#ashleyargota

long time no talk.

i guess i should update y'all? lol.

this year has been the MOST insane. most of it has been filled with a little show i did called Romeo & Juliet: Love Is A Battlefield. if you have been following me at all since the beginning of the year, you’ve probably seen pictures of me and my cast. we did the show at Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Feliz for seven months. it was the classic story of Romeo & Juliet, set to the music of Pat Benatar [if you don’t know who that is-- shame on you. look her up right now.] i got to play Juliet, opposite some of the most beautiful people i will ever know. what i thought was just going to be another show turned into this incredible, life-changing experience. we are all a very tight-knit group. you may have seen that we all got matching tattoos together in between our first and second runs of the show. [fun fact: my tat is in our director, bradley bredeweg’s, handwriting.] yes, the tattoo’s are real. yes, i really have tattoo’s. yes, it hurt. 

anyway, like i was saying-- Romeo & Juliet was the most inspiring and incredible time, and has such a huge piece of my heart. i’m so grateful for the experience and for what it has taught me: that there is fire within me, and to be brave.

my year has been kept pretty busy with the show, along with filming different things. on top of performing every weekend, i shot some more Fosters and Lab Rats episodes. always such a fun time. i get to sing in one show and throw electricity out of my hands in another. not a bad job. 

i also got to dive into a couple of films! i shot a little indie short called ‘blackout’. i had a scene where my character plays basketball with the boy she likes, and i actually made a basket at one point and in true ashley-fashion, they didn’t actually get the shot on-camera. but i made it, i swear.

the other film i worked on was Broken: The Musical. i don’t want to give the whole thing away, but it’s about finding yourself after the unthinkable happens to you. the cast i worked with was hilarious and fun and y'all should be seeing that soon.

i got involved in this really great project called Music is Medicine this year, and met an incredible girl, Iris Jacobs. she’s thirteen and she has cancer. but she’s a spunky, sassy, beautiful fighter and i love her so much. i got to write a song for her that you guys will get to hear soon. i’ve loved being a part of such a wonderful organization, and knowing this girl who is so full of hope and positivity in the face of something so frightening has inspired me. 

on top of all of this, i’ve just been performing and traveling and learning and growing and taking life one minute at a time. i just moved to la with my dog. so that was a huge life move. it’s been a whirlwind of a year, but i’m surrounded by an incredible father and the worlds greatest friends, and i feel very lucky. 

i hope you guys had the best summer and are having a wonderful start to the school year. study hard. i’ll talk to you soon.