{"id":1298,"date":"2014-09-24T06:30:09","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T06:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victoriatheodore.com\/?p=1298"},"modified":"2014-09-24T06:17:14","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T06:17:14","slug":"happy-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victoriatheodore.com\/index.php\/happy-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy birthday to me!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is my birthday!!<\/strong> \u00a0Last year, I went through some major changes, some good, some painful. \u00a0I\u00a0accepted a new dream job, and thereby released my dream job of touring with Stevie Wonder. \u00a0I moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, away from my family, my pets, my friends, my relationship, my students, my familiar local performance opportunities,\u00a0my comfort zone, into the unknown world of late night television. \u00a0I was nervous, but also excited. \u00a0I never imagined\u00a0that I’d be on television, and yet, there I was!<\/p>\n

Every day that I went to work on the Arsenio Hall Show was incredible. \u00a0Preparing for the show was an intense, all-encompassing effort. \u00a0I had to familiarize myself with a vast array\u00a0songs, musical styles, lyrics, learn songs extremely quickly,\u00a0make last minute changes, often\u00a0while the show was taping, project energy, smile and have fun entertaining the studio audience, while being aware that millions of people would be watching at home. \u00a0No pressure…!!<\/p>\n

When the show was cancelled in May, it came as a shock. \u00a0It seemed that the show was doing well, and that momentum was on our side. \u00a0But\u00a0the saying goes “that’s Hollywood”! \u00a0As a natural optimist, I shed my tears, dusted off and focused on what’s next. \u00a0So, I got to work on completing (at long last) my debut album. \u00a0After all, if I was still touring the world with Stevie Wonder, or working 10-14 hour days on the TV show, it would be\u00a0exceptionally difficult for me to find time to finish my album. \u00a0So the timing is perfect, n’est-ce pas?<\/p>\n

Indeed, I miss performing in Stevie Wonder’s\u00a0band, sharing the stage with him,\u00a0experiencing the heights of musical expression, watching his audiences swoon and cry tears of joy from my keyboard station. \u00a0I miss walking onto the KTLA lot, going into my dressing room (with MY name on it!), saying hello to the staff and crew, going to my unbelievable keyboard rig, running tunes with my brothers in Posse 2.0 (y’all just don’t know if you didn’t come see the show live. \u00a0The band was AMAZING!), walking in as\u00a0my all-natural, no makeup, \u00a0wild curly hair flying, Birkenstock wearing, hippie-chic self and being transformed into Black Barbie by my glam squad everyday (EVERYDAY!!), performing for a hyped up live audience, watching Arsenio entertain and make everyone laugh on set. \u00a0It was magical.<\/p>\n

So, in this coming year, I am publicly declaring a few of my birthday wishes, but, of course, I’ve got a few which\u00a0will remain secret ; ><\/p>\n

MUSIC<\/strong><\/p>\n