There are no small parts, only small actors

Sometimes having a 30 second role where I only walk across the stage is a blessing.

Take tonight, for example.

I showed up fifteen minutes early to rehearsal, as always. Tonight was the brush-up rehearsal. When a theatre company has been off for a few nights, it’s typical for the director to schedule a rehearsal the day before performances resume to make sure that everyone remembers line and entrances and the like.

We try to run this rehearsal as quickly as possible. Sometimes it’s called a speed thru or Italian run thru – you say the lines as quickly as you possibly can while still getting all the words out and most of the emotion with it as well. Just to get the feel for the play again.

My part in the script comes about ten pages in. I walked onstage and did my lines quite quickly and was on to my exit in a matter of seconds.

I was out of the theatre by 7:20 pm, twenty minutes into the rehearsal.

Which is good, because the remaining piles of laundry weren’t going to wash themselves this evening.

Did I mention that I have to get the house in order for a cast party this weekend and I have two work events and two performances between now and then? I’m definitely looking forward to Monday, when things can get back to normal.

I really wish Ted Drewes delivered

This is a great business model – ice cream or donut delivery service. Like pizza to your doorstep, but even more awesome!

When I got home from work tonight, I cooked dinner, cleaned the house, and started on the mountain of laundry that has been calling my name for weeks. Now I’m sitting here watching Gossip Girl (yay fall premieres!) and I really want some frozen custard with marshmellow creme and hot fudge.

But that would require finding shoes, driving to Ted Drewes and spending money. All things that don’t sound appealing right now!

Maybe we have some ice cream in the freezer… one can only hope. I’m off to see!

Is it bad that I schedule my life around the Fall TV premieres?

Or, at least, I used to.

Now that I have my DVR, I can’t imagine how I did things before.

Oh yes, that’s right – I would make myself come home to see a particular episode of Grey’s Anatomy rather than going out with friends. My DVR really saved my social life!

But I still really love the Fall TV season. Here’s what I’m looking to this year:

The Good

Glee – HOLY CRAP. This is probably the best show I have seen in SUCH a long time. When I came home Wednesday night and the cable was out, I think I had what could be called a hissy fit. I managed to catch it on the repeat on Friday night, but STILL. Taking my GLEE away was NOT a nice thing to do.

Grey’s Anatomy – I guess we’ll see how this season plays out.. it’s an oldie, but a goodie.

Fringe – I don’t like the Twilight Zone or other scary type shows, but for some reason, this one just caught my attention and has kept it for the whole season. I can’t wait to get more questions answered!

Ugly Betty – I love the story lines of this one, plus the costumes and neat camera work.

Dollhouse – Very strange, but I love Eliza Dushku. So neat to watch.

My Guilty Pleasures

Gossip Girl – It’s totally like our 90210. I LOVE it. :)

So You Think You Can Dance – I could never do even HALF of what these kids do, and that’s why I love watching. Even though I never vote and STILL yet at the tv screen on Thursday nights when they kick off the wrong dancer.

The Untested

Modern Family  - This is a new comedy and I think might be a good one. We’ll keep it on the list and see if it can keep up.

Flash Forward – This is a show I’ve heard a lot about, but haven’t seen a preview. It’s a bit like Fringe and maybe Jericho from two seasons ago on CBS that never made it beyond the second season. Looks interesting!

Why, yes, I do watch too much television… I should get on that.

Opening Weekend

It’s come and gone. Thank goodness.

Sometimes I’m so ready for a show to be open and in front of an audience. This is one of them.

The Friday night audience loved it and reacted favorably to every joke or funny situation. Saturday night we wanted to take the pulse of the ladies and gents out there. It’s the worst thing in a comedy when the audience is liking what they see, but not vocalizing! It makes us wonder if they were awake! Sunday was a combination of the two previous audiences.

It’s sad, but I’m already looking forward to my next gig. I approached another community theatre that I’ve worked with in the past to see if I could stage manage an upcoming show. We’ll see what they have to say. I can’t audition for that one due to a conflict with Husband’s law school prom – I OBVIOUSLY can’t miss that one. :) I’m already shopping for a dress!

Tech week = hell week

I become a ghost the week before a show opens.

It’s like an old-fashioned confinement when ladies in the medieval times would go into seclusion before they went into labor and gave birth.

I go into hiding and don’t emerge until I need to get dressed up for opening night on a Friday evening.

There’s a need to completely immerse myself in the world of the play and ignore everything else – work, housework, and even eating sometimes.

This tech week may be different. We have some major events and meetings going on at work this week, so I have to be on my toes during the day and hopefully not work too long so I’m not late to rehearsal.

Tech week is always a stressful time – it’s the time where you work out timing, when to change costumes, how many people can be in the wings at one time, and how long you have before you have to be onstage. I love it because it’s when a show really comes together. The cast may not have been hanging out backstage, they may have been reading or checking e-mail while sitting in the house. This is the first time we really become like family backstage and learn how to live with each other for the life of the play.

The first time I put on my costume and actually run the show under the stage lights, something magical happens. I may have studied the script, done my character analysis and memorized my lines – but when I step onstage with that costume on, it completely changes and the characters becomes real.

That’s why I act.

Work hard, play hard

I’m pretty sure Husband has spent more time out with friends than he has in class. And that’s saying something!

Out of his 14 classes, 11 of them are before Wednesday afternoon. That means, by the middle of the week, he’s zonked and just wants to get something to eat and drink all night.

Many of his classmates are from out of town so Husband has been the unofficial tour guide to the city. He’s been taking the 1Ls out to the great stops in St. Louis – O’Connell’s, Humphreys and Imo’s.

We haven’t made it to Ted Drewes, Bailey’s Chocolate Bar or The Fountain, but there are plans. Oh believe me, there are plans! Most of these places are simply must-sees in St. Louis – Ted Drewes especially. It’s a classic!

But it’s good for him to hang out with friends and relax. The classes are hard (they should be!) and he’s reading upwards of a thousand pages in cases in each week. Something about grabbing a beer and laughing at the end of the day makes facing that large textbook a little easier.

It’s fancy dress time!

I’ll serving as a hostess (or something, I can’t remember my  volunteer assignment) next month for the Mid-West Regional Emmy Awards.

And I need something to wear. I figured they wouldn’t appreciate it if I showed up naked.

So where can I find a good, cheap, evening gown? I can get two wears out of the thing – the Emmys plus the Barrister Ball in January for SLU Law.

Where would you go for an evening gown? I think I’d prefer something long, preferably something that covers my chest and doesn’t show off the goods too much.

Any ideas?

The Best Birthday Present Ever…

My aunt sang me “Happy Birthday” today, two weeks and a day after a major stroke. And I cried.

She’s on the rehabilitation floor of the hospital and is doing much better. Every day she gains something that she didn’t have the day before. Like certain words and the ability to walk with a cane while someone helps her balance.

But today, I turned 26, and Mom called me to wish me a happy birthday. She said hold on, and put the phone up to my aunt’s ear and started singing. Then my aunt picked up the tune and finished the song with “and many more!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

Her singing to me was the best present I could imagine getting today. I love my husband and the beautiful lavender pearls from Shane Co that he surprised with me at lunch, but the gift of my aunt singing – it’s priceless.

It just goes to show – there are many things that are more important than material possessions. Things like love and life and hope are worth more than anything else.

The Key Issue

I’m in a funk.

I know I’m getting lots of sleep – maybe too much.

On the way home from work, I have such grand hopes for the evening – do the dishes, sort the mail, clean up after my husband in the living room, do my filing, finish my wedding scrapbook, solve world peace.

Once I pull into the garage, my thoughts turn to dinner and cleaning up the kitchen. Inevitably once dinner is served, I head into the craft room and watch the latest episode of Masters of Reception or an old Step by Step, my secret vices.

Then I get on this computer (‘cause I haven’t been on one enough during the day at work!) and do God knows what all evening.

Before I realize it, it’s 10 p.m. and time to go to bed. Where did the evening go? I was going to be so productive, I just knew it! But then somehow, nothing got done. AGAIN.

I know that so much needs to be done, not just to keep the house up, but looking ahead to the move, to get rid of crap that we just don’t need, nor will we have room to store in the new smaller townhouse.

The key issue? I have no motivation.

I’m good at …

1. Planning events. It’s what I do during the day for a living and I think I’m pretty darn good at it.
2. Acting. It’s what I do in the evenings to make me sane while planning events during the day.
3. Making my friends and family laugh, even if I didn’t really mean to.
4. Making guests feel at ease at events or parties.
5. Giving tours – after I’ve been trained. Mine are always so much fun!
6. Talking to strangers in elevators.
7. Finding the closest chocolate bar when necessary.
8. Getting pretty tipsy off of one drink. I’m a cheap date!
9. Wanting to get organized but not really accomplishing anything.
10. Loving my husband. That one’s easy.

I’m good at all of those things, if I do say so myself. Sometimes you need to remind yourself!