A list of things I've done in the past two weeks:
Ate
Sat in the living room with the in-laws
Slept late
Sat outside and watched the hummingbirds
Ate
Sat with my best friend right before and right after she gave birth...for the first time
Held a newborn
Blogged
Loaded pics into Facebook
Ate
Beat my parents in Spades TWO TIMES out of three which makes Seth and I the champions
Played tennis
Watched tennis
Ate
Played tennis again
And again
Watched No Country for Old Men, what's up with that title anyway?
Watched I Am Legend
Helped Mom cook
Ate
Watched a movie I've never heard of before from the 80's with Martin Sheen called Believers.
Watched the end of River Wild. Love that movie
Played Apples to Apples with my family.
Made Appletini's for the first time ever. Think I made 'em a little strong...
Held my dog
Read the newspaper
Drank lots of coffee
Ate
Packed three months into two bags
Cleaned out my purse
Talked to my brother and his wife about their calling to be missionaries. They leave next year.
Got a spa pedicure with mom and my sister-in-law
Talked to my in-laws about politics
Made brownies...twice.
Ate mint chocolate chip ice cream...more than twice.
And now we leave for New York. And I feel really sad. And really excited.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Honky Tonk Angels
Last but not least...
Honky Tonk Angels is the story of three women, strangers at the time, who leave home to pursue their dreams in Nashville, TN. Fate has it they meet on the bus along the way, and the three women, quickly becoming the best of friends, form a singing group: The Honky Tonk Angels. The show is a country music review, loaded with classics, primarily those of three country stars, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn, who once released an album together, "Honky Tonk Angels," in 1993. Instead of making it a review only, the playwrite highlights the music using the stories of three fictional characters: Darlene Purvis, Angela Bodine, and Sue Ellen Smith Barney Fife.
To be honest, I was looking forward to this show the least because I didn't like the script. But once I heard the music, signature classic country music (and I'm not much of a country music fan), and once we got the show on its feet, it quickly became the highlight of my summer. It became my happy place. Maybe it was the familiarity of it. The three of us arrived first for rehearsal and became really close. With only three in the cast, the content and responsibility belonging to each one of us was weighty. A lot of pressure. A lot of work. We pulled together, helped each other out, and through the demands and trials of the show, I think developed a special bond.
Or maybe it's because it's such a fun show. Hilarious, really. And with a rockin' band led by my stud husband, performing those songs each night was a treat.
I don't have performance pics of this one, but here's a few backstage. (I'm Darlene.) And I'm still trying to get my hands on a few clips...
From left to right, Sue Ellen, Darlene, and Angela
Ladies and gentlemen! The Honky Tonk....ANGELS!!!" (Lord help that hair.)
And the real Honky Tonk girls.
Honky Tonk Angels is the story of three women, strangers at the time, who leave home to pursue their dreams in Nashville, TN. Fate has it they meet on the bus along the way, and the three women, quickly becoming the best of friends, form a singing group: The Honky Tonk Angels. The show is a country music review, loaded with classics, primarily those of three country stars, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, and Loretta Lynn, who once released an album together, "Honky Tonk Angels," in 1993. Instead of making it a review only, the playwrite highlights the music using the stories of three fictional characters: Darlene Purvis, Angela Bodine, and Sue Ellen Smith Barney Fife.
To be honest, I was looking forward to this show the least because I didn't like the script. But once I heard the music, signature classic country music (and I'm not much of a country music fan), and once we got the show on its feet, it quickly became the highlight of my summer. It became my happy place. Maybe it was the familiarity of it. The three of us arrived first for rehearsal and became really close. With only three in the cast, the content and responsibility belonging to each one of us was weighty. A lot of pressure. A lot of work. We pulled together, helped each other out, and through the demands and trials of the show, I think developed a special bond.
Or maybe it's because it's such a fun show. Hilarious, really. And with a rockin' band led by my stud husband, performing those songs each night was a treat.
I don't have performance pics of this one, but here's a few backstage. (I'm Darlene.) And I'm still trying to get my hands on a few clips...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a musical about a Broadway audition. Specifically an audition for the chorus of a Broadway musical. The show uses a montage technique to glance into the lives of about 16 auditionees, each person based off of a real live actor/dancer from the 70's, since the show was written in the 70's. Due to its innovative story telling approach and rockin' 70's choreography, A Chorus Line was a huge hit at the time. The revival, however, has suffered poor reviews, and it's leaving Broadway at the end of August, I believe.
At Jenny Wiley, I was supposed to be a cut dancer in Chorus Line. That means I was supposed to be in the beginning "audition" sequence, dance the routine, and get cut. But the girl playing Diana Morales was also a featured dancer in Wizard of Oz. At the end of the first week of Chorus Line rehearsals, which was also the first week of Wizard shows, she came down from a lift in Wizard and in doing so, tore her ACL, which is basically a screwed up knee (known to end careers) the very same injury that happens to the character, Paul, in the story line of A Chorus Line. Interestingly enough, the accident happened in real life to her the same day she rehearsed the pretend scene in A Chorus Line.
Long story short, I was swinging about four roles in the show, which is a fancy way of saying I was supposed to be learning all four parts in case something happened... Obviously it did. I stepped into the Morales role, having to learn it in about two days, and then went straight into designer runs and techs. And it was a blast. I never thought I'd be playing this Latino spitfire from the Bronx who can dance her hynie off, but I'm thankful for the opportunity. Morales sings the tune "Nothing," and the well-known "What I Did for Love." Some see her as the heart and soul of the show...such an uplifting, energizing, positive character. I loved her.
So here we are, dancing our hynies off.
At Jenny Wiley, I was supposed to be a cut dancer in Chorus Line. That means I was supposed to be in the beginning "audition" sequence, dance the routine, and get cut. But the girl playing Diana Morales was also a featured dancer in Wizard of Oz. At the end of the first week of Chorus Line rehearsals, which was also the first week of Wizard shows, she came down from a lift in Wizard and in doing so, tore her ACL, which is basically a screwed up knee (known to end careers) the very same injury that happens to the character, Paul, in the story line of A Chorus Line. Interestingly enough, the accident happened in real life to her the same day she rehearsed the pretend scene in A Chorus Line.
Long story short, I was swinging about four roles in the show, which is a fancy way of saying I was supposed to be learning all four parts in case something happened... Obviously it did. I stepped into the Morales role, having to learn it in about two days, and then went straight into designer runs and techs. And it was a blast. I never thought I'd be playing this Latino spitfire from the Bronx who can dance her hynie off, but I'm thankful for the opportunity. Morales sings the tune "Nothing," and the well-known "What I Did for Love." Some see her as the heart and soul of the show...such an uplifting, energizing, positive character. I loved her.
So here we are, dancing our hynies off.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Back from the Dead
It's like I was frozen in ice or something. I get back from Kentucky and find the Olympics more than half over, John Edwards cheated on his cancered wife, Ellen DeGeneres married Portia, and Bernie Mac is dead. Bernie Mac? Not to mention all the other national and international news of which I should be aware.
And I now stare directly into the fact that I learn more from People Magazine than the New York Times. But I mean, come on. We're still at war. It's still Obama and McCain. And "going green" is still the solution to global warming. So...I didn't really miss much there. Oh, and gas prices still suck.
We had no internet for most of the summer, except through Seth's iPhone, which consequently convinced me...I want one. Not just for the iPhone. For the iSolitaire.
What we did have was 42 days straight with no day off. 12 - 15 hour days. Spiders in our bed. Three different housing situations, one which involved a tub filled with backed up poop water. And a broken back. Actually it was a bone sheer and it belonged to me. Bone sheers hurt, but osteopaths are miracle men, especially the one who treated me for free. I was out only one show, and half another, which wasn't so bad, considering how bad it could have been. There was no big accident, no mishap, nothing from which I could gain any extra cash. My back started hurting and got worse and worse until I was walking like my father. One day I took 8 Aleve in a 12 hour period and it still felt like 4 knives were being jabbed into strategic parts of my tailbone.
It wasn't all bad.
I rehearsed and performed three different shows in 12 weeks, made a lot of new friends, learned a lot about myself, played three different Five Cent Stand mini-concerts at three different churches, gave away lots of Bitter Kiss CD's, watched four seasons of "House" with our pal, Joey, sang to my heart's content, discovered Wendy's twisted Frosties, learned to like roast beef, worked as a professional actor, and did it all with my husband right beside me. Can't beat that.
So of course whether you like it or not, you'll get pictures. Lots of pictures. And who knows, maybe a video clip, if I can get my hands on one. I'm glad to be done. I'm sad to be done. I can't wait to get back to New York City.
The picture parade begins:
Wizard of Oz (Dorothy):
"Why it's just like you could read what was inside of me..."
"If I only had a brain..."
"Oh look Scarecrow! It's a man...a man made out of tin! Yes."
"If I only had the heart..."
"If I only had the nerve..."
"We're off to see the Wizard..."
"Well, bust my buttons!"
Lil' Dorothies every night.
This one may have been the biggest fan of them all. She came to every show dressed like a different character each time. (I think she was a munchkin's sister)
A Chorus Line up next...
And I now stare directly into the fact that I learn more from People Magazine than the New York Times. But I mean, come on. We're still at war. It's still Obama and McCain. And "going green" is still the solution to global warming. So...I didn't really miss much there. Oh, and gas prices still suck.
We had no internet for most of the summer, except through Seth's iPhone, which consequently convinced me...I want one. Not just for the iPhone. For the iSolitaire.
What we did have was 42 days straight with no day off. 12 - 15 hour days. Spiders in our bed. Three different housing situations, one which involved a tub filled with backed up poop water. And a broken back. Actually it was a bone sheer and it belonged to me. Bone sheers hurt, but osteopaths are miracle men, especially the one who treated me for free. I was out only one show, and half another, which wasn't so bad, considering how bad it could have been. There was no big accident, no mishap, nothing from which I could gain any extra cash. My back started hurting and got worse and worse until I was walking like my father. One day I took 8 Aleve in a 12 hour period and it still felt like 4 knives were being jabbed into strategic parts of my tailbone.
It wasn't all bad.
I rehearsed and performed three different shows in 12 weeks, made a lot of new friends, learned a lot about myself, played three different Five Cent Stand mini-concerts at three different churches, gave away lots of Bitter Kiss CD's, watched four seasons of "House" with our pal, Joey, sang to my heart's content, discovered Wendy's twisted Frosties, learned to like roast beef, worked as a professional actor, and did it all with my husband right beside me. Can't beat that.
So of course whether you like it or not, you'll get pictures. Lots of pictures. And who knows, maybe a video clip, if I can get my hands on one. I'm glad to be done. I'm sad to be done. I can't wait to get back to New York City.
The picture parade begins:
Wizard of Oz (Dorothy):
A Chorus Line up next...
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