Guest Blogger: Sherz Aletaha

Well Broadway World, it's my final blog which means it's time to say goodbye. But nobody likes goodbyes, so let's avoid it with funny stories about 'Disaster!' This week we had an amazing LGBT event at the show. The audience was so energetic, and we kept raving about them backstage because they laughed at everything (clearly, we are all attention whores). We had special celebrity guests, Norbert Leo Butz, Laura Osnes, Robin De Jeus, and John Tartaglia at the show. Can we talk about how sweet they all are?!?! I always have 'pinch me' moments when the theater folks I obsessed over in high school and college come to the show. After we geeked out over the celebs listed above, the cast, crew, and audience were all invited to Southern Hospitality for a beverage as part of the event. Like I mentioned in my last blog, the cast is in love so if you give us an opportunity to hang out together, we're there. Not only did we enjoy our complimentary beverages, but we also stuffed ALL of the mac and cheese in our faces. Whoever said 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' is a dirty liar.

Hey there, reader! Hope you're doing well. Me? I'm doing alright, thanks for asking. A few days ago? Not so great. I either had a stomach bug or food poisoning, which sucked!!! Luckily it happened on our day off so I did not vomit on my cast mates (I'm sorry to give you that visual...so disgusting) but we did come up with a fun game; throughout last night's show we tried to find the most hilarious moments for an unfortunate puking accident. It turns out that our inner musicians shined really brightly at this game because it was either always in rhythm or on the button of a song. For example, we do the song 'Saturday Night' by the Bay City Rollers so in our game it would go 'S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y *barf*'

Oh look, another snow storm. Awesome. If someone could kindly give Mother Nature some Midol and a chocolate bar, I'd really appreciate it because her PMS is getting obnoxious. I started my day by looking up vacations in tropical locations since I'm about to pull my hair out. If you are rich and feel bad for me, please feel free to sponsor my trip to Miami or Puerto Rico. You can come too! I'll tell you sassy stories and sing you showtunes in exchange. Everybody wins.

BroadwayWorld, so much to tell you! First, I'll start with what's happening this week. On Thursday, 2/13, the cast is heading to Broadway Sessions. Yippee hooray! 'What's Broadway Sessions?' Thanks for asking, friend. Let me tell you all about it. The wonderfully talented, Ben Cameron, hosts a variety hour/open mic on Thursday evenings at the Laurie Beechman. It usually features certain performers from the musical theatre world and this week, we're up! The 'Disaster!' cast will be there after our show, and we hope you'll come hang out with us (and even get in on the fun and sing too!). Head towww.broadwaysessions.net for all of the info. If you really love us, you'll come to Disaster! at 7pm and then continue the fun by heading down the street to the Beechman.

We might have had the most entertaining performance of Disaster! yet this week, and when I say entertaining, I mean for us cast members; the audience seemed to enjoy the show but we were losing it backstage. On Tuesday nights, our curtain is usually at 7:30pm but something was wrong with the sound system so we held curtain until 8pm to give the stage management team time to fix whatever was happening (in all honesty, I have no clue what was wrong but bless our awesome sound engineer, Nissa Syverson, for dealing with the madness).

Happy February, everybody! A moment of truth, this is my least favorite month of the year. It's cold, it's dark, our senses are assaulted by Valentine's Day (barf), but luckily it's short, and I get to spend it doing pelvic thrusts and body rolls Off-Broadway. Silver lining!

Well, it's the end of January which means it's the end of my month as a guest blogger for Broadwayworld.com. But here's the exciting surprise: the blogs will keep on coming through February. I was informed by the lovely folks over at Broadway World that you guys have enjoyed my little musings, so they've offered to extend my stay as a guest. Since I'm an attention whore, obviously I said yes.

Last week was a pretty great one on the Barricuda. We survived another snow storm (Why, oh why, oh why-o? Why did I ever leave Southern California...) and luckily New York did not stand us up. We had a great audience who trekked out into the grossness to laugh at us. Even pianist and late night sidekick extraordinaire, Paul Shaffer, endured the Polar Vortex. Fun Fact! He played on the original track for Barry Manilow's 'Daybreak' which happens to be our closing number. Full circle.

So, my blogs are usually kind of sassy and silly, but I'm about to get real, y'all! If you don't mind, indulge my sentimental side for a moment. Last night, I missed my first performance of Disaster! which was slightly heartbreaking, but it was for a good reason. I was actually swung out of the show which means that our swing goes on for my track and I get to sit in the audience and watch. A few blogs ago, I told you about my role in the show and how I understudy three principles. We have limited time for understudy rehearsals so being swung out is a way for me to watch, learn, and take notes. I came prepared with track sheets for the roles and a list of moments I really needed to focus on. My BroadwayWorld peeps, I had to actively tell myself to do my job! I was having such a great time as an audience member that I had to force myself to pay attention as an actor.

The last few performances of Disaster! were very special for me; my mama was in town from California and in the audience!

So I'm realizing that I haven't really told you guys what I do in Disaster! My bad, BroadwayWorld. I'm one of three ensemble members, and I also understudy three roles:

Alright guys, real talk. There's a certain cast member who needs to be called out.

This post is 100% a love letter to Mary Testa. You're welcome, Broadway World! Know why? Cause Mary Testa is the best-a (yup, that happened) and here are the reasons why:

In case you live under a rock or you're a bear in hibernation or you're my mother on the west coast who calls to tell me it's 80 degrees and perfect outside, I just want to let you know that it's freaking cold in New York! At this point, I have a decent amount of east coast winters under my belt, but it happens every year; it's winter, it's freezing, I stare at my closet and revert right back to the California girl I am while thinking, 'why do I have so many cocktail dresses? I need a sweater or something...'

Happy 2014, everyone! I'm Sherz Aletaha (first name sounds like more than one Cher, last name...just sound that one out...) and I'm currently in the Off-Broadway Musical 'Disaster!' A little bit about our show: it's a parody of 1970's disaster movies with lots of amazing songs from that decade, it takes place on a floating casino named The Barracuda, and it's performed by the most lovable group of crazies in New York City. If you've seen the show, you know it's a great time and super funny (My besties Tina Fey and Amy Poehler picked us as their 'Must See' theater pick for Entertainment Weekly and then we braided each other's hair and talked about boys. **One part of that sentence is true**) but I'm so excited to share what our awesome cast and crew are up to behind the scenes.