Singing, Sailing & Staying Sane: Life as a Traveling Performer With Sam Bello

What’s it really like performing around the world as a full-time singer and actor? Sam Bello opens up about life on the road—from national tours to performing on cruise ships across the Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean. We talk about how she balances the vocal demands of doing 8 shows a week, how she recovers between contracts, and what it’s like to perform on a stage that moves thanks to the waves of the ocean. We dive into what it’s like to build a performing career while constantly on the move, how to stay healthy and consistent on the road, and why Sam is finally looking to slow down and settle into New York theatre.

📍Mentioned: Sam Bello’s Instagram @bello_sam99

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I did the cross Atlantic cruise

(00:02):
when I was one and a/2 years old yeah
I don't remember it
but there's video footage of my mom and I throwing up
so it's it on the way there
cause my last cruise we did to the Caribbean and back
7 days um
seven days at sea which is a lot yeah
but on the way there
I don't remember it being bad on the way back

(00:23):
I was laying in bed
and my feet were going above my head
and I was like oh no
this is not good absolutely not no
absolutely I would be like
you're getting a helicopter
and you're getting me off of this boat
right now

(00:45):
hey Vox Star and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
level up their voices
by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
awareness and artistry whether you're looking to go pro

(01:06):
or just develop your voice for fun
my team and I are here to help
check the link in the description
to book your first session
or grab some of our other resources
Alrighty are you ready let's get started
this time with Coach Emily from our team hello
hello as well as a professional traveling actress

(01:26):
performer singer
all of the above welcome Sam Bello hi
thank you so much for coming in
thank you for having me I'm excited
yes me too
me too you and Emily is um
you you guys go way back way back
you went to college together and you were roommates
yes yes
for three years yes yeah
oh my God so cool

(01:47):
so when we were trying to figure out
who's gonna sit where and I was like
yeah Sam
you can have your own chair and then Emily was like
hahaha I wanna sit with Sam like okay
I'll get my own chair then hahaha
so yes yes
that's so fun
so you guys went to Shenandoah University together
yes and that was for the undergrad yeah
we got our BFAs in musical theater from Shenandoah

(02:10):
yeah in 2022
yeah wow wow
so what that's three years
three years yeah
oh my goodness
and so what has life been like for you since graduation
um I honestly
I feel like especially in this industry
as far as work goes
I've been very lucky and very grateful
I have been working
pretty much since I got out of school
which is wow rare rare
that's amazing so I'm very grateful for that um

(02:32):
but right out of school
I went into the cats national tour what
and then I've been doing cruise work
on and off for the last two years
hold on so you graduated and you
you immediately went to the national tour
yes yeah
the Broadway national tour
yes in a way
in a way some people have different opinions on how
especially if it's non union
and it's been shifted a little bit

(02:53):
what we call it
but it was the Andy Blake and Bular production
from the revival wow
yeah that is amazing
so how OK
I have so many questions
like cause I
I studied musical theater initially
but I realized very quickly
I'm not a musical theater girly
I'm a pop girly so you know
I never I was never an auditioning actor in New York

(03:16):
well also I didn't have the visa status to do it either
so I was not allowed to work
uh and so
you know I never lived that life
but like okay
so walk me through this you graduated in
you immediately moved to New York or
um so I did the whole audition process for the show um
mostly while I was still in school
and then I had one additional audition or like

(03:38):
coaching right after college
while I actually was in London
so I was able to do it in person OK
um and then I went home to Texas for two months
and then we started rehearsals in August
wow yeah
that is insane okay
and then you were on tour for how long
for 9 months wow
yeah you did all of the US or

(03:59):
we did North America so we did a lot of the US
some Canada and then Monterey and Mexico as well
okay yeah what
oh my God okay
ah so I'm like
I'm just like trying to wrap my head around how
you started all of this before you even graduated
yeah like that is so smart
cause a lot of people are like

(04:20):
I just need to get through school
and then I'll figure it out
but this whole actor thing
like it takes time to actually land a role
yeah yeah
so it's amazing that you started that before
you even graduated yeah
so you had something lined up pretty much yeah
when you when you were graduating yeah okay
so the the theme for today is like the
the traveling singer the traveling actor right

(04:41):
so traveling in the sense of you
you went on tour like with cats and
and then you also said you did cruise ships
yes last summer you were in Saudi yeah
also performing there yes
so I guess my first question for you is
I guess it's not the first question
but my next question for you is

(05:01):
did you like was that always your goal
to travel as much as possible with acting or
I think so whether I consciously knew it or not
um I grew up moving a lot
I've only ever lived one place more than four
more than like three years
I guess wow
um other than college
so I was I lived overseas a lot as well

(05:22):
I lived in Germany and Belgium when I was younger
so
I think just traveling has always been part of my life
so I think I didn't want to give that up
cause I know with a lot of like
you have to be in New York to easily audition
there was a point where I was doing it out of Texas
right out of tour
and it just cost a lot of money to get to New York
back somewhere else so it

(05:44):
I didn't want to necessarily give up
being stationary in New York quite yet okay
so New York's your like home not
not your hometown yeah
like my home base I guess
your home base yes
it's your home base
and you audition from here and then you do the jobs
wherever the jobs yeah
are okay
and so I want to learn more about the tour
like how is life yeah
on tour like cats when you did yeah

(06:05):
cats um
pros and cons yeah
it's it was probably one of the most fun experience
and I Learned so much from it um
but living out of a suitcase for 9 months
gets a little tough sometimes yeah
um and you're sharing a room with somebody
and
I was really lucky that me and my roommate got along
well we ended up moving to New York together

(06:25):
and lived together in New York when I first moved here
great um
but you have to take a lot of extra care to your body
to your voice than you I feel like normally would
if you're living in your own space
that you can control yes
of course um'cause you're
sometimes
you're somewhere where there's no food for miles
and the only thing you can get is Doordash

(06:46):
so if there's not good food options or things like that
you have to prepare and take that into account with
yeah well yeah
cause what you eat is what dictates your health too
right like if you eat junk food every day
all day yeah
like you're more likely to get sick
uh huh and this is like
the whole food conversation
was something I talked about with Tasha
from Alice
I went on tour with them as their background singer

(07:08):
yeah but for two weeks
not nine months yeah
okay like nothing crazy and uh
and they brought their own rice cooker
and slow cooker on tour so that
you know we always would have
you know good meals
yeah nutritious meals and not Taco Bell every day
all day yeah
I've actually never had Taco Bell in my whole life
oh and people are like what

(07:29):
it's okay controversial opinion
I'm not the biggest fan of Taco Bell
okay there you go
yeah so I will stick to that and just tell myself
you're not missing out on it
yeah yeah
no you're not
you're not
I love that so okay
yeah you
it's different to take care of your body
your voice because I mean
at the end of the day when you're doing cats every day
all day yeah
it's like you have to take care of your body

(07:51):
so you don't get sick yeah
did you ever get sick on during
I did I actually got Covid while we were on tour
no um
and it was funny like before I realized I had it
I was doing the show and we have the gelical ball
which is a 12 minute dance piece
you barely leave the stage
yeah and after the show
I literally embarrassing moment
but not I mean
I was sick
I got on all fours after it and I started crying

(08:13):
cause I was like I don't know what's wrong
something's wrong but this is just really hard
and I didn't understand why
yeah and it's
I was sick and I didn't know it yet
yeah and it's
I was sick and I didn't know it yet
but it's like even just something like that
and I was I've had it multiple times
but it was just one of those
like something in my body fell off and I knew
and I just couldn't pinpoint what it was
but I was only out for like a week before I was back

(08:34):
which was good um
what role did you have in the
I was sillabub so I was one of the kittens
and then the way I always describe it to people
if you're not familiar with the show
is I sing memory with Grisabella
so I'm the other cat that's singing OK
OK cool
yeah and so when you were sick
how did that work then when you're not on stage
yeah so we have

(08:55):
we had an amazing group of swings and understudies
um so we had
they just pulled me out of the show
when they found out I was sick
and they actually
the cast ended up moving to a different town
but I was still in isolation
so I stayed behind
for a couple days and then I went to meet everybody um
a little bit later but they
we had such a good supportive team and then when I
Emily was actually my voice teacher while I was on tour

(09:18):
nice I didn't know that yeah
wow so I
when I was sick um
I have asthma as well so
any sort of respiratory illness
usually hits me a little harder
so I had lessons with her to kind of rehab
and make sure everything was where it needed to be
before I went back into the show
very nice yeah
how is that working with a friend
cause I've done it too it's a different dynamic

(09:38):
it is we
I think we did a pretty good job of like
we would have our hour yeah
and then I would look at her and go okay
we're off the clock
and then we would stay on Facetime for like an hour
just hanging out
but because we knew we were gonna do that yeah
we were able to be like alright
we're warming up and I also
we could look at each other and be like
I know you can hit that like yeah

(09:58):
I know you got that
probably differently than I handle other students yeah
but yeah when you trust me and I trust you
I feel like that that helps a lot yeah
that's awesome that you have like a dedicated like
no we're not gonna yeah
talk we have less friend time and then friend time
exactly exactly
very cool OK
that's that's awesome and okay

(10:19):
so you were sick once but you got over it yeah
it was fine and there was an understudy or a swing or
yeah somebody there to take over
which is great and tours always have that
yeah'cause like people get sick yeah
it's what happens yeah
especially with cats
the amount of injuries and like crazy things that yeah
like happened dancing yeah
or singing too yeah
we had not too many vocal injuries

(10:39):
I don't think we were really lucky as a group that yeah
and we had our music director was really good
like if you were ever struggling
or he noticed something sounding different
he'd be like hey
just checking in how is how's everything going
if you were sick he would always like
if you wanted to run something with him
before you jump back into the show
he would always help okay
that's great yeah
how many shows did you do
was it like eight shows a week or what was it

(11:00):
eight a week most of the time um
wow and then yeah
so sometimes we would even be in like
three different cities in one week no yeah
so you're on you're on the bus all day
you get to the hotel drop your bags
and go straight to the venue to get ready
but you at least were staying at a hotel yeah
not in like a bus no
no no OK
we um
I know our tech crew would do sleepers sometimes

(11:22):
but we were always staying in hotels
which is really nice OK OK
yeah so what was like the average
or maybe the longest you stayed in one city
we were in Cleveland Ohio for three weeks
wow
Ohio why Cleveland Ohio
I couldn't tell you but I'm very fond of Cleveland
Ohio now OK
that's cool yeah

(11:43):
did you do Indianapolis we
I don't think we did actually it
they always skip up I know I was not always
but yeah a lot of times they
they skip it I was the last year of the tour
so I know
they hit a lot of places prior that we didn't get to
again yeah
one of my friends from the New York Film Academy
the musical theater school that I went to um

(12:05):
he did Beetlejuice oh yeah
the tour of Beetlejuice for three years
wow and then he was like
I'm out and he stopped right before they came to Indy
oh and I was like no no
but it's okay it's okay
but yeah I can like
how can you do the same show for three years
eight shows a day like

(12:25):
oh my god how was that experience for you
same show eight shows a day
not a day a week eight shows a week for nine months
how was that experience at first
I was kind of like oh no
I'm scared I'm gonna get sick of it
uh huh but I think you
if especially if it's something that you love
and you're passionate about it's
it's easy yeah

(12:46):
in a way I mean
not physically and stamina wise
you at first it was rough
but I think doing it so often
honestly made it easier
because you have the time to build the stamina
and the consistency in your body
but we would always find different ways to
keep it fresh and fun
especially being one of the kittens
we could kind of like do a little bit of what we wanted

(13:09):
like if I was bored during a show
I would just pull someone's tail cause I could um
yeah so it was
it was we had a lot of fun
um yeah
it's good how long would you say it took you
to kind of get into the groove
um
I think probably I'd maybe like the first month or so
um we Learned the whole show in two weeks wow

(13:30):
that is crazy fast it was intense
um and we had a great team um
and they so with the continuation of a tour
they had all the new people come in for the first week
so it was just people who have never done
this tour before and then the second week
they brought all the returners in
so like okay
it was nice to be able to

(13:50):
learn the show without the pressure of like
somebody standing behind you who already knows it
having to go through it again
so we were given the space
and the time to ask the questions
go over what we really needed to do
that's awesome yeah
wow okay
uh
tour life in general would you do it again
I think so yeah
yeah I

(14:11):
yeah I think maybe I a little break just cause it's
I've been living out of a suitcase
essentially for the past three years
yeah um
cause cats is not the only thing that you did
yeah right
so you did you graduated
you did cats for 9 months and then talk to me like what
what happened so okay
first question

(14:32):
nine months
was that because the show stopped after nine months
okay and so you had to find a new job
yeah okay
talk to me about that transition
so right after tour
I went and stayed with my parents in Texas
just until I kind of got like relaxed
recovered from the show
cause it physically it was a lot yeah
so I was like
I just don't want to do anything for a little bit

(14:53):
so I just stayed in Texas
worked there for a little bit
and then I moved to New York
the tour finished in at the end of June
and then I moved to New York that August okay
so I had like two months to kind of just sit get all my
like ducks in a row
kind of everything prepared to move
and then I moved to New York
and then I started my first cruise by November
oh yes

(15:14):
you were not here very long
yeah no
but you were in New York for two weeks
I was in for or no no
no I was here for like two months
OK two months
yeah and then I had my audition for the cruise
and it's for um
Aida Cruises so it's like
it's the German branch of Carnival
so it's all German passengers
which is super fun um
and then

(15:36):
yeah so I
after that audition I think
I had three weeks before I left the country
for the cruise wow
yeah and so talk to me about what
what do you do on a cruise
like do you put on a full musical
or is it a different type of situation
so with Aida we don't do like typical book musical
they have it's like cruise shows
I guess you would say OK
so we had like a show called addicted to love

(15:56):
which was all rock music
we had a show called heart of the ocean
which my best way to describe it is
if you look up songs about water
those songs OK
um but it was beautiful
so it's like it's more like genre style shows
rather like artist focus shows
we had a Beatle show um
rather than like typical musicals
so we had
I think on my last ship six or seven shows that

(16:17):
for the singers and then the dancers
had an additional show that they would do um
so we would perform them
and then occasionally have extra side duties
like checking in passengers
but other than that not too much
so you were kind you
you basically rehearsed six or seven shows
mm hmm and then you just kind of were like
rotating through them yeah
so we my first ship we had one week cruises

(16:41):
so we were doing a show almost every single day
and you do them twice
and then my last ship was two week cruises
so we had a little bit of space between the shows okay
which almost made it harder
yeah cause then you're not doing it as consistently
you're especially not in the flow all the time
yeah yeah
um so
you don't have the time to necessarily
build the stamina for a show
cause you only do it twice a month

(17:04):
is that normal for a European company to have auditions
here in New York for that
like were you the only American or
there were 3 3 of us on both of OK
both my contracts three Americans
um
they do I know they hold
a lot of their singers are hired out of
like
previously had been hired out of New York and the UK

(17:27):
but I know like especially now they've
we have people from everywhere
there's um
people from the Netherlands singing
we've got a lot of Brazilians
wow cool
which is there's just a cool thing on the ship
you get to meet so many people from all over the world
and we're all just in a little bubble yeah
yeah the ship is a bubble yeah
it's like college again yeah

(17:47):
did you were you ever able to leave the ship or yeah
yeah um
so there's only you can only not get off on like any
any given moment on a cruise ship
there has to be 25% of the crew
even if they're in port
just in case an emergency happens while you're docked
so you like
every four days wouldn't be able to get off the ship
but other than that you can go lay at the beach enjoy

(18:09):
okay whatever wow
so how was how was that for you
like what
what were some of the places that you traveled to
yeah so my first ship was amazing
I'd never been to this area of the world
our main port was Dubai
yes yes
it's beautiful so we were in Dubai
Abu Dhabi Qatar
Bahrain Oman wow

(18:29):
that region and then the last one I did
we were in Norway for two months
and then the Caribbean for five months wow
so OK so you really saw a lot out there then
very cool what was your favorite place that you visited
I'm a travel like I love travel a lot
any chance I get
I'm out of here so what was your favorite place
I think Qatar one of my favorite places

(18:51):
it's just very beautiful there
and the museums are really
really cool yeah
um and then I loved Dominica
uh huh it's
they just a lot of like they have sulfur springs
there are a lot of really beautiful waterfalls
and just like nature it's really pretty
pretty island wow
I love that I haven't been to either of those places

(19:12):
I was at the Qatar airport but that doesn't count
yeah very cool
very cool and so how was rehearsals for for that
if you have like people from all over the world
where do you meet to do rehearsals
so we I feel like a pretty unique thing
for a lot of cruise ships
we rehearse on the ship oh shoot yeah

(19:33):
um so they bring us on and they
we take the cabins of the current cast
so during the like change over
there's two full cast on the ship
so we're rehearsing during the day
and then they're performing at night okay
um
so we learn everything on the ship in like five weeks
uh huh so it's a little different depending on like

(19:54):
what ship you're going to
and what shows they have to do um
but yeah so we
you rehearse everything on the ship and then
which is kind of nice
cause then you get to watch it be done
so it's like what I Learned that morning
I get to go see done yes
which yeah for me helps my brain so I'm like
okay this makes sense now yeah
yeah yeah
for sure yeah
sorry were you gonna say something
no I was just saying yeah okay
yeah hahaha okay

(20:16):
and how cause I get so seasick on boats
how was that for you mostly okay
I had never been on a cruise ship before
I started working on one
so it was kind of like fingers crossed
I don't get seasick um yeah
hope really hoped for the best
and I'm thankful that I don't get very seasick um

(20:37):
crowd we were in the North Sea
and that sometimes was quite rough yeah
which especially performing when it's that rocky
oh my God it's crazy
I didn't think about that
you're standing there and you're
you're dancing
or you're even just trying to stand still on the stage
is literally just doing this
and it's like you can feel it

(20:58):
so like anytime we knew where we were going
through certain areas of water
I was like motion sickness pill
take it yeah
even if you don't think you're gonna get sick
when you're standing on stage with lights
and you're already hot and sweating
it makes it so much worse yeah
than if you're laying down in your cabin and it's rocky
um I could never yeah
like I cannot even be a passenger on a boat
like I have to be outside on the deck in the fresh air

(21:19):
yeah then I'm fine as soon as I go inside I'm like
nowhere's the closest trash can yeah
how do you make those adjustments
for like when it's rocky yeah
for when it's rocky or we have some
there are sometimes that
we have to change the shows
that we're doing that night
because of this level like the rockiness of the seas
we on our ship we had two aerialists

(21:41):
and then a handstand artist as well what
how are you gonna do a handstand exactly
it's one of the most impressive things
I think I've ever seen
because I'm watching the stage move
and they are just like rock solid in handstands
single hand handstands I'm like
I can barely stand in your place
how are you doing that muscles baby
yeah muscles
I don't have those hahaha

(22:04):
wow um
but we had we have an ensemble supervisor who
if we ever had to change anything
she would help and then we also had flat shoes
so if it gets to a certain point
they have the right to make
the decision to take everyone out of their heels
we're all wearing jazz sneakers
and we're gonna go and do the show okay
yeah there you go wow
uh singing wise

(22:25):
that that ever
like when you took something
or when you didn't feel quite right
like motion sickness
like did that affect your singing at all for me no
and I'm really lucky
I feel like on the ships in general
it's very dry because there's constant AC
for me that took a took a toll
especially at the beginning
I had my first contract I wasn't

(22:46):
necessarily prepared for how it would affect my voice
but my steamer became my best friend yeah
um I know
a lot of people would have humidifiers in their cabins
if we could like to put certain ones
if you could get them on the ship um
just cause it's I mean
constant you can't turn the AC off
it's just how the ships work
it's constantly blowing cold air yeah

(23:06):
um so if you're
I know there are some people that would like I'm
I don't dry out too crazy from it
but it
there were some days where I could definitely tell
I was like hmm
I need to go sit in a hot shower
and just have warm human air for a little bit yeah
could you at least change the temperature
yeah okay
good cause I'm so sensitive to cold like AC air yeah
like my hotel room when I checked in

(23:27):
it was set to 67 degrees I'm like
what on earth
are you trying to like make it snow in here
like what is happening
so I like turned it up to like 72
my house at home is 75 yeah
but I have naked cats fair yeah
so you know
I don't want it to be cold for them and also for me
it's like if the AC is running
I'm wearing long sleeves yeah

(23:48):
even if it's 90 degrees outside
if the AC is running I get cold
I'm the same way I always dress like it's winter
cause when it's hot outside
it will be even colder yes
inside yes
so I need to dress warm oh
I remember when I
when I went to school here in New York
during the summer I brought a jacket to class
because it was so cold inside
and everybody was cold

(24:09):
and we were all complaining about it
and they're like we can't do anything about it
it's like the building does it and we can't
and I'm like why is it like icicles in here
this is stupid especially for singing and dancing too
yeah it's like yeah
it just takes longer to get your muscles to warm up
and you know it's like
oh my God so anyways
I'm glad you were able to
control the temperature of your cabin

(24:29):
yeah that's good
that's good
what was your favorite part about being on a cruise
um I think just 1
outside of
just meeting and getting to work with people from
all over the world which
I feel like you don't really get to do
in a lot of other yeah
job environments um
I think just being able to like
to travel while you're doing it like yeah
I'm young I is every time I'm kind of like

(24:52):
ooh like
do I wanna stop
why not like right now
I'm not necessarily missing out on anything else um
yeah that's usually how I approach things
that's why I decided to go on tour
as a background singer for this band too
I was like I don't have kids
like I have the flexibility in my job to do this

(25:14):
yeah and for me it's like
I just wanna be able to say that I did it
yeah because otherwise I'm always gonna be like
oh I
I never experienced it so I don't know what it's like
right you
you always think like yeah
I kind of know what it's
but you don't know until you actually do it
so I try and approach it with that same mindset

(25:34):
like anything I do it's like
even if it's not like this is my true like life passion
I wanna do this forever it's like no
then I can at least say I did it
yeah and I experienced it
and then if I love it awesome
I can do it again if it's like yeah
I don't necessarily have to do that again
I don't have to do it again
yeah right exactly
Emily would you ever be open to like

(25:54):
doing tours or cruises and travel around
yes but I do like staying where I am
like I like being in one place and having routine
so I think I would love it
I think I would love a short contract yeah
yeah but if the right thing comes around
I would absolutely do it yeah
like at yeah
absolutely the right project or the right places yeah

(26:15):
would you do a cruise cause I'm like no
absolutely not um
I cause of the motion sickness
I would I could do a cruise with
I believe I could do a cruise with the motion sickness
um
I would do one I would
I think I would have a fun time yeah
I feel like with what you were saying about like
routine cruise ship versus touring
you were definitely able to establish

(26:35):
much more of a routine OK
yeah cause you can
you're in once you're in your cabin
that's your cabin you're not moving every week
every couple of days
like you're able to fully unpack your suitcase
decorate your room kind of make it true homie yeah
um and it's like
whether or not outside the ship is different
on the ship you can establish your own thing
and kind of find some sort of consistency

(26:56):
that I was definitely very difficult to do on tour
yeah yeah
yeah well
for both of you
if you want to do cruises again or for the first time
um the
the Ritz Carlton the luxury hotel line
they have a yacht
thing now that they do and they are looking for singers
like just entertainers in general yeah

(27:17):
but also like for singers
I just came across this that's cool
like three days ago or something like that
and I'm like
not for me
but I looked at the application
and they ask a lot of questions
and like they're serious about it
like it's not for like hobbyists or anything like that

(27:37):
it's yeah
it's serious and even like
before you just submit
like an initial clip or whatever
like they wanna know all of these
answers to these questions
yeah like visa things that they wanna know
cause you know when you're traveling
you probably need some sort of visa something
yeah and it said everywhere
hey if you don't have this
it's okay we can help you get it

(27:57):
we just need to know do you have it or not
yeah right
they even asked like how much do you want to be paid
and they gave you like ranges and it started at
I don't remember like 2000
20 five hundred
something like that to like 50
five hundred a month
what a range and you pick
I don't know if that's good or bad
yeah I don't know

(28:18):
but like you pick like and then like in between though
in like there were ranges in between yeah
yeah those um
and I was like well
I guess if you live on a cruise ship
you don't really have expenses
yeah so I have no idea if that's good pay or not
I'm not in that world at all
but it was just interesting for me to see like
how you apply for something like this

(28:39):
and what all they want to know before you even sing
yeah so if you guys are interested yeah
go apply Ritz Carlton Yacht or whatever
I'm sure they'll treat you well
Ritz Carlton hotels are very nice
yeah hahaha
I'm sure their yacht is also very nice
but I just I cannot at like every time I get on a boat
like a cruise yeah
I I just I can't look
I'm like nope
nope nope nope nope
so that's the one thing where I'd be like

(29:00):
even if I had the opportunity
I would probably say no yeah
but I just can't I just can't do hahaha
Dramamine is
you know my best friend when it comes to like flying
yeah
but I just I can't you can only survive on it so long
that's that's it yeah
so anyways okay
very cool and so you did two contracts you said yes

(29:24):
yeah were those back to back
um I had a couple months off in between
OK so in between
I ended up actually
I was planning on just staying in New York
between contracts but I ended up going to Saudi Arabia
um OK
so I was back for maybe three weeks
and then I auditioned for Scooby Doo Live
and then I ended up getting it last minute

(29:46):
um and they're like great
you start rehearsals on Thursday and it was Tuesday wow
so we rehearsed in New York for like a week and a half
two weeks and then left for Saudi Arabia
for two and a half months wow
and then I came back
and I had 2 weeks before I left for my next cruise
why do you have an apartment

(30:06):
I no
I don't anymore I did
oh OK
all of my belongings are
we're in a storage unit in Hoboken New Jersey okay
fair enough yeah
so I had one the first time and then I sublet it
like subleased my apartment yeah
um but it got to a point where I was like
it's especially finding a long term sublet
when you're not there to help yeah
yeah yeah
and then they also raised the rent of

(30:28):
my apartment by quite a bit
so me and my roommates were all like yeah
we're gonna tap out yeah
it was very nice place she was good while she lasted
but it was just not feasible
so what are you do you live out of a hotel now
I'm in I'm subletting subletting yeah
okay from somebody else yeah
yes cause they're also working on a cruise
so it worked out okay yeah
perfect perfect okay
so did you already have your second cruise

(30:51):
ship contract lined up before you started it
mm hmm okay
or yes yeah
so right before I left my first contract
they offered most of our cast
mm hmm um
any pretty much everyone who wanted to
we all transferred together
okay cool
which is really nice
cause I think they try to do it if they can
cause everyone knows the shows
they all know each other they know how to work

(31:12):
it's cheaper and less risky for them
yeah so they just yeah
picked our whole cast up
and moved us over to a different ship
yeah pretty much yeah
okay that's super cool
and then uh
in between you you went to Saudi Arabia
so talk to me about what that was like
cause that was probably a pretty big culture shock
yeah it
I think I was lucky that my cruise

(31:34):
was in the Middle East before um
so it wasn't like
I've never been to the Middle East before
I don't know what to expect
I it worked out well that I was like great
I literally just got back from there
yeah um
but it was it was really interesting
but it's was really cool um
I think especially cause you don't like
I feel like you over there
there's not as many opportunities

(31:55):
for theater performance um
and it's was for a company called Event Box
and they essentially
they just bring theater to places that don't have it
traditionally oh cool
that's really cool um
so we
they built like a mini Warner Brothers world there
and they had there was a Justice League show
Scooby Doo there was a Looney Tunes show
um and they had an orchestra that played
along to episodes of Tom and Jerry Live

(32:16):
which that was anytime I had a break
I'd go sit and watch them play cause it was just so fun
but it was a yeah
it was a very cool opportunity to do
were you stationary there though
once you were in Saudi Arabia
yeah so they put us all up in a hotel
and that's where we stayed the whole time
in Jeddah or in Jeddah yeah
yeah okay
okay that was probably nice yeah

(32:38):
just be like I'm staying yeah
in the same place yeah hahaha yeah
okay and did you get to explore at all
yeah so we didn't have to leave with
especially being there over the summer
it's so hot during the day
oh my god everything's closed during the day
so yeah we were at the venue
we would leave around 4:00
I think and we wouldn't get home until midnight

(32:59):
like our last show was at 10:30 10:00 um
so you were that's when everyone was going out
and I think in like in like North America example
like if you
thought of bringing your kids to go see a show at
ten PM it's like what people would be like
are you crazy yeah
but it's
they all sleep during the day just cause it's so hot
like you can't yeah
really do much um

(33:19):
so the nightlife there was really cool
um
yeah and it was just
there was a lot more there than I expected
um like tourism wise and it's just it's
they're really building beautiful
yeah they're pouring a lot of money into Saudi Arabia
right now like
the Saudi government is pouring a lot of money into
tourism there yeah
it's crazy to see uh
I travel to Dubai uh huh

(33:40):
not not frequently
but every so often yeah
um cause just
I spent my childhood there
and sometimes I meet my parents in Dubai
yeah and from here it's freaking far
but whatever it's like 15 hour flight
no problem let's go baby
let's go drama mean I'm asleep haha
um but in
even in Dubai you see a lot of like

(34:00):
posters and like
commercials and however else you describe advertisement
um for things that they're building in Saudi Arabia
yeah there's like a golden cube
something that they're building there too
there's the they're
I know they're out building the Burj Khalifa
they're trying to
I'm sure I saw the construction of the new building

(34:22):
oh my God um
so it's once it's finished
I'm not sure when it's supposed to be finished
but Jeddah will have the tallest building in the world
oh my God yeah
always trying to one up each other right
I love that and I think they're also
I think this is in Saudi Arabia
where they're building like a
a a city
but that's like a

(34:43):
oh my God like it's not a round city
it's just a street and like
like a real like miles long
a many miles long city
um I'm really doing a very poor job describing this
right now I'm so sorry
but I saw some like concept pictures of it
I like renderings yeah
and I was like oh
this is kind of cool

(35:05):
like just the strip through the desert of like city
and it anyways
look it up hahaha
they can do a better job of describing
I think it's in Saudi Arabia okay
it's somewhere there yeah
yeah very cool
um and okay
so how many shows did you do in Jeddah like a week
um so we

(35:25):
it was open seven days a week
wow but we would have one day off okay
so I was a swing for my show
so I was friends with Daphne
Velma and Scooby okay
um
and then I also ended up a little bit into the contract
I jumped into the Looney Tunes show
so I was also helping out with Daffy
Duck and Sylvester okay
so that was yeah

(35:45):
so I was there were some days um
when I would be doing like I would do a Velma
then I'd run and do Daffy
come back and do two Velma
go back and do two Daffy oh my god
so it was the Looney Tunes show
they would have four or five shows a day
and then at Scooby we always had three
we were in a separate little theater okay
but oh my god yeah

(36:05):
that takes a lot of brain power yeah
like I can barely get one show in my brain yeah
I only ever did one musical in my entire life
and that's when I met Kate
Coach Kate from our team
she was the director and I was the lead
and we only did five performances of it
but I just could not never mess like that

(36:27):
I would always mess something up yeah
every show it was always something else
but I would always forget some sort of line
or change the lyrics in a song or
cause I'm a songwriter so I would just like make up
yeah the lyrics on the spot
like kinda close enough close enough yeah
but for me it was mostly nerves yeah
that were like oh my God
so anyways I can't imagine like as a swing yeah

(36:51):
you're not just like learning one role
you learn multiple roles
and then you're also doing a second show too
it's like oh my God
how how do you do that
um
I honestly don't know
I think my ADHD loves it a little bit
it's kind of like a fun challenge
um I've done swing work before

(37:11):
but nothing like to that caliber
especially learning like with Looney Tunes
I Learned the show from a video and I had one put in
and then I was yeah
that's crazy um wow
so it was it was a lot um
but it just kind of my brain likes it
I think yeah
it's and I know like people who swing

(37:32):
like especially in cats
one of our swings she covered
I think by the end of it almost nine tracks
um she was amazing
and her like
her brain is just one of the most fascinating things
cause it's yeah
it's all separate but in
I think sometimes knowing more helps because
you know like
mmm hmm okay
well this character's here
I know that I'm here yes

(37:52):
um yes
you have to make sure your brain doesn't switch
halfway through yes
oh my God yes
and I also think it's almost like training a muscle
yeah like I see this with memorizing songs
like when I first went to the New York Film Academy
we had to like learn five new songs every week
yeah and it was like a lot of repertoire
and I
at first was struggling to memorize all these songs

(38:13):
first of all I did not
like my English wasn't that great
so it took so much brain power
for me to understand what was being talked about
and then also trying to memorize everything too
it's like I was so tired all the time
cause just my brain was working so hard right
cause at that point
I would translate everything into German
now I think in English
I dream in English like my brain is in English now yeah

(38:35):
but anyways it got easier and easier
and easier to memorize all these songs
the more I did it yeah
now I probably would struggle again
cause I don't ever memorize songs again
like now so uh
it would probably take some time to build those muscles
but yeah that's amazing that you were doing
covering all these different roles
yeah and doing two shows at the same time

(38:56):
oh and like what you said
two months of rehearsals no
two weeks of rehearsals and that was it
yeah and then you did it for two and a half months
and then you came back
and then you went back on a cruise
yeah
oh my god and then how long was that second round
seven and a half months oh my god
you like just got back yeah
I just got back I finished the cruise

(39:16):
and then I went to visit my partner in London for like
two weeks
and then he came to visit in the US for two weeks
and then he's been gone for two weeks
did you meet on a cruise we met in Saudi Arabia
actually
wow yeah
so it was it was one of those just like right time
yeah yeah
and they're over in yeah

(39:36):
he lives in the UK okay
um but he's actually
I'm doing another cruise oh my God Sam
another one in August
August yeah
in August so I leave at the end of July
and he's actually gonna be doing it with me
so
so
we'll get to be on the boat together for seven months
wow yeah

(39:57):
uh do you get to like
if they know that there's a
like a couple do you share cabins or
it's like per my contract
I get my own cabin and the dancers have to share
so I technically I'll still have my own cabin
but yeah he's just gonna yeah yeah
say what it is oh
I love that I love that
so he's a dancer yes
yeah wow

(40:19):
but I'm I'm a terrible dancer
but guess who's worse my husband
hahaha he is the absolute worst dancer
cannot like oh no
even if you're listening to music and like
he's like tapping it's
it's just not even
and I'm like oh honey
stop please
hahaha
but he has no interest in learning

(40:40):
you know it's like
I'm not gonna push that on him
yeah he does math
he does engineering and I'm like
if you don't push math on me
I'm not gonna push music on you fair yeah
there you go fair enough right
hahaha no
my girlfriend goes around the house humming
a fifth slide
cause that's probably the most common thing I do
yeah she'll be like hmm
like what's that song

(41:01):
it's just the sound I'm always making
oh my God but is it like a good fit
like yeah
she's killing it no
let's go Tate I love that
that's amazing
that is so funny that is so funny
so where's that cruise gonna be
um
so we'll do the Baltic Sea for a couple of months like
wow Poland
Finland Latvia

(41:22):
Denmark Norway um
back in the rough seas yeah
and then we'll do a one way to the Caribbean and back
okay
a little bit of like metropolitan Europe in between
and then we do South America
that is yeah
South America and back so I'm
we have nine I think nine ports in Brazil
um Argentina

(41:43):
Uruguay
yeah I'm very
very excited that is so cool yeah
I haven't explored that part of the world at all
the furthest south I've gotten is Costa Rica yeah
and that's it so desperately Wanna go yeah
one of these days and it's yeah
it's just I'm very very excited
that's so cool
I did the cross Atlantic cruise

(42:04):
when I was one and a/2 years old yeah
I don't remember it
but there's video footage of my mom and I throwing up
so it's it
on the way there'cause my last cruise
we did to the Caribbean and back
uh huh seven days
um seven days at sea
which is a lot yeah
but on the way there I don't remember it being bad

(42:24):
on the way back I was laying in bed
and my feet were going above my head
and I was like oh no
this is not good absolutely not no
absolutely I would be like
you're getting a helicopter and you're
getting me off of this boat right now
I cannot I don't even know if you're in the middle
I don't think a helicopter could reach that we
so we actually had to we had a medical emergency

(42:45):
so when while during the seven day thing
they were fine it was just
it was I say it was just a broken bone
it was a broken bone yeah
but they just for safety of the passenger
it was at the beginning so they're like
we're not gonna leave you on the ship for seven days
we're gonna get you yeah
on shore so you can go to an actual hospital um
how does that work yeah
so we had to turn around no

(43:06):
and you don't have to get all the way back to port
but you just have to get close enough for someone
to send a helicopter yeah
um and our ship doesn't
didn't have a helipad
so they like airlifted somebody off of the ship
oh my God yeah
that's crazy that's something I never need to do
yeah hahaha same yeah
same can die happy hahaha

(43:28):
never having done that yeah
and there
I was just preaching about how I'm always gonna say it
I'll do anything not that
not that not that
not that oh my God
do you have any other crazy stories
um
like I'm living for the tea here no
there's like stuff I'm not supposed to know
so I can't OK
yeah yeah
of course um
we did have a pipe burst and flood crew mess once oh

(43:51):
that was fun
it was like while we're in rehearsal and they're like
messes we got like an announcement and they're like
first stage response
which is like the beginning of an emergency
but they don't really say what it is
cause they don't wanna stress people
and that was the first
first stage response I'd ever had on any of my ships
and we were in the middle of rehearsing a parade
like so we're all sitting there and we're like wait
is this waiting for the for exercise

(44:11):
yeah yeah yeah
which never came we're like oh
this is real something's happening
thankfully it was just a busted pipe yeah
we were in port so it was easy to fix okay
um but we didn't know that so we're all like
why are we
are we rehearsing like a little sailor number
when there's something wrong with the ship
yes so it's
it's scary when it happens
we had one once it was an actual emergency
we were at sea and it happened at 2 in the morning

(44:33):
like we were all about to fall asleep and they're like
first stage response
engine casing or like something in the engine room
and we were all like oh my gosh
like what is happening right now
yeah it was just one of our engines went down OK
it was fine and everything yeah
um but it was
they will call it off but they never called it off
so we were all just sitting there
like waiting for crew alert

(44:54):
which is when you have to go yeah
and like do your emergency duties
like for I had to help evacuate passengers OK
different places on the ship yeah
um so it was
I was like do I need you
just kind of like
anxiously waiting to see if it gets called off
or if it yeah
gets escalated further luckily
no Titanic moment for you
yeah hahaha

(45:14):
oh my God I mean
at this point I'm sure ships are like very safe
and yeah it's just like flying
it's like yeah
it's it whenever
whenever one thing happens
it's in the news and then everybody gets scared
and I'm like
you know how many car accidents there are every day
yeah so you always have to remind yourself of that yeah
but oh my gosh yeah
I would love to hear you sing a little something yeah

(45:38):
is that cool with you yeah
that's fine I have something from the ship
um okay
from one of our shows
how should I what's the best way to do this
yeah so if um
if you don't mind yeah
um you can share that with me
beautiful after great
um so that I can
you know like add it when we're editing it um
but here you can just play it and then

(45:59):
I'll just overlay it so that it great
sounds a little bit better
OK cool
let's see how this goes yes
I didn't crazy warm up today
but I tried my best
I love it just a little sneaky
yeah you know
um how much should I do
um like a minute
like a verse and a chorus
like I don't
I don't know what what are you doing
um it's nights in White Satin okay

(46:20):
um so it's like fun rock show
it's from our rock show on the ship addicted to love
and it was like very like Moody ugh
like yeah
it's just super fun if you want to do the whole thing
you can do the whole thing cool anything yeah
no it's fine
I'm just here for the treat
yeah okay cool let's see how this goes
oh my gosh it's plugged in
coming out of my headphones
that's what's happening right now

(46:41):
I like why is it over there from the distance
let's try that again
okay

(47:11):
letters that we know

(47:45):
you oh oh I love you

(48:41):
you oh oh I love
oh
Gustavo
ah

(49:01):
yes give me that grip baby
ah I'm shaking
that was so cool I mean
it's totally a different vibe doing this here than like
live on a stage but okay
I have so many favorite moments okay
okay okay
just before you even started singing
it was like and I'm in character
yeah right
it's like okay

(49:22):
hello actor I love it
I love it I love it
um and flips
you're doing so many vocal flips in this
and I'm a sucker I'm a sucker
I'm a sucker I'm a sucker for vocal flips yeah
I blame it on the Swiss in me
cause yodeling yeah yodeling
I love yodeling it's the same thing
yeah right yeah
so love love
love love
and I mean the grit there at the end

(49:42):
it's like you really prepared yourself for it
you were like alright
let's go let's go
yes so cool
thank you
um I'm gonna ask you first
how did it feel for you um
very weird honestly
yeah it's one of those
it's like
I feel like I sing that song very differently in like
rehearsal settings than I do on stage

(50:02):
yeah
and I honestly think part of it has to do with in ear
and that style of music yes
the dynamics right
like you can really get yeah
like really so close on the ships
we do wear in ears on stage
which it's
it's one of those things like I feel like once I've
once you go in ear it's hard to go back yeah
um like you
it's just it's so different
like having like

(50:23):
you can control exactly what you're hearing
yeah it feels very like I
we had the choice of doing two
I always did one okay
um but yeah
just very different but fun different yes
just much more like intimate
I feel like than I normally do it yes
yeah but yeah
well how was it for you
yeah that's well
I mean I know how you sound

(50:43):
I love you I'm just thinking
about all the wonderful things you can do
and how it's so fun to hear you sing rock
I mean yeah
you talk about you talked about tour and cats and like
and doing sillabub
which is like really in a classical there yeah
different world
and so it's so fun to hear you do rock with all that
with all the grit and the resistance
and the intentional compression

(51:04):
like everything you're sprinkling in there
it's really fun
talk to me more about what you mean by resistance
compression I'm totally following the grit
I'm following how is resistance different resistance
I think there is
and I think this is partially in your energy
and also just I'm not even talking anatomically here
but there's that hold
the feeling that you're holding back on those

(51:26):
on your dynamic growth of I love you
I love you I love you
the resistance there I
I hear as different than just I love you
na na
na na
you know just like three different levels
there's that really
like you're holding your air back and that's it's
I guess it's paired with the compression okay
but it's
I'll say that's more of the effect that I'm getting

(51:48):
okay fair enough
fair enough yeah
it it almost sounds also like a little emotional
yes too like compression is very much like
that's actually physically what's happening
and the resistance is more like the emotion yes
like I don't know yeah
the like the the artistic quality yeah
like the
what the compression is leading you to that resistance

(52:09):
that like push and pull yes yes yeah
very cool so where do you feel more at home
more in like the rock or more the classical cats
so I am a soprano okay
I'm soprano I soprano girl sing
I like singing high it's my happy place okay
but I feel like especially
and it's like one of those things
like especially when you're in school and like

(52:30):
educational theater yeah
you get put in a box yes
and yeah that's what you're told you can do
and a lot of
it doesn't even necessarily has to do with you
it has to do with what they have and where you fit
with who else is around you like yeah
the poor like the people that like they're 18
but they're tall so
they're always gonna play the mom
in educational theater but it's like you're 18
20 years old
you're not remotely close to the age that you'd play

(52:52):
these roles or sing these parts
but that's just where you're put in at the time
so I feel like coming out of school
I put myself
I let myself be put in the boxes that I was told I was
yeah or like
had previously done
just from rules that you do in that kind of setting
yeah um
but I honestly think
cruising has changed my whole mindset
yeah around that and my own voice as well

(53:13):
like I never would have thought of myself as like
a rock singer
but highway to hell is my favorite thing to sing
if I have a live band with me
yeah cause I just
I wail and it's
I can get high because I have the classical training
and it's just fun and yeah
gritty and I love I love that
but it's something that I never
thought I was capable of doing
until someone said well
we hired you this is what you're singing in the show

(53:35):
do it yeah
yeah
wow so it's mean with that
with like all we sung all sorts of styles on the ship
and you're switching it up every day or two
like you're singing a completely different style
yeah cause
you're trying to accommodate for different audiences
right wow
oh my gosh do you have a like a fake
I mean this is pretty
pretty freaking awesome

(53:55):
I don't know how I can get better than that
but you know yeah
so I think right now
rock is becoming one of my favorite
wow styles
um but I do I'm
I love a classic MT yeah
yeah thing as well
so MT stands for musical theater
in case you don't know yeah
hahaha OK
yeah very cool
so I think the most fascinating

(54:16):
maybe not the most fascinating thing
but one of the fascinating things about you
in particular is like
it sounds like you're spending very little time
actually auditioning yeah
and you're doing a lot like a lot of shows
and I feel like in musical theater school
they always told us like
you're gonna be auditioning and auditioning
and that's the job the job is auditioning exactly

(54:36):
uh huh
um
do you have any idea how many auditions you did through
um your career
I feel like a quite a bit um
when I even on tour like
we would be self taping in our hotel rooms
all the time and we had
there's a couple times like
I would leave tour
to come to New York to do an audition for something wow
um

(54:56):
so it's and I
I also I don't have an agent
which I feel like a lot of people are
okay when I say that everyone's kind of like huh
cause it's
I feel like I was always told
you're not gonna get auditions
if you don't have an agent
you're not gonna book if you don't have an agent
clearly not the case I've been clearly not yeah
and it's it becomes a lot
a bit more work
cause I have to function as my own agent

(55:16):
so I have to find the auditions
I have to yes
do the prep myself like
no it's I don't have somebody doing that
and looking through actors access yeah
or like the online like audition forums for me
I have to dig and kind of find everything myself yeah
but yeah I feel like it's
it just kind of worked out in a good way for me
that's amazing yeah

(55:38):
auditioning on tour auditioning on tour is interesting
yeah um
dance calls from the gym dance calls from the gym
you go oh yeah OK
so you some
some venue or like some hotels that we're in
or even some of the venues have like a dance studio
rehearsal space so like when they do have that it's
it's really nice cause you can yeah

(55:59):
go and do that but then there's sometimes like
we're buying a day pass at the local YMCA gym
to borrow a studio and we'll
a bunch of us will rent it together and everyone's like
okay you Learned it
everybody go film what you need to film yeah
within the hour that we paid to rent the studio
and then get out leave again yeah
uh so
you know a lot of times
like if you don't have representation or what not
like you go to these open calls

(56:20):
it's like it's hard to get seen
yeah and
you know it's like one thing to find the audition
but then also like actually getting seen
did you ever have an issue with that at all
um I've been to one open call successfully OK
it was for wicked in New York
I was I managed to get seen
this was back when non equity cause I'm non
non union um
so we have to there's

(56:41):
I think it's changed recently
um where there's no unofficial
we used to have like an unofficial
yeah list
so you'd line up outside of Pearl Studios
one of the audition studios in New York
and you'd write your name on a piece of paper
that somebody tapes to a wall
so early at the crack of dawn
and hope for the best
because sometimes there would be two lists
but because it's all unofficial
there's not like the cure

(57:02):
the moderator of the audition will like put it together
and I was lucky to get seen
but however it was an eight bar cut
uh huh yeah
and eight bars is nothing yeah
that's what 15 seconds yeah yeah
maybe um
so I've been seen for wicked
wow with my good
good old eight bar cut haha

(57:23):
yeah um
but it's I feel like a lot of times
I stick to the non union work
which usually you can get appointments for okay
um
but it's all like online submission now
for like the first two or three rounds
I feel like for most things okay
that makes it kind of nice yeah
yeah okay yeah
and uh

(57:44):
is there a reason why you chose to do non union
versus joining the union um
right I could buy my card right now
like I have the like qual credentials or whatever
you need to join the union um
but that I think
that does limit a lot of work that you are able to do
yes once you're in the union ah
interesting I thought that yeah again

(58:04):
I know nothing about this world
so for me it's like wow
the union like yeah that would make it more yeah
accessible but it sounds like it's the opposite yeah
it's so once you're in the union
you can't do non union work okay
if your resume isn't I don't know how to
how to say it right but is
if your resume isn't
stacked to get you into consistent union auditions yeah

(58:28):
you're less likely to book a job in general
so it's easier for someone who's a little younger
to book something non union yeah okay
granted non union is without a union
so you know yeah
it comes with its challenges
absolutely but yeah
that's kind of the the world there
yeah OK
do you think you're gonna stick to non union for a bit

(58:48):
or I think so um
cause I know a lot of a lot of national tours honestly
that you see are non union
yeah wow um
so a lot of times they'll start as union
and then after like a year or two
they'll switch to non union
but it will be the same exact production
just with interesting
non union lesser paid actors
there it is yeah
um so
and it's a lot like our our stage crew is still union

(59:11):
like they're all part of IATSE
which is like the stagehand union um
which so
I think having them as a part of the union does hold
them accountable to some like for us
it kind of Shields us a little bit
I think
and protects us a bit because if like hours wise
if we're pushing something that the unions against
usually if they're there we're there
hmm so if it gets like it helps shield us a little bit

(59:33):
but it is I mean
it's definitely a difference in the yeah
like but it's
we're doing the same same exact production
same set that they used for the union tour okay
just we're all non union wow
yeah okay
interesting huh
that I'm sure we can record an entire
I was yeah
that's a huge combo just on that

(59:54):
and that would be like I know nothing about this at all
like we kind of Learned a little bit about it in school
but that was 10 years ago
yeah and it's different when you're learning about it
versus when you're living it
yeah and also I don't remember it so
I feel like they make changes or like I'll some
I'll see something online about it
I'm like huh
I didn't even that'll be like a change in something
I'm like
I didn't even know that existed in the first place

(01:00:15):
but OK cool yeah
how now the unofficial list is officially by the union
no longer accepted
because before so you can't do open calls anymore
you can you can't do
they're trying to prohibit the thing where everybody
a bunch of people get there at 3 am
put their name on a list and then go back home yeah
and then show up and they're like
oh my name's first on the list
and having a list makes everything

(01:00:37):
easier for the people running the audition
so usually they just
or often they'll just honor the list yes
now it officially can no longer be honored
whoever is first in line
the audition starts when it starts
so you have to stay
you get there at 3 and you stay love
so and yeah there's the flip side of like they're like
oh
well now auditions will start when they're supposed to

(01:00:57):
and it's like
that's absolutely not that's not how that's gonna go
and it's like it's like well
how also like how well can if you're like
if you are non union
you are lucky enough to be able to be seen
you've been up standing outside
yeah for hours
we had a we had talked about this
about singing without a warm up
yeah yeah
singing for Alphabet without a warm up
and what that even yeah
looks like yeah

(01:01:17):
oh my gosh especially in cold New York winters
yeah cause apparently I Learned this
there's audition seasons mm hmm yeah
I didn't know about that before
it's I feel like there's always something auditioning
yeah but it's definitely like a end of winter spring
so it's so cold yeah
and then you're waiting in the cold
yeah oh my God
no thank you
yeah I'm too much of a princess for this life oh my God

(01:01:42):
so my my question was gonna be for you
like what's next but we already know
you're going on another cruise for seven months
yeah oh my God
I love that for you like
I think that's so wonderful
that you have all these jobs lined up
and that you're always working
and I mean not always working
but you know what I mean
like that's that's really great
I mean obviously you know what you're doing
you're fantastic

(01:02:03):
so it makes sense that you're that you're booked
but still you know
even if you're really amazing
it's still hard to yeah
like get booked yeah
because you just have to be at the right time
yup right time
right place right person right hair color
right like whatever right
like there's so much that is outside of our control
in this kind of world so I'm so happy for you
that's so amazing

(01:02:23):
do you already know what you're gonna do
after the seven months I think I keep saying I'm done
I think I'm done after this next one
yeah the only way I would do it
there's one route that I would do
just about anything to have with this cruise company um
but I do think
I'm gonna wanna try to settle in New York
and start auditioning for like

(01:02:45):
regular musical theater again yeah
um it's something that I
I do miss like acting I miss acting
I love acting yeah
um
but yeah I also think and it's
there's a weird stigma around cruise ship work
in the musical theater industry
where a lot of people think it's lesser
like it's not as good quality

(01:03:05):
you're not working as hard
it's I feel like a lot of people
it's harder taught a lot of people like
you don't wanna stay in cruises for too long
you don't wanna do that so I think especially with like
before
I took this next contract that I'm gonna be doing
I almost didn't do it because of that
I was like oh
I'm gonna ruin my career
I'm gonna miss out on all these opportunities
but I have grown so much yeah

(01:03:26):
by doing them because I'm expanding myself vocally yeah
I'm working in crazy conditions because on like
even on like cats was hard
we were on tour
you're traveling straight into a show sometimes
it's not easy by any means
but also your stage isn't moving
yeah yeah
like the stage isn't rocking
you're not um

(01:03:46):
getting whatever sickness
every passenger has just brought onto the ship
so I feel like on the ship you can get
you get sick a lot yeah
and you get sick often so
you have to be very conscious about taking
care of yourself
you're not consistently doing the shows so you don't
you aren't able to build the stamina in your body
so it kind of
feels like you're whipping it out of thin air sometimes
yeah um
so it's I feel like it's

(01:04:07):
it's different work but it is still very hard work
that I feel like people kind of
just dust it into the corner
as like a yes
yeah performance style for sure
but would you ever consider going into film too
I would yeah
I feel like with that you
that that aspect of the industry
I feel like it is much easier
mmm hmm if you have an agent

(01:04:27):
so I think yeah
once I get back I wanna try to find an agent um
okay cool
see how that works especially for TV film
but yeah yeah
oh my gosh that's so exciting
you have a lot of exciting things happening in your
life
and uh
but it seems like you're enjoying it too
yeah so that's
that's good yeah
I love that for you again
like it's it's so hard being a working actor out here

(01:04:50):
yeah so you're
you're doing it yeah
I'm doing it
that's so exciting that's so exciting
anything else that you Wanna share
that you wanna get off your chest
any tea any drama
um I think just do what makes you happy
yeah like
screw what people say is like

(01:05:11):
the right career choice or the right path for you
if it makes you happy and it's like
scratching that itch artistically for you
and it's
you're not like
harming yourself or like overworking yourself crazy
like yeah
do it yeah
like don't worry what other people think
or what someone tells you
it might do or won't do for your career
if it's
an opportunity that you think will be good for you

(01:05:33):
even if it's just for some good old fashioned fun
like yeah
yeah yeah yeah
I love that I love that
well I have one last question for you
and if I remember
I try to ask all of our guests that sometimes I forget
but I remember this time um
the show is called from singer to artist
yeah and um
my question for you is if there is a difference

(01:05:53):
between a singer and an artist
what to you is the difference
um I think a lot of it has to do with passion
in my opinion I feel like you singing like
at like a basic level kind of is like OK cool
you can hit the tones you can hit like
or you can hit pitch you can sing the song technically

(01:06:13):
but I feel like adding artistry is like
if it's like adding artistry to it
um helps you become that like
if it's something you're passionate about
acting through song I feel like it's a big part of that
like you can I can sit here and I can sing a song
and I can hit every note
but it won't be entertaining
yeah it won't be like full of anything
so I feel like it'll just be like

(01:06:34):
oh that was nice
yeah moving on like right yeah
not like oh wow
that moved me or yeah
whatever adding something personal to it um
I think transforms you into an artist
I love it yeah
the personal aspect of it
yeah I like that great
thank you so much yeah
thank you
you are such a beautiful person inside and out
thank you
I've only known you for like the last hour and a half

(01:06:55):
yeah but this is so fun
thank you so much for coming on
and for sharing your journey and uh
that's amazing like
you know if I wasn't so allergic to boats
I would come and watch you perform
but please don't take it personally
yeah I'm waiting from the shore exactly
yeah but I just
I just can't do boats I'm sorry
that's OK that's not for everybody

(01:07:18):
thank you so much for coming in
thank you for coming in
please let us know where can we find yes
yeah your stuff
um my
I feel like Instagram is probably the best place
I technically have a website
but I'm really bad at updating it
but it's bello underscore sam 99 I believe okay
Instagram
but I shall link to it so that you can find it perfect

(01:07:39):
and then do you
do you do like updates and like your crews live
yeah and yeah
and then
I'm getting better about posting performance things
because you're killing it nice
I'm getting better I feel like in my brain I'm like
no one wants to see that and I'm like
I don't care I'm crazy thing we convince ourselves yeah
like why I don't want to be the one who post
if I don't tell people I sing
how are they gonna know yeah

(01:08:00):
anyway yes
yes very much so yeah
very much so yeah
um yeah
you kind of have to become a content creator too right
like oh my God yeah
I love it well
I'll link to your Instagram
so that everybody can find you and follow along thanks
thank you again for coming on
thank you so much good luck
enjoy your cruise some time with your boyfriend yeah

(01:08:21):
I love that for you and then after that
we'll have you come back again and be like alright
I'm done with cruises just kidding
I'm I'm gonna do it again yeah
I'm gonna do it again for you
and um
yeah we'll stay in touch
and have you come on again in the future
if you'd like yes
no I love love to love it awesome
thank you so much thank you everybody for tuning in

(01:08:43):
go follow Sam on her journey
and go check out one of her cruises
yeah look a cruise and watch her perform
I love that do it for me cause I can't
alrighty we'll catch you in the next one bye everyone
We are back in New York City