A Week of Mishaps...

Chris and Alishia

and this is why I love theatre. No retakes. No do overs. Shit happens and you move on, often while laughing. Wednesday morning I awoke with yet another cold. Sore throat, fever, stuffy. Blech. I can only chalk this up to how stressful this contract has been because even though I have always gotten sick a lot, this summer has been excessive even for me. But, on with the show.

The show itself Wednesday was basically a brush-up rehearsal. Somehow over two days off we had forgotten the show. Lines, lyrics, scene changes; you name it. Even our wigs, which had been taken Sunday to be fixed, didn't arrive until five minutes to curtain. In the Keystone Kops section they bounce a baby on a safety net and this time the baby bounced up into the proscenium and got stuck there which looked REALLY funny. Our director actually asked if they could try to do that every day. He wasn't kidding. And Lauren, our dance captain, completely spaced out during the big tap number at the end of the show and basically did a long solo.

Thursday was a double and I felt worse. Jeff leaned on the railing which collapsed, fell on a ladder which in turn fell. He was okay thankfully.

Friday the piano broke...again. The caster kept coming off whenever the piano moved and I missed bits and exits because I kept having to fix it. It had previously been fixed by our T.D. with TAPE. Yes, TAPE. As Shane said "Excellent. Safety third."

Saturday during Keystone Kops one of the rubber chickens that fall from over the stage got stuck and we were just waiting for it to fall at some inopportune moment but sadly it never did.

Sunday a brush-up had been called by Lauren for 12:30 to fix some choreo. She arrived at 12:38 because she went to Starbucks. I don't believe I have ever seen a more livid cast. I thought it was funny. There was this horribly uncomfortable moment when she walked in with her coffee and it was just silent. She did apologize but it was kinda tense for the first show. Two guys that Al and Casey had met at karaoke at this place called Tijuana Taxi actually took them up on their invitation to come to the show Sunday night. One of them made Al two mixed CDs called "Alexandra Smile" and "Rainy Days". The dude was like, 50, and made a 22 year-old mixed CDs with Kenny G type shit. I pondered taking her to get a restraining order. Never get drunk and tell creepers where you work. On dinner break Ron, Chris and I went and found a Pei Wei and I had a nice spicy Pad Thai. Al, prone to accidents as she is, had yet another run-in with the van. This time she slammed her middle finger in the door and her finger is all swollen and blue and her nail is dark blue. She can wiggle it so it doesn't seem to be broken and she's been icing it but we think maybe she and vehicles don't get along.

Monday couldn't come fast enough. Everyone was really fried by Sunday night. I awoke Monday with a wild hair up my ass and started investigating tattoo parlors. I've been itching to get my next one and I just decided to do it. So I located one that looked good, went there by myself and inspected it and their portfolios. Voila! New tat on my left ankle. These two girls were in the lobby waiting to get their first tattoos. From where they were seated they could see my face and every time I grimaced they did too. They left shortly after I did! At 5:00 I went to our friends Greg and Sal's place in Pompano Beach. Mike and I were married at their B&B in Vermont and they've kind of been like family since shortly after we got engaged in 1999. They have since sold the inn and moved down here. They have a beautiful house, impecably decorated, and two cocker spaniels. The guys cooked up a storm and turned my visit into an occasion to have a dinner party with some other female friends. It was great to see them again and the plan is to see them again when Mike gets here so we can all catch up. After that I came home and got ready to go back out. My castmate Joey had arranged for us all to go sing at this cabaret that's a knock off of my friend Jim Caruso's "Cast Party" in New York. We got to promote the show so we all went. It was at this gay bar called Bill's Filling Station in Fort Lauderdale and was clearly on the main gay drag. For instance, there was another bar called Rockhard (yikes) and a shop called Gay Mart. Love it. My friend Robert from college and his partner were in town visiting friends so we made plans to meet there at 10:30. I didn't sing but it was fun to hear some of our ensemble members sing since I've not heard them before. When everyone started to get sloppy drunk I was ready to go. I made sure the folks staying had a DD and then I took a carload home.

Sal, Buck, Becky, Me and Greg

With Robert

Ouch

This week our Thursday matinee has been cancelled so we have a fairly easy week which should allow me time to really get to feeling better. I just need to stop moving! I'm off to find a movie to watch tonight and I plan to plant my butt on the sofa in my pajamas and chill. Three weeks til Mike comes to visit and take me home!!!