Beauty and the Beast and Me

Sixteen years ago, I was deep into my involvement with The Children's Theatre. They announced auditions for a cool version of the Beauty and the Beast story called The Masque of the Beauty and the Beast. It's not the Disney version. It's the original tale (sorry, no Gaston or LeFou), and instead of being a musical it's written in rhyme so it has a very Shakespearean feel (we all know how much I've longed to do Shakespeare these last couple of years!). I was devastated when I wasn't cast. Then, after the run had started and I'd seen it a few times and REALLY fell in love, one of the actresses called me and asked me to play her role for a few performances while she understudied for another actress who was going out of town. I was surprised that she asked, but thrilled to play my favorite role! I learned the part in a few days, performed five times to good reviews, and dreamed of the day I might get to do it again.

I am still proud of the fact that
 as assistant costumer I did all of
 the glitter detailing on this gown.

Fast-forward to today, and the role is MINE at last!


I auditioned last week for The Children's Theatre's latest production of The Masque of the Beauty and the Beast. In spite of my apparent inability to completely shake this pneumonia, my audition went well and I was called back for the next evening. The callback was a little bit frustrating. The director has known me for seventeen years and has a good idea of who I am and what I can do, so she spent a lot of time with the actors she didn't know as well. Consequently, I spent a lot of time sitting around. I hate those kinds of callbacks! They make me feel so out-of-control and uncertain. I read for a few roles and made people laugh at my pantomime of an old lady, but when I left I had no idea how well I'd done or what the eventual outcome would be. Frankly, I wasn't very hopeful. I spent a whole lot of energy on angst for the next few days.

Fortunately, I had calmed down and resigned myself to the inevitable by the time the cast list was posted Friday evening. That's the only reason I can think of why I didn't immediately burst into tears of relief when I saw my name next to Dyspeppsia (this isn't the Disney version, remember?). Instead, my emotions swelled into insane excitement which hasn't dissipated yet! She's one of the sisters -- the whiny, pouting, funny one! There were so many terrific actresses at that callback; I was genuinely surprised to see my name there, and as delighted and grateful as I've ever been to win a part in a play. I love digging into a good character role, and I can't wait to make this one my own!

(Note that the actress playing Haughtense -- my partner in comedy and villainy -- is named "Meighan Smith." Just continuing my tradition of having at least one other Megan in almost every Children's Theatre show I do -- once, there were four of us in the same show!)

So, I'm gearing up for my second fairy tale play in a row! We have just a few short weeks to rehearse and will perform each weekend in November. My holiday preparations just got a whole lot crazier! Wah-hooooo!!

Best Wedding video

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a more creative, more fun wedding video than this one:


Best Wedding Video Ever

If you disagree, post your favorite wedding video link in the comments!

Happy Friday!

Party on!

Lights out

Wednesday night, I decided to take a nap at about 7:30 because my daily headache was becoming unbearable. I didn't have the energy to get up and turn off the lights, so I just turned my face into the back of the couch and closed my eyes, letting myself drowse to the sound of the marvelous storm pattering upon my roof.

Five minutes later, the power went out, and my little home was plunged into darkness.

I slept for a little while, then drowsed in the dark. And I looked at the light blinking from the smoke detector and wondered how long it had been since I'd changed the batteries, and if it would actually go off if there were smoke in my apartment. Then I realized that the chances of the building catching fire would probably be higher while the electricity was out, because of people lighting candles. Then I tried to decide what I would take with me if I DID have to flee the building because of fire, and realized most of what I needed would be in my laptop which was right next to me.

After about an hour, my curiosity got the better of me, and I stood up to peek out the curtains and see if any other buildings had also lost power. Just as I pulled the curtain back and saw that the building next door was also out, the lights popped back on.

That's when I realized my head didn't ache as much as it had before.

It might be coincidence that the outage lasted exactly as long as I'd needed to lie down, but if that's the case, it's a pretty cool one.

I like to think it was Heavenly Father doing something little just 'cause He was thinking of me, and thought I might appreciate it. I definitely did. I love those little reminders that even if I feel like I have no control over things around me, I still matter, and I am blessed.

Nice to have those moments once in awhile.

Pretty/unpretty

I wish I could tie you up in my shoes
Make you feel unpretty too
I was told I was beautiful
But what does that mean to you?
Look into the mirror who’s inside there?
The one with the long hair
Same old me again today

My outsides are cool
My insides are blue
Everytime I think I’m through
It’s because of you
I’ve tried different ways
But it’s all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
I’m just trippin’

You can buy your hair if it won’t grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that mac can make
But if you can’t look inside you
Find out who am I too
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty

I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and bright

Never insecure until I met you
Now I’m being stupid
I used to be so cute to me
Just a little bit skinny
Why do I look to all these things
To keep you happy
Maybe get rid of you
And then I’ll get back to me (hey)

My outsides look cool
My insides are blue
Everytime I think I’m through
It’s because of you
I’ve tried different ways
But it’s all the same
At the end of the day
I have myself to blame
Keep on trippin’

You can buy your hair if it won’t grow
You can fix your nose if he says so
You can buy all the make-up that mac can make
But if you can’t look inside you
Find out who am I too
Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty

I feel pretty
Oh so pretty
I feel pretty and witty and bright
And I pity
Any girl who isn’t me tonight

Oh oh oh oh oh (Tonight)
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh (Tonight)
Oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh (Tonight)
Oh oh oh oh oh

I feel pretty (You can buy your hair if it won’t grow)
Oh so pretty (You can fix your nose if he says so)
I feel pretty and witty and bright (You can buy all the make-up that mac can make)

But if you can’t look inside you

Find out who am I too

Be in a position to make me feel so damn unpretty

I feel pretty
But unpretty

Please don't propose to me at a sporting event

I really, really super hope that my future boyfriend/fiance/husband knows better than to propose to me in this way*:



I always felt like getting engaged in a public place like this feels like it's more about the crowd than about the two people pledging to share their lives together. I don't want to feel like I HAVE to say yes to save his dignity. I want to say yes because I love him and want to share my life with him. It seems too personal a thing to have so many people watching.

Does this surprise you about me? It's true that I spend a lot of time onstage, but that's me acting, not me being me. I don't otherwise like being the center of attention. I especially don't like being "shown off" by my dates, because it invariably involves the guy acting in a way that he knows makes me feel uncomfortable but he thinks is funny and makes him feel all manly and important. I don't want to get engaged while a bunch of strangers who don't care about us galk at us (this includes the current Flashmob proposal trend). Plus, I expect there will be a lot of making out involved when I get engaged, and I HATE PDAs**!

When it happens, I hope he proposes in a way that is meaningful to us both. I'm a pretty simple girl. (I will admit to being afraid of unexpected rings in my food -- a girl could break her teeth!!)

Tell me, how did your significant other propose to you? Did he propose in a public place, and if so did you like it? For those still waiting, do you have any preferences?


*I will not mind if my future husband is a sports fan.
**Public Displays of Affection

And the doctor says:

I've been sick for the better part of a month, now. Sick enough that if I can avoid it or reschedule I pretty much stay home as much as possible. I took a week of work off, and I've worked from home several days. I've missed church all month. I've literally slept all day the last four Saturdays. The rest of the day I toughed it out at work for as long as I could before going home and sleeping the rest of the day (and then staying up all night because my body's clock is now completely out of whack. Boo.)

After five days in a row where I experienced coughing fits so hard and long that I couldn't breathe, I started drooling, crying, and nearly threw up, I finally called the doctor (actually, I called the doctor when I finally DID throw up... at work. Fortunately, no one was looking at me at the time).

I went back this week, and she took a chest X-ray and some tests...

... I'm getting too detailed.

Long story short, it appears that I'm dealing with pneumonia!


Gah! No wonder I'm so exhausted!

The doctor gave me some wonderful meds to open and strengthen my lungs and dispel the cough, some antibiotics to kill the virus and make me not contagious, and cough syrup so I can sleep at night!

So, if I can just get my allergies under control, I'll hopefully heal just fine. In a month, I'll go back to the doctor for another X-ray to make sure my lungs are clear.

Guess I'll keep taking meds, sleeping as much as I can, and hoping I can kick this soon.

Really, really soon.

My life hasn't completely stopped the last four weeks, but for goodness sake, I miss people! I miss going in to work where I'm so much more productive than at home! I miss going to movies and plays! I'm missing the last of the summer and the beginning of autumn!

I miss feeling well and being able to sit up for more than four hours at a time!

Please, please let this be all that's wrong with me, so that the healing process can continue in earnest. Please.



On a related note: Did you know that the word "pneumonia" has all of the vowels in it? Now you do! (That was for you, Amy!)