Olympics!

Have you noticed the counter on the sidebar of this blog?  Not the concert one, although that's pretty exciting.  I'm talking about the Olympics one - only 2 days away!!!  I love the Olympics.  It was the 1980 Winter Olympics that hooked me - and I was really young.  One of my first memories ever was that hockey game.  So exciting!  And I've loved the games since then.

I'm really looking forward to the ice skating and the hockey.  Those are my favorites.  I love it all, but those are the best!

GO USA!

Ug Videos

Movie!

So you may remember me talking about working with a good friend on his movie last Spring.  I had a pretty good part, though not one of the main cast members, and it was an interesting and fun character to play.  Well, it's going through all its fun post-production stuff and today my friend released his trailer!  Here it is, for your viewing pleasure:



Scotty is so much fun to work with and it was fun doing a movie for the first time ever.  Theatre and movies are so completely different that it took me a little while to figure out how to relate to the camera (and not to look at it, lol) and how to react to things that are not actually there.  That was a very interesting lesson to learn.  But anyway, check out this cool trailer.  I'm actually in it briefly, at least the back half of me is!  Haha!

A Little Break!

So tonight and tomorrow night will be the first two night break from the theatre in almost a month.  As much as I'm enjoying the run of the show, I'm looking forward to resting these next two nights.  Especially since I'm suffering from vocal strain for the first time in my life.  I know better than to let this happen.  I'm trained to avoid it, but for some reason, probably the number of high notes and the one song that requires a lot of belting, even breathing and singing correctly isn't helping.  Two nights to rest my voice and then five more shows.  I'm not sure I've ever experienced anything as vocally demanding as this show.  It makes me wonder if I can ever actually carry a show myself.  Maybe I'm not cut out for that.  (My dreams of playing Elphaba one day are circling the drain, I guess!)  I'm a little nervous about lasting damage since I've never had this experience before.  I hope my throat heals in time for Wednesday's show and that there is no lasting damage!

I'm enjoying the run of this show so much, though!  The actors are amazing and the crew is top-notch!  I love my "co-star."  He's really just so much fun to be around and to work with.  It has been fun watching him perform.  It has also been fun interacting with the audience, which is something you don't normally do on stage.  We're not just breaking the fourth wall, we're smashing it down and charging right through it!  It's interesting to break convention and really look them in the eye.  I was uncomfortable with it at first, but I'm getting better!  My parents and Noah saw the show Thursday, my best friend Chris saw it Friday, and Jon and his crew (7 people total!) saw it Saturday.  I think that's all my people, unless my sister decides to come sometime next week.

After Sunday, things should get back to normal.  I have so many plans for writing projects and knitting projects and other things I want to do!  There are some professional things I'd like to do, too.  Things that will require some attention and study.  It'll be nice to have time for all that!  And time to see Jon more. He has been so supportive throughout this process and I am so grateful for that.  Now I want to thank him by devoting lots of time to our relationship and showing him just how much I appreciate him being so sweet and supportive.  And this is it for the rest of the year.  No performing at all until 2011, unless something truly amazing comes along in the second half of the year.  Some of the theatres run a different season and haven't announced their fall shows yet.  There may be a fall show I want to be in.  But nothing that will interfere with going to the Sidewalk Film Festival with Chris and probably Jon.  I will not miss it again!

Journal Topics: I Love You

Describe the first time you remember saying "I love you" to someone outside of your family.

I've always been pretty conservative with romantic love and have only really said "I love you" to a couple of guys, and only when I was really sure I loved them.  So the first time I said it to someone outside my family was to a friend.  She was going through a really hard time and I was trying to be there for her.  I didn't know what to say, so I just said that I was there for her and I loved her.  I'm not sure if that helped, but I know that I always feel special when someone says they love me, so I hope it did.  I remember it so clearly.  We were at her house.  She was talking about her family problems and issues with boys and self-esteem.  We were teenagers and of course when you're at that stage of life, everything seems so much bigger than it is.  She was crying and very upset.  It was one of the only times she ever let me hug her.  And so I did - and just told her I loved her and that everything is going to be okay eventually.  To tell the truth, I was completely terrified that she would do something drastic and dangerous to herself.  I don't think my time with her had anything to do with her not hurting herself, but I do like to think I helped a little.  We are not in touch anymore, which happens as you grow up and grow apart, but I think of her often and hope that she is okay.

I say it to my friends and loved ones a lot now.  It's something simple that I can do to make them feel loved and special.  I love to tell people I love them, but only if I mean it! 

I grew up in a very loving household.  My mother especially was extremely loving to us and always said she loved us.  She also loved giving us hugs and letting us sit in her lap.  She is the most motherly, most nurturing person I know and I hope that if I become a mother some day, I will be as loving and nurturing as she was!  I think my attitude about love comes mostly from her and the way she expressed her love for us.

As usual, I've gotten a little off topic, but that's okay.  It was nice to reflect on the different kinds of love and where my attitudes about love come from.  Especially now, after a health scare involving my mother, and with my current relationship going so well, I've been thinking a lot about love and how we tell and show our loved ones what they mean to us.

Opening Night!

So we've done several test shows for audiences of family and friends and the shows have been kind of hit or miss, but overall it's going well!  The show is silly and fun, and I think audiences are really going to enjoy it.  I know we're having fun doing it! 

So if you are in the area and haven't gotten your tickets for Ug, the Caveman Musical, go ahead and do it soon!  We're selling out very quickly!

this is it

Well, we have our first audience tomorrow night.  It's a test audience, invited to watch the rehearsal to help the cast figure out pauses for laughter and stuff like that.  We always do a couple of shows like that and it's extremely helpful, especially for the newer actors.

So the verdict at this point, after tonight's rehearsal, is that we have the potential for a very, very good show.  It's got some rough spots, just like most shows at this point.  And we have two nights to really iron those out.  Well, really three nights since our first paying audience is actually on Friday.  I think we will iron those out pretty quickly under the pressure of actual people not connected to the play watching tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday nights!

I'm a bit nervous about my voice.  It's been hit or miss these last couple of days.  I bought some lemon tea and am drinking it like it will save my life or something.  I don't usually have this problem, but since I've had this strange tickle in my throat for the last few months (not really sure what it is and it's not really annoying enough to go get it checked) I have this horrible fear that I'm going to have to cough right in the middle of one of my ballads!  I really hope that doesn't happen!

So yeah, no pressure and no stress!

It really has been fun, though - and I'm glad I did it.  I'm really looking forward to opening this show and seeing how the audience will react to it, especially to the parts that completely shatter the fourth wall.  That should be a lot of fun!

I'm equally glad it's almost over and I can get my life back very soon!  I miss having free time and I don't like going a week without seeing Jon.  So yeah, it'll be nice to have some free time.

But now is the time to focus on the opening and the run of the show.  I'll give it all I've got, and I know my fellow cast members will do the same!  It has been so much fun working with each of them and I will miss them when it's over.