake with George....so I fell asleep...of course......Ma woke me saying, “Sharron, look!” I turned and there in the middle of green, GREEN, ( I use two greens because... it was really green) field and a bunch of white and black sheep was a circle of about 12 standing stones....my mouth just dropped open and I stared....I mean, they were in the middle of someones’ cow field....no one but me really giving them a second look.
I got very excited.
What is it with people and the stones and witchery and heeland magic?
We sooo want it to be true.
Don’t we?
So, here we are in Tarbert at a pink hotel......when two ‘bear’ type males walked into the dining room during dinner and winked at me...I knew it was a gay friendly hotel....PINK...ah! It is very nice and homey and overlooks the bay....
Whenever we get somewhere I always think that I can’t like a place better than the last but I am always proven wrong.
I love this little town.



It also contains Tarbert Castle, home of....ready for it?....Robert the Bruce....you all can pretend you know that from a history lesson or a fancy book....but I know it is because most of you watched Braveheart...with that anti-semetic Mel Gibson....I still love that movie though he is an ass....Mel not Bruce....remember Robert the Bruce was portrayed by that dishy Angus Macfayden....I don’t know why his career never took off...he did the Braveheart movie and then then next thing I saw him in was the ‘Ya Ya Sisterhood’ movie with Sandra Bullock...who I love...judge me as you will.....I wonder if Angus thinks that Gerrard Bulter got his career........maybe there was only room for one scottish dude....Gerrard is scottish, right?....or is he Irish?
Did you know that the Scottish descended from the Irish in about 300AD???
REALLY!!!
WHAT THE EFF WAS I TALKING ABOUT???!!!
Oh ya...Tarbert Castle...very cool...it stands over the town like a sentinel....a bit of a ruin but it has a proud flag of Scotland flying over it...and I COULD not wait to get up there to it!
Castles and Standing Stones....
LOVE THEM!
Now, I haven’t mentioned that my hubby George has been sick since we arrived...he got the plerusy from the hacking dude who sat beside me on the plane.....we sat down and the dude started to cough and I turned to George with a pursed mouth.
But I haven’t got sick yet.....just poor Georgie....he seemed to be getting better but this morn he woke in our pink hotel with a look of sick.
I was so sad for him....I want him to feel better....I also want to climb around the hills....George was hacking and saying “No...I am fine...really...hack ...hack...cough... cough!”
Right.
I thought that since we don’t have to drive anywhere today it was the perfect day to have him lay in and sleep .... so I collected my morning duties from he and the ladies at breakfast....the sausage was square and flat....yum.....I was to go to the chemist...the chemist....and get cold stuff for Georgie and kleenex for Auntie Pat.... she’s not sick...just always prepared!....and the Cut n’ Crew to see if I could get Auntie Pat an appointment for a wash and style...many jobs....but I happily did them all!
And while I walked through the town with my paper sack of stuff I stared at the castle up on the hill....the city is surrounded by hills....mountains....the Scottish call them bens.....I wanted to see that damned castle....I asked George if he minded if I went....as he lay in bed looking like death....handsome...but still death warmed.....he said I should go....so I put on my new hiking shoes...that I am convinced I got too big.... my fleecy and my hat, shoved my ipod and my camera in my pockets....oh and I always take my passport just in case I need to be indentified.....somber but practical....that is me....and I walked to the info centre to find out....info.
The lady with the spiky hair.....burgandy....she was very nice....not like the chemist.....anyhow....I asked her how to get to the castle and she directed me to the staircase just past the dental surgeon’s office. And I use the word stairs loosely. The were rocks arranged together that ascend....but it has that old-timey feel....it should have been my first clue as to the journey that would follow.
I made it up to the ruins of the castle....


....whether it is a ruin or not....it is always impressive.....the historians think that it was built by Alexander I or II during the 300’s.....the effing 300’s...and then The Bruce put on extentions...he renovated...I just laughed outloud... I am pathetic....but I wandered around the castle, which is really just the tower that is left over of the castle keep, to take a pic from every angle as I wanted to really show George my journey....my adventures he calls them.... I just think it....I found myself down the hill in the braken...which I discovered today are really just like thick brown ferns....I always pictured braken as a thorny plant.....and as I put up my camera to take this picture.
....I heard a rumble behind me...I turned very quickly.....to see a freakin’ dear run by.....it stopped and looked at me...and I tried very slowly to raise my camera but it mistook my camera for a gun or some such thing and took off.
So.... I decided that I wanted to hike the bens...I was on my own and I was gonna do it anyway... the spiky haired lady told me at the shop the only thing that I had to fear in the woods was the sheep.....alrightie!
So, I looked at the flyer she gave me and I planned a short 45 minute walk.....but the adventurer in me....said “Come oh Sharron!!! Go for the 2 hours......”. I wish that was true... I really just didn’t read the flyer well enough and took a wrong turn....now let me mention right here.... I didn’t see another living soul on the whole hike.... and I hike it was... right till the bitter end... and I was out for about 2 1/2 hours....REALLY!!!
First of all.....it was all uphill at the beginning...


.....I know... no surprise.. but what we term as a hike uphill in Hamilton Ontario and what the Scottish folk term as a hike uphill....two very different things... let me tell you, now.
But I was brave....I was a warrior.
I had to keep pretending to look at crap from my pocket so that I could stop and take a breath the first 15 minutes....maybe, Sharron, a look at the map may have been a help....but I kept taking pictures of the view...that would only really appeal to me, I think.
The path in the beginning was all grass and.....bogs.... in my new too big shoes... though comfy....
But I was jumping over puddles and feeling all forest-ie.
Very soon I felt a little closed in...



...... the big view stopped and I was into the thick of the forest....I looked at the clock on my ipod after about 25 minutes...hm....I am pretty good with directions....north, west and all that .....that makes me all cocky with maps....I would have known if the path had turned itself back in the direction of the castle and town....so...I pull out the map.....hmm.....I see a marker and it has a white top....I see that means I am on the two hour walk path.....probably.... it go a bit sketchy.....hmmm....TWO Hours... into the highlands... alone......sounds very brave... and warrior like....
I will do it....of course, according to the ampe I might be on a 5 hour walk....but I will figure that out after the first hour....right?
So, as I continue further and further into the mountains all the inner scary movie voice start having a dialogue....
‘SSSHHHAAARRROOONNNN.....maybe you are going the wrong way.... and you haven’t seen anyone since you began......’ Well....so what....it is October.....not too many people on vacation.
‘SHHHAARRROONNN....what if someone is following you on this path..’
Shut it!!!
‘SSSSHHHHAAARRROOONNNN.....what if you fall and break one of your weak ankles?...’


Why did you have to bring that up??? Not only are you the scary voice but you are bad for my self confidence.
‘SSSHHHHAAARRROOOONNNN....be afraid...’
Alright!!!!
I am a grown woman who has gone on MANY hikes and been away from home....I have my puffer.... I have money and my passport in case, again, my body need to be identified .....SHUT UP........I am strong...and I have no water or food.....THERE ARE 100 STREAMS TO DRINK FROM ASSHOLE.......no cell phone...not that you would get a signal.....PLEASE......HEY I HAVE MY IPOD......that is good as a physical instrument to defend yourself with....what are you gonna do ..... make them listen to Avril Lavigne?
That voice is so witty.
I pulled out my ipod...charged, thank god.
And I put in an ear phone....just one the right one in case I am going to be attacked.......and push play......Girlicious’ hit ‘Like Me’ starts blaring....suck it scary voice....and my scary voice is lulled by the slutty girls singing.
I find myself happy again....and I have been walking for 40 minutes....and it seems that the path is turning slowly back... that makes me feel better....but it is rollercoastering....as soon as I start going down....I feel happy and sad....because I know it is going back up.
Somewhere in this time period I step in a bog.....a real bog....the path has been wet and my shoes are waterproof to a point....the point is a bog.
I am not wet up to both of my knees.....but perversely this makes me feel very woodsy and adventurous....and wet.
By the time I reach an hour and fifteen minutes....I start to worry....I don’t know where I am....I feel that the path should have really turned....the sky is stormy and I pull the map and in the bottome corner it comments on how the weather turns fast in the burns......so take the appropriate supplies....and read the map, ass.
I see where I might be if I am on the 2 hour walk.....and where I would be if I am on the five hour walk.
I try to picture the phone call to George.....”Can you come pick me up in Clacken....”
Isn’t that a great name.....just about that time I come out at a place where it is clear to me that I am on the right walk....thank god....and I see it turn into a hard dirt path...eff you bogs...and there is a very old foundation for a house of some kind....


there is nothing about it on the map....but it is very cool....I use the word cool because there are no exact words for how ......cool it really is... I feel excited and like I discovered something.....and like it was worth it to be a bit afraid....so I track off the path and walk through the braken into the building....


and the sun comes out....no shit.
I feel very satisfied.
I start to walk up the path as ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald’ begins to play.
The ipod has been a lovely companion....and I have also been talking to my dearly departed dog Otto who would have LOVED this walk.... to keep my spirits up.
It is all uphill but I am so thrilled that I know where I am and that I am on the right walk....and I have been very brave...and discovered and ancient foundation.....I still haven’t seen another person....AT ALL.....what if I travelled back in time....like Brigadoon?!!
That would be awesome and scary.
So, I continue back uphill for 20 minuted till I come to an unclear fork in the road ....and it is still so hilly that I can’t see the town either way.....I make a judgement call .... and as I walk for 15 minutes till I come to a rise.....inside I am chanting in rythmn with every step...... “Please be Tarbert....please be Tarbert....”
I am a bit filled with the worry because the sky has gotten black again.....what if it rains and I have to go under a tree?? What if George thinks I am dead??
Oh here is a thing....what if I think good thoughts???!!!
As I come to a rise I peer over I see.......


Tarbert!!!!
.....and I yell so loud, I scare myself and trip over a rock and almost break my right weak ankle.
I am bounding down the side of the mountain with such a feeling of self satisfaction!!!
I am super awesome......
When I get near the castle the first human I see is this effing huge black and white dog....he sees me and starts to bound for me..... and someone screams...... “SHEAS!”....which I have since found out mens sit...or stop....in gaelic....and I think a monster scottich dude is coming over the hill.....an it turns out being the tinest wizened man I have ever seen....on a cellphone....and he hooks up his dog and turns a suspicious eye my way as he passes....but eff him....even he can’t spoil my high!!!!
I made it.....
Alone....
Who cares if I got chased off the grounds by some over friendly black sheep....

Sharron in Kilmartin and the Stones

So, after the four of us miss the Ferry from Mull to Oban....oh my god...don't ask....they tell us, after we yell and scream for a while....and get called Americans...... that there is a smaller ferry coming for 5 cars....WHAT!?? So we end up on this amazing crossing on this teeny fairy......that was actually my first instint on the spelling of Ferry.....hehehe....and the sun is all shining.....George spies a seal... Auntie Pat and Ma are happy and have their shades on like movie stars.....

We drive down the coast of Loch Fyne and I find myself in this little quaint fishing town in western Scotland....near the Isle of Bute.... I don’t care how juvenille it sounds....that words sounds like....looks like...Butt....and reminds me of a movie that I saw at my friend Thom’s house called ‘Lust in the Dust’ starring Tab Hunter, Divine and Lainie Kazan......in which you see the last two’s stunt asses... if you don’t know what I mean.... or believe it, watch the movie. I digressed....man...Tarbert is a town from Ma and Auntie Pat’s youth....travelling with them has been a treat...going on a trip somewhere is all well and good but going with people who know the area...who grew up in it is a fine thing...places you never might go....histories you never would have known....after hearing so many pearls of wisdom from them for 5 days it was a wonder that one day I turned and asked about a castle and Auntie Pat looked at me and said....’Oh, I don’t know!’....I guess I ask alot of questions....we stopped in a town called Kilmartin....a place their Uncle Angus and Auntie Kate lived a full life...going to their greater rewards at the amazing ages of 93 and 96, respectively. Their is a churchyard in the tiny town of Kilmartin that houses ‘standing stones’. From what I gather... after reading about them for years and chatting with Auntie and Ma...that ‘standing-stones’ are stones that were fashioned and placed in the ground hundreds of years ago....and no one....NO ONE....knows why...I think the wicans think they do....I am sure the druids might know....but no one is admitting to it. They are so...ancient...and being around them gives me a great excitement....I want to know the secrets...I want to find a clue...one stands like a watcher in the cemetary at Kilmartin... which houses alot of medival gravestones...

...which I thought were ‘standing stones’ and got a bit confused ...I mean they were very cool...don’t get me wrong...some of them had warriors and celtic inscriptions on them and them but they just didn’t seem mystic enough..and then ....camera in hand....I turned around and there was stone rising from the ground in front of me with a .....was it?.....yes, it was... a face....like the faces I have seen in pictures of the self same stones in books and magazines of the stones on Easter Island.... a big idol....it stopped me in my tracks. It is the only one that I have no picture of. I guess I had stood looking at it for such a length of time I had worn my camera battery out....or had I? HOOOOOOOOO!

No, really, it was very moving and cool. We found Uncle Angus’s and Auntie Katie’s shared plot....with their lovely stone...Auntie Pat told me that Angus died some years before Katie .... when Katie passed someone played a bagpipe song that had been written for her during her lifetime, and carried her from her home, where she died, across the road to her resting place. I don’t know why this story affected me so....but it made my eyes water, as it did Auntie Pat...and we sat silent for a moment in the small hotel where we were eating our lunch... she...Haggis.... me....Egg Mayo....like Egg Salad but heavy on the mayo.... Anyhow....when George and I found their headstone...I took a picture of it...


which is probably all kinds of bad luck...or weird...but I didn’t even think of it..... and then I turned right around to photograph their view......it was a gorgeous view. They lived a long life, in the place they loved and went into the ground together to look out over the fields.....

Should we all be so lucky.

Scotland....Oban and Tobermory

There is the first and the real Oban Inn!!!
We have been here....Scotland for almost 5 full days and I cannot even believe how beautiful it is.... it is everything I dreamt of.... and more!!!
Gay as that sounds... it is true.
After our awesome place in Glasgow, we hopped into a rental van... the only vehicle big enough to fit my luggage ....oh ya and the other small pieces that the other three people have....it is not that I have alot.......it is just huge....but I sometimes need to have choices.
We drove along some long and windy roads....after about a half hour of winding I took half a gravol.....after another half hour....I took the other half....I am all sensitive to the motion.....
So, I was trying to look at the beautiful views through a drug induced haze...and keep one eye on sweet Georgie's driving...god bless him all on the other side of the road on the skinniest highway.... and I use that word loosely.....I have ever seen!!!
It is so rugged!!!
And mysterious....
We finally drove into Oban...we were staying overnight there before taking the ferry to Craignure on the Isle of Mull early the next morn.
We got to the Hotel......I fell asleep with my clothes on for 3 hours....I still got the jetlag...then we had an awesome meal....again... ( the food is great and thanks to Ma and Auntie Pat we are eating at some lovely places)....
And then we went out to find a place to drink.....
An old dude named Billy, who I could not really understand...who kissed me on the cheek twice...took us to a bar and led us to one side... the lounge side... and told us that I ....being a woman... did not want to go to the bar side because that was where men went....to do men things...
WHAT?!
REALLY?!
I laughed....he didn't ... he was serious.
What year is this?!
Anyhow...that place was kinda ass-ie...so we went to walk the sea wall and ended up at the Oban Inn.....
After living in Niagara it seemed like a good fit....what a great place ....it was founded in....

1790!!!!
For real....we don't even get that in our very new country....anyhow... we met some great people there....Scottish....British....Polish.....I even met a seaman.....seaMan.....who told me that when he didn't live on a ship he just buggered about....then he looked worried... and then he tried to tell me what 'buggered about' meant.... I told him "I got it"!
We drank.
We slept.
We awoke and got on the ferry....and due to the fact that we were going on the rough, open ocean.....another gravol....so I have been mostly drugged up, asleep or full of wine for most of the trip.
And that, my friends, is what I call a vacation.
But I have to tell you... all the I have really dreamt about is the scottish countryside.
And when we got onto the ferry I was pretty sure that was where I was headed!

We got off the Ferry and the sign posted said to be careful of the single lane highways...for 'both ways' traveling cars....on the wrong side.....well...the wrong side to us.
Awesome!
It was a fine drive in.....the country side was so green and then brakenish....again, very rugged...we drove into the seaside town of Tobermory....
Oh
my
god....
First of all... due to where it lies in the gulf stream there are palm trees...
Yup...
And flowers blooming...
In October...
It is about 11 degrees...
It is very magical.
And the harbour looks like it belongs in the Barbados.....
It is all contradictions....
Our hotel....The Western Isles Hotel....overlooks the harbour from a hill... the picture overhead is from our room window....the air is so clear....and the sun is out!!!
Today we went into my very first Scottish castle....I was so excited when I got out of the car I had to use my puffer....
It is called Duart Castle...


It was built in 1350....I mean, really.....it was fabulous.....my fave parts....the battlements...it was all old timey.....then George and I went and walked down to the water and through all the craggy rocks that surrounded the castle....I can almost feel what it was like to see a ship approaching to lay siege.....take out puffer and use it here....
Isn't it all Scotland-ie?
The castle is the home of the Clan Maclean.
One of the chiefs....in the 18th Century.....decided he didn't like his wife.....so he put her out on a rock that would sink as the tide came in.... in full view from a small window in the castle.....oddly one of her kinsman sailed by and picked her up.....her family... the untrustworthy Campbells....didn't kill him right away... they murdered him 30 years later.....keep your eyes on those Campbells.
Duart Castle = Awesome.
I also wanted to go on a walk through the forest....so we went on a hike to Torosay Castle....a newer less interesting castle....and decided to take a short cut back.... basically there was a sign with an arrow that pointed into the middle of a cowfield....
I was feeling very adventurous.....but I stood at the gate with trepidation.....
as the cows are highland cows....heeland coos.....and they have horns.....
But we trudged up the hill.....and were followed by about 40 young students...we made it very clear that we weren't sure where we were going...but they followed anyway.....I tried to give the cows a wide berth.....but when we got to the top of the hill it became clear that the gate and path we wanted to proceed through was occupied.......

Don't they look a little bit scary?
I mean....the horns and all.
But I felt very brave....the brown one smelled my hand....so I went over the fence....
I really did....
The students stood behind us waiting to see what we would do ............
I heard a german voice say "Well, the American is going over!"
As I swung my leg over and tried not to fall 'ass over tea kettle' into a cowpie I yelled out a phrase I have used at least twenty times since I got here....
" No...I am Canadian!"
Not that I don't like my American cousins...but my nationality is a source of pride and distinction!
George just look stunned that I decided to go over....he said that we hadn't really decided what our course of action would be.....but sometimes a girl has gotta go here own way.....I was on an adventure....
with cows.
oh...I am sorry....
coos.
They seemed interested in me.....I just wanted to get up the fricken hill....
All 40 of those students followed.....
Some in highheel boots....
Ah the young.....
I had fricken hiking shoes on and I had to be careful.....then because I was all Norma Rae and filled with P and V....I forged forward.....George told me to turn around....slowly....
they were all following me... not the students....the coos.
Um.
So, we made our way away from the beasts and back onto the path....I was so fricken proud... I felt like I had been on the greatest adventure EVER!!!
I don't get out much.
Now, this what I learned today.

Sometimes you gotta walk off the path.....not knowing where you are going.....sometimes you step in cow shit......sometimes you gotta walk with cows....coos......but if you trust yourself....you will find after a fashion that you are going the right way.
And it will all be worth it!
And you will feel awesome.

First Day in Scotland... Glasgow!

Okay.... I am gonna give this a try.... for all of those who say I cannot live without the camera....eff you!!!
And maybe it is a bit true...but I am so excited about being in Scotland....I didn't even say anything remotely nteresting but who gives and eff?
'Cause I am in Scotland, BABY!!!
The accents make me giggle and George has finally found a bathtub that is his size... which is ironice because everyone here is so short... really.
They are teeny....I am a bit of a giant!
If this can digitally cross the ocean.... consider my mind blown!

Sherida, Scotland and Webshow!!!

Oh my lord!!

I am so effing tired!!!! The things that I have done.... the things I have seen .... the places I have been... I wish I had the time to do a webshow .... I have not had enough time to pee... okay... maybe I have had time to pee....but I am getting ready to move back home to my place in Toronto... for a day.. then George and I go on a trip... we never go anywhere... unless we are working there!!! We are going to .... SCOTLAND!!!! Can you effing take it??? I cannot .... I am just so excited and ....well...due to the vacation and the length of time we are going I ahve to get all my shit in order.... SORRY AUNTIE PAT.... OH Ya.... by the way.... I am going to Scotland with Auntie Pat...what if I swear....we are going for a long time....odds are.... I will swear....Oh ya....here she is....
Isn't she purdy?
I love her... we are going with her and her sister, my mother-in-law....they are taking us for our birthdays... isn't that awesome?
If it was up to us ... we'd be going to Pickering to Cactus Jack's for a Bloomin' Onion and a Singapore Sling... maybe I am overstating due to the fact that I had a wine or two....
Oh... I am a bit drunkie!!!
Anyhow...
I went to see Janet Jackson with one of my best girls ...Vicki.... we had such and effing great time!!!!!
Thank god we went here......she all sickie poo-poo!
Get better Janet!
That chick is 42 years old....
She danced and sang her ass off......
There were people around us who were all young as hell and singing along with her....
I am thinking
"How the eff do they know her???!"
Then the next night I went to
Statlers for a Sheridan College Class of ...
Wait for it....
1989 Reunion......
OH lord.....
What a night.... what a great bunch of people......
We sang and laughed and drank....

Here is a pic of myself and standing beside me...
Michelle....we shared a room when we were the all - white version of 'Ain't Misbehavin'.....
yes....I said it....
and next to her the fantastic Michael....and next to her my love Sherry Lee!!!
We shared a cottage the size of a matchbook for a summer when were in the Sheridan Style....
Oh... I wore alot of blue eyeshadow and a white fake leather bustier....I mean really....
My hair was so high I could barely fit in a car....
Oh those were the days.....
So.... I am going to do a show in Orangeville for Firefighters...ah life is soooo damned tough....
And then the next day I am at the Canwest Cabaret Series at the Young Centre.......
I am sharing a bill with some great performers including Leslie Arden....how great will that be???
It is Sunday at 3:00pm.....it is the Musical Theatre Salon.
And then my peeps.....
SCOTLAND!!!!
Ah!!!!
After that I have a couple of awesome gigs in November.....
On November the 7th I return to the site of my first big deal show.....
The Toronto Centre...
Which was the Ford Centre...
And the Yonge Centre.....
But ..... again... now.... the Young Centre!!!
I was walking around there today and remembering how young I was when I started rehearsal in 1993 for Showboat.....with Hal fricken Prince....
What an experience that was!
They asked me to come up there and so I am!!
It will be an eclectic night and I am so glad to return to North York...a little older... a little wiser... and with a way better wardrobe!!
There will Music Theatre and maybe a pop song or two!!!
I am calling it
'Uptown Girl'
Here at the deets!!!

	Friday November 7th 8:15pm - 10:30pm
	Toronto Centre for the Arts, Studio Theatre
	5040 Yonge Street
	Toronto, ON Call 416 872 1111!!!!! And then my dears a couple weeks later I go back to one of my favorite place to do a whole new show!!! A Broadway show.... Holy Crow!! One night only I am trying it out! Think of it as out of town....yet in town previews!!! It is going to be Sharron's Big Broadway Show!!! Tuesday November 18th @ Buddies in Bad Times!!! 7:30pm Doors and 8:00pm show Tickets are $20.00 and if you have student ID they are $15.00 It is the story of girl named Sharron who starts in the stripping in the chorus of Guys And Dolls and ends up dancing in the streets with John Travolta.... How the eff did that happen? Well, check it out.....
	Google MapQuest Microsoft Yahoo

Until then my friends....
I am off.... to do some shows and then have a vacation...
I will be thinking of all of you!!
Luv
Shar

Butterflies, Brent Carver and Amnesty

How pretty is that picture?
George took it on our little 14th wedding anniversary break to Niagara FAlls.
It is so strange that when you grow up next to one of the natural wonders of the world you forget that it is a big deal....
I don't think I even mentioned what an awesome time George and had on our break...it was just the bees knees.
But we went to the Butterfly Conservatory ..... even thought it sounded a little gaylordy....
it was awesome....
they were flying around everywhere...
I was afraid of stepping on one....I uploaded George's entire cycle of pics onto my facebook page... checks it out!
This one is my fave though.... some loud American woman had a jacket with flowers embroidered on the back and was bellyaching about how she could not get a decent picture of the the blue butterflies...she was so effing loud... and then two landed on the flowers embroidered on the BACK of her jacket.... I found it to be poetic justice.
But what a whirlwind of a month peeps...
I was gonna do a video blog....but I am so effing tired....and I look like I have been rolled over by a truck.
So I chose this instead.....
My 40th Birthday party... that I was having SOOO much fun at I didn't take pictures...Not Sharron's Party... but the party my Georgie planned for me at one of my fave places....The Keg Mansion on Jarvis....I am all old school....and not at all fancy.... and I love steak....a whole bunch of my favorite people got together... and not alot of them knew each other...it was like a dream that had your grade 4 teacher in it and the guy you sat beside when you worked at the Toronto Fim Festival.....BUT Better!
I got such lovely gifts....Michael G ... my friend who designed 'Wizard' at LYKTP gave me a copy of my costume sketch....a woman on the board of LYKTP bought the original...I know it happens but it feels weird....but Michael drew me a whole new one...with notes and all... it is one of the nicest gifts I have ever gotten....
And Bill....my hair guru....got me hair... Fire engine red extentions.... I asked him to dye a couple pieces a the pack of my hair fire engine red... he said no... he does that... and then went and found me and alternative....it was very sweet!
Anyhow....some of my dearest friends were there....it was a small group... I just had a great time.
And then there was Sharron's Party... oh my lord...
The costumes...
The performances...
The surprises....
I will put some live bits up soon... it has been busy!
But suffice it to say this weekend was a huge hit!!
Jeigh Madjus was stellar....he got two job offers...
Ed Sahely asked awesome questions....
And made me laugh... and pee a bit...
Keith will be sad that I didn't pee for him...
Or is it on him...
I ain't sure....
But I may take Keith's advice and bitchslap someone today...
The Maria girls...
Jayme and Marisa were just... so lovely and poised...
They saved my buttocks....
Keep your eyes out for them.....
And well.......

Can you believe that?
I was so nervous during that interview... I still can't believe he came....
Brent Carver....
On Sharron's Party....
What a dream.....
He sang Ten Cents A Dance... one of the first things I ever saw him sing.....one of the things that made me get into cabaret....
and then he sang
Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen....
Oh....my ...goodness....
Grant Ramsay....my friend and publicist kept pinching me... I said ' I know he is here!!'
It was just not to be believed.
And I felt on fire with the excitement of it all!
Thank you Brent Carver.... oh, and Jeremy Clay... my awesome photo dude....
Check out jclayphoto.com!
And then I drove back to Niagara on the Lake the same night....
TIRED!
And yesterday....
George and I hosted the Amnesty Concert at Shaw in the Royal George....
FANCY!!!
Thom sang Infinite Joy ....oh he good!!!
And Ken James Stewart and Jackie Thair did that awesome Oscar award winning song from Once....Fallen Joy.....or Falling Down.....one or the other... they were excellent... the Done Me Wrongs...it was just a fab night with dramatic readings....Jenny Phipps and William Vickers.. and Peter Millard has and alter ego as a crazy prop comedian professor...
Oh... and I had to fill some time during a set up... so I got a dude in the front row to take mine and George's pic...but I took a pic with him first....

This is him.... his name is..... Jim???? I think..... then we turned around and got a pic of us.....


Not bad, eh?
We clean up nice.....
What a time it was....
Now I feel like a fricken head cold....
TOOO Much....
Next up?
Sharron's Big Broadway Show on November 18th....
One night only peeps.....I have written it and I wanna see how it all goes....
And before that?
Scotland!!!
yes... I am going with George and his Mom... and the ever vigilant Auntie Pat....
I CANNOT wait!
But first ... I work... and then I sleep... and then I get up and work more......

First 40th at Buddies

I am just sitting in my young friends Sara's apartment... which is actually Patricia's apartment... she is away in Little Shop Of Horrors in Edmonton....

Which is far away....

She called this morn and we had a conference call just like we were at a slumber party... and I don't care what anyone says...you are never too old for a good old slumber party.

I am tired but well rested... how can that be?

Well....it is!!!!

I just realized that I am in this apartment with no keys...

And no food...

Sara asked what kind of food I liked and said..

" Oh no don't buy anything for me... I will bring food."

Did I?

I am so effing hungry... and I can see food out the window but I can't get to it.

This is what it must have been like to be on Survivor....

or not.

This is a true New York style apartment the way the light shines throught the windows and it is surrounded by alot of really quaint 6 floor walk ups....

Oh....

I had such a great time last night, you guys...

It feels great to be 40 and surrounded by such awesome supporters and friends.

I just feel.... so happy about that.

Keith Cole camed dressed... in the EXACT same outfit as me...

really....

Fashion Crimes thought it was a great idea...

Thanks to Fashion Crimes... they are just the best....

And they gave me one of my favourite dresses... for my birthday....

I love them...

So will you...

fashioncrimes.ca...

You HAVE to check them out!

Anyhow...

Rachael McCaig... played the guitar in a million dollar looking outfit... hot... and sang dirty and funny dittys....thanks Girl.

And those two girls...

Marisa McIntyre

and

Jayme Armstrong....

What troopers ....

One was doing interviews all day in Waterloo

and the other had a Jersey Boys dance call about 2 hours beforehand...

They came and told fab stories about their experience and left the audience gasping and laughing...

They told it all....

You shoulda been there.

I had a great night....

Tonight is gonna be something else all together...

I am very excited...

And nervous!!

It will be awsome!!!

Who knows how it will go.... that is the exciting part ab0ut it being LIVE!

WORLD DOMINATION!!! Oh ya... and I am turning 40..

I decided purple is a good birthday colour babies....
40?
I had one of those....'am I doing all this work for nothing'... birthday moments with George yesterday.....
'What am I doing?' I asked him.
'Is this worth it?' I say.
He looks me dead in the eye....
'Do you have fun?'.....He continued....
'I know the promo is hard....and you worry how many people will come....but when you get onstage....do you have fun?'
Then the room is quiet as I look through the window.
I am all 'looking through my last 40 years'.... unsure, elated, confused, excited....
Very 'acting-class' of me... I know...
But then I started to work on this little video in order to get people out to the show....
And I out loud laughed at Gavin Crawford and thrilled to the voice of one of my young people Michael Hughes and just shook my head at the singing ability of Donna Lajeunesse and left humbled by the balls and creativity of Jonathan Wilson.......
I even smiled at my own musings... and thought... I look pretty effing good for almost 40!
And I turned to George with a smile on my face
IT IS WORTH IT!
Here it is people....
I had real fun with this one...
I think I am Spielberg....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zhm3VR4DQ5U

Self promotion is....
challenging....
I try to get it out there....
But, not so much that people want to club me...
Ya know...
I have one 40th Birthday pet peeve...
I am gonna say it and then send it soooo that I don't lose my gumption.
I never use this page for ranting... not really...
except for the Maria show....
But, come on!
Let see how this goes...
Maybe I will delete it later....
Well....
It is like Gavin said in the above video.... if you are proud of what you do sometimes... and name something after yourself...people think you uppidy....
I think I spelled that wrong!
He actually says... people think you an asshole...
I have recently had some people tell me that I do too much...
Out of the blue...
'Sharron... too many emails!'
I find it gobsmaking that people walk up and tell me that and don't think that is gonna poop me out a bit... as a self promoter and all.
Maybe they don't care.
Someone actually came to me at an opening and said....
"I can't open a paper without seeing you!"
and said it with some sort of disdain...
A friend... actually.....
I'm...... sorry?
What?!!!
I breathe heavily....
I guess I am me.... loud and proud.
And I believe in what I do!

I love having the awesome guests....
I love singing the pop tunes...
I love talking and singing with an audience....
I LOVE writing the stories....
But, my dears peeps.... if people don't like the promo...
Please just do what I do...

Delete it...
It is one click of the finger....
Just delete it....

And keep all us self promoters happy....in spirit...
There aren't enough of us...
Support our artists who are trying to do something outside of the box of corporation....
And just click it....
Anyhow....
wow... that was a rant for me...
that being said.....

Come out to
Sharron's Party this weekend
September 19th and 20th
and celebrate my 40th Birthday with...
Holy poopies....
Janna Polzin and Brent Carver!!
Jeigh Madjus and Rachael McCaig!!!
and showing up for fun and frivolity...
Ed Sahely and Keith Cole....
I am excited to turn 40 and hope that you can be there for a whole new show!!!

Sharron and George Married September 10th 1994

I don't know... but this pic will only come on side ways...
BUT....The day was just like this.....
blue sky....
few clouds....
My sister and my mom... and EVERYONE left me to sleep that morning... George and I didn't stay together....tradition, what?... he had to share a room with his brother... can you take that.... he asked me just this morning why he had to do that....
But I was all alone, smoking.... oh fuck I loved to smoke...sorry Auntie Pat.... and I looked at all the flowers in my sisters beautiful back yard that goes into a ravine... and felt....
TERRIFIED!
Not because I was getting married.... but because I didn't know where anyone was....had they left me... where the eff were they???
I had never planned on getting married... I was gonna be single and fabulous... all Sex and the City before we even knew what the eff it was....
But here I was...
At one point, after my family finally showed up....
( I had called George on our two-ton cellphone and screeeched that I didn't know where anyone was...he walked around and found them... gotta love him... and he still married me....)
I went and got my hair done... just like on the Wedding Shows....I was wearing black tights and a denim top... and a flowered hair piece.....smoking a cigarette....oh my lord.....the white trashedness of it all....
I put on the big white dress..... that I decided I needed one day....
I got into a white.... yes, white limo.....and off I went....
I got very nervous just before I walked down the aisle...
But then I saw him....
And even though we weren't instructed to....I grabbed his hand... and I looked into his eyes...
I knew everything was gonna be....
Fine.
As long as we were a team....
We would do fine.

Britney SPEARS!!! OH MY GOD!!!

OH my lord you guys!!!
She is gonna try it again.....
I mean.... Oops.... she is gonna do it again!!!!
Without the oops!!!
Now, we all know how I love a little Brit!!!
She is awesome and trashy and messy but I can't stop watching her and rooting for her.....because I love her ....and because she is a source of alot of my material!!
After that horrible MVA debacle.... was it two years ago... or was it just last year?.......she has pulled up here thigh-highs and decided to give it another go!!
That is moxie and I wish her the best...
What is it gonna be like?
What is she gonna wear?
How is it gonna be?
Are you all rooting for her like I am???

Doe, Belting and Brent Carver!!!

Here is Webshow 12 Part Two....
If you haven't seen Part One scroll down....
You can watch them without watching the other....
They stand alone.....
Like 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer' and 'Rudolf's Shiny New Year'....
ISH.......

The Party, Olympics and The DNC!!

Hey Y'all!!!
Here is Webshow 12... Part 1.... oh how time has flown!

Sharron's August Party Part One!!

You gotta dig Jeremy Clay's pics!!!!

So, last night at the show I got a young man named Jeigh up for the sing a long to help me.....He was so cute looking... oh... here he is!!!


How cute is he???
Anyhow... he sang like a fucking bird... really....
And I realized that I had a spot open in my 40th Birthday shows....
The one....
With Brent Carver on it!!!
REALLY!!
The night before that fabulous Maria
Janna Polzin
will be on...
with SYTYWBOSP guest
Rachel McCaig...
The show was super fun...
I swore five million times and Michael Hughes... stunning young man... brought 40 people....
Gavin Crawford was so great doing his Rufas Wainwright and talking away!
Looking soooo forward to tonight!
And Ari Weinberg has been doing stuff that needs be done for me...
I don't know how I would have managed without him....
Love you ARI!!!

Sigh!!!!

Oh sigh.....vacationing is hard you guys....
I am so tired from my one week long beach retreat I need.... another vacation.
I didn't have the internet for a week.... except for my blackberry ... and yesterday I was in the sun, on my beach chair for hours and got a bit of a burn....hmmmm.... it is a challenge to relax.
Alright... enough of all that shit... what a great break that was.... my sister rented a cottage for her, my two nieces and I for a week up......over...... down... I don't know exactly where but it is in Ontario.... in Long Beach... we had a private beach.
!!!!!
We had not had a chance to see it beforehand so I was a bit worried.....
You never know... I always think that it will turn out to be some house from a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie... ya know....but it was so nice.. so clean... 4 bedrooms and a huge kitchen, and a short walk to the beach....here is the beach...

That was the view from my 20 dollar beach lounger that I got from Can Tire the second day.... lying on the towel put too much sand up my ass.
Oh... it was a dream... the first two days I got up early... because all the rest of my family gets up at like, 6:00am, and then tromps around the house like bigfoot....bigfeet... foot... whatever....so, I thought...I am on vacation... I will also get up early... and then happily... though the forecast was crappy... the sun was out... I will powerwalk on the beach.... with NO SHOES... just like that Matthew Macconeghey.... I know that is not the way you spell his name but you know how I feel about spelling!!!
Anyhow... so I put on my ipod and my ironman watch and off I go!!!
Wow!!!
So, on the second day though my ankle hurts a bit from the no shoes part... how does Matthew do that?... I think that I will try it again!!!
Good for me.... I stepped on a fucking branch and when I lifted up my foot it was stuck... into my foot... I pulled it out and kept walking.... my foot hurt... I walked more... my foot really hurt... so I sit in the sand... and screw my body into a yoga position to stare at my foot....oh fuck... there is still stick in my foot....
So I make my niece get out the tweezers and bleach... you can guess at the rest...
No more powerwalk...but since I was eating chips I needed exercise... oh my lord peeps.... I got up early every morning.. and swam the coastline for 45 minutes... up and down... there was no one in the water but me... it is as glorious as it sounds...a bit cold but who cares!!
The only snag was there were a bunch of Yanks... and I love Yanks... don't get me wrong...who came down to the beach each morning about the same time to hit golfballs into the lake...I felt this was wrong... they were polluting the lake and making me fear for my life as the balls wizzed by me... so I cussed them out... then I felt like an old lady... that was a weird thing that I felt on this vacation... I saw a bunch of young girls stroll by everyday in their bikinis and felt old.... I never had a bikini bod...it made me a tad sad... that is the moment I always try to remind myself that I am funny... that counts for alot... that is a good trade off.... I get to be funny forever... hopefully .....and they will have a bikini bod for ...what... 10 years??....
Ya gotta love what makes me feel better...
Oh and there was a pigeon that stalked me the whole week... he hung around my chair everyday!
Here he is....


Can you see him?
He is right in the middle of the shot.... look closer... ahh ... there he is... that little fucker... sorry ... I have a potty mouth today, Auntie Pat!!!...
My niece named him Freddie... after my old step dad... he was a bit of a wanker... the step dad.... not the seagull.....but he has passed... away.... a long time ago..... the stepdad.... I don't know if the seagull bit the big one in the last couple of days......let us not speak ill of the ...dead... ug.. this is going down a bad road.
I always think that when someone passes and they are a wanker... we try to pretend they were better people that they were....
What the EFF am I talking about?????
Oh yes....
I loved the beach!
I love my sis!!!
And my nieces!!
Here they are.....



Now, I really am tired!!
But pleased...the week is busy... auditions for film...FINALLY.. and for theatre... no comment.... and the show... YES... THE SHOW!!!
So, here we go folks....
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MY WEBSHOW....
WELL, SCROLL DOWN AND TRY AGAIN THIS WEEK!!!
I WILL TRY TO DO SOMETHING!!
BYE!

Webshow 11 Part 2 SYTYCD, Steven Paige and Lipstick....

Here Is Part Two....
Scroll down for one!!!

Webshow 11 Part 1 Theme Songs, Simon Lee and Rapport...

Rock it!!!
I hope you enjoy my up do!

WHAT THE &%^$ ??????

After you read this .... you can scroll down and check out the latest VLOG.... I just put it up... moments ago, after publishing said VLOG, I double clicked to the newspaper with all good intentions of going back to bed to cuddle my dear sweet hubby.... AND THEN I READ THE TORONTO STAR!!!!!
Holy Crap!!!
FIRST!
Let me say how happy I am the Elicia won the 'Maria Show'!!!
Janna was great and will have a big career but Elicia was right for this role.......
She is all young and fresh and not jaded and has a sweet endearing gleam in her eyes that Maria needs.... all this said by a girl who puts 'Sound Of Music'...that's me if you don't know..... on of her least fave show list.... I love talking about myself in the third person.....
But I read in the Star this morning that they had cast some of the other roles... I knew that ... some of my friends have told me that they have been cast.....I read further in blissful ignorance....UNTIL I
see that it says that after a 6 week search to find Canada's Maria.... they have cast AMERICAN Burke Moses as Von Trapp..... and that is according to Richard Ouzounian who's tips are never wrong!!!
What the fuck????
Sorry Auntie Pat but .....WHAT THE FUCK!!!
It seems so.... wrong....do they think we didn't have a leading man strong enough to carry a show with a newbie.... was it Webber.....which it might have been?
What happened here?
Again.... WHAT THE FUCK???
Okay.... you can scroll down to the blog now.....
Oh my lord....I have got alot to say....

Webshow 10 Part 2.... SYTYCD, Jiggy and Elicia!!

Here is Part 2.....Scroll down for Part 1!!!!!
I do Love So You Think You Can Dance......

Webshow 10!! Part 1...Maria, Orgies and Icky Poo!

Here is Webshow 10..... it is the 10th Anniversary of the show!!!
Oh Happy Day!!!

Webshow 9 Part 2 ..... So You Think, Love Rollercoaster and Party!

WAIT!!!
This is Part Two .....
Scroll down for Part One!!!

Webshow 9 Part 1.....Tea, Maria and Swearing!

Here is Webshow 9 Part One.....
I have a love/hate relationship with that Maria show!!!
And Tell you my upcoming guests!!!

Webshow 8 Part 2....Maria Thingie and Big Announcement!!!

Heya!!! Scroll down to see part one and then come back up and........Here is number two.... there is a bit of announcement!!! WOO HOOOOO!!!

Sharron's Webshow 8..Doras, Dance and Gay Dogs Part One!!

Here we go peeps.... it has been a while but I think I have got just the right lighting to make me feel thin......and watch out for the next two days.... new blog with big announcement to follow!!!!!

That effin Maria show!!

Holy Crap.....
I just cannot contain myself......
I watched that effing Maria show again and it just gobsmacks me......
I was so excited about it.... and now???
It could be such a wonderful feature for new Canadian talent and a great stepping stone for these young girls but.....holy poop.... (I am saying poop for my Auntie Pat who has asked me to stop swearing on my blog.....so let us go clean this week.... I wonder if I can really make myself clear without good swear words....we shall see....)
The tech on the show is just sketch..... the lights are dark.... the mikes don't work....isn't this the nations TV network.... shouldn't they know better?
That host........holy f.......crappadoodies.......John Barrowman is a mean, self important ass who manages to work in a credit about himself every second line ....before he cuts below the belt ....I mean... really below the belt....you can see these young girls eyes fill with tears as he tears into them with his 'helpful' comments.....
He made that lovely comment about one girls' performance being only good enough for dinner theatre in Niagara Falls....some people who are quite excellent do work doing that very thing in that very place.....he meant it as a slag, of course, and it is a lovely way for someone from another country to show how much he respects ours.
There is no level playing field.... some girls were made to dance and sing with dancers...being lifted onto shoulders while they hit their high notes...... while others get to stride around the stage singing songs that are perfect for them into a wind machines.....wind machines???? .....while still others sing totally out of their comfort zones in keys that are bad for their voices.....again....how can we judge if they aren't being given all the same challenges and benefits????
I just don't think it is news worthy to be negative and cutting to people on TV in reality shows.... and I love me a reality show.... no doubt.....but these judges are just mean.
I do hope that this show brings people to the theatre who don't usually come....but ug..... it makes me mad and a bit sad to watch it.......

I am alive.... and I have a budda belly!

THE DORAS!!!!!!

Well, it is all over but the crying folks.... I have been sleeping for the last three days and eating whatever is within two feet of my mouth so I refuse to video tape myself!!!
So many things!!!
The Doras went well!! I promised myself that I would try and have a good time.... and I actually managed it.....how the eff did that happen? Well, I think I have figured it all out! I wrapped myself in people who are awesome..... Kat KcEwen from Fashion Crimes.... wait... I have a pic of her and I......

She is the best!!!! Anyhow, she was my stylist and FC rep for the night... and she could not have been more awesome and she was right beside me all night!!!!
I also had Bill, my oft-mentioned hair guru with me... he is the funniest and the awesomeist.....he gave me 10... count' em... 10 hair dos in 2 and 1/2 hours.... GOD!!!!
And Thom was back there with me...... I cannot do anything without Thom.....he was awesome in the show, too!!!
He was my foil, my duet partner, my backstage support.....it was so wonderful to look across the stage and see that I am singing a duet with Thom on the Winter Garden Stage!!!!
He wrote me three cards before, during and after..... what the eff!!!
He is just the awesomest....
And old friend and dresser Rafe Mcpherson at the IA Dresser helm......also Briane Nasimok.... writer and general go to guy for the night....he made sure that I made it onstage when I needed to....
With all that fabulosity backstage ...... 10 costume changes and 10 hair changes.... I only had time to actually be in the moment.... imagine that luxury......
But at the beginning of it all we went up 15 minutes late.... I was ready for about a half hour and the more I waited to more "crap -my-pants" I got.... I was starting in the audience and I just stood there with a stage manager waiting............ UG!!
When I finally ran into the house, people, it was like running into your worst nightmare.... there was nowhere to look... NOWHERE I tell you!!!
Everywhere was a media person, a director, producer....oh lord... the list goes on.... but the opening... which I wrote and memeorized...5 pages... great idea Sharron.... went well... I ad libbed it a bit and heard the laughter of the crowd....
And I looked into the eyes if my adorable husband sitting in the second row.... he was beaming,.....he was right where I needed him to be!!!!!
Of course, there were a few people who just crossed their arms and refused to be sullied by the kitch of what I do.... but there were a whole bunch of other people who seemed to enjoy themselves....
Sky in his big glasses, Patricia with her big smile, Albert with his big laugh and Mary Francis clapping and smiling like she could will me to do well.... god Bless them all!!!
The best part of the night......when I was leaving the house during 'Last Dance' didn't Brent Carver jump up and start dancing with me!!!!
I almost peed.... I got drunk in about 5 minutes after!!!
Here is what the fabulously tasteful Jon Kaplan.... thanks be to him..... had to say about it all.....

The stage at the Winter Garden Theatre may have been full of sunflowers for the 29th annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards -- even the Dora Award statue held a bloom -- but there was nothing even remotely wall-flowerish about the evening's host, the effervescent Sharron Matthews.

Flirting with the audience or berating a viewer, Matthews (changing her dress some eight times) hosted a three-hour evening that moved briskly along with dozens of awards presentations.

She put her pipes to great effect over the course of the evening with the help of guest Thom Allison, sometimes thrilling us and sometimes lulling us, singing a series of tunes that included works by Canadians Joey Miller and Brad Fraser, Leslie Arden and David Warrack.

Named for theatre pioneer Dora Mavor Moore and sponsored by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), the awards honour excellence in the theatre and dance communities.

In the independent theatre division, three companies picked up six of the nine awards. Modern Times Stage Company won for the outstanding production award and director Soheil Parsa was also honoured; Aluna Theatre's Madre received Doras for set design (Trevor Schwellnus) and sound design/composition (Thomas Ryder Payne).

The newcomer to the block was Theatre Jones Roy's Pyaasa, which won writer/actor Anusree Roy prizes for new play and performer. If you missed the short run of this solo show about untouchables in India, you can catch it at Theatre Passe Muraille next season. Filled with emotion, Roy thanked the jurors and audience, saying they've "made an immigrant's dream come true."

In the general division, Canadian Stage's Fire picked up five awards, including outstanding production of a musical, musical direction (Ted Dykstra), principal male performer in a musical (Dykstra again), principal female performer in a musical (Nicole Underhay) and direction of a musical (James MacDonald).

The company also took outstanding play production (Colleen Murphy's The December Man) and outstanding new play (Judith Thompson's The Palace Of The End).

Soulpepper picked up two acting awards (Joseph Ziegler and Stuart Hughes in The Time Of Your Life) and one directing award (Alisa Palmer for Top Girls).

Outstanding new musical went to Jim LeFrancois and David Oye for devising Buddies in Bad Times's Arthouse Cabaret.

Peggy Baker took two of the four awards in the dance division for Portal, new choreography and performance.

Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young Audiences went home with both the statues in the theatre for young audiences division -- outstanding production (Love You Forever...And More Munsch) and performance (Kyle Cameron in Green Thumb Theatre's Cranked).

In the opera division, the Canadian Opera Company's From The House Of The Dead took the production award, while Measha Brueggergosman copped the performance award for her work in Opera Atelier's Idomeneo.

A quartet of other presentations were scattered through the evening. Designer Michelle Ramsay got the Pauline McGibbon Award and also picked up a Dora for her lighting of Theatre Rusticle's April 14, 1912.

The Actors' Fund of Canada, celebrating its 50th birthday, received an honorary Dora.

Director, teacher and and translator John Van Burek -- the founder of Theatre Francais de Toronto and current head of Pleiades Theatre -- received the Silver Ticket Award for his long-term work in the community.

The third annual Audience Choice Award went to Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story On Stage.

One of the night's best lines? Dykstra, accepting the Dora for his performance in Fire, said he'd received the identical honour 20 years ago, in 1988, for the same show.

"Proves that you should stick to what you know...and see you all in 2028."

.........................................................................................................................................................................

Now, I am in Niagara.... watching the National Post everyday where I have been asked to be the Diarist ....it is super exciting to be asked!!!!
Check it out!!!!
Start with the one below and it can lead you to others!!!

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=622799

Wowie.... media whore!!!!
That is me..... there is so much going on and I am excited about all the future that is before me.... who know what it will be!!!???
But I am gonna make a big announcement on here this week after I do a bit of a flush......
Oh... check out this pic from the party after.... All three of us are tipsy.... my eyelash is coming off...ghetto fabulous..... my girls Mary Francis and Patricia!!!

Oh... what a night.... what a year!!!
What will be next????
oh ya... look at my hubby in a tux!