I usually wake up to these faces. This is Momo and Pete. Momo is a dog who acts like a baby, and Pete is a cat who acts like my girlfriend. She is obsessed with me.
Marla Mindelle
When they're not mauling me, they're good friends that love to sit on bags together.
Marla Mindelle
Pete lives for true intimacy.
Marla Mindelle
She even holds my hand as I check my emails in the morning.
Marla Mindelle
Not to be outdone, Momo tries to model ala Kate Winslet in "Titanic." But it just makes me uncomfortable.
Marla Mindelle
Walking up to the theatre. I play stepsister Gabrielle, or as some people call me, "Pretzel Hair."
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Welcome to my dressing room!
Marla Mindelle
Here is Gabrielle's makeup plot. It consists mainly of pinks and purples.
Marla Mindelle
You can sort of see. I look like a cupcake.
Marla Mindelle
This is the cutest fan art. Manor Oaks elementary school sent me "Playbills" with their drawings of Gabrielle. Note the pretzel hair in every picture.
Marla Mindelle
I also received this sketch from a 10 year old Gabrielle drawing PRODIGY.
Marla Mindelle
Cinderella for Marriage Equality!
Marla Mindelle
Learning how to use this camera while my hairdresser, Tonya, pins my mic to my wig cap.
Marla Mindelle
Perhaps one of my favorite pictures ever. Something happened to the R on my nameplate resulting in my new stage name, "MAPLA MINDELLE."
Marla Mindelle
"Smash" star Ann Harada signs in and writes some warm wishes to Lucky Guy!
Marla Mindelle
This has nothing to do with my two-show day, but my sister and I are in an ugly child Instagram fight and I just took it to a new level. BOOM, LISA!
Marla Mindelle
And just to make sure my youngest sister, Olivia, does not feel left out...
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But look how far we've come!
Marla Mindelle
Anyway, back to the top of the show. Here I'm modeling my bathrobe and bloomers before we begin. As "Rupaul's Drag Race" would interpret, "I'm serving you cozy pre-show fish."
Marla Mindelle
Nick and Kendal fight over who's gonna ride our resident horse, Buttercup.
Marla Mindelle
Even when she's upside down and dressed like a page boy in a Susan Egan wig, Stephanie Gibson manages to look great. UGH.
Marla Mindelle
Laura Irion doing some pre-show stretches.
Marla Mindelle
In the first act, you can find me under the palace stairs playing Words With Friends. One could say this is "my own little corner."
Marla Mindelle
This continues in different and progressively larger costumes.
Marla Mindelle
Oh god, I disgust myself.
Marla Mindelle
This is our quick change booth. Our costumes are so huge they remain onstage. Oops, Laura, I'll come back when you're dressed.
Marla Mindelle
Preparing for the gavotte. Jill, Stephanie and Laura are giving you fairy tale ball gown realness.
Marla Mindelle
And I'm giving you... a striking resemblance to a praying mantis.
Marla Mindelle
This is our wishing well. I'm assuming Jill is wishing she will be able to remember the choreography for "Ten Minutes Ago."
Marla Mindelle
During Intermission, I decide to stop by Greg Hildreth's hipster Bachelor Pad. So far, I'm the only one who's visited.
Marla Mindelle
Vicki Clark's fairy godmother palace. I didn't realize fairy godmothers shopped at West Elm!
Marla Mindelle
Everyone always asks if the cast gets along. As you can tell, we love each other.
Marla Mindelle
Seriously, no one here is a diva.
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Linda's cleavage causes different and bizarre reactions between Branch and Kendal.
Marla Mindelle
Cody is warming for the pursuit. I tried to get a jumping candid but failed every time. So... this is right before he jumped.
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...and right when he landed.
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Branch, Nick, Peter and Kevin pose as a medieval boy band.
Marla Mindelle
In the second act, the ensemble has some downtime on their hands. So... the middle ages meets a Macbook Pro.
Marla Mindelle
I finally change into Gabrielle's peasant look, by far my favorite costume. I wish I had this whimsical nymph hair in real life.
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Personally, I think Greg in love with me. But that's just between ALL OF US.
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After our love scene, we congregate by our snack corner. It's a 5th grader's dream and great for anyone looking to break their diet.
Marla Mindelle
As the bows start, Laura sits on the steps until it's her turn to take the stage.
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Dinner! Kidding. But I usually do stop by Crumbs in between shows to get a cupcake. Bad, bad habit.
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Ohhhhh, Mapla.
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The show is done and now I'm at Jake Wilson and Dani Spieler's apartment. Get this. I left ONE SHOE at a restaurant months ago and Alysha Umphress was nice enough to give it back. One could say it's a... Cinderella Story.
Marla Mindelle
This is Dani Spieler's wig station, that most drag queens would be proud of. It's AT LEAST 90 dollars worth of wigs.
Marla Mindelle
Alysha, Jake, Dani and I are going to a musical improv show so we wear Dani's wigs to get into the KOOKY spirit!
Marla Mindelle
On the way to see our friend, Danny Visconti, sing with his musical improv group, "Fancy Mantlepiece."
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They were amazing! Now we're celebrating at Mono and Mono in the East Village.
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This is our waitress, Judy, letting us pick presents out of Easter Eggs!
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Oh god, oh god, what present am I gonna get?
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...Pepper...Shots??
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Alysha picked....
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INFUSED SAMPLERRRR!!!!
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Happy Korean Easter!
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Thanks for EVERYTHING, Judy.
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The end!
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Back at home. Pete and I are getting ready for bed. Goodnight! Come see us in Cinderella at the Broadway Theatre!
Marla Mindelle
