Showered with love in April

It snowed on the first three days of April -- haha! Such a good joke!

By the time April rolls around, I am so tired of winter, and so looking forward to warmer weather and all that comes with it, that I forget how miserable the inevitable hay fever is until it's too late. So, the weather's indecision between rain, sun, and wind made the month less fun than I would have liked. Fortunately, I had plenty to distract me in the meantime, like using the Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience tickets I got for Christmas, and laser eye surgery!

Did I mention that VIP is the way to go? 'Cause it definitely is!

But those weren't the only events that made April special. Here's a glimpse at some of the highlights:

MY BESTY HAD A BABY!!

My Kate is now a mommy! I am the "Besty Aunt", and will officially be called "Bammy."
For the sake of this blog, this adorable little boy will be known as "Monkey."
He is already such a blessing to his parents and to me. I am grateful to be part of his life :)

General Conference and Sunday brunch with the family

Funny to think that I met Heidi during our Conference brunch in October,
and now we're pending sisters-in-law, coloring princesses together!

The kids playing Conference bingo. After they gave up, I took one of the cards and won a peanut butter Twix!

Heidi performed in Hedda Gabler

Aaron and I joined Heidi's mom and sisters for opening night. It was so good! Heidi is darling onstage!

These two are so good together. Awww!

Easter

The kids hid both plastic eggs filled with candy and hard-boiled eggs for their aunts and uncles to find.
I went right past the garage while everyone else went left, and ended up getting 19 total. I won!!

My sisters-in-law (and cute dad in the background)

Now that the trampoline is out again, the Trampoline Game was a must-play!

My visiting teaching companion bought Easter Lilies for our sisters, and brought me one, too.
She is so thoughtful!

A surprise party for our little girls

While Lindsey's parents took the girls to a park, Adam, Lindsey, and G-unit decorated the house, and the rest of us and their cousins on Lindsey's side gathered for the big reveal. The girls were so surprised, (and pretty thrilled that the cupcakes they'd decorated "for other kids in the ward" were for them and us after all)! We limboed and played musical chairs, ate tiny sandwiches, and laughed while birthday girls opened presents. Nobody gets as excited about Frozen-themed gifts as Breezy and Zonks, and now they have Anna dolls to go along with their Elsas!

Man of La Mancha with Sound of Music buddies

I planned a night for cast members of The Sound of Music to see Man of La Mancha at
CenterPoint, so we could all see each other and support our friends together.
I was pleased that so many people came. It was a well-done play and fun to see my friends again!

Touring company production of War Horse

I had wanted to see this play for years, but when the time came, I wasn't sure if I could afford it. Plus, I'd had my surgery less than a week before and my eye was pretty bad. I'm glad I bought a ticket any way, and borrowed my mom's opera glasses. The play was beautiful. A moving story, endearing committed, and convincing actors, and the puppetry was wonderful. Now I want the soundtrack. It was worth every penny. I love great theatre!

Speaking of great theatre, I have an epic theatre-centric vacation coming up in May, along with my first business trip. I don't know what other cool things are going to pop in the meantime to fill up the rest of the month. Guess I'll find out soon!

March: out like a lion

Wow, March went by fast! Guess I'm not all that surprised. When you perform every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night, you tend to lose half of the month! Predictably, I didn't think to photograph all of the other fun stuff... I just wanted to be and participate.

We released a smallish project at work, so our product owner took the team to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate

It was on "Pie Day" -- 3/14 -- but I wasn't about to turn down free cheesecake!
The turtle flavor was delicious.

Baby shower for my sister-in-law Jordyn

Kudos to Lindsey on the diaper cake, and Sara on the epic decorations!

Me and my Breezy!

Zonks helping to deliver presents to Aunt Jordyn

Smyth-side cousins and aunts!!

My sisters-in-law: Jordyn and Lindsey
(Golly, I'm a shrimp!)

Jordyn's sister, mom, and sister-in-law

The Sound of Music was successful -- hooray!

The theatre added two more performances to the end of the run.

Kellie and Mattie June both came to my final dress rehearsal/preview on the 1st.
Mattie June gave birth to a daughter four days later :)

Pondering how to solve a problem like Maria
(I'm the second from the left)

Maria and the kids -- I miss them!

First impressions

My favorite scene: laughing knowingly while the other nuns looked confused over the sheer nightie!

Beautiful family prepares to climb the mountain into Switzerland

Nuns during our matinee

Since my cast performed in both the matinee and evening show on the 29th, the theatre was kind enough to feed us dinner in between -- yay!

The kids and novice nuns spent some time playing "Red Rover."
Predictably, the kids got creamed, and everyone laughed a ton!

Technically, we didn't close until April 1st, but I'm going to include closing night pics here anyway! I was a little worried about closing on a Tuesday; luckily, quite a few of the Monday cast came to support us, and they jazzed up the rest of the audience.

Best Maria since Julie Andrews. I'm sorry if you missed her; I adore this woman!

Jalaire: one of the best stage managers I've ever had!

Closing night treats -- made for the quite the haul. I gave myself permission not to feel guilty for not bringing gifts. Everyone was probably grateful not to have even more sweets to take home ;)

Julie had joked that after being dumped by the Captain so many times she might as well become a nun, so we swapped costumes after our last performance. I think the looks on the right suit us rather well, don't you?
(Sadly, the blue dress wouldn't zip up all the way on me... guess I'll have to stay a nun.)

I commented to the group that "Megan from three months ago is totally in awe that she's there with all of these awesome people." Nice, fun, and talented? How did I get to lucky to become friends with them?!

Now it's April, and the play has ended. I'm relieved, and I'll also really miss it. It's been a long time since I was in a cast that large, and I still marvel at how well we got along. They accepted me exactly as I am and always made me feel loved. I am so grateful!

What's next? I plan to audition for three plays this month, and see a couple more, and attend the Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience, and finish the last Percy Jackson novel, and await the arrival of two babies to two families I dearly love, and maybe have LASIK done again. Oh, and Easter and General Conference, of course. Busy as always, and fun! But first, to sleep off this bug I picked up. Well, at least I didn't get sick until after the play closed and I can lie about all weekend. Lucky me!

What do you have planned for April?

Halfway through the Sound of Music

The Sound of Music at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre is now halfway through the run -- 7 performances down and 7 to go -- and I think that warrants a blog post!

Sister Berthe, Sister Sophia (me), Mother Abbess, Sister Margaretta

It's going well! Audiences are really enjoying it, and I am kind of amazed at how many nice things they say to us. I like to think it's a great show, but I'm biased, you know? Regardless, the nuns are a huge hit, as is our Maria. Seriously, Mickey Larson is perfect. Since we can't have Julie Andrews, I'm glad we have her. Actually, just read the Utah Theatre Bloggers Association's review. It sums it all up quite nicely (spoiler: the reviewer didn't like our Captain). I was honestly surprised to see my name in it, and thrilled he had nice things to say! We nuns are very proud of how hard we worked on our music, and hearing that we sound great is so gratifying. We are STILL working hard to make sure we don't get lazy and start sounding badly. Each performance gets better and better.

Fun facts (in no particular order):

• To me, the most exciting sound in the entire show is that of the curtain rising while the bells toll at the very beginning. I'm standing behind it with the other nuns, and it just... it sounds like anticipation! The curtain rising is the start of a brand new adventure, one the cast on stage gets to take with the audience. What will happen during this performance? Will the audience like it? Will we have fun? No two performances are ever the same. I love live theater!! (I've told the sisters that I sing with how much I love this sound, and they've all bought into it. It's so fun celebrating and playing with them!)

• A lot of cast members have family in the show (a nun in every family). Both Brigittas get to do it with their moms, and one has a grandpa in the show, too! Lots of mother/daughter and a few father/daughter connections... no sons involved that I know of...

Real-life mother and daughter play Mother Abbess and Maria in my cast

• Thirty of the actors wear microphones, and none of them share (well, we share with our doubles in the other cast). There additional microphones hidden onstage for those who do not have their own.

• Many cast members have performed in The Sound of Music before. As far as I know, the only persons repeating a role are the Captains Von Trapp -- both have played the role in other productions. I already hope I get to do it again someday!

• One of our nuns is pregnant. She isn't showing yet, but we still think it's hilarious.

• The people I knew best when we started are the production team. How I love these women! I'm always amazed at how much a cast bonds during rehearsals, and even more so during the run of the show. You get to know your dressing roommates really well hanging out backstage. There are several people I want to keep for a long, long time. I love how much everyone gets along. I may not know anyone really well, but I like the whole cast. They're talented, and nice. A great combination.

Choreographer Liz, music director Maddie, and director Maurie

We couldn't resist a photo with Maurie when she came to visit on Tuesday.
Melinda (on the left) jokes we have four nuns and one of the knights of the round table.
Love the wimple!

• The four main nuns (including me) are not included in the party scene, and that's ok with us! (The Captain did personally invite us once.) It means I don't have to be glamorous this time. No false eyelashes, no spanx, no fancy hairstyle. Just a lot of black and singing and facial expression :D It's fun looking more or less normal when I go out after the show!

• During dress rehearsals, I kept getting into trouble for moving my hands under my scapula (the piece of fabric that hangs down in front of my robe). Apparently it looks a little like an alien coming out of my chest... Whoops! Wrong play!
  (It is nice to have "business" to do with my hands AKA having them folded in front of me at all times. If I can manage to keep them still, it looks good, they aren't distracting, and I don't have to worry about them.) 

• All of the Von Trapp kids have dressers assigned to them, because they have a costume change for every scene and most of them are quick. I'm in charge of Marta, the second youngest. This little girl cracks me up. She probably doesn't even need me, but it warms my heart that she pretends to rely on me (I'm not fooled. There's one complicated change where two of us are helping the three youngest girls. Once, both of us changers missed it and the kids just helped each other; we apologized profusely afterwards, but they got it done and didn't seem put out). Those kids are amazing and really neat people!

Marta and Sister Sophia

• The scene change music between "Do-Re-Mi" and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" is 23 seconds long, which means that is all the time Liesl has to change from her uniform into a frilly gown. Sister Berthe and I help her. We have been really lucky to have finished in time during every performance so far!

Liesel and Rolf

• This is what our cast t-shirt looks like:



 Cute, eh? The kids' version has the top of their pants printed on theirs!


• I've been telling my friends that my part is tiny, so they should only come if they like the play The Sound of Music. I still say so, although of course it's not nearly as fun if I don't have any friends there (I was a little depressed after that first week when I realized that most who are planning to come had already done so and few would be coming later in the run). I'm a little surprised at how many say they hate the play in general; my production is excellent (read the review again!) and you might like it more than you think. If you do come, let me know when you're there so I am sure to come out and give you a huge hug afterwards!!

• I have four scenes, three lines, seven songs sung with fifteen other nuns, and get at least one huge laugh each night. When I auditioned, I said I'd take any speaking role, and I'm glad I did. THIS is the best way to be part of the ensemble. I love it!

• This is possibly my favorite photo that I took during rehearsals:

Max and Elsa look so chic... Wait. What the?
How did Sister Berthe get in there?!

The play has been extended until Tuesday, April 1 (they assure us it isn't an April Fools joke :P) My Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday cast performs in the matinee on Saturday, March 29. We've had several nearly sold out shows and I'm guessing that'll be more prevalent as we get closer to closing. If you want to come, book your tickets ASAP!

To end, here is a short promotional video featuring the other cast. If you can't see us and still want to go, see them. They are terrific, too!


See you on the other side of the mountain! (Get it? 'Cause of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"? Never mind...)

Fleeting February

I mentioned before that February was going to be crazy busy, and it was! I only had a few rehearsal-less, non-sick days to spend with friends, as evidenced by the fact I only have four photos to share:

Dinner at Cantina with Steph J and Amy

This place has an amazing salsa bar. Try the mango -- it's delicious!!

Valentine's Day

This photo is a throwback to my trip to Philadelphia -- good times :)

Kate's baby shower

She has accumulated a lot of terrific friends, especially the also-photoed Jenna.
It was so fun to celebrate my besty's impending motherhood!

A Man for All Seasons with Carrie at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre

Carrie was only in town for a week, and I felt lucky she and I
had the same evening free and she wanted to see this play, too.
(Pictured with our friends Jason and Todd)

Since most of the month was consumed by The Sound of Music rehearsals, it seems only fitting they comandeer the bulk of this post, too ;) 

It opens today -- get your tickets ASAP! 

(I'm in the Tues/Thurs/Sat cast, but they are both well worth your time.)

"Let's start at the very beginning..."

They accept your applause!

"Climb Ev'ry Mountain Finale"
(taken of the cast I'm not in)

Lunch during our one all-day tech Saturday. We ran the entire show twice!
(I'm sitting next to my double.)

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes..."

The Captain joins in as the children sing "The Sound of Music."

"You are sixteen, going on seventeen, waiting for life to start..."

"Climb Ev'ry Mountain"
(Sung by Maria's real-life mom as Mother Abbess. So, so good.)

First dress rehearsal with my Little Women sister, Summer, who plays Leisl in my cast!
(Don't I look different without my hair?)

Sisters, bridesmaids, friends

We nuns have a great time together!

The eldest and the youngest

My double, Christine, after her cast's final dress rehearsal/ preview night. 

The show is ready to go, and it's beautiful!

Funny enough, I have more free time now (well, as of tonight) that the show is open. Looking forward to the first glimpses of spring, sleeping in on the weekends, catching up with neglected/AWOL friends, and a lot of applause (I hope) in March!