Tale as Old As Time

As I've said before, my essential problem with actual writing is that when I have a lot of interesting things to write about, I'm way too busy to sit down and write about it. When I have time, I have nothing interesting to write about. Currently, I have my job at the 5th Avenue in Development, my job as a dresser at the Village, and on top of that, I'm knitting like a fiend to finish all of the commissioned fingerless gloves before the show closes. Oh yes, and I'm trying to have a social life, both with the cast and crew of Beauty and the Beast and with my friends outside of the theatre.



In other words, my apartment is a mess, I'm running out of clean "blacks" (work clothes for backstage, for those unfamiliar with the lingo), I have no groceries, I'm behind in my favorite television show watching, and I'm not writing anything.



Speaking of blacks (Sorry, tasteless transition), have you heard? We have a brand new President! It's very exciting given that he's the first black/biracial Leader of the Free World. Even more exciting, he's not a total moron! There are a lot of expectations on his shoulders, but that is as it should be. We should be expecting a lot out of our President. Sure, he's going to disappoint us, but it can't be any worse than the eight years we spent under the reign of President Goofus. He's got a big job, since we're still fighting/occupying/whatever in Iraq and the economy is kind of sucking a lot. Lots of fixing to be done, but I think if anyone can do it, President Barak Obama can do it. This is the time for well-educated intellectual people to take charge.



The economic crisis thing is funny. Not ha-ha funny, odd funny, especially from the perspective of the arts. Lots of arts organizations are feeling the effects, and making cuts right and left, but from where I'm standing, I'm not feeling those cuts. Theatre is notorious for making cuts to save money all the time, and it's an almost daily struggle to make money in the arts. The artists, the crew, everybody at the bottom of the ladder, that's standard operating procedure. We're used to struggling to make ends meet. Perhaps as theatres announce their seasons next year, choosing to put up cheaper shows with smaller casts and technical challenges, our jobs will become scarcer, but again, we're used to lean seasons with very little work, regardless of what the economy is doing. Being in Development for a theatre does put an interesting spin on things for me, though. I am worried about my job a little, because I'm the lowest on the totem pole, but at the same time, at this point, my department's role in the theatre is more important that ever, trying to raise funds for the theatre. Which means lots of work for me to do, for now. All of this is merely musings, and I'm not saying I'm not worried, but I'll deal with all of this when I need to. Worse comes to worse, I can always move back into the parent's house.

Final thoughts: Beauty and the Beast is closing this week, which I'm pretty sad about. I need the break desperately, but I'm going to miss working with this pretty incredible group of people. I'll work with almost all of them again, but it's always sad to lose the bonds that we've forged over the last three months (which actually feels like YEARS, given how long this show has been running). Plus, I don't have a show until Showboat, which isn't until May. I don't even know for sure if I have that. Not really looking forward to that long of a break.

Love, peace and dancing flatware.

A Star is Born

So, yeah... Bad Dame. I can't help it. You see, I knit. The cast has discovered that I knit, and that I knit fingerless gloves. So, they want me to make fingerless gloves for them. I've made two pairs already, mostly done with a third, and have three more commissioned. That's right, they're paying for them. Anyway, between those, my day job and the show itself, I'm a little busy.
Excuses out of the way, I'll get back to what I wanted to talk about in the first place. (But first, met up with the Pick Up Artist last week, and despite getting a flat tire in the process had a VERY enjoyable evening).

Slings and Arrows. Right? If you love theatre, you have to see it. No choice. It is exactly what theatre artists go through to make a show happen. All of the egos and eccentricities, the money and the lack thereof, the failures and frustrations, and the incredible highs, and the drinking. That's what theatre is, folks.


Set at the fictional New Burbage Shakespeare Festival, Slings and Arrows follows Geoffrey Tennent, the new Artistic Director who is being haunted by the old one, Oliver Welles. There are three seasons, and each season is six episodes. Each season focuses on a different major work of Shakespeare, although you do see glimpses into one or two other productions as well. First season is Hamlet, second season is Macbeth, third is King Lear. That's all the synopsis you're getting because you need to see it.

So my point in bringing this up? Well, because in the 2nd season, the understudy has to go on for the lead at the last minute. Now up until this point, I had enjoyed the show, laughed at how accurate it was. But when that understudy went on, I marveled at how brilliantly they captured that feeling. It happens that way, with everyone watching from the wings to send support, and maybe to snicker, but mostly to watch something new and exciting. The way dressers are sewing an understudy into costume. The way the scene partners push and pull them in the right direction or telegraph hidden messages of encouragement so the audience can't see it. The way the whole show changes with a new energy and a new life. And that's why I do theatre. Theatre is NEVER about when everything is perfect. That's boring. We live for the challenge, we love to rush to save the day and we love when the shit hits the fan and somehow the show goes on.

My favorite moment in live theatre so far was when the woman playing Dolly in Hello, Dolly! at the Village Theatre lost her voice halfway through the first act. She literally couldn't make a sound. Ms. Kotula, her understudy, was already in the show playing a different character, so we stopped the show for fifteen minutes, threw her in costume as she was running lines hurriedly. We restarted, with brand new Dolly. That was the first time Ms. Kotula had ever done the role in front of an audience. Hardly any of us remembered what happened, because everyone was concentrating so hard on her, but I do remember when she came down the stairs of the Harmonia Gardens for the title song, it was magic. And you can't explain it to anyone who wasn't there just what it felt like, though you can try.

Slings and Arrows made that possible, at least, a little bit.

Making You Think Merrily

So, there goes one resolution already. Well, I got stuck. On Friday I went to the bar with the Boys and then went back to the Party Apartment. When I finally got home I went straight to bed. Then, last night was movie night with the Enchantress. I started crashing at her apartment next to the theatre when the snow started, and ever since then, I've crashed there on Saturday nights after the show since I've had to go in super early on Sunday mornings. Popcorn, wine, knitting and a movie, it really doesn't get a lot better than that. So anyway, that's why I've already failed my resolution.

I truly was going to write something meaningful. I have a post planned, since I've been watching Slings and Arrows (which, if you want to know what life in the theatre is like, watch it). It's a great show, and I feel the need to discuss it. That, and I have a post planned about my tattoo that I want.

I promise I'll be more interesting, although, incidently. The little fling that I had over the summer has contacted me after months of not hearing from him. Flirty texts so far, I'll let ya'll know how that goes...

(New Year's) Bells Are Ringing

So, here we are, 2009 and times, they are a'changin'. Lots has happened and life keeps trucking along, but things can only get better from here, right?

Well they should, so here are the resolutions for 2009. I'll probably break all of them, but it's good to have goals.
1. I have to write every day. Preferably in this blog, but I've got a journal as well. Writing is one of those things that I wish I were good at, but I'm not, so I should practice.

2. When I'm not working on a show, I have to go swing dancing every Thursday. I'm not kidding about this one. I love it, and I haven't been in MONTHS. Plus it'll help with resolutions 3 and 4....

3. Lose 10 pounds. This one is a constant and the one most like to be broken (well, other than the writing one). Still one can dream, and maybe I'll actually be good about this.

4. Make friends outside of the theatre. It's hard, since the social clocks are wildly different between theatre and real life, but I'm never going to meet the right guy in the theatre. It just isn't going to happen. Hence, making friends outside of the theatre and pursuing other interests.

5. Be more careful with money. I've been pretty good, but I've been lucky so far. It's going to be a while in between shows at this point, so I need to make sure that I can afford to live in my apartment when I'm not working two jobs.

6. Embrace my firey tendencies. I don't, I supress them often, letting them out at inoppurtune moments. If I embrace it, perhaps I will get different results, which is good.

That should do for now, I suppose. There's lots that have been going well this past year, moving out, getting a job, graduating, all of that fun grown-up stuff, but I'm not satisfied yet. I should be, but it's difficult. It can be dang lonely working my ass off like I have been.

Peace, love and ticket stubs, folks!