A Leap Day post

Four years ago today, I opened Little Women with the Midvale Arts Council.

It's kind of amazing to me how much that one play changed me, how close I still am with friends I made during that play, how much I have grown since then, and how much is still the same. Four years ago, my Little Women sisters were all still single, my best friend first saw her husband (at a performance!), I was 29 and played a 15 year old, I got my first negative review and a billion positive ones, I was living at my parents' house, I learned that directors won't mind me standing up for my character and that playing the "villain" can be fun, I went on my first cruise, and I had my first and last pizza benders at Italian Village (maybe not my very last, but I haven't been there since; it wouldn't feel right without the rest of the cast).

We really loved each other like family. Cheesy, but true!

Now two of my sisters are married (one even has a gorgeous baby), my best friend is married to Professor Baehr, I have my own place, I've played many more dream roles including another villain, and been on other cruises and vacations. Oh, and I started this blog four years ago in June. What a different four years makes!

Kinda makes me wonder if I'll remember four years from now that today I worked a long day, then cancelled my evening plans because of the snow and went home to do relaxing "home" things like make dinner and watch a movie.

Probably not. I'll probably just remember that eight years previous I had done Little Women! But it will be fun to see what ELSE changes between now and then for this particular group of people!

"Sometimes when you dream, your dreams come true!"
(I'm fifth from the left, wearing the black wig and
strip of fabric over my eye. Best costume ever.)

Meanwhile, this was my favorite Facebook post today regarding Leap Day:

Jill D -- Okay all you ladies out there..... It's Leap Day! As old Irish tradition states, on Leap Day a woman may propose marriage to a man and if he refuses her he must compensate by purchasing her either a silk dress, fabric for a skirt, or 12 pairs of gloves (depending on the country you are from). So ladies go get yourself a man or a new dress! Either way it's a win, win :)

I didn't get a chance to try it, but it sure made me laugh!

Happy Leap Day, my friends. Hope the next four years bring you more good luck and blessings than you could ever imagine!

Victorian hair

I've been wanting to try out some Victorian hairstyles to see what I might like to do for Earnest. I have pretty great hair for period pieces, but long and naturally curly won't do for this character. Since our show takes place about 1890, I can't fall back on easy early-Victorian or Gibson girl styles, so I need to come up with something else that is not only flattering, but easy to do on myself and teach to my double. This is a moderately tall order for someone who is not known for fancy hairstyles.

My sister-in-law Lindsey graciously volunteered to be a hair model for me while we watched the Oscars on Sunday. Golly, I love her hair! So thick and long and shiny! It was fun to play with, and I'm pretty excited about what I was able to do, considering the only tools I had on hand were two bobby pins, a claw clip, one barrette, and two small elastics! Some of the designs look pretty cool, if I say so myself.

Pull-through pony tail with three braids. I found the instructions for this online.

This isn't really Victorian, just playing with a zig-zag part.

Five-braid Juliet cap design

Classic french braid

Pull-through braid on the top, then rolled over on the bottom.
I thought this would be the winner, since it looked so cool on
Lindsey.  Sadly, I don't have thick enough hair to pull it off.

Twisted the sides to meet in a bun at the back.
Difficult to do without a mirror to see how the
back looks, and my arms get tired doing
this on myself.

Didn't come up with any definite hair designs, but I had fun playing. Last night I practiced a bit on myself and quite liked the double sock bun effect (thanks Amy for the idea!). I might try a french twist tonight, and use a curling iron on the hair poking out the top to make it really curly. I definitely want curls framing my face, and maybe even finger-curled bangs (so ugly, but so period).


There are few things that bother me in a play as much as costumes and hair that don't fit the period (or really bad wigs, even if they do). It distracts from the show, and just another distinction between community theater (where they often don't seem to worry as much about the details) and professional productions (where they hire people to design and style those details). That's not going to happen here, if I can help it!

Tom Hanks: Stage Dad Extraordinaire!

I've always liked Tom Hanks, and this clip from Jimmy Kimmel Live makes me like him even more. Watch until the end; it's totally worth it!

I've watched very little of Toddlers & Tiaras. What I've seen depresses me not a little, but you have to admit that it totally begs to be lampooned and Tom Hanks is brilliant here!

Happy Friday!

St. George vay-cay!

Last weekend, I had one of the most wonderfully relaxing and stress-free vacations I can remember. Steph J invited me to join her for a birthday trip to her company's condo in St. George and I'm so glad we went! Four days of doing almost nothing but watching movies and laughing our heads off? Yes, please!

I haven't been out of town since last August, and I NEEDED this vacation! Can I just tell you how happy we were to be out of town? So happy that I made Steph take a photo in front of this palm tree to prove we were no longer in SLC Friday night:

The phrase "It's palm-tastic!" pervaded
most of the rest of the evening :)

There were a bunch of teenage sports tournaments going on, and since we thought that the restaurants would be crazy-full, we decided to cook at the condo as much as we could (the one exception being dinner Saturday night). Good plan. We ate like queens and had fun cooking for each other. Taco soup, fajitas, strawberry and spinach salad, turkey bacon -- I'll eat what Steph cooks anytime!

That night, we watched Cabaret and Ghost Town. I've been a tiny bit obsessed lately with the music from the 1998 Broadway revival of Cabaret, and borrowed the 1972 movie from Netflix to get a feel for the show.... I really, really hope that the stage play is better than the movie, because I hated it. Liza Minelli was very good, and I enjoyed Joel Grey's seriously weird performance, but they seemed to remove a lot of characters and story lines from the play, and the way they chose to juxtapose the climate of post-World War II Germany with the cabaret numbers was confusing and disjointed and not terribly clever. When we finished the movie, we needed something lighthearted with a happy ending, which was why we chose Ghost Town. How I love Ricky Gervais in this thing! And Kristen Wiig and Tea Leoni are so funny! Have you seen this movie? No? Go rent it. It's delightful!

Saturday, we didn't change out of our pajamas until well after noon. We watched the first two DVDs from the first season of Gilmore Girls, and watched golf carts avoid the geese that were waddling around the golf course outside our back porch (one walking golfer decided to chase the geese which seemed a little mean). Finally, about 4:30 I thought I should probably start getting ready to go out for dinner that night. Steph had already done so, but didn't rush me, which I thought was very nice, considering it WAS her birthday.

The original plan for Saturday night was to drive to Las Vegas and catch a performance of Jersey Boys, a play Steph has seen and I very much want to. Sadly, it's on hiatus this month while the show moves to another stage. I'll get there someday!

We drove for about an hour to Mesquite, Nevada to eat at a nice steak place called Katherine's in the Casablanca Resort & Casino. To get to Mesquite we had to drive through Arizona for a few minutes, which tickled me to no end, having served my LDS mission there. We even stopped for a photo at the border!

I think this is the first time I've had a photo under this sign. Yay!

We were about an hour and a half early for our reservation (forgot about the time zone change -- whoops!) but they very kindly seated us right away. The food was WONDERFUL!! We got appetizers, soup, steak (Steph's main dish involved steak and crab), and the most butterily-wonderful cheesecake with raspberry sauce for dessert. We even liked our waiter and his dry humor, and my water glass was never empty. The next time you're in Mesquite, I recommend this place. It's pricey, but sooo good.

During those first few episodes of Gilmore Girls, Rory tells her Grandfather that she wants to go to Fez. I'd never heard of it, so we looked it up; it's in Morocco. Imagine our delight, though when we saw this in the casino outside of the restaurant:

Sometimes it doesn't take much to amuse me.
Also, this is the only photo I have of both
of us together.

We were pretty tired by the time we got home (those long days of doing nothing with do that to you), so we just watched the 2007 version of Persuasion and then went to bed. Well, I spent some time working on memorization for The Importance of Being Earnest before falling asleep. I'm starting to panic about needing to be memorized by this Saturday!

Sunday after breakfast, we walked over to the LDS ward that happened to be meeting literally across the street to participate in Sacrament meeting. If we had known there was a Samoan ward that met earlier in the day we would have gone then, but we didn't know. Ours was a strangely eventful meeting. Because of the holiday weekend there were a lot of people there, and they misjudged the number of cups needed for the Sacrament, so the boys needed to pour more and re-bless. Being in a singles ward at home, I rarely get to see teenage boys passing the Sacrament, and it was pretty adorable how stressed out they were. Everything was fine! They did a great job and everyone who wanted to was able to participate. I enjoyed the talks about missionary work, and Steph and I had a good time singing the hymns together, though I should have warned her beforehand that I tend to sing different choral parts at each verse. Sorry, Steph!

Since StephSt. George Temple. We walked around a bit to take photos, and then explored the visitors' centers (there are two!). We read about the history, watched a film called Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (during which, I tried not to be distracted by all of the actors I know personally), meditated in front of the Christus statue, played with a computer kiosk where you could digitally build or color a temple, and talked to many sister missionaries. The sister missionaries were from all over -- Hawaii, Austria, South Dakota, Brazil, Indiana -- and all had interesting stories to tell about the temple and about themselves. I loved hearing their testimonies and feeling the peaceful spirit there. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon!

That night, Steph visited a friend in town, and I spent some time catching up on Google Reader and Facebook, before watching the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory. When she got back I was excited to hear all about Steph's friend's family and home. Then we got ready for bed, cooked up some popcorn, and Steph generously offered to help me with my memorization. I'm getting closer!

Monday we slept in again... and decided we weren't quite ready to go home yet. Since we'd both napped through one or more Gilmore episodes during the first go-around, we wanted to rewatch the ones we'd missed. However, when we had arrived on Friday, we discovered pretty quickly that there was no remote for the DVD player. We could switch it on, eject, play, and pause, but we couldn't do anything else. So... we watched the entire second disc again! Haha! Why not? We were on vacation!

It was sad to say good-bye to St. George, but at least I had time to convert Steph to Stuff You Missed in History Class during the drive home, and were home early enough to relax (because that's what the weekend had been all about) before having to go to bed.

Actually, the first thing I did when I got home was vacuum my place, then I relaxed. I love having a tidy home; that doesn't happen very often when I'm in the middle of rehearsals!

My very favorite thing about this weekend was learning how alike Steph and I are. At least, our cultural reference overlap a LOT. On more than one occasion after one of us said something that sounded like a movie line or lyric, we both started quoting the exact same line! It was a little crazy. I loved it!

Thank you for the awesome weekend, Steph. Looking forward to our next adventure!!

5-minute post

I am giving myself 5 minutes to write this post.

Aaaaaaand GO!

Tuesdays and I don't get along in general, and already today is no exception. That's par for the course when coming back from a wonderfully relaxing, do-very-little vacation.

It doesn't help that my legs are mad at me for wearing heels today because I'm still sore from a workout from LAST THURSDAY! My bad for not really working out since then... well, a little Friday morning, but I've been pretty chill on purpose since. Guess some major walking and stretching is in the cards for the rest of the week!

I look great today, though. Royal blue button-down blouse, pants I haven't been able to fit in for about a year (but DO fit now), and those wonderful booties. Sweeeeeet!

I have rehearsal tonight. It kills me that they rehearsed without me this weekend, but I hope to catch up quickly. We do have 5 weeks before we open, after all. Plus, I spent a fair chunk of time memorizing lines; I don't feel quite up to par, but I'm much closer than I was this time last week. Yay! If only Gwendolen didn't use 29 words when 11 would probably work just as well:

The Importance of Being Earnest, Act I

Sooo intimidating to say, let alone commit to memory. That's Oscar Wilde for you. I'm so happy to have rehearsal tonight. I sure do love it!

Huh, only four minutes and I've run out of things to say.

Oh, there's five. Phew!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Happy Vamlumtimes Day!

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Fun fact of the day: Because of this episode of Teen Girl Squad!, every time I hear the words "Valentine's Day" I mentally replace it with "Valumtimes Day." Fortunately, I can usually restrain myself from saying that out loud.

Second fun fact of the day: I have never had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day. I WAS kissed for the first time on the holiday (third fun fact?), but that particular experience traumatized me -- not in a good way -- for years afterwards, so I try not to think about it too much.

As a result, Valentine's Day has traditionally become an extra excuse to tell my friends and family how much I love them, pig out on candy, and watch sappy chick flicks. Sounds like a good day to me!

How can one be sad to be single when she's surrounded by so many wonderful people? There is far too much hope in my world to feel too sad for too long. Thanks for giving me a reason to celebrate the fact that you are part of my lives!

Happy Valumtimes Day, my loves! Hope it's a good day, whether you have a special someone, special plans, or just end up watching reruns of Seinfeld at home.

I love you!

What I learned after wearing a corset for the first time

Yesterday, our costumer for The Importance of Being Earnest finally brought up some corsets for us to try. All the girls were so excited -- it's something most of us (including me) have been looking forward to*. We all want to look our best, and what's the point of doing a period show if you don't get to wear period costumes?

 

I have never worn an actual, lace up, cinching corset before, so it was quite the experience! Here is a list of stuff I learned after wearing one -- for the first time -- for two hours:

• It is not comfortable, but it's not terrible either. I can see why older women weren't thrilled when they went out of style, and why younger girls were!
• My waist is much smaller than I thought it would be. I really DO have an hourglass figure! The corset in the photo is actually the second I tried on, and it's still a little too big. If I lose any weight at all, I'll need a smaller one >:)
• Corsets force you to use your core muscles a LOT more to sit up and stand straight. I don't know if my back hurts because I didn't stand straight enough, or simply because I'm not used to standing that straight for that long. Probably both. Ooh! I hope I get a flatter tummy through this experience!
•  I feel taller in the corset :D
• There is no "lounging around" in a corset.
• You can't sway your hips in a corset -- that is brand new information!



My waist is NOT 18 and 1/2 inches
and I'm okay with that!

• That scene in Gone with the Wind where Scarlet holds onto the bedpost while Mammy laces her up? I'm going to be copying that manuver. It's impossible to steal myself well enough to keep my balance while someone is jerking on the strings!
• I can't even begin to imagine dancing or singing in one of these things -- thank goodness that's not a requirement for this show!
• I can get a decent amount of air even if I don't use my diaphram. Since I'm used to breathing with the diaphram, this will take concentration and practice.
• I need help with the hooks in the front, AND the laces in the back. Embarassing!
• To get the hooks off, it helps to unlace the back (I had to teach my Cecily that one).
• I am not unexcited to wear the thing for the next 2 1/2 months. Hooray for looking amazing!

The costumer let us all take our corsets home so we could practice wearing them. Unfortunately, I don't have anyone at home to help me get mine on, so I might not get as much practice as I'd like. Sad.

*I should probably say that none of the boys envied us. Silly boys. They don't know what they're missing!

Oh! Tickets are on sale now on the CenterPoint Legacy website (Click the Earnest info on the right side of the home page). We run March 30 through April 28, and I am in the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cast. I ALSO get to perform on Friday, April 13. Please come! I know it sounds like a long time away, but it will be April before we know it!

Letters to people

Dear interested men,
Please have mercy on me. Sometimes I am just as clueless as a teenage boy when it comes to flirting and recognizing signals. Have patience. I am trying.

This works both ways!!!

Dear rejected men,
Don't give up on women and dating and marriage altogether! Don't waste your time on the woman who said "No." She might be a fool or simply have had good intentions. If there's one thing I've learned in my 17 years of dating, it's that there is someone for everyone. Really. Keep hoping. 

Dear maneating women,
Stop breaking good guys! If you're not interested, move on as soon as possible and give other girls a chance. 

Dear handsome jerks*,
Do not rely on your good looks alone. Finding a "decent" girl takes effort and kindness. No matter how hot you are, arrogance and entitlement will wreck your chances every time. 

Dear Home Owners Association,
Please schedule the 2011 (yes, "2011" -- not a typo!) meeting already! If you're going to charge me a bunch of money because of all of the setbacks from the last two years, I'd rather know sooner than later so I can move on and start making other financial plans. 

Dear television shows and movies that feature dancing,
Some of us, including me, actually want to see the choreography. Kindly knock off the 3-second shots and shaky cam. Also, it's helpful to be able to see the feet (especially for tap) or entire body (pretty much all instances) of the performer. Those choreographers and dancers work hard, and I would like to be able to appreciate that work. Otherwise, what's the point of filming a dance?!!! 

Dear NPR,
Thank you for keeping me apprised of world/political/cultural goings-on! It's nice not to feel completely clueless anymore. 

Dear rehearsals,
I wait for you ALL DAY LONG and you never disappoint! I didn't think it was possible to bond with a cast so quickly, or love convoluted dialogue so much. I am a little embarrassed that I can't articulate how very happy you make me. Bless you, and keep it up! 

Dear people who post photos of food on blogs or Facebook,
I can't decide if I love or hate you. On the one hand, it looks amazing. On the other hand, now I'm hungry!!

Dear chocolate cake donuts with chocolate frosting and sprinkles,
You are so mean. By some miracle, I have been able to resist you four times in the last three weeks. You already know you are my favorite; I promise that no other treat is even close to satisfactorily replacing you. Leave me alone for awhile!

Dear coworkers,
Yes, there is a new wall next to my cubicle. Things like that happen when the office is remodeled. No, I don't want to chat about it every single time there is a change: "Ooh! It's been framed!" "Ooh! It's been drywalled!" "Ooh! It's been puttied!" Thanks, time-wasting Captain Obvious.

Dear every pair of jeans I own,
Why are you all too short?!! I washed you before I hemmed you and you STILL shrunk?! Not cool, jeans. Not cool. Someday I would actually like to look stylish >:(

Dear blogging friends,
POST SOMETHING SOON! I love hearing from you.

Dear reading friends,
Thanks for putting up with my random thoughts, events, and ranting!
You are the BEST!! 

Sincerely, 

Miss Megan


*Not all handsome men are jerks. Thank goodness.
Also, the term "handsome" is relative. As I said, there is someone for everyone if you don't give up!

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

This was my favorite video game way back when my family had the Commodore 64. I used to play all the time and was really good at European capitals and identifying flags. I captured Carmen many, many times, and had fun doing it!

(I just learned that there is a modern equivalent. I may have to purchase that after work tonight. There are more ridiculous ways to spend my time, right?)

Then came the t.v. show where kids would show off their geography knowledge, or lack thereof. I always felt sorry for the kids who got to the final challenge, only to discover they had to identify the countries in Africa, and was annoyed when the kids who had the United States couldn't identify them!

Meanwhile, did you hear that Walden Media bought the rights for a movie?!! I'm so dorkily excited about this!

Wouldn't a "Carmen Sandiego" party be fun? Eat foods from all over the world (nachos, sushi, bratwurst, french onion soup, pizza, calzones, won tons, and so forth), and dress up in trench coats while we play the game?

Or am I just a nerd?

Either way, the theme song is totally on my iPod. I even know most of the words!

Here it is, for your listening and learning pleasure:

Well, she sneaks around the world from Kiev to Carolina
She's a sticky-fingered filcher from Berlin down to Belize
She'll take you for a ride on a slow boat to China
Tell me, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Steal their Seoul in South Korea, make Antarctica cry "Uncle!"
From the Red Sea to Greenland, they'll be singing the blues
Well they never Arkansas her steal the Mekong from the jungle
Tell me, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

She'll go from Nashville to Norway, Bonaire to Zimbabwe
Chicago, to Czechoslovakia and back!

Well, she'll ransack Pakistan, and run a scam in Scandinavia
Then she'll stick 'em up down under and go pick-pocket Perth
She put the "miss" in misdemeanor when she stole the beans from Lima
Tell me, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Botswana to Thailand, Milan via Amsterdam
Mali, to Bali, Ohio, Oahu!

Well she flies around the globe, and she'll flim-flam every nation
She's a double-dealing diva with a taste for thievery
Her itinerary's loaded up with moving violations.
Tell me, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Tell me, where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? (x 6)

Watch your back!

I have a sneaking suspicion more than one of you sang along. C'mon, fess up. Who loved this show and this game as much as I did?!!

Ballgowns and balancing books

Tonight I put a book on my head to see if I could still balance it while walking (something I used to be proud of) -- I can!

Then maybe I put on a ballgown to see if I could zip it up (I shouldn't have bought it when it didn't fit, but it was too pretty to pass up) -- I can!

And then maybe I put on heels and walked around in the ballgown and book on my head to pretend I was a princess in training...

... I don't know about the "princess" part, but I'm rather proud of balancing that book while walking in three inch heels!

Now to see if I can balance the book while walking up and down stairs... but maybe I'll put on more normal clothes for that, in case any of my neighbors walk by...

Haha!

I CAN!!!!


Sometimes it's the small victories that matter :-)



Look out, Monday: here I come!

Alternative chicken dances

Think you know how to do the chicken dance?

Think again:

I think the first one is my favorite (oh, Will Arnett, when you get it right, you get it RIGHT). Which made you laugh the hardest?

(Thank you, my Kate, for sharing this with me! I needed it!)

Happy Friday!

How interested are you in Earnest rehearsals?

Sometimes I think it would be cool to have a blog where I talk about the creation of whatever play I'm doing.

Jan Davis teaches the
Monday/Wednesday/Friday
cast the blocking for to Act I

I'd chronicle everything, from auditions, to callbacks, to rehearsals, to performances, etc. I'd write about our goings-on, progress, and my personal musings about the whole thing. (Now that I write this idea down, I realize it sounds like the new t.v. show, Smash, except I'm nowhere near Broadway, and I had this idea before NBC started to advertise their show.)

The pro is that I'd have a really cool record of the whole thing. The con is that sometimes stuff goes on that other people don't need to know about (difficult directors, cast members who don't get along, etc) and my cast and production mates probably wouldn't appreciate me sharing with everyone.

But what if I were just to write two or three things about each rehearsal? Or even just each week (in which case, I wouldn't have to create a whole new blog that I'm stressed to keep up regularly)?

Would anyone be interested in something like that? For Earnest or for some other show I do in the future? Anything in particular you'd want to know about? Would you want to read about stuff that happens or learn more about backstage/theater stuff in general?

The Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday cast
waits for our turn to work the scene

Or would you get bored with the subject really quickly? I try not to dwell on the same thing too much on my blog. Theater doesn't encompass my WHOLE life, but it does take up a great deal of time, especially when actively rehearsing (and Earnest has been filling my mind an awful lot the last seven weeks). Also, some stories just aren't funny unless you were there or you understand the theater world...

Then again, when has potential incomprehensible-ness ever stopped me from posting anything before?

What do you think? Yay or nay?