The Monday Cast

Since neither my double nor I had any conflicts during the run of the show, we decided to pick a random day to switch casts. We both wanted to perform with the others -- we made friends in both casts, and each one has such a different dynamic. It's really fun!

Well, we picked Monday the 8th and Tuesday the 9th to switch. As I drove to the theatre on Monday, I was kind of nervous! It occurred me that most of the people I was close to in the show are in my cast. Of course, as soon as I walked in everyone was completely welcoming. They were all excited to see me there, and to see how the show would be different. I imposed my preferences on them -- my Vadoma is a lot more huggy than Skye's -- and they imposed their charm and talent on me. I hung out backstage with Shauna, Nate, Stormy, and Tara for the most part.

Tara, Shauna, Stormy, and me

The show went by too quickly, and before I knew it, it was over! I was rather bummed that I wouldn't get to perform with them again. At least, not all together like that. Sami, the Monday cast's Allan, gave me a hug and said it had been a pleasure. It was just one of many well-wishes, but I felt so loved and appreciated. To think I'd been nervous!

Well, Wednesday night I had just sat down to dinner at Rodizio Grill for my office party, and I happened to check my phone and found a message. It was Skye. She was having car problems and wasn't sure if her parents would let her borrow their car. She asked if I could do the show. Did I mention it was 6:20 when I saw that message? I kind of flipped out. Not only did I not want to ditch the party, a free meal, my friends at work, and the chance to make my boss look good in front of her boss, but I was not at all sure that I could drive home to pick up my show stuff and get to the theatre in Magna in time for the performance. If I wasn't in the first act it wouldn't have been a problem, but I'm the second character onstage and the first to open her mouth! I told Skye I couldn't do it. I felt guilty, but I knew if I'd tried to make it I would have been stressed, the performance would not have been good, and I would have resented Skye for making me miss my party. I called Skye later that night, and she said she'd been able to borrow her step-dad's car and made it in time. The show was fine, we are still friends, I had a good time at the office party, and all was as it should be. Phew!

So, when at 5:45pm today I saw two messages on my phone -- one from Nolan the director, and one from Skye -- I rolled my eyes. It turned out that not only was the freeway closed up in Lehi where Skye lives, but so was the road that leads to the freeway. Fortunately, all I'd had planned for tonight was Christmas shopping. It was a little hectic driving home from work and then to the theatre. On a good day it would have taken 45 minutes. Because of the snow, it took me and hour and 15 minutes, which was actually about what I expected. I was able to go slow and the roads were not too bad. The funny thing is, at 5pm, a coworker had suggested that if I had the show tonight I should have left then. At the time, the messages were on my machine, but I'd been in a meeting when they called so I had no idea... Oh! The irony!

I arrived at 7pm and discovered I can get ready in 20 minutes -- who knew? It helps that I don't do anything special to my hair. I signed in, did mic check, and saw a whole bunch of people in the cast, so I was quite surprised when Nolan called to see where I was at 7:15. At that point, I was dressed, in make-up, and putting on jewelry in the dressing room. He was in the room just outside and had no idea I was there.

I was thrilled to get to perform with this darling cast again. Such neat people, and I felt like I got to do everything I wanted to. I'm excited to see them perform on Monday -- the show's closing night.

The audiences since Saturday have been awesome! For the first week, we had maybe 80 people in the audience each performance, if we were lucky. Since Saturday, we've had full houses, and they are the kind of audiences that laugh and applaud. If you've ever been in a show, you know that performers feed off of an audience's energy, and if we can tell the audience is having a good time, we can relax and give them an even better show.

Saturday was possibly our best performance so far; we were all focused and everything seemed to go right. We all felt we'd performed a magical show, and then we went outside and it was snowing! It was like the fairy tale we just finished sharing with the audience was just continuing!

However, last night was the funnest show by far. We made all sorts of mistakes and had a few odd problems, but the audience loved us, and we just started goofing off and really having a good time. Not technically our best, but man, we enjoyed being together and appreciated all the whooping from our friends and family! Emily A, Wendi, and Michele S. from work all came. They've been hearing for awhile about how I love to perform, but they had never seen me onstage. I think they were a bit surprised -- they knew I had it in me, but knowing and seeing are two different things -- and I know they had fun. I watched them during the last scene, and they were laughing as hard as anyone (yes, I break the fourth wall all the time. It's a weakness of mine).

Sam, Aubrey, and me

'Twill be fun to perform twice tomorrow. We have a 3pm matinee, and then our closing performance at 7:30pm. It occurs to me that the last time I was double-cast in a show, I ended up doing either 9 or 11 shows in a row. My double got sick. Four shows is nothing. I did that in Birdie and loved every minute of it. I am really excited that a group of my Birdie friends are coming to the show! Nothing better than having some support from people I admire and adore.

And here's a photo of my brother, Aaron, my grandmother, and my mom after the show on Opening Night. You know, that was before the weather suddenly got bitter cold and snowy... Don't we all look fantastic?

Zils and Jingling Scarves

So, my costume as Vadoma the gypsy for Babes in Toyland is AWESOME! We had the "costume parade" Saturday, where everyone in the show wears as much of the costume as they have. In addition to the vest and skirt the costumer made for me, I put my skull scarf on my head, and wrapped my fringed shawl and a scarf around my waist that my mom loaned me from her box of costumes. (What kind of mom buys a scarf with coins sewn to it "just in case?" An awesome one, that's what kind.) On a whim, the director, Nolan, decided to include me with the others he'd chosen ahead of time for publicity photos. I had no make-up and no jewelry. Thankfully, some kind castmembers made me up; I made do without the jewelry and apparently took some cool photos. (Unfortunately, for the fourth time last week I didn't have my camera with me when I saw the cool photo opportunity, hence the picture of Esmerelda from Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame.)

On Tuesday, Nolan handed my double, Skye, and I each a little red felt bag. I opened it up and found: finger cymbals, otherwise known as "zils"! Yay! Skye and I had both asked for them, 'cause how cool would that be? Nolan said if we wanted a set for each hand we'd have to share, but it turns out it's kind of hard to grab your skirt to dance when you have them taking up the finger space, so we're just wearing the one set. Now, between my zils, and the jingling scarf around my waist, I make a lot of noise when I dance! It sounds a little like sleighbells; it's the best! Now I just have to get comfortable with playing with them. Skye is an amazing dancer, so this is just like a duck to water for her, but I'm still working on it. Skye and the choreographers have all been really supportive and worked with me. The one dance we've learned is really cool. Thanks again, Jann, for giving me permission to change my solo a bit so I feel more comfortable with it! I'm excited to learn the other two dances tonight. I can't believe we open 3 weeks from today!

Hopefully, the script author will have presented Skye and I with the rest of the lines before then. There are at least two snippets of conversation we still don't know. Ack!

Megan in Toyland

And just like that I'm in another show!

Last week when I went to see Seussical at the Empress Theatre, I was talking with Aubrey and Nolan afterwards, and Aubrey commented to Nolan that she thought I would do really well as the lead gypsy in Babes in Toyland. I had learned earlier that Nolan is the artistic director at the Empress, but I didn't know he was directing the Christmas show. I didn't audition a month ago because 1) Christmastime is kind of bad timing because work is going to be stressful up to the January 15th deadline, 2) I wanted to do A Christmas Carol at HCT in spite of the bad timing, and 3) Magna is FAR! Anyway, the way Nolan and Aubrey were talking, I didn't think they were serious so I didn't think much about it, though I was flattered.

Saturday morning, Aubrey called and left a message asking if I was considering the part because apparently Nolan had called some other people who had recommended me, and she thought it would be fun to do a show together. I called her back and then talked to Nolan. It turns out the lead gypsy isn't a terribly large part, but it's an important one. The script they're using is a new one based on the original stories, not necessarily the Disney movie, so my part isn't in the movie. I admit I'm vain enough to want to be a lead, but it's kind of cool this part is smaller, because I'll have fewer rehearsals, and if I need to work backstage during the show (yeah, right, like that will happen), I can. I asked Nolan if I could have until Monday to think about it, and he said that was fine.

So, I thought about it and talked to a few people. I called Nolan on Monday and accepted the part. He told me a bit more about the show and I'm pretty excited! I get to sing, dance, and act, it's not a huge part, everyone is double-cast which gives me even more room to breathe work-wise, and there are a couple of cast members who live in my area who I can carpool with. Score!

I'm in the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cast, and the show runs from December 1st through the 22nd; please pencil me into your calendars! My first rehearsal is tomorrow, and I'll have more details about tickets and such when we get closer to opening.

Yay! I'm in a show!