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Easter on a Bus

HAPPY EASTER!!

I'm writing on this fine Easter Sunday from the megabus, traveling from Cohoes to NYC. I was lucky enough to have my parents and Aunt come up from Baltimore (7 hour drive!!) to see the show yesterday. And my MOM, made 40 (!) of these little Easter candy treats (pictured above) for the whole cast and crew of the show. I couldn't believe it. She is the sweetest, most thoughtful person I know. NOT an exaggeration. After the show, we went back to my apartment and had a little toast. Mom brought up some Malbec (my favorite red!), and a nice Moscato, AND Easter sugar cookies (because I gave up chocolate and technically it wasn't Easter yet) from my hometown bakery. Like I said, most thoughtful. The original plan was to get up early today, have breakfast with them at the hotel and then go with them to Baltimore, hang out at home for a Monday, then grab an early bus on Tuesday back to NYC to look at some apartments. But then we kind of realized, it would just be easier to go back to NYC today, take back a bunch of my stuff from Cohoes, and get started asap on the apartment search. Sad to be missing home this Easter, but at least home came to visit me for a bit. I think the Dad took some pics, so I'll make sure to post some. 

Until next time, here's a pic from the "My Adventures in Cohoes" Archive: some background- as mentioned before, one of the girls in the cast, Ruthie, does silks and trapeze. She hung up her silks in an old unused warehouse and offered to teach me a bit. She had been practicing with just the cement floor under her, but for me, we needed a bit more safety up in therr. So what else could we do besides grab an extra mattress, enlist the help of our friend Joshua, and carry it across town with our bare hands in the drizzly rain, and plop in down in a dark and dirty warehouse in order to dangle above it on this giant piece of silk?

Needless to say, I remain proud of these life decisions.

Opening Night thoughts for Sunset Boulevard!

It finally happened! Opening night for Sunset Boulevard was yesterday and the audience response was great! We had just a few wardrobe malfunctions- mainly Norma's halter dress coming undone....- and some gun issues, but other than that, everything was smooth sailing.

I tried to take some costume pics backstage, but I get so in the zone during a performance, it's hard for me to multi-task. Managed to snag a few though:

Betty's business attire for Schwab's Drugstore

Party Dress for New Year's Eve (or as it's come to be known at Cohoes, "Ahtie's Pahty")

I'm filled with gratitude over this phenomenal experience. Not a day went by during this whole process when I wasn't struck by how lucky I am to be here. I've met some truly amazing, inspiring people and we've come together to make a beautiful piece of theater that I'm just so proud to be a part of. So much love and thanks to Jim, Joshua, Thomas, Jim H, Tony, Michael, this beautiful cast, AND my roommate, Catherine Fries Vaughn, our very own Norma Desmond, who's talent, poise, voice, and genuineness I am in constant awe of.

Photo by  Theresa Thibodeau

One last thing to share before heading out. Snagged this on my way to the theater the other day:

 Made me think of my showcase song from months ago: 

"See that cloud, I just might, jump right up, take a bite."- Carnival!, Bob Merril

Here we are again, again

Day off tomorrow, so once again a group of us trekked back to the city to catch a few auditions. Plan for tomorrow is Gateway open call, voice lesson, perhaps a little shopping:), as much yoga as I can throw in (haven't taken the hot is too too long), and then close with Episode 3 of Mad Men.

...so basically an exact repeat of last Monday.

We're getting the orchestra in on Tuesday, which is exciting, but also a bit daunting as we won't be miked. I haven't been told to worry about it, so I'm not gonna for now. Just gonna breath deep and "ping" it out.:)

The set looks absolutely gorgeous. I feel humbled to get the chance to perform on it. And I'm in constant awe of the other actors onstage. Particularly our Norma, who is brilliant. We still have two weeks left of show, but I'm already getting depressed about the inevitable closing. Leaving a show is always bitter sweet. Just need to soak up these last few weeks and enjoy each moment.