Circus of the Stars, Part 2

Pin It Now! If you are new to my blog, on Wednesdays I post about my experience in Hollywood as a former child/teen actress. If you want to start at the beginning of these posts go here.

------

This is a re-run and part 2 from last week's Circus of the Stars post:

For those of you who guessed last week . . . . I made $10,000. Funny thing is - I would have paid to do it.

(Me and my trainers who literally held my life in their hands every time I was on that swing. I have reconnected with them on Facebook. Several of the m work in Vegas on Cirque du Soleil.)

I filmed The New Lassie at Universal Studios in Hollywood. Our set was at Stage 19 and we also filmed quite a bit on the back lot. My Circus Practice times varied depending on my Lassie schedule, but I usually practiced at the end of my Lassie work day. Six days a week. Our Circus Practice was conveniently at Universal Studios as well. However, it was in a completely different section so we drove there from the Lassie set. It was up the hill in the actual park. If you were a tourist going through the park you could catch a glimpse of our practice (from behind the fence). We sometimes practiced simultaneously with the other acts - like the high wire, trapeze and cradle. The animal acts were done somewhere else and required much less practice. They just had to figure out how not to get eaten or trampled and then they were good to go.

(My partner Jocelyn and I trying out our costumes.)

One of the things that was so fun and rewarding about Circus of the Stars was the sense of accomplishment. None of us were acrobats. We were all athletic and coordinated, but believe it or not, none of us had been catapulted 35 feet in the air before. We spent a lot of time on the trampoline learning our tricks before we attempted them off the swing. Most of the time we did our tricks off the swing we landed in a big net and had safety harnesses on us. The times we flipped into the canvas without the safety stuff was minimal. It made the actual performance in front of a live audience a bit nerve racking. There were to be no redos. In fact, this clip here shows up launching off the swing into the air to grab a balloon. I don't think we had ever done this before into the canvas. We mostly practiced grabbing a make believe balloon with our safety equipment on. When they released the balloons to the ceiling they were not quite centered above the canvas. Jocelyn went first. She got the one that was the most centered. I was left with... ugh. How was I going to get that balloon and not die land in the canvas?

The other thing that made this experience so memorable was all the support I had. I was allowed to invite as many people as I wanted to the live taping. And if you know me . . .

as I looked around the stage, and then afterwards at the restaurant at all my friends and family I vividly remember thinking, "This will always be one of the best days of my life."

Here is a pic of just a few of my friends that came to the show:

Ashlie Walker, Paul Walker (long before Fast and the Furious), Nikki Kinsfather and Brooke (Bates) Moore.

I think I had over 25 friends and family come to the live taping. It was a great night, except for the fact that our partner Mark-Paul was injured and unable to perform with us after 3 1/2 months of training together. That was a big bummer. He was a great sport, totally supportive of us, and cheered us on from the crowd.

Pin It Now!

Be a Fan