Oh boy, another interesting week in Coral Springs bitches! But as of now the contract is half over and there's a light at the end of the tunnel. At the bottom of the page are players for sound I snagged from both A Christmas Carol rehearsal and The Sound of Music in performance. The audio isn't great but it's something so you can get a sense of what I was up to.
Monday I decided to finally hit the beach. We piled into my car and headed off to Fort Lauderdale beach only to drive straight into dark, ominous rain clouds and literally as soon as we pulled into the parking lot the skies totally opened up. We sat in the car for a long time hoping it would pass as it generally does since it rains here almost every day, but alas it was epic beach fail day and we weren't pleased. Al had to pee really bad and she jumped out of the car, ran around the other side of the cast van parked next to us and peed right there in the parking lot. She is klassy. We gave up eventually and went to the Galleria and poked around the ritzy shops for a while in our beach attire. After a short while came home. Me, Al, Skids (Kelly Skidmore) and Alishia went to see "Eat, Pray, Love". It was ok. I'm not a huge Julia Roberts fan but it was a nice film.
Tuesday was supposed to be another day off but... it never happened. The shit kinda hit the fan after the Sunday shows were cancelled. We are also losing a cast member a week or two before the end of the run. Ron plays Frank Capra and he booked Jekyll and Hyde at Westchester Broadway but the rehearsals overlap with this contract by a week. He made the right decision, in my opinion, and took the gig. Not everyone is pleased with him but this is a business and it's better for his career. Between those two things our producer decided to rush his replacement down and have him also cover Shane as Mack in case his voice gives out again. So for now he's focusing on learning Mack's part and will replace Ron as Frank about a week before we close. Our new castmate is Justin and seems like a really sweet guy. Anyway, even though we opened Friday, Michael continued to give us performance notes all weekend and decided to call a six hour rehearsal to ass, change and tweak shit. Still more new tracks including mine. And then he tacked a photo call on to the end of it. You never saw more pissed off actors in your life than us losing a day off for nonsense. Originally we were supposed to have one "preview" on dress rehearsal and open on Friday but unbeknownst to us the management realized the show was such a mess still that they decided to call the entire first week previews so that they could still rehearse and give notes. We're having gay boy interpersonal drama, issues with my roommate Lauren who as dance captain is perceived by some as overstepping her boundaries in directing others, and multiple frustrations over the show. It took me asking every day for over a week to get spray bottles of vodka water. You spray the costumes that cannot be cleaned with it and it works much better than Febreeze for killing bacteria and keeping the costumes from walking off on their own. So anyway on top of several hours of ridiculousness we added rubber chickens to the Keystone Kops bit. We are convinced that our director is Corky Sherwood and he is waiting for Guffman to see this revised version of the show he seems to be workshopping and to get him back to his NYC nominations heyday. Not even close. The show is starting to gel as he slowly lets go of it so we can make it our own and get in a rhythm but with changes every show until yesterday (Sunday) it was tough to start to accomplish.
Wednesday was thankfully just a matinee and rainy so we went to the gym after the show and worked out. Thursday morning I hauled it to the gym early to get my body moving for a two show day. Thursday night we went out to celebrate Lauren's birthday and had a few adult cocktails with the gang.
Friday I went to the gym for a long personal training session with my new nemesis/hero Reggie. He was watching me work out Wednesday and was eager to jump in and give me some pointers so we made a date to meet Friday and he would work with me. We did about an hour and a half on arms, shoulders, chest and back and he kicked my ass but we had fun together. I'm down about 5 pounds since I joined the gym and gained some muscle and toned up some areas. After I layed out by the pool for a bit then headed to the theatre for our night show. Turned out Joey Panek aka The Boy aka Cutie Cutie Cue, whom I know from hanging out with Michelle and the gang in Queens in my earlier days in NYC, is best friends with my castmate Casey and he lives in Sarasota so he came out to see her. It was really fun to see him after all these years!
Saturday my arms were crazy painful so I was thrilled to take Reggie's direction to rest until Monday so my arms could repair. Besides we have 2 shows Saturday and two on Sunday so weekends are busy for us. The shows continue to get slightly better as we go and we feel more confident in knowing what the hell we're doing. Many of us are definitely not proud of the show and it makes me sad but it is what it is I suppose. The reviews are coming in and, not surprisingly, they aren't exactly glowing.
Sunday we actually had both shows. Shane's voice is holding up better this week although it is with the help of steroids. We thought for a while that we might be cancelled again because we had severe weather caused by the various tropical systems out in the ocean south of us. I had to jump out and clear branches from the road to get to our apartment. But on the show went and we had a packed matinee. Not so much with the evening show but my friend Clayton came to see me, Shane and Ken. Clayton directed me in the Oliver! tour and was the Associate on the '03-'04 tour that Shane and Ken were both on. So we had a nice little reunion. Clayton and I are going to have dinner one night so I can get his thoughts on the show. I warned him before he came.
Yesterday was our day off and I had a productive day. Went to the gym and worked with Reggie again. My legs are killing me! Ran tons of errands, did laundry. I wanted to be able to enjoy my second day off this time! We watched "Noises Off" in the other girls' apartment. No surprise rehearsal was called thankfully! So after an Ambien and some wine I conked out.
Woke up this morning around 11:00 and decided to go with Mara and Al while they got their hair done and then we, along with Maureen, would go to the beach. Maureen and I killed time getting pedicures that were really cheap and really good! Nice long leg and foot massage. Their appointments were taking forever so Maureen and I went across the parking lot to On the Border and I was ecstatic to enjoy some of my favorite Tex Mex and $1.99 house margaritas. Woot! Beach fail #2. Once again I was dressed and ready for the beach while the sky was clear-ish but the girls didn't get done at the salon until after 5:00 I'll try one more time before I decide that clearly me and the beaches of Florida aren't meant to meet. Now I'm home working on this blog for you all and myself in relative quiet while the rest of the cast is down in "C" having a potluck/bbq kind of thing. I wanted the time alone before we start our eight show week. I enjoy my castmates but 24/7 with the same people, many with very strong personalities, for 8 weeks is a lot to ask. I am settling down with some Blue Bell cookies 'n cream which I've not had in maybe 10 years before I get back to health tomorrow and Reggie kicks my ass once again. I've lost 5 pounds and some inches in toning. Were working on me gaining muscle and tomorrow is the much dreaded day of lower back and abs before a matinee and then an evening off.
Frankly I'm on Ambien and red wine now as well so I can get to bed early so I hope this all made sense. Say little prayers that this Hurricane Earl stays the fuck away from us! Oh and have a drink for me as I was formally elected into Equity today and my big girl card is on its way! Love and miss you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment