Hello friends, it's me, your Broadway Buddy Ben! I hope you have been enjoying the holiday season in any way that you choose to celebrate. As you can see, I've been just awful at keeping up any sort of blog. But as we say goodbye to 2018 I wanted to jump back in with a year end recap of sorts.

2018 was another year of showbiz hustle! Lots of projects, lots of travel, lots of laughs, not enough sleep. LOL, sleep…I'm funny. Here's a month by month glance at what I think I was up to in '18. Some of it will probably be accurate ;)

Jan- Started the year off right, ringing in the new year at BARRY MANILOW'S house in Palm Springs. Yep, you heard it right, Barry Manilow. Of course we got a bit lost on the way to his compound and ended up crashing into another party at another mansion before finding big B, but that's another story for another time. While I was playing with Mr. Manilow and friends, TV me was hosting the Broadway on THIRTEEN marathon on PBS in NYC, got to interview some incredible ladies like Katrina Lenk and Laura Benanti. Fun. Then joined my pals Nikki Snelson and Eric Stretch for our annual Winter Musical Theatre Mayhem workshop in balmy Rochester, NY. They've both made their way to the west coast, so anytime we can get together is a riot. And of course I love teaching! Finished up the month returning as MainStage host of Broadway Con for the 3rd year. God, I love Broadway Con. Thousands of free range theatre nerds, Broadway stars and me. In a word, heaven. And of course, the start of a new season of Broadway Sessions!!!

Feb- February saw the start of another season of Onstage NY dance/talent competitions. MC'ing ONY has been such an incredible gift in my life for about a decade. I love traveling and getting to know so much incredible young talent.

March- Began season 3 of The Broadway Cast with the stars of Broadway's Aladdin. Now, if you find yourself missing The Broadway Cast, you can always go back to Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Pandora podcasts and relive the magic and even catch video highest on The Broadway Cast Page right here on this website. And don't fret, we're not gone from the cyber-verse forever…stay tuned :) Jumped back in to PBS mode in March hosting an East Enders marathon, little did I know how much more public television fun there was to come! Including segments around Andrea Bocelli and Chicago..band ,not musical.

April-FAMILY SKI TRIP! Joined the Cameron clan in gorgeous Big Sky, Montana for fun on the slopes on a fancy private mountain…tres chic. I didn't even fall down. BAM! Enjoyed traveling to teach master classes at a couple different studios. Dance teacher life still in full affect, baby. Speaking of dance, my web series Dance Captain Dance Attack returned to BroadwayWorld.com. Haven't watched? You simply must. I sweat a lot. ALso enjoyed a trip to ATL to host a fabulous celebrity dance challenge benefit for EDIN.

May- Was invited to teach and adjudicate the musical theatre competition at the Classical Singer Convention in Boston. Uh-huh, I didn't see it coming either. Super experience.

June- BIG ONE! We celebrated the 10th anniversary of Broadway Sessions 10 years!!! HOLY COW!! Started a new venture, my outdoor concert series BROADWAY BUSKERS! Each Tuesday evening we featured singer/songrwriters and composers from the Broadway community, right in the heart of Times Square (thanks to my partners at the Times Square Alliance). Pretty cool and very hot, and lots more sweat. I TURNED 40! 40! A youthful, seemingly ageless 40, but 40 none the less. And what better way to celebrate than a last minute trip to LONDON with my wifey Marinda Davis!!! I did it cause I can ;) Ate all the food, saw shows, rode in a double decker bus…London, check.

July- TRAVEL INSANITY!!!! I'd like to give a deeply sarcastic shout out to United airlines for losing my luggage for a week, and delaying me on every flight I took. But I got that GOLD status damnit! Rochester to Orlando, to NYC (to film a PBS special w/ Heather Headley, 1 day, in and out), back to Orlando for ONSTAGE NY national finals, off to Atlanta to host Broadway Unplugged, back to Rochester to finish our teaching and directing my wonderful Summer Stars!

August- Teaching tour continues with stops in Massachusetts (2 studios actually), Buffalo, Springfield MO., Illinois, back to Buffalo for more workshops and some choreography!! Somewhere in there we brought back the weekly Broadway Sessions Beach Party on Fire Island!!! God that's fun. Wrapped up the month with a quick trip to Denver to hang with my sister at a HORSE SHOW. Once again, didn't see it coming ;)

September- Broadway Sessions returned, now steadily into our 11th season! Returned to co host the celebrity autograph area at the Broadway Cares Flea Market. More Broadway stars than you can shake a stick at! Had the single worst gig of my career hosting a publishing convention- I won't go into detail…but know this..it ain't all fun. OOOF!

October- BACK TO OZ! I returned to my Wicked roots as the host and warm up act for the taping of A Very Wicked Halloween TV special. I don't mind telling you, I crushed it. Cathartic. More teaching in St. Louis. Joined the Channel Q radio team as the weekly Broadway on the Beat correspondent as part of the morning beat with Jai Rodriguez and Mikalah Gordon. Me? Talk about Broadway on a gay radio station?..yes, yes please. More PBS fun surrounding the Michael Buble special. He's awfully good! Also returned as host of the Living For Today concert, complete with Bebe Neuwerth. I like her a lot too.

November- Hosted the 25th Anniversary Rockers on Broadway concert, complete with Pete Townshend. A helluva night. Spent Thanksgiving in the lovely mountains of Big Canoe Georgia. Give me a week to sleep and hang with old people and I am there! Also hosted the HIV HERO Broadway and Ballet Awards honoring Lillias White. Also served as auctioneer for the NYMF 15th anniversary gala. I do love a gala.

December- Wrapped up another season of Broadway Sessions and am currently enjoying some r and r with family in Utah.

LOOK! We did it. Now you are firmly up to speed with most of my 2018. The HUSTLE IS REAL! And I really am quite tired, but so pleased and proud of the strides I've made, the people I've connected with and hopefully brought some joy to.

I hope your year was full of crazy blessings, lots of surprises and fun and maybe even some love. Remember, I LOVE YOU. Always have, always will. Here's to a new year of adventure and growth and showtunes. I'm excited to see what's next for all of us. Call me every 5 minutes.

Love,

Ben
Your Broadway Buddy