Our Last Week…

So we have now reached our last week of shows before we close up shop at The Toxic Avenger. I am so sad to type this because being a part of this show has been nothing but a dream come true for me. I could not be more thankful to have worked for such a phenominal company who brought together some of the best cast, crew, dressers, musicians, stage managers, etc that I have ever worked with. Behind the scenes, we have truly become a tight knit family and I am going to be so sad to walk away from such a positive experience. I know that all good things must come to an end but this one feels a bit too soon. For our last week, I hope that we and our audiences have an absolute riot and that they all see how much we adore doing this show. I think T.A was such a unique project to have been brought to Toronto and I am so happy to have been a part of it. I will cherish the amazing memories and uplifting feelings this show has given me, forever.

With love,

Brittany Gray

Giving back

For such a long while I have felt this yearning desire to be a part of an organization that gives back. I have felt so lucky in this life and really need to start doing my part. The trouble was, I hadn’t figured where to put that energy and focus. I didn’t really feel a pull towards any organization in particular. Christmas time always puts me in a reflective state and I had decided that this Christmas I was going to start incrementally making a difference by taking part in charitable causes. A few days ago I went to Fairview mall to do some Christmas shopping yet ended up walking out with the most incredible gift of all. I found myself walking by a ‘World Vision’ booth and was greeted by a women that I instantly felt a connection with who was working at the counter. She asked for a minute of my time, and instead of saying I was too busy -like I have in the past, I decided to stop and hear her out. She proceeded to tell me about just how remarkable ‘World Vision’ is. If your not familiar with the organization here’s what it is all about: http://www.worldvision.org. Their focus is on the well being of all people with special attention to children. They serve 97 countries and basically how it works is you sponser a child with a monthly payment and that money goes to any immediate needs of first the child, then the child’s family and then their community. The beautiful child that I sponsored is a sweet little girl from El Salvador named Brenda Del Carmen Monterrosa. She was born on September 11, 2005 and she is sooooo impeccably cute. She lives in an AIDS prominent community and it just breaks my heart to think that these kids have to try to survive with so little. Please know that this blog post is by no means me preaching to others about how good of a person I am by giving back. To be honest, I should have been doing something like this a long time ago, but I guess we all start things when we are ready to. I dont know as much as I would like to about World Vision but I plan on really diving in to do my part at making this little girls life much better. Apparrently you can do things like send her stickers in the mail, trace your hand and get her to trace hers back, send pictures of you and your family and visa versa. Once she turns 18 I will not longer be her sponsor but I think its remarkable to be able to have a sort of pen pal for so many years. She is only 4!! Anyways, thats my shpeel about giving back. Hope you enjoyed it.

With Christmas spirit,

Brittany Gray

December reflections…

Ok, so I think its time for me to post a blog about how things have been going thus far. I must say, The Toxic Avenger is by far my most favorite project that I have worked on to date. I am literally living my dream ~getting the chance to perform such a fantastic role each and every night. I feel so wonderfully fulfilled and just love being able to act and sing my heart out everyday! Most of all, the joy for me comes from being able to make people laugh. Laughter truly is one of the best gifts we can give others in this life. My singing voice is getting stronger by the day which I am so grateful for–I have so longed to have a kick-ass voice. I’d love to one day be as good as Sutton Foster or Idina Menzel. True Broadway talents and wonderful vocalists. Everyone involved in this production is so positive and uplifting and it has simply been a pleasure walking in the stage door everyday. More than anything, I find that there is something so powerful about being able to live in the moment and to recognize when you are living a childhood dream. That is most definitely what has happened for me. I still have so many aspirations and goals ahead of me, but in this very moment, I am happy and content. I think its important to note that this certainly did not happen over night for me. I started working in this industry professionally 10 years ago and just now I feel like I am beginning.

As for some news, we recently performed on Breakfast Television! We were showcased performing both ‘Hot Toxic Love” and “Choose Me Oprah”. (I have posted some pictures from the show below-click to enlarge). I think this is my 3rd or 4th performing on BT now. I was on the show a few times with We Will Rock You too. Its really a great platform to promote theatre. In other news, David Bryan is coming to the show this weekend!!! If you dont know who he is, he is one of the founding members of BON JOVI!! He is the guitarist of the band and also scored and co-wrote the music for The Toxic Avenger!! He has yet to see the show, so we are all quite excited to meet him and to see if he approves our Canadian version of the show.

Some of you have asked what’s next for me and my answer is..I am not quite sure!! We are on an open-ended contract, so the length of this show really depends on how well we do in regards to ticket sales. When I think of next steps I would like to take, ideally I would love to book a Canadian TV series as a series lead. I have yet to do that and think, before I set my sights to NYC or elsewhere, it would be really nice to have taken part in a TV series based out of Canada. Over the past couple years I have been blown away with how amazing our TV shows have become! “Being Erica” and “Flashpoint” are my favorites but there are so many more that are really standing out!!!!

I think I have filled you all in on what’s going on with me now professionally. The other thing that I am excited about is my birthday and Christmas coming up! I will be turning 24 on December, 17th and really can’t believe it. I feel like it was yesterday when I started high school. Time flies when your having fun!!!

Have a wonderful December everybody and remember, as always to follow you heart and to live your dreams.

With love,

Brittany