in the Mix

What was it like spending time in Paris and in Monte Carlo?

My latest adventures had me traipsing from the Theater District for “West Side Story” at the Colonial to Mike Epps’ shows at the Wilbur Theatre and later the Strand Theatre for BalletRox. Somewhere along the way I was able to interview a young actress, singer and popstar by the name of Selena Gomez.

‘West Side Story’

My favorite musical is “West Side Story” and when I heard it was coming to town I was really excited. I used to watch it every year at Thanksgiving and loved the whole romantic notion of Tony and Maria as the star-crossed lovers from two different worlds. So, when I received the invitation to attend press night at the Colonial Theatre, I was beside myself. All the songs from the musical just flooded back. Opening night came and it was packed. Curtains went up, the music kicked in and the love story began all over again. The dancing was phenomenal and the chemistry between German Santiago (Bernardo) and Michelle Aravena (Anita) was muy caliente! It’s at the Colonial Theatre through July 9.

BalletROX Springs Out of the Box

I attended a wonderful performance by BalletRox at the Strand Theatre that featured several brilliant and original dance creations. One of my favorites was called “Tiskat, Tasket,” which was choreographed by Anthony Williams. It was fun and flirty and made you feel like you could jump on stage and do the jitterbug. I’m so awed by the dancers and the fluidity in their movements. This was my second time attending a BalletRox event and I think they’re great!  Kudos to all the choreographers  and dancers, especially Anthony Williams, Jane Allard, Janelle Gilchrist, Rick Vigo, Gianni DiMarco, Lucy Warren-Whitman, Lorraine Chapman and Davide Vittorino.

Selena Gomez in Boston

The Texas beauty was in town to promote her upcoming movie “Monte Carlo.” Here is a sneak peek at what Selena said during our round-table interview about the film, being a role model and hanging out with her co-stars Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy.

I think it’s going to be really fun for me to say that one day that I lived in Hungary for six weeks and Monte Carlo and Paris. It’s a totally different thing when you’re living in these places. I shot most of the film in Hungary which was very interesting, very beautiful. And the culture was awesome. I had a great time there. Paris obviously was beautiful. Monte Carlo has the best beaches.

I had graduated a week before we started shooting but I didn’t get my diploma because I was in Hungary. They couldn’t give me my diploma. They shipped it and the day I started shooting my graduation scene my mom comes in and she has my diploma. It got mailed and she’s like, “We got your diploma.” So, it’s actually really cool because I got to graduate in the movie and in real life.

It’s really hard for me to answer that. I’m so proud of this movie because I’ve worked really hard on it and I haven’t done a lot of films. And now I’m completely addicted and I really want to do more. But, I’m also looking forward to my summer tour because I’ve never done a huge tour before and it will be the first time I get to go on the road. And I love meeting my fans. I think once I’m older I’m going to want all of this to slow down. I’ll probably want to stick to acting.

That word is interesting. I never said that I wanted to be a role model and I never really say that I’m a role model. I have amazing fans and they mean the world to me. I also let them know that I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. I’m growing up and figuring out who I am. If anything, I’m growing up with them. They make me better. They do make me more aware of the decisions that I make.

Leighton did most of the shopping. I packed a lot of wedges and heels, and cute clothes and dresses because I thought whenever I’d go out with the girls, that’s what we’d do. They were in sweatpants and no makeup the entire time. No matter what restaurant we went to that’s what they were wearing. And it was amazing. We worked like 18-hour days with hair and makeup and all those dresses.  It was really cool for me to see the older girls like that. So I never wore makeup and I never dressed up, and it was awesome.

My mom travels usually everywhere with me. It’s usually my mom and my stepdad, and most of my family comes out. [This summer] my bus will have two of my cousins, my grandparents, my mom and stepdad. I love to have my family with me.

Coming Up …

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA) and the Berklee College of Music present HarborWalk Sounds, a series of free summer concerts taking place on Thursday nights on the Boston waterfront from 6-8:30p.m.  

The Roxbury Center for Arts at Hibernian Hall celebrates the Cape Verdean culture with musical performances and art showings Wednesday, July 6 through Friday, July 8.

The Teacher a.k.a. KRS-ONE performs at The Wilbur Theatre Saturday, July 9 at 8p.m.

The Roxbury International Film Festival premieres on Thursday, July 28 with a screening of “The Athlete” at the Museum of Fine Arts at 8p.m.

If you would like me to cover or write about your event, e-mail me at inthemixwithcolette@gmail.com.