First Guest Announcement and Things that make you go AHHHHH!

Okay.

Please be advised that the following blog contains some strong views, thoughts and, maybe, language...and all these things might cause you to defriend me (see the blog just before this one for explanation)...but I will have to get the eff over it and persevere. 

I just got something to say...which ends with the announcement of our fabulous first guest for George and Sharron's SUPER FUN Christmas Sing-A-Long. 

This first thing has NOTHING to do with our show, just FYI.

So, you can bypass this and scroll down...but when does one get a good surprise? Huh? 

I say, read ON!!! 

So, I am not sure if anyone is following along BUT I made a grand statement (one of many...I am sure) that I WOULD NOT watch XFactor US because it is about the sleaziest singing reality show there is...after that poor young man who had sung with Britney earlier in both their careers...who clearly and sadly had a drug problem...showed up on the show and they let him make a mess of himself in front of millions of people...and then it put Britney in a horrible position.

It was horrible.

But tonight, I'm ashamed to say, I watched about 20 minutes. 

I saw enough for the rest of my life.

If anyone saw my touring show this year...they know how I feel about those Kardashians...famous for nothing but their money and...and their asses. Congrats on that....oh, and maybe their hair...and Kim's sex video.

Now, one of the ones that is not Kim,  not Other Kardashian...but Whatshername Kardashian...is hosting the show...with Mario Lopez. Hosting. One more time. Hosting.

It is like watching a clown car accident.

She can barely speak...let alone read.

Her Momager, Kris, must be proud.  

What a fucking...

Anyhow...tonight you saw Kim in the audience with Kanye...again, what the fuck...waving at her miscast sister as she ambled around the set with a disbelieving Mario Lopez at her side.  You can feel the poor guy doing his best to NEVER look at her...never. He is mentally reading through his contract through the whole show...wondering how the eff this happened.

And then the talent came on.

Oh my, sweet Jesus.

It is too much.

The sob stories...it is just horrible...and then making the performers watch the sob stories and then kicking their asses out onstage.

Two most horrible moments of the 20 minutes. (Besides anything involving Whatshername Kardashian.

1. The bleach blonde girl whose story was all about her sister who had passed away...and they sent her onstage to sing "Wind Beneath My Wings" or the equivalent and she was balling through the whole song...trying to keep her shit together. The poor thing. The kept showing shots of her family sobbing in the audience. (Yes, I know a lot of shows do this...but is seems especially creepy and over used on this show...in the 20 minutes I saw.)

2. The 12 year old who sang the Snow Patrol Song...not very well...shoot me...and then right near the end...she walked into the stream of a WIND MACHINE...her hair was all blowing...and then while she was being critiqued there was a fucking leaf in her hair...from the set...with the WIND MACHINE. Lord Love a DUCK.

It was...as I said...horrible.

And I hated myself the whole time.

And may we say...at the risk of being...well...what the heck happened to Simon's face? I saw him on the show a month or two ago and it was fine..and now...something has...it is odd.

I even googled "Simon's Face" and got about 100 000 hits. (That being said...if something ever happens to my face and you google it...please don't tell me.)

Lord. 

Jesus...I will never watch that crap again...I promise. 

And that Demi Lovato sounds and looks like a right biznatch. No?

She is there talking about how someone's performance is boring and predictable...dear Demi...I googled you...and the pot has called...and if you didn't know...you are the kettle.

Anyhow...whew.

Rant over.

SAY NO TO XFACTOR.

Harsh? Maybe? I just had to.

On another tiny sidebar/note did you hear this little tidbit today?

Susan Boyle's "people" (lord, she has people)  announced on twitter that Susan Boyle was having a release party for her new album...the hash tag was:

#susanalbumparty

Read that a couple times.

Holy snot.

How wonderful.

Who knew.

Awesome.

And on that note! 

WE are so excited about "Sharron and George's SUPER FUN Christmas Sing-A-Long!"...the response has been amazing and there is only a handful of tickets left.

People are chatting about what kinda Christmas cookies they might bring...wow...and what Christmas sweater they might wear...wow...and what songs we might be singing together! 

PLEASE go to my @sharronmatthews or George's @georgorama twitter account and tell us the songs you wanna sing!! Or to the Facebook event page  http://www.facebook.com/events/462755190441463/  

We are open to all suggestions!

We want people to sing songs they love!

So, not only will there be awesome singing along...but there will be amazing artists to entertain you as well...and our first guest to announce for the SUPER FUN show is...wait for it...you saw her in so many awesome shows...but everyone knows her as the Killer Queen from "We Will Rock You"...

Ms. Alana Bridgewater!!!

George and I chatted with her, and her gorgeous daughter, when we were all standing in line waiting to see the final show of "Over The Rainbow" and when we asked her to be a part of the SUPER FUN show, she agreed RIGHT THERE. 

Awesome

She is so pretty.

And one of the best vocalists in this country, people.  

What a way to start the guest announcing, huh?

So, as I said earlier, we only have a handful of tickets...no kidding...and I don't want anyone to be disappointed...so go buy them online RIGHT NOW, people!

Don't forget, the show date is December 20th at Buddies.

https://tickets.buddiesinbadtimes.com/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent165.html   

It is already shaping up to be an audience of excellent people!

I hope Whatshername Kardashian shows up.

   

  

    

 

  

    

         

 

Today, I was defriended..by one of my heroes.

Today, I was defriended...by one of my heroes.
TOP THAT!
I am not going to lie about it either...it fucking hurt my feelings!
This time is always a bit challenging for me...a big project done...many others yet to begin...others in a holding pattern...and you know what I’m not?
Patient.
I am sure you are all surprised. Opposite day.
AND I am not good with transitions that I can’t write myself...for the record, I am AWESOME with other kinds of transitions...musical and stuff...not that I want to crow or anything...well, clearly I do a bit.
Is that wrong?
Is it wrong to crow.
That is a fine question...one I might be sorry that I asked...but here we go.
And, for the record and for anyone who is following along, I seem to chat about this subject at least twice a year.
I am doing a show...yes, I know...another show...a Christmas Show with my husband, George (On December 20th @ Buddies in Bad Times...it is a Christmas Sing A Long...get tickets online, click here! https://tickets.buddiesinbadtimes.com/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent165.html ...yup, see what I did there?) and every time I begin publicity for anything I have to gird my loins, as it were...there is always someone who writes me and complains...sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly and sometimes (my personal fave) passive-aggressively. And I take a name or two off my email list. I put a person on my Facebook NO SEND list...although, to be fair, people can remove themselves from getting event invites...but I don’t want to piss anyone off so I have a special list on my desk of people not to click when sending an invite.
There is a lot of info flying around on social media...so, I really won’t blame people who don’t want to hear all about it...who have been on my email list since Jesus was a small child and they are not wanting to hear about my exploits anymore...but it always hurts a teeny-tiny bit or sometimes a lot (depending on how the email is worded)...but that is me...I am sensitive and all that...and I will eventually get over it...and/or, clearly blog about it.
:)
(I have learned to love the smiley face...so shoot me.)
Yesterday, after I send out my mass email and set up the Facebook event for the show, I received a couple of “loin-girding” emails...one of them was from someone who so clearly has a great disdain for what I do, or at least that is what came across in the email...and, to be clear, they are in the entertainment business...and I went...out of interests-sakes a’course... to their WEBSITE and on it was a quote that basically said, “Don’t be too proud or shine too brightly...it is the people who work quietly and toil alone who receive their true reward.”...now that isn’t exactly what it said...but that was the gist...on their WEBSITE.
Lord and Taylor.
It scratches my soul a bit...come on...let us be honest...it does...but...really?
Don’t be proud...don’t shine...toil in solitude.
Don’t Crow...that is what is says, really...don’t crow.
And that just makes me sad...and a bit mad.
No matter how strong a person is or convicted they are in their mission these kind of messages make one feel like a fame whore...or someone who is so conceited about their work that they should move to another country...a country far, far away.
I know I send a lot of emails.
I know that I am a Facebook-Spinner and Twitter....fleeter...twinter...jibber...you know what I mean...and these things have helped me a great deal.
I am very thankful for these tools.
They have filled my houses.
They have helped me get my shows greater recognition.
They have kept a community up to date about my and other peoples work in a way nothing else could...if they are so inclined.
Most importantly, they keep me in touch with artists, audiences and supporters from all over the world.
Social media is a very useful tool.
One that I try to be very mindful of.
(This is the point that I like to thank the people that have kept me on their feed...which, incidentally, you don’t have to! If you don’t like having me on your news feed...and I understand this and will never see if you take me off...fragile feelings saved...just hold your cursor over my name and you will see a variety of options...hide me...unsubscribe from me...so many options.)
We cannot afford fancy publicists...yet.
Social media is one of an artistic entrepreneurs greatest helps...in a country that does not believe in stars, we have to create our own hooks to hang our stuff on. (Fancy)
Now, I also always say, if you don’t like it...and please keep in mind people...this is mostly about the people who feel so affronted by my emails and/or messages that they write me to tell me so...or to ask me who I think I am...one of my personal fave lines...if you don’t like it...unfollow or defriend me.
Which, as I have said, can hurt my fragile feelings but I will eventually get over it...
Isn’t it funny how a defriending can knock the wind out of your lungs? Make you wonder what you did? Make you feel smaller about yourself?
Make you take FACE BOOK TOO SERIOUSLY!?!?!
Yes.
Well, many years ago, in my twenties, I went to see a performer.
Seeing their work was like a lightbulb coming on.
I was entranced, enthralled and inspired...it was back then that I had started to do cabaret and watching this performer made my path clear.
What a gift.
Many years later I had the chance to meet this performer, tell them how much they influenced me and ask them questions about their journey.
I was so grateful. And they even came to see my show.
They we became Facebook friends.
Magic.
I never communicated very much with this person...though, I was always tickled to add a couple words to a chain of comments...tickled.
Yesterday, I went to their page...after a long, long time... to just check it out and see where they were at...and you know what happened next, right?
Defriended.
Gutted.
Oh my lord...the over reaction on my part was speedy and full.
What had I done?
FACE BOOK IS TOO MUCH!!!
When you write someone to tell them how they have affected you by their defriending...FACE BOOK IS TOO MUCH AND YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND!!!
When they write you back and tell you that the people they keep on their friends list is their own business...FACE BOOK IS TOO MUCH AND YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND!!!
Sweet Jesus, Matthews.
Before Facebook, I could have met this person and lived in a euphoria and joy of just having met them...with the ole Facebook...we take that euphoria one step farther.
Who knows why they defriended me...and really, Sharron, who effing cares.
Continue on social media soldier.
Put a band aid on your internet boo boo and move the fuck on.
Did you hear that I am doing a show? Scroll down to see...

Post Script: 
I would like to thank all the people who have posted our show poster, in response to this blog...what a nice thing.

Post Post Script:
Since this has been posted I have also:
Gained 10 new friends on Face Book.
Cleared up a past friendship.
Reconnected with a couple people I have not talked to in a while.
Helped a few others not feel shitty about being defriended.
Found myself surrounded by love.
That is NOT crappy.
Thanks to all! 

Sharron and George's SUPER FUN Christmas Sing-a-Long!!

Awesome Budget Poster...done by...me! Picture by Mike Bickerton

So, picture it...

George and I are in Scotland...it is August...and VERY un-scottishly warm. Me in my track pants, George in his "GOLD" TShirt....laying down for an early afternoon (we are fucking exhausted from selling and doing the show) nap. George looks up from his IPAD..."I would like to do something fun and see all our friends at Christmas...at Buddies...I would." And he looks back at his IPAD.

Then he looks back up into the heavens, "We should host a sing-a-long....people love to sing-a-long at Christmas...there will be song sheets and drinks...and cookies...that would be great." And he falls asleep from exhaustion.

What a grand idea.

We love Christmas.

We love community.

We love singing...and singing with our friends.

So, here we are!

Buddies is on board (we love), our special guests (who we shall announce in all due time) are on board, and we are very excited!

We are doing it in Tallulah's, which is my fave room...but seating is limited!  

GET YOUT TICKETS NOW!!

All the info is on the poster, above!!!

Call 416 975 8555 OR it will be available online ASAP! It will be on the Calendar here...if it is not there now...go back later today....

http://buddiesinbadtimes.com/events/2012-12

Everyone will get a song sheet!

The fun we will have is beyond recognition...REALLY!!!

I hope to see you there...CHRISTMAS!!!

Love

Shar xoxox 

  
 
 

So much TV, So little sleep, Such a great deal of sarcasm.

This self portrait is called "Yes, I took 12 pictures to get this one...I am a mess."

My tour is over...officially...and I am so effing tired I could...oh wait...I just passed out.

I am a bit blue, happy, hungry, full, antsy, comatose, expectant...I, basically,  have all the feelings...

So many awesome things happened in the last 3 months ...topped by the amazing trip to South Africa (did you hear that I was there? and when my pal, Mike, flew out to SOUTH AFRICA to surprise me....TO SOUTH AFRICA!!! THAT is good people. We love him.

There are so many stories to tell...but I have a few thoughts that have crossed my mind since I got home...not a lot of substance...just things that gave me pause.

I can't wax poetical...I am too effing tired...but I can be cheeky and sarcastic...that doesn't take much.

Remember, a lot of the following comes from my need to become a hermit after a tour and watch as much TV as a person can take...and talk to no one for days...and be judgemental. 

I would thank you to please keep all that in mind.

1. I felt the need to watch "The View" this morning just to be pissed off at whatever that effing Elizabeth Hasslebeck had to say about that debate last night. (Obama smoked that "Over-50-Over-Tanned-Ken-Doll", Romney, who had NO IDEA what he was talking about...ever...he would be an awesome president...OPPOSITE DAY...and his official shoe? The FLIP FLOP! BURN!!!) 

In the end I didn't watch The View...it was for the best...I hate her. 

(If I have the compulsion again later I can watch it on Rogers on Demand.)

2. I watched "Rock Of Ages" on the plane back from Johannesburg...which was a 16 hour flight. 

There was 90 minutes of watching the movie and  then 14 and a half hours of wishing I was on Twitter so I could say something smart ass, like... "The only reason I kept watching Rock Of Ages is because I was trapped on a plane...a Plane WITHOUT Snakes to distract me from this crappola movie." OH MY LORD!! WHAT WAS TOM CRUISE DOING!?!? Besides RUINING A MOVIE!!! So many non singers...so little time...wait!! I had 14 and a half hours to think of it. The crowning glory? WHENEVER Mary J. Blige sang anything. She is awesome...you know who is not awesome? Tom Cruise. And Katie had to ESCAPE from her marriage to him. ESCAPE. Which I could not do from this movie...because I was on a plane.

3. I love the Voice. The new format rocks. That is all.

4. Oh, and Mary J. Blige is a mentor on The Voice. You know who is not a mentor on The Voice? Tom Cruise.

5.  I love anything musical on the ole TV. Especially when my home and native land takes the chance to feature musical people. 'Over the Rainbow' features two of my dear friends as judges...Thom Allison and Louise Pitre. They are awesome and beautiful on the show. I enjoy watching them every week. I have one bone to pick...PLEASE STOP WITH THE DANCERS!!! PLEASE. Just let these sweet girls sing. That is all. 

6. Robert Carlyle is weird on "Once Upon A Time". 

And not a good weird.

That being said, I love "Once Upon A Time".

THAT being said, I would like to point out how ABC/Disney has thrown EVERY character from one of their animated movies into the cast soup to remind you to buy the disk...before it goes back into the Disney Vault FOREVER.  Mulan, really? Come on. I am now waiting for the Anika Noni Rose Frog to appear....with Tom Cruise.

7. I cried 8 times watching my 2 PVR'd episodes of "Grey's Anatomy". Will this craziness ever end? I cannot get enough.

I do love how Sandra Oh's character pointed out that a lot of bad things happen to people who work at Seattle Grace...like all those people who lived in Jessica Fletcher's small town on "Murder She Wrote" (not my joke...can't remember whose.)

8. I have only been home about 24 hours and that is how much TV I have watched. See. This is what I do. Back to "The Voice"....I have 4 more eps. to watch...

Gala Night at the Baxter Theatre in SA and my travels... What days...what a night.

(This was written late Sunday the 15th)

I have been very excited about today.
Today was the day that I got to see all the other acts as we performed in a gala for the FNB Variètè Festival here in (yes, I know...you have heard it one million times now but please...how often does a gal get to do her act in...) South Africa.
You see, all of the artists do our gigs at the same time so we can't see each other work. The FNB is an eclectic festival featuring Marc Lottering, (who hosted the gala as well as performing in a cabaret act) and he is the number one stand up here in (yup) South Africa, and Godfrey Johnson (who is working with Lottering) who is a number one cabaret performer in SA, Tina C, as played by Chris Green, who just finished a sell out run at the Sydney Opera House and Shimmy Issacs, an up and coming FABULOUS stand up who does a majority of her act in Afrikaans.
Just top notch talent...and I was closing...and it made me shit my pants a bit.
The Baxter Theatre, where we did the gala, is lovely and is a theatre that was very important during apartheid struggle, featuring plays, works, dance pieces and other artistic endeavours that centred around the themes of the struggle against oppression.
I looked at the posters in the hallways near the dressing rooms and felt humbled to say the very least.
I sat in the audience for the first act of the gala and watched Marc come onstage as MC and receive that amazing reception that is due an artist of his status and caliber...and the crapping of the pants began. In his act he speaks in very fast English mixed with Afrikaans, and the audience ate it up...he is absolutely hysterical and has the confidence of one who is at the top of their game. It is amazing to hear stand up in a different language...hearing the cadence of the stories and the build up to the punch line...Marc is a great storyteller...and you don't have to speak the language to get the story.
Tina C came on and with a bravery that I can't imagine, Chris Green portrays an over 40, post plastic surgery, country and western star from the American Bible Belt...who reminds one of a Texan version on Malibu Barbie...singing about the economic downfall and other issues close to her sequinned heart...and before you know it the whole audience is line dancing...yes, all 600, to a C and W version of 'Dancing Queen'. Riotous.
Godfrey came on and joined Marc for their set. It was so interesting to watch two wonderful performers from different entertainment worlds come together and put together a piece...witty, funny and so musical...and again...featuring some humour that is very specific to SA.
The crapping continued.
I ran down to my dressing room during the interval and put on my dress...and I just tried to grasp it all...to put it all in proportion...there was a great gravity in my soul...it all felt very important all of a sudden...that I was in a show with these amazing performers and I felt a world apart. I want to make it clear here that all the performers and people here could not have made me feel more welcome...I just felt like I had walked out of my comfort zone. AND it became clear how far outside said zone I was when Shimmy got onstage and the audience went wild for her...but as I said earlier, her act was 98% in Afrikaans so I could not understand it ...but I knew she was killing...and I was next...I turned to Cooch and said with full meaning, "I can't remember being this nervous before..."

I was filled with "will they like me?"..."will they get me?"..."this is a whole different place...am I accessible enough?"..."lord, oh lord...I have come so far...I so want to kill this....please, let me kill this..."
I stood off stage, going over my abridged 15 minutes of material in my head, and Sammy the stage manager handed me my mike and smiled. I drew a large yoga breath and thought, "enjoy yourself"....

After Marc introduced me I bounded onstage in my Fashion Crimes dress and high heels and looked out into the mouth of this huge audience...yes, as i said, they were suitably huge...
And I just went at it...

Magic...from the first laugh to the last...
And, at the end when I threw my hands in the air, I closed my eyes and took it all in...there was an unbelievable reaction...it was something, let me tell you...I took the moment...and I looked out and saw that most of the audience had their hands up as well...and there were chants of "more" as I ran offstage...had a little cry....
Magic.
They got me...and I got them...and how we made fancy magic together.
Thanks to the universe...this journey constantly surprises and amazes.

George took this pic...I am in the spotlight...but look at Cooch...it was amazing....

Speaking of amazing.

I wanted to meet some penguins...and then I did...what a day off we had...not only did I meet penguins, but also baboons, a sprinkbok,  saw a whale, lots of seals, ate ice cream made from a 2000 (?) year old recipe, laughed and laughed...saw the most amazing sunset I have ever seen...drove through a rainbow...

Here are a couple pics from the last couple days... Betty's Bay, Robben Island, Imizamo Yethu Township...so many places...I am full.
Thanks for reading...I am 3 shows away from finishing a 44 show, 5 City, 4 country tour...my longest yet. I can think of no better way to end it.
What a year.

Sharp's Bay...the weather is a comin'

Our little group at Sharps Bay...SO WINDY!!!

George and I at Sharps Bay!!!

Hello Penguin Colony in Betty's Bay

Mama and Baby at Betty's Bay!

Sundown on the way back from Hermanus where we saw 2 whales....

We drove through this rainbow...WE DROVE THROUGH A RAINBOW!!!

George, Rob and Myself at Cafe Jack in Betty's Bay...we laughed our shit off here....

Hout Bay

George and I go to Imizamo Yethu Township  and our guide is the fabulous Afrika Moni...we found out a day later that two police were shot here a day before our visit...we were greeted ALWAYS with kindness and joy every where Afrika took us.

Imizamo Yethu...this house isn't much bigger than the house the people live in...but they always paint it when they paint their house...

This lady was lovely and filled with humour....

On our way to Robben Island, which was a leper colony, insane asylum and home to hundreds of political prisoners during Apartheid....

The waters were VERY choppy on the way over....

The Yard.

The Yard

The gates

Block B, Cell 7 which Nelson Mandela lived in for 18 years...and wrote "The Long Walk to Freedom"...he his the manuscript outside in the garden that he planted.

Block D. The man in the centre is named Sparks, he was a resident of this Block for 7 years. His crime was terrorism. He was a member of the ANC. It was amazing to hear him tell his story. All of the guides on the island are ex political prisoners.