Dracula



Once again another theatrical journey has come to a close. I am back to having free evenings and weekends (you know, when I am not working) and wondering what to do with all the extra brain space that used to be reserved for copious amounts of lines. Dracula was a fun show and different from the other shows I've done here in Eastern North Carolina. Firstly, we had a very large cast, 14 people plus a larger than usual crew... that nearly doubles some of our previous shows! I was also pretty sick for a good week or two leading up to the show, which was panic inducing for sure. Plus Ryan doing his school for his B-Billet... let's just say it has been a crazy few weeks.

 

Up on the ladder during tech, one of my favorite places to be during tech... hanging lights!

But we made it. This fantastic cast, some I've worked with before, some brand new, all came together for a wonderful production. There were fake fangs, blood, hissing, crucifixes (crucifi?), stakings and everything else you'd expect you'd need for a production of Dracula. I was Professor Sarah Van Helsing... yes Van Helsing is usually a male (Abraham) but we went in a different direction! I got to do stage combat again for the first time in years including slaps, punches and a pretty painful looking head smack that got a collective OOOH one night from an audience!

 

The full cast

Van Helsing in costume... honestly it was all mine minus the scarf!

 

The above picture was taken during our tech rehearsal since I loved how I managed to do my make up, but my mom mentioned you could tell I had been sick. How did she oh so delicately put it? Oh yes, I had a scrawny neck! Most of the weight has come back by now but at this point I was down a good ten pounds and living off of saltines and ice pops.

My best friend Donna and I

Below are some stills from the production captured by the campus photographer I believe. I borrowed them from a friend's facebook page.

Confronting Vampire Mina

 

Renfield was about as crazy as her hair!

 

Post fight, after I butted heads with a vampire.

We made it through four shows unscathed. My husband came twice, my parents once and a former coworker of mine even showed, which was awesome since not many people I invited could make it. It was Halloween weekend, I  know, but it is always extra motivating when you know someone in the audience. After our last show we took up five massive tables at Chili's for dinner before we parted ways. There is another show in the Spring but I probably will not be auditioning. With my work schedule it has been just too difficult. :( I will always have a special place in my heart for these amazing people though.

 

 

 

The Day of the Show

I know, I know, I have one more trip entry to write! Our journey through Naples/Pompeii and the long awaited pizza is coming along... all the photos are added in a draft, I just have to find the time to write it. The reason my time has been nonexistent? A show of course!

I am so happy to be back and doing theatre. Even a year long hiatus can feel way too long. I am currently in a production of Ibsen's A Doll's House playing Kristine Linde. Tonight is opening night, so the past six weeks have been rehearsals nearly every weeknight on top of a pretty full work schedule. The time I do have free has been basically spent with the hubs since it has been few and far between. He gets cranky sometimes during these rehearsal runs, as do I, as we really enjoy being together... and sadly we haven't had a whole lot of that lately. We get home from work and within in an hour I am at rehearsal until 10-11pm. When I get home I collapse into bed and try and not wake him (doesn't usually work).

But tonight is Opening Night!! It has gone quickly and I know I will miss it when it is over, but that is the way the cookie crumbles folks! If you're local come see us tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 3 at CCCC. My family is coming Saturday night, and we already have 125 reservations for that night, so if you want to come maybe try and do the weeknights or Sunday. I will return to blogging soon!



Our lovely cast and crew (:

The Doctor in Spite of Himself

Once again another show has come to a close. This cast and crew were fabulous (as always) to work with and I'm really going to miss them! 

Naturally all shows have their snafus. Ours was a cast member showing up to opening night so drunk he could barely stand, let alone act. Cue rehearsing a cast member with a smaller part who goes on as an understudy in addition to his own part! Luckily he did amazingly and with the help of an incredible memory, a Sicilian rehearsal Friday morning and a lot of dedication the show went smoothly with the understudy in place!

The cast party was awesome, bonfire and hot dogs included. 

My family came for the weekend and saw the show as well as helping us around the house. Our shower doesn't leak, the toilet works, our front garden is planted and the backyard is French drained. Whew. Thanks dad! My mom and I went to the beach and my dad and Ryan did the most grunt work. Stefan and Ramon helped later on but it looks great!

And Lacey helped me fix up my costume and make up to make it slightly less Bo Peep and more milk nurse (aka my part!). 

Had to KCCO opening night!

The final effect. 

The glorious cast!

Flowers from my family and Ryan. 

And Ryan hard at work as I left for the matinee. My parents dog Dippy kept him company! My poor Dip. She's almost 12 years old!

So another show is done. Maybe this fall I can do another one!

 
 
 
 
 

Rocking 2013

I have to say the beginning of this year has been quite awesome. I feel like certain things have finally fallen into place and we are finally moving forward with our lives in some way. Being unemployed was one of the biggest and most frustrating hurdles. After clearing that one, others seem to follow suit.

Since the start of 2013 I have...

Finally sucked up my dentist fear and got my wisdome teeth removed.

Got cast as an extra in NBCs Revolution... and filmed!

Started working out with the C25K (ok, this one has paused the last week or so but I intend to go back!)

And of course, started my new job. And my mom got a job too about a week later! We are both employed! She is back to being a Church Lady, but Episcopal not Catholic this time. Score for us both in the job market.

I also was cast in another show at the community college. We are doing Moliere's The Doctor in Spite of Himself and I am playing Jacqueline. This show is definitely a lot more male heavy but I am still really enjoying working with everyone, both old and new!

I went from days of doing nothing to working at the library, rehearsing at night, ballet once a week and trying to go to the gym where I can. Whew. Talk about a busy schedule. And with the dreaded military "D-word" floating in the air something tells me this year got busy for me for the right reason.

So my blogging hasn't been stellar, I hope to change that now that I have more to write about, but it is the time to do it that is now the issue! I went from tons of time with not much to say to tons to say and not much time to write. I will work on it. Hopefully my next entry can tell you a little bit more about my job at the library and share some fun pictures of the past few weeks.

Thanks for sticking with me, yet again.

It's the Day of the Show Ya'll

When I went to Catholic for college someone started saying "It's the day of the show ya'll!" in a very particular voice that unfortunately I cannot replicate in type, but it has always stuck with me. Every opening night in college for every show someone would be shouting it to fellow cast and crew as we saw each other throughout the day. As I awoke this morning it was the first thought that popped into my head. After two months the day has arrived, tonight is opening night! I can't believe it!

We have never performed in front of an audience. Our preview had maybe one random person there who couldn't come for the show but even he had seen act two in rehearsals. Tonight will be different. I can feel anticipation running like a current under my skin and a flock of bumble bees (forget butterflies) has been buzzing in my stomach all morning. It is a good thing surprisingly. I think if I ever were to do a show or a project and not be nervous/mildly stage fright ridden there would be a problem. This feeling makes it worth it. If I weren't nervous it would make me more nervous if that makes sense!

Yesterday my neighbor Miss Donna showed me that we made the local newspaper too!

Pretty cool! I made sure to go buy an extra copy too, just in case. I cannot tell you the last time a show I was in made a newspaper, probably high school!

Mel, the guy playing my husband, also helped me out today and got me a free haircut/trim. He works as a barber and insisted I go (yes, my split ends were that bad) and he would take care of it. I just got home and even though only an inch or so of hair is gone it looks miles better already! The woman doing it really wanted to take off more since it is thinning at the bottom but I knew our director wanted nothing more than a trim! Me too, truth be told. It seems to take a lot more work to grow my hair out as I have gotten older so cutting off a lot, even to help it grow, makes me hesitate. We shall see how I feel after the show.

So if you live in Jacksonville please come see the show! Apparently the elderly population of Jacksonville is notorious for coming regardless but we'd love to fill the house. Especially with people who won't say, "Wait, what did he say? I can't hear him!" very loudly during the performance (it happened in the spring show!). Tickets are disturbingly cheap and I would love to see you all there. 8pm tonight through Saturday and a 3pm matinee Sunday at the community college. My mom is driving in tomorrow and staying through Tuesday and I am very excited!!!

EEEEK! My first opening night as a performer in three years. I cannot believe I waited so long! I love this cast and crew and the show is a fun murder mystery with a twist ending that I think everyone will enjoy.

See you there!