November 2008:

Hello Everyone,

The most exciting news is that I'm going to be starring in...

...on Broadway as Roxie Hart very soon! My run is from December 29th - February 12th and I've already started learning the songs and some choreography. It's going to be so much fun for me.  A real dream come true as I've always wanted to be on Broadway singing, dancing and acting my heart out!  I really hope you can all come or at least any of you that will be on the East coast during that time.  The amazing thing about theater is that when it's done it's done so don't miss it!!

In other news, I'm putting together another group of songs for my next record which will include some
of my original songs and some covers this time.  I want to do some songs that are not mine and I
hope to have it all done sometime in January.

My husband and I are making a game plan for the release of our film, YOU.  He wrote it and co-produced it with me.  I directed it and star in it with him.  I will be adding a list to this site soon and I hope you will all sign up and get all your friends to sign up.  You won't owe anything but , please, do put your name on the list as this will really help us get YOU out there to those who are already curious about what I'm up to. I thank you all in advance for checking it out. YOU will be available for viewing, downloading and purchasing in April of next year but we will be building our list soon and we want you to be the first ones on the list!

I'm in England right now visiting family and looking forward to the Holidays, especially Christmas in
the Big Apple!  The decorations alone will make me feel in the spirit.  It's chilly here but not as cold as it will be in New York.  Our daughters, Rory & Piper, are so excited to see their friends there and see Mommy up on stage playing Roxie.  They learned all the songs from Les Miserables when I was playing Fantine last August at The Hollywood Bowl, so, I'm sure they'll soon be gleefully singing,"who says that murder's not an art" much to their parents chagrin, just as they so happily sang "master of the house, isn't worth my spit, comforter, philosopher and life long shit" from Les Mis.

Oh my..... well, if that's the worst of it, we'll be lucky!  I guess it's par for the course, because if the truth
be told, actors are still gypsies.  We just travel in planes instead of covered wagons now.

Until Next Month....

Buy your tickets now for CHICAGO!  

Make 'em say, "Wow! Melora Hardin sells tickets on Broadway!!!"

All My Best,

  

September 2008:

Hello Everyone,

Since my last blog I feel I’ve lived a whole year and, yet, it all sped by so quickly.  

Early in the summer I filmed The Hannah Montana Movie with, the mega watt Miley Cyrus, in Nashville and became familiar with beautiful Tennessee!  Miley was wonderful as was her entire family and it was a lot of fun playing Lorelie, the down home, foreman of Miley’s grandmother’s farm who catches the eye of Billy Ray Cyrus.  I think Miley’s fans and their parents will be in for a pleasant surprise when they see this wholesome, fun film in theaters May of 2009.

For three nights in August I, literally, fulfilled a dream singing “I Dreamed A Dream” as Fantine in Les Miserables at The Hollywood Bowl.  Roughly 60,000 people came out under the beautiful, warm, summer night sky to see us.  It was AMAZING!  You can watch it on YouTube by just typing in my name and clicking on the night time version of “I Dreamed A Dream” if you missed it live.

I am now back at The Office filming our 5th season, which seems amazing to me, and, of course, wonderful to be embodying Jan again…. Larger than ever!  Yes, Jan is pregnant and I’m enjoying exploring Jan’s maternal instincts… or lack there of.  

The Office was nominated again for Best Comedy and we will all be attending The Emmys later this month.  After being included in so many of the lists by Emmy pundits of people who had a great chance of being nominated, I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t, since it was a wonderful season for Jan’s evolution.  However, I’m thrilled that the show is being recognized again for Best Comedy, and I do hope we win.

As a pregnant Jan I just shot the November cover of Pregnancy Magazine. We did a VERY funny spoof on the Rolling Stone/Janet Jackson cover.  Look for it on stands by mid October.  I also shot the cover of VIVA Magazine, a Canadian Publication with very large North American distribution.  It will be on stands in October and is my first solo cover.  All very exciting publicity!

I recently shot a couple of Public Service Announcement’s for CURE which is trying to educate people about and find a cure for Epilepsy.  The crew was all the people that shoot Obama’s campaign announcements and commercials so that was very interesting.  They helped conceptualize the whole “change” YouTube video that got everyone’s attention.  I really enjoyed the entire experience as well as getting more informed about the devastation, fear and shame surrounding epilepsy.  CURE is really doing amazing work and is determined to make a difference for future generations.

I’ve been speaking to a lot of venues about doing my singing ACT, “At The Water Cooler” around. I will definitely be doing it at Joes Pub in New York sometime this Fall, in Palm Springs at the Viceroy,  with the Upright Cabaret, sometime before the years out and, hopefully, some other venues around the L.A. area.  I’m determined to get out and sing more as it really just makes my soul happy to be using that part of my creative expression!  Les Miserables got me hooked and now I, not only want to get on Broadway, I NEED to!

So, as always, I’m pursuing all opportunities to be creative and will have more to share in October!
 

All My Best,

August 2008:

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to let you know about the Les Miserables production at the Hollywood Bowl.

Performances are Friday August 8 through Sunday August 10. Friday and Saturdays shows are at 8PM and Sunday's is at 7PM. Tickets are available at the box office or by calling ticketmaster

Hope to see you there!

All My Best,

February 2008:

Hello Everyone,

I’m back to work on THE OFFICE and enjoying every twisted minute of being in Jan’s skin again. Some wonderfully, wacky things happen in the April 10th episode so be sure to tune in to see Jan being her wonderfully, multifaceted, screwed up self. I love her and this episode, The Dinner Party, may be the best one yet for me and Jan! We won another SAG Award this year for Best Ensemble so I now have bookends with cute butts! It is such an honor to be celebrated by our peers. I’ll be publicizing the new episodes on The Today Show on April 9 and I’ll do a radio tour on the 10th so you might hear me talking to your favorite DJ on some morning show.

May 10 the Lifetime Movie in which I starred, "Me, Mom, Dad and Her", airs. Watch to see me as a nurturing, wise, loving & maternal woman. It was wonderful filming up in Vancouver, Canada, where we made the film. I could live there it’s so gorgeous!

Spring has sprung and the daffodils are out, the birds are singing and the sun is shining here in L.A. I sang one song at the Upright Cabaret in West L.A. and it made me miss my ACT. But, I’ll be singing again soon so keep your eyes and ears open for the next time I’m live singing my heart out. Exciting things are percolating in Movie land so I won’t be able to sing at the Viceroy in June, like I’d originally planned. I’ll fill you in on the wonderful news as soon as I’m allowed to discuss it! But, I can say that the stars are shining down upon me and my career!

The stars will be twinkling in the sky and on stage at the Hollywood Bowl August 8, 9 & 10, when a dream comes true for me as I sing Fantine in Les Miserables. I can’t believe how lucky I am and I’m practicing very hard to make sure my voice is in tip top shape.

Until next month….

All My Best,

February 2008:

Welcome to my new, updated, website. Hope you like it. If you have any input that you'd like to share we are happy to consider things that you are wanting here on Melora.com.

Well, it's been a cold and wild winter here in Los Angeles but, now that the Writers Strike is over, we will all be back at THE OFFICE very soon to make some more episodes for this season. I do miss my Jan and I look forward to seeing her again soon. I was busy during the Stirke on a movie that began shooting before the Strike and it was great fun. It's called "17" with Zac Efron, Mathew Perry, Tom Lennon and Leslie Mann. We all had a great time and I think it's going to be a great big hit this August when it comes to a theater near you.

For those of you that came out on those rainy, rainy nights in early January to see me in my singing Act, "At The Water Cooler", I really thank you for not being
detoured by bad weather and bad timing. Because of the Strike it seemed everyone was out of town at a time when we all would have been revving up for work after the Holidays in normal years. We had great audiences none-the-less and it was a blast! It looks like I'll be doing my show in New York in May sometime and all over the place, so, if you missed it, hopefully, you can catch it when it comes around again. I'll keep you all updated here so if you keep checking in you'll get the latest news all the time.

The greatest news of the moment is that I'm going to be making my real musical theater debut this Summer, August 8,9 & 10 at the Hollywood Bowl as Fantine in a fully staged concert version of Les Miserables! I'm so excited I could burst my britches! It is really a full circle for me as I wasn't all that interested in Musicals until I saw Les Miserables on Broadway in 1987. I sat on the edge of my seat and thought to myself, "I want to do that!". I was so in love with I DREAMED A DREAM that I learned the song immediately and sang it every chance I got. Now I really have the chance to sing it with a full orchestra, alongside other amazing singers/actors. If you are in Los Angeles in August, I hope you can come out and see me in one of the greatest musicals of all time!

That's all for now. I will be blogging once a month to keep you all in the loop. Until then, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions about the site.