Hi friends and family!
Greetings from Vienna, Austria! We hope you are all doing very well and are enjoying this season of Love! We are having quite the year here and thought we'd share some of the highlights with you! (Don't worry, we've added some pictures, so it won't be too boring ;)
Much love to you all from the beautiful (but sadly NOT snowy) Vienna!
This year started off with a bang! We wrote and premiered our first show in GERMAN! "Head Over Heels: a Concert of Love" (Translated title) premiered on Valentine's Day of this year! Since then, we've performed it several more times, in various venues. We even took a reduced version to some friends' Wedding at a castle in Edinburgh Scotland! Here are some pics of a couple performances.
The next project that we worked on was also together! We wrote, designed, and performed Sidonie's first one-woman show (also in German) called "Diva Lessons"! She was FABULOUS! ;)
After our shows were over, we started prep for our summer productions! We both performed in summer musicals in the Frankfurt, Germany area! Christopher (Ryan) was in the ensemble of a new musical called "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" (translated title), and Sidonie played (for the first of what will surely be many times) the title role in AIDA, the musical by Elton John and Tim Rice, based on the opera.
Not only did we get to play shows that were not too far from one another this summer, but we also got to perform for three of our parents!
The Tallahassee Smiths, and Mama Cleveland all came for a visit simultaneously! Lots of fun! It was interesting for all, however, because we were working 4 jobs between the two of us (in 5 different cities, and two different countries, might I add!) Needless to say, we did a lot of traveling!
In addition to "Ali Baba" Christopher also worked as the Director of Dance for the International Performing Arts Institute which meets in Kiefersfelden, and Hamburg Germany for the month of July! Kiefersfelden is on the border of Austria, which is a little closer to where Sidonie's second job was located: Vienna!
Sidonie started rehearsal as the first cover Deloris van Cartier in the premier cast of "Sister Act" Vienna in July! After finishing our summer gigs, we both moved to Vienna at the beginning of August. Sidonie had an excellent premiere as Deloris van Cartier, and has gotten to play Deloris quite frequently (10 times in December alone!) The show has been very successful (great reviews) and is currently sold out through the end of April! One very nice thing about working at this theatre (among many others) is that they let the actors hire a photographer to shoot during the show! Some of Sidonie's shots as Deloris:
Yes, that is Whoopi Goldberg in the middle! She's a producer for the show, and this was taken at the press conference! :D
As Sidonie was rehearsing for "Sister Act", Christopher was busy on the job hunt! After two weeks and much foot work, he had managed to land a total of 4 jobs! He got teaching jobs at several schools: Jazz, Modern, Musical, and Ballet at Performing Center Austria; Voice at School of Pop Music; Voice, Dance and Acting at Showtime (in conjunction with Vienna's English Theatre) as well as a role in his first ever German-language Shakespeare! Christopher played Don Pedro in the German version of "Much Ado About Nothing" It was an interesting look at the classic story! Set in a corporate business buyout, Don Pedro's scenes were all via video conference which means that Christopher recorded all of his work, and it is projected onto the video screen each night! Sidonie was able to get off for the premiere, and we sat together to watch - a very interesting feeling, seeing your own performance! Christopher's show also got great reviews!
From some time now, we've been admiring the work of a photographer, Isabell Schatz, who lives here in Vienna. We asked if she'd be able to do some shots for us before Christmas, but she was totally booked. Three days later, she wrote back to say that she'd had a change of plans and now had time available on the 19th! Woohoo! Here are some shots from Christopher's session with her! (The photo of us together at the top of the blog, and the very last shot of this post are also Isabell's work.)
Sidonie also took some "behind the scenes" shots as Isabell was shooting! ;)
We heard through the grapevine that Sister Act was looking to cast another male swing (understudy for multiple roles), and made it known that Christopher would love to audition. We didn't hear anything for a while, and then we heard that some of the directing staff had suggested another performer, someone they had worked with previously. We thought: well, it would be nice, but at least we both have work in the same city, and if it's supposed to be, God will work it out for us. About a week later, Christopher got a call from the Artistic Director, telling him that the production team would like to see him for an audition! To make this long story short (and get back to the pictures) HE GOT THE JOB! We now work together. Doing the same show. With the same schedule. And the same vacations! PRAISE THE LORD! How very exciting this is to have long-run contracts doing such a fun and uplifting show TOGETHER!
Last, and most important of all, Christopher got asked to play the cynical donkey who eventually celebrates Christ's birth with his friend the sheep, in our church's Christmas play! It was a lot of work, what with rehearsals for Sister Act (three roles) underway, and still teaching, but he decided to do it. After all, what better way to give back than to use our talents to remind folks of the true reason we celebrate this Christmas season? It was loads of fun, and Christopher was even told by a very cute little old lady, who's the mother of one of our congregation members, that he should do musical theatre professionally! ;) Adorable!
We wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a happy new year! More important than success, friends, or even family, we pray that you will, each and every one, experience the Peace, Joy, and Love that only Christ can bring this Christmas, and every day of the coming year.
May the light of His Love shine brightly on you.
With much love from Vienna,
the european smiths
