Guest Blogger: Kelly McCormick

As I've mentioned in previous blogs, hiking in the Wasatch Mountains is absolutely spectacular. So spectacular, in fact, I've been known to get impatient with the trail I'm on and just scramble up a steep incline as if I'm a mountain goat (all the while, I hear my dad's voice in my head saying, 'THIS IS NOT SAFE.'). Sorry, Dad. It's so worth it when you're greeted at the top of a peak with a field of wild daisies with hummingbirds dashing from bloom to bloom and the world stretched out before you. Of course, no amount of your own stretching afterward will get rid of the week of muscle pain that follows such an impulsive hillside dash. . . but I digress.

Ah, that first day of rehearsal . . . you arrive in a really cute outfit, eager to meet all the other attractive people you'll be in the trenches with for the next few months . . . the Designers make their presentations, showing everyone how beautiful the stage will look and how gorgeous the cast will be in costume. Oh, if only that bliss of knowing that you look good could last. *Sigh.*

When people ask me why I love Salt Lake City as much as I do, I usually reply, 'Amazing outdoor life, a thriving creative community, and great junk food.' Emphasis on the latter. For the record, I am not including in this category all of the amazing home-baked goodies that our very own Mary Driggs brings in on what seems like a weekly basis (and thank goodness for the hiking in the Wasatch Mountains to burn off all those cupcakes!). Only here have I had things like deep-fried scones (!), Hawaiian Haystack, Apple Beer, and Hires Big H. If you grew up in the Midwest, like I did, you probably know Hires Root Beer - it was my favorite pop (Yes, that's what we called it. Laugh away), available at any grocery store. How thrilling to know that their flagship restaurant, an old-fashioned burger joint where everything is made from scratch daily, is right here in Utah!

When I toured with Les Mis in 2005, our wig master, Barry Ernst, kindly let me grow my hair as long as I wanted.

Hey BroadwayWorld.com! Hello from Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, where we're deep in rehearsals for Les Miserables. This ever-popular musical is making a comeback - literally - and, no, I don't mean an uptick in ticket sales since the movie was released last December. PTC was the first regional theatre to produce Les Mis, in 2007, where it played for 10 sold-out weeks. So it's no surprise that we're here again, just six years later, bringing this amazing story to life.