Ivy Moody Annie National Tour 2008-10

As we come to the end of the road...

 A BIG THANK YOU... 

to Martin Charnin and Tricia Gentry, who believed in me as "Pepper" not only once, but TWO times!

to NETworks, who always treated us great on tour and for producing ANNIE.

to all the audience members, who always stood up and applauded with a whistle and hurray whenever the orphans bowed. 

to all the ANNIE fans, who waited at the many stage doors in the cold, rainy or pretty days to meet us and ask for our autographs.

to all my ANNIE blog followers, who always checked out what my mom and I were doing on our travels.

to all our friends and relatives who drove from distant cities to visit us and see me perform(and to some that visited more than once).

to all the theater patrons, who bought tickets and gave us sold out performances and who brought their kids so they could enjoy the magic of ANNIE for the first time.

to all my theater and school friends, who were so happy and supportive about me performing in ANNIE.

to all the ANNIE cast, crew, chaperones, musicians, and management, who always loved me and my mom unconditionally and who we love just as much in return.

to my grandparents, who kept up with every mile my mom and I traveled and loved the ANNIE tour from afar.

to my dad and brother, who lived a bachelors life and who missed my mom and me so much without one complaint.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

to my mom, who was always at the stage door with a hug & kiss night after night. And who gave up her life to travel with me all over the US & Canada for 14 months so I could follow my dream.

But I hope to see ya again soon in a future adventure!

Pictures & Memories

 

14 months of touring have been priceless...

There were 320 performances

In 44 states 

5 Canadian provinces

 125 cities

I traveled 58,266 miles

Through snow, rain and desert

And 1 volcano eruption

Sang 1280 songs

And made 1,920 costume changes

Scrubbed Miss Hannigan's floor 21,120 times

Signed thousands of autographs

 

With 11 orphan sisters

2 wonderful rescue dogs, Mikey & Oliver

 

2 buses

3 semi trucks

1 dog van nicknamed VANNIE

107 blog posts

 

And 1 million memories!

These sweet, talented, hardworking, generous people mean the world to me:

Martin Charnin, Tricia Gentry, William Berloni, NETworks Presentations, LLC

Chaperones: Laura, Laura, Mary Lee, Kenny, Cheramie, Jillian, Kristen, Marie, Marie, Ron, Gennie, Amanda, Donna, Liz, Marti, Jerry.

Family that visited the tour often: Norm, Jamie, Heather, Lance, Max, Rorry, JoJo, Mike, Hallie, Stacy, Howard, A.J., Cay, Joanne, Jim, Josh.

 Management: David, Deena, Dawn Marie, Jack, Sydney.

Crew: Corey, Jes, Seth, Molly, Kai, Mary, Ryan, JJ, Matt, George Michael, Jenny, Tim, Tony.

 

Musicians: Adam, Chris, Tao, Zach, Jeff, Bill, Kirby, Arlo, Ira, Jeffrey, Louis, Mike, Brett, Terry, Rick, Sean.

Teachers: Lori, Natalie.

Bus drivers: Richard, Marvin, Mike, Cray.

Merch: Marc, Lacie, Ashley, Rick.

 

Cast: Lynn, Liz, David, Rachel, Kenny, Jeff, Sari, Kelly, Kevin, Dustin, Cheryl, Analisa, Lance, Zander, Monica, Patrick, Ricky, Jillian, Jolie, Cy, Margaret-Ellen, Traci, Katie, Juliette.

Orphan Cast (sisters forever): Madison, Sydney, Dominique, Gracie, Mackenzie, Siara, Tianna, Roni, Jordan, Emily, Laura.

 

 

09-10 photos

 

                               

 

A very teary weekend

  After our show in Schenectady, NY we ran back to our hotel and got all dressed up. Mackenzie and I walked to the party and we could hardly wait to get there. When we arrived at the party the first thing that was handed to us was a kid friendly drink with cool light up ice cubes!  It was the best party we ever had on tour. We danced and ate great food and celebrated our time together.

 I will always cherish my fellow orphans from last year and this year. 

  

Our experiences on tour are so unique & special. We all know how lucky we were to be chosen by Martin Charnin to be his orphans.

  

 At the party Trisha Gentry(Networks casting), Bill Berloni(amazing Broadway dog trainer), Martin Charnin(Director) and Kary Walker(Executive Producer) all had very nice things to say to us about our dedication and our professionalism on tour. Martin wrote us a poem like he always does and read it to us.

 

After our last show we cleaned out our dressing rooms. We were given a show poster with the entire casts autographs, a copy of all the theatre reviews, photos taken by our company manager, a company group photo, and our name plate on the ANNIE board that sat in all the theatre lobbies. The crew gave all the orphans a spotlight gel because they said "we always belong in the spotlight!"

 We all walked back to the hotel. Our tour bus was waiting to take all the New York company members into the city to drop them off near Times Square. I wish I could have gone with them. It was amazing how many got on the bus. The people remaining at the hotel, one more night, climbed on the bus one last time to say bye.

 

 We all hugged everyone, many, many times. 

For me, the hardest person to say goodbye to was Lynn(Miss Hannigan). She really did love her "little girls". 

 

 Even though we cried and hugged a long time we ended up with a smile in the end because we knew we would see each other soon.

 
 As our bus/home drove away we all cried and waved one last wave.

 Most of the orphans and parents flew out the next day. To help with our sadness we got on our bathing suits and went swimming at the hotel together. Jack bought us pizza and Sydney, our stage manager and Adam, our music director got ice cream and cones to share. It was a great time.

Later that evening I had to say one last, very hard, goodbye to my best friends ever...

my fellow orphans. 

 My mom and I had a 7am flight to go home the next morning. We had to get up at 4:30 am to drive to Albany, NY. At the airport we learned that some of our flights had been canceled so instead of getting home in a few hours it was a VERY long day spent in the airport. 3 flights instead of only 2. 12 hours of travel instead of 4.

 We finally made it home and I got the best hugs ever from my dad and brother. Max would never admit he was happy that I was home but down deep I think he is!!!

After the hugs, believe it or not, I didn't go home!! I went straight to my next show REHEARSAL. All the airport delays that day made it so I couldnt go home until after my rehearsal. I am in Tom Sawyer with The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati. It does help me not miss ANNIE so much by being in another show so soon.

 

 The next day my mom signed me up to go back to my school. It was great to see eveyone and also get back to playing my violin! When I walked back into my homeroom my teacher yelled...

IVY MOODY IS BACK! 

 

Our LAST CITY and LAST SHOW.

 After our evening show in Maryland we got on the bus at the theater and drove 8 hours to Schenectady, New York. We have never slept on the bus all night. It was one big SLUMBER PARTY. NETworks actually got a second bus so we could all spread out and stretch our legs. Some of us stayed up till 2 am playing Uno! Then our parents made us go to bed. We arrived in Schenectady at 7am and all headed to our hotel rooms for some more sleep. We had 2 shows that day starting at 4pm and then 8pm which meant that we only had 30 minutes between each show. The theater fed us a very nice dinner. 

 Bill showed up to surprise us all. He was in our orchestra last year and we all love him so much.

 

The Proctor's Theatre looked small when we walked up to it but actually the theater was very large and beautiful inside. 

  

 All 3 of our shows in Schenectady were SOLD OUT and the crowds to get our autographs were amazing. The 2nd day the theater put up a barrier for us to meet people at the stage door because little Mackenzie was getting squished!! 

It was an amazing feeling to be loved and complimented so much by people that just watched the show.

I will never forget that feeling as long as I live.

 NETworks tours always send well wishes to other NETworks tours and we got 2 of them on our last show day. One was from South Pacific and one was from Beauty & the Beast with all the cast signatures.

Just before our last show Jeff(FDR) announced to the audience that it was our closing show. We all held it together during the show....that is until bows. It was hard not to cry. Everyone had a tear. Juliette, our wrangler and orphan swing, came out in her pastel dress and bowed with everyone too. Madison's mom, dad and Jack, our company manager, came out and handed us all beautiful, bouquets of flowers on stage. 

 

  That's when we all started to cry. It was so sweet and sad at the same time. 

I couldn't see the other parents or my mom from the stage but I know they were all crying in the audience too.

Alabama, Florida and then Maryland

While in Alabama we performed at the brand new, beautiful Montgomery Performing Arts Center Theatre. Family and friends came to see me perform that drove from Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Nashville. It is such an amazing feeling when sweet people come so far just to see me on stage. 

  

Across the street from the theater was Dreamland Barbecue. 

We had to sneak a sandwich in before soundcheck. YUM!

 

 In Montgomery our hotel pool was awesome so all the girls had tons of fun playing and swimming.

 In Panama City we LOVED the warm weather. After we arrived to the hotel and before we had to go to the theater we spent 2 hours trying to catch little lizards. They were to fast and all went into hiding after 5 of us tried to catch them with a styrofoam cup. But it was so fun trying.

  

The next morning we had a very, very bad travel day when we had to fly from Panama City to Salisbury MD. 

We got up at 6am and had a 1 hour bus ride to the airport. Our flight to Atlanta was delayed because of storms and tornadoes. We all missed our connecting flight. We spent all day in the Atlanta airport while our company manager scrambled to get new flights. Even our UGLY DOLLS had to wait! 

We sat, and sat, and played, and played. NETworks treated us to a nice dinner at the airport which was VERY sweet and helped pass the time. Finally we received a 10pm flight out of Atlanta. After landing we had a 3 hour bus ride to our hotel. A total of 22 hours of traveling. This is the reason why we never fly on a SHOW day. 

We finally arrived at our hotel at 4am and to our surprise the hotel had breakfast waiting for us. It wasn't the best day ever on tour but we for sure spent some quality time with the people we love.

  We all slept very late the next day and when we got to the Salisbury Theater they had a catered meal for us. It was delicious. We ate before the show and then again at intermission.

 

In Salisbury that evening, we performed for 2500 people. Wow, thats a lot of applause.

Our trumpeter Arlo, had to call out of our show that evening because he was sick. But luckily Madison's dad plays the trumpet. He plays on Bourbon Street and is an amazing musician. It was such a special evening for all the Kerths to know they performed in the same show together.

Hey daddy, can you play Daddy Warbucks tomorrow???

 Kenny is on the left in the photo!  

   After the show Sydney, our stage manager, took all the kids to the crew bus. It is a sleeper bus with kitchen, full bath, flat screen and much more. So cool. We all climbed into one of the bunks. It was a tight fit! 

The amazing crew on ANNIE works so hard everyday. If it wasn't for them there would be no ANNIE. 

 I love them all!

A mini reunion

 

 We drove to New Haven, Connecticut and was lucky enough to perform in the historic Schubert Theatre. Home to world premiers and Broadway debuts to many musical theater greatest works. If stages could talk it would be a great story!!! The theater was smaller and intimate just like the theaters on Broadway.

The Schubert was right next to YALE and the campus was beautiful!

While in New Haven so many people that were from last years cast came to see the show and visit with us!! IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!!

 

 Dominique(July)

  

                    Siara(Tessie)                           Monica(Connie Boylan)           Deena(company manager), Lori(tudor)!

  Every show in New Haven was SOLD OUT!! The audiences were great and so many people showed up to the stage door to meet us!!!

 

 Backstageon the walls, they had every show that had performed at the Schubert autograph a special place. 

     One evening after our show the ANNIE cast performed to a old out dinner/cabaret show. A Benefit Cabaret in downtown New Haven at a beautiful restaurant for MUSIKIDS NYC. We raised $2000.00 for them!

Plus we all got to sing songs of our choice so we could show everyone what all our talents really are. I perform with some really talented people.  I am sure some of the videos will show up on youtube.com soon!!

Lots of Bus

After we left Philly, the ANNIE cast and crew spent alot of time on the bus driving over 1300 miles in 4 days.

  

 Believe it or not we don't really mind it that much because we always stay busy to help pass the time. WE SLEEP ALOT. We also do schooling, playing with toys, watching movies, playing cards, playing our DS's and much more.

Besides performing, the time on the bus with the cast is one I will miss the most.

Over the past 3 days we performed in Charlottesville, VA, Ashland, KY, and Portsmouth, OH. All SOLD OUT shows.

My grandparents, JoJo & Rorry, came to visit us in Ashland and Portsmouth since we were so close to Cincinnati. It was so nice to see them for 2 whole days. 

While in Portsmouth, OH, Arlene Borock, Alex Cumbow, Shawn Toadvine, Abi & Brie drove 2 hours to come see me in ANNIE. It was sooooo sweet. They just started up a new theater group (brieabiproductions.com)in Cincinnati and I cant wait to audition for them soon. 

 

  We stopped over in Bethlehem, PA. That means our trip from Ohio to Connecticut was to far to drive in one day. We had a free evening so a bunch of the cast took the hotel shuttle to the local movie theater to see the midnight showing of ALICE IN WONDERLAND in 3D. We had so much fun but we were so tired afterwards!

 

 

Philly was so much Fun

We performed one night in Manhattan, Kansas and then headed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philly was expecting another huge snow storm the day we were leaving and the airport canceled one of our flights. We were all scared we might not make it to Philly in time for our show. But by surprise and after a 7 hour layover in Dallas we all made it to Philly. Although our landing was a rough one. It was a long travel day.

  

The next morning Maddie and I got up with our parents and went to see the Liberty Bell. 

We also got a tour of Independence Hall.

While in Philly we performed at the Merriam Theatre. In fact all 5 of our shows that weekend were SOLD OUT. 

We stayed at the Westin nearby and it was so beautiful. The Westin is one of my most favorite hotels.

During our Saturday evening show we found out that Thomas Meehan had come to see us perform. He stopped by after the show backstage and we were all honored to meet him. He was so nice and so complimentary to all of us on our portrayals of his characters. 

Mr. Meehan is a true Broadway legend. He wrote ANNIE, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, HAIRSPRAY, THE PRODUCERS, CRY-BABY and many more hits.

 

He was so sweet to autograph my ANNIE playbill.

 

 After every show in Philly there were so many nice audience members and kids that searched out the stage door down a yucky alley way to meet us and get our autographs and photos. To me it makes it even more special when they come to a far away stage door down a dark alley, in the rain, snow or very cold. I have sometimes wondered why most stagedoors are in dark yucky alleys. If I could ever design a theater, the stage door would have a nice area with lots of room, lighting, and a meeting area for photos and autographs.

  

On our walk back to our hotel one evening Maddie's dad had a HUGE snowball fight against all us kids. We gathered snowballs as we walked and ran down the downtown streets of Philly. We had lots of people staring at us! I think we won!

  

Our hotel had a fantastic lobby area so after one of our shows Jack set up his Wii. The kids and adults played "Just Dance" until the wee hours of the morning. It was so much fun especially when the dads got up and danced and then the moms got up and danced too.

 Zach Jones, our drummer from last years tour, came to visit us all for the weekend. We all had so much fun with him again. I miss him touring with us!

Cells, cable cars, chocolate, chinatown, cellphones & crepes in California

 

 We headed back to California and spent a few days performing in Modesto at the Gallo Center for the Arts. The theater was very nice and they gave us a reception after our first show. 

   

 Some of the seats in the theater were REALLY comfy chairs and we of course took advantage of them during our sound check. After one of our shows they arranged a Meet & Greet with several students that won an essay contest so they could come backstage to meet us, ask us questions and get autographs. It was so nice to meet them. 

Luckily our hotel was next door to a movie theater. The theater had a FREE movie day for the entire ANNIE company. A bunch of us went to see Avatar 3-D and loved it.  Across the street was a very nice shish-kabob restaurant where kids ate free. We ate there alot. As you can see we loved texting and talking to each other on our phones even when we are at the same table.

We can't seem to get enough of each other. After our matinee show in Modesto we all checked out of our hotel and headed to San Francisco for a GOLDEN DAY.

 

 First thing that morning in San Francisco we hopped on an electric car to catch the Alcatraz boat. 

  

 We got on the big boat and it took us over to The Rock. As we walked around the island we wore headphones and listened to an audio tour so we could learn about the prison life. We also watched a movie about the history of the island. The neatest part was seeing the holes that two escaped men had made in their cell walls with just ordinary spoons.

 

 Luckily, I was a good girl so I got to return back to tour! 

 

 While riding back on the boat, I noticed a man that looked like someone on The Food Network. I was right, it was Robert Irvine from Dinner Impossible. He was so nice to us and told us about his daughter that also like performing on stage in her home town.

After Alcatraz we visited Ghirardelli Square.

Yes, we got chocolate samples! Yummy.

 

 Then we got to ride a San Francisco cable car. I got to stand on the outside of the car, right in front (I held on really tight). It was going so fast up and down the hills. That was so, so, so much fun.

  

On the cable car we rode to Union Square and then walked to Chinatown. We loved walking up the street looking in all the neat chinese stores. We stopped for dinner and had some great chinese food.

 

 

    

Our long day was almost over.

We walked all the way back to Fisherman's Wharf and ended the day with a banana & nutella crepe. Well, we did burn alot of calories walking all day!

  

We were all exhausted and saw so much in one day.
 But, the highlight of my Golden day was spending it with my best friends.

Missoula, Montana, Mountains, Malls, Merry-go-Round & Mardi Gras!

  We left Seattle very, very early on Monday and spent a very long day on the bus heading to Missoula, Montana. We all settled in for a long nap. I must have slept to long because I had a hard time sleeping that evening in the hotel. But sleeping on the bus is easy because of the vibration of the bus and it is so warm and comfy on the floor (believe it or not). When I wasn't sleeping the view outside was beautiful. So many snow covered mountains. In Cincinnati there are no mountains at all.

 For many of our bus lunch stops we go to malls for an hour. That way everyone can get the food that they want, shop a bit and stay warm inside the mall. The bus also stops every 2-3 hour for a bathroom break for about 10 minutes.

 While in Missoula our hotel just happen to be right next door to the Missoula Children's Theatre. It is the largest children's theater in the country that also travel to cities in the USA and overseas to put kids on stage for 1 week. We are HUGE fans of MCT. At age 8, my very first time on stage was in MCT's Jungle Book(Wolfy). I have performed in five of their shows in Cincinnati. I was also in The Frog Prince (frog prince), Rumplestilskin (Clara), Cinderella (town crier), and Little Mermaid (Gil).

One morning my mom and I went over to see the theater. The nicest person named Cate took us around to see the inner workings of the theater. They showed us were they make all the costumes and props. We met just about everyone that worked there. Everyone was so nice to us both and they were so interested in how my mom and I have been touring with ANNIE for 13 months. They were so happy we stopped by to say hello.

If a Missoula show ever ends up in a town near you I highly recommend signing up. I learned so much by being in their shows and look forward to doing more shows when I get home. 

   Afterwards we walked to a nearby carousel that happens to be one of the last ones that have the hooks you grab as you pass by. The first time I grabbed 16 and the second time I grabbed 22. It was such a fast carousel!!

 

  Our hotel was close to our performance venue so Maddie and her dad, Kenny, organized a Mardi Gras parade on our way to our first show. It was Fat Tuesday and they had Mardi Gras beads to toss to passerby's. We walked about 3 blocks singing and making alot of noise while Kenny and Zander played New Orleans music on their trumpet and guitar. It was so much fun!! We had lots of stares in Montana!

 

I though I would show you what my mom and I travel with in one of our small suitcases. Sometimes we are in hotels that are not near restaurants. Sometimes we just get sick of eating out and when the hotel offers a microwave and frig we choose to just eat in the room. It is healthier and cheaper that way too. So when ever we see a grocery store that we can walk to we stock up with potatoes to bake, pasta, rice and lots more! This picture is right after we went shopping. Its nice to know we have food in our suitcase...just in case.