Six Down, Six to Go

We are officially halfway through the run of Sleeping Beauty. How scary is that? Six performances down already! It's been fun so far. It doesn't hurt that I love my wise but giddy role, my talented and hilarious co-stars (and that this is a reunion for a group of us who haven't performed together in at least 10 years), the gorgeous Shakespearean costumes, the perfect music, the silly instruments I pretend to play, how tall most of the boys in the cast are as opposed to how short most of the girls are, the little girls who come wearing princess gowns and tiaras, the fight scene that from backstage sounds like a video game, the way I hold my wand, etc, etc... I especially love the way we banded together to teach a new actress the part of the Queen when our Queen got the flu opening week. I am really glad I am a part of this play!

I must say, it was a little scary performing last Friday after not rehearsing or performing for nearly a week. Really, it was fine; we all remembered most of our lines and our blocking and were able to pick up lines for each other when something was missed. The original Queen came back and did a great job in spite of missing the last week of rehearsal. Our three-year old Rose kind of gave her an odd look 'cause she was expecting her mom (the other Queen) but since she knows me and the other fairies we were able to cover the awkwardness. That adorable little girl steals the whole show!

My fairyness is a little trying sometimes. Mostly because I cannot get used to the wings attached to the back of my costume. I think they have it out for me. They have caught on the set more than once, though only once during an actual performance. Also, my two good-fairy counterparts and I have matching false eyelashes with jewels on them. The are uncomfortable, but we look gorgeous if I say so myself!

And then there is my wand, which I have managed to drop during two performances so far. So much for it being an extension of my hand! At least the first drop was during the middle of a jovial scene, so even though it was obviously a mistake and my friends poked fun at me later at least it didn't detract from the scene in a negative way. The second time I dropped it was on Friday the 13th just before the finale. After the Prince killed the dragon, the stage went black to give all of us time to get onstage and pretend that Princess Rose and her loved ones had been asleep the whole time. I tripped on my way to my position atop a platform... and dropped my wand. There was a loud sound as the wooden wand hit the wooden stage floor. Before I could stop myself, I whispered "Crap!" loud enough that everyone onstage and a friend in the tech booth heard it. Then my wand rolled off the platform and bounced on the stage below. This all took place in the dark with peaceful music playing in the background. I was supremely annoyed at myself (especially for the "Crap!"), but I was more worried someone would trip on the wand and fall. Fortunately, when the lights came up I saw it was out of the way. Unfortunately I couldn't conveniently retrieve it, so I finished the show without the wand. I felt pretty dumb.

Ah well, as far as I'm concerned that's the worst that can happen and all the rest of the performances will be pure awesome. In fact, I know they will be, because I am in charge of how well I perform, and I say all the rest of the performances will be pure awesome!

I do wish that we had a space where all of the actors could be together backstage. Once the house is open and during intermission we lock ourselves away in our dressing rooms so as not to destroy the illusion that we are magical fairy tale characters. I fortunately like the girls in my dressing room very much. However, I feel like I never see the boys. Even onstage we don't interact a whole lot. I look forward to going out as a cast after and in between shows so I can get to know them -- hopefully sometime soon we'll actually get all of the actors together as a group. Sure we had time to bond during rehearsals, but as I said I like everyone as a group and am glad for any chance to hang out.

It's a darling play! If you're going to come, you'd better book soon! (For ticket and box office info, click here.) We've been selling out and everyone seems to be enjoying it. I love performing in this show and I'm glad I still have six shows left. It will be over far too soon.