Graduation Day!

Couldn't be more proud of this handsome kid!

Never would have guessed this sunny trouble maker would become a lawyer - look out world. He's coming!

Thank you, Desperate Housewives

Gabby (Eva Longoria), Bree (Marcia Cross), Lynette (Felicity Huffman), and Susan (Teri Hatcher)

Dear Desperate Housewives,

You couldn't have picked a better day for your series finale than Mother's Day. My Mom and I have been watching your show together nearly every week since the first episode eight years ago. It's been one of our favorite, most enduring bonding opportunities, and you've meant a lot to us. True, not every episode was golden, and we have never quite been able to admit it just might be our favorite show (which it probably is), but you always managed to charm us with your humor, gorgeous clothes, and relatable women.

Oh, and the fact that a lot of your episodes are named after Stephen Sondheim lyrics is just plain awesome.

The commercials for that first season advertised a show was about sex, betrayal, arson, adultery, and some other horrifying things... I guess it was, but it wasn't nearly as salacious as it sounded. Mom and I fell in love with a sweet little show full of characters to root for, insane situations, memorable moments, tragic deaths, unexpected lessons, and a whole lot of fun. Many people have fallen in love since, but we've liked it since episode 1.

I wish I could say that I'm not a Susan, but I totally am. Clumsy? Sweet and goofy? Well-intentioned? A little disorganized? ... I wish I didn't find her so irritating, but I guess it's true that we are harder on ourselves than others... at any rate, she actually married the man of her dreams, so in that way I hope we're the same!

I have never asked her about this, but I think my mom is a mix of Bree and Lynette. She's like Bree in that she's a fantastic homemaker, with fantastic style, who can whip up practically anything, from a wedding dress to a decorative-and-functional toy chest to a multi-course meal. But when it comes to family, my mom can identify with Lynette's crazy clan. Poor Mom had five of us wackos to deal with, plus the husband with a silly sense of humor and long hours at work. Hope we've turned out okay, and she doesn't feel quite so long-suffering now!

Tonight's finale was definitely worthy of all the zany will-they-or-won't-they and Happy-Ever-After-until-the-next-problem-comes-along antics typical of our heroines. I laughed a ton. I cried a little. We may or may not have yelled at the screen once or twice. And they may have left us with one more unsolved mystery... I am content. I loved our ladies. Nice to know their fictional futures are in good hands!

Here are a few of Desperate Housewives's Top Moments (including awesome cameos by people like Nathan Fillion and Scott Bakula). Beware, there are spoilers!

Thank you, Desperate Housewives, for eight awesome years. My mom and I are going to miss you -- nothing else will ever quite take your place.

Sincerely,
Miss Megan

Happy Mother's Day! Definitely a memorable one for me!

My own "Desperate Housewife" mom, and baby me...
ignore my ears if you can!

Time to find an audition song!

Even before Earnest closed, people started to ask me what I'm going to do next. I'm glad that I didn't go directly from one show to another, and I'd like a few more weeks break. Then again, when all that most people know about me is that I do theater and my last show just closed, what else is there to talk about but what I'm going to do next?

I admit, I would really, really like to do a musical this summer. I've done two straight plays in a row, flexed my acting muscles quite a bit, and now I want a frothy, dancey summer show. I'm nervous about the state of my voice after the whooping cough fiasco, but I love to sing so very much. Lucky me, there are several shows coming up that I'm interested in...

Which leads to my conundrum: What should I sing at auditions?

Nearly every announcement requests that actors sing a song "in the style of the show." For example, for The Scarlet Pimpernel, you might pick another song from a Frank Wildhorn musical (but somehow not the same song every other woman is likely to choose). Or, for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, it would be smart to consider something from Annie Get Your Gun or Oklahoma.

If that's not stressful and vague enough already, I've heard you can get rejected for straying too far. When I auditioned for Hairspray last year, I thought "Not for the Life of Me" from Thoroughly Modern Millie would do the trick; it's light, it's peppy, it's belty, and the fact that I totally ROCK that song every time made it seem a good choice (this was important because I've been trying to get in good with that particular director for awhile). Well... I did NOT get a callback. I learned later that the director wanted a song from the 60s. Well.. why didn't he just SAY so?!! I don't read minds! Gah!

Then there's the fact that I'm looking at auditioning for three* very different shows: Little Women the Musical, 9 to 5 the Musical, and The Marvelous Wonderettes. Do I work really, really hard on one song that miraculously somehow covers all three? Or do I pick three different songs and hope my voice can cope with learning them all within just a few weeks/days of each other?

I know one thing: I really want to sing this for 9 to 5... for no other reason than it's pure fun:

(Thank you, Sassy, for bringing this song into my life!)

Theater people, what would you suggest? One song or multiple? Which songs?

What are your go-to songs**? Ones you know you show you off terrifically and use as a default when you can't think of anything else (or don't have time to find something else).

Non-theater people, what songs do you love?

All help is welcome!!

*Maybe four... I'm back-and-forth about auditioning for Into the Woods again... I love, love, love it, but I just did it last year and it might be too soon.
**Mine are "I Could Have Danced All Night", "Not for the Life of Me", and "I Cain't Say No."

Second oldest

At the family dinner on Sunday, my nephew asked my mom who her second oldest child is. He knows his dad is the oldest, but who came next? (It should be said that I was sitting across the table, and he was looking either at me or in my direction for most of this.)

"Grammy, who is the second oldest? Is it Aaron?"

"No..."

"...Peter...?"

"No..."

"Well, I know it isn't David."

Pause. While he continues to stare pensively past me.

Me: "What am I? Chopped liver?"

Smyth family circa 1999

He smiles like he knows he should be embarrassed, but isn't. "Oh... okay!"

I know I look young, but sheesh! I wasn't even part of the list!

Although, it's not the first time someone thought my younger brothers are older than I. Based on the family photo I carried around on my mission (shown at right), most people guessed I was the second youngest, and that the actual second youngest, Peter (with the Greg Brady haircut), was the oldest. Guess those of us who look more like my mom got the "slightly younger-looking" genes!

At least my nephew acknowledges that we're all family, instead of just people put on the world to entertain him. You wouldn't believe how long that took for him to learn. Then again, being an only child (and grandchild) for as long as he was, I guess he didn't have any frame of reference. It all makes more sense now with sisters of his own to put things in perspective.

Golly, I love that kid!

*Updated* May the 4th be with you

In honor of Star Wars Day ("May the fourth" is like "May the force" - get it?), I'd like to post a clip from The Empire Strikes Back that I've probably watched no less than 200 times (yes, I'm a sappy, science-fiction-loving girl):

(Please forgive me for this weird voiced-over clip. I couldn't find an original that wasn't in Spanish.)

Imagine my surprise, then, when I found this exchange in the middle of a classic novel:

"...You like me, don't you?"
"Well, sometimes," she answered cautiously. "When you aren't acting like a varmint."
"I think you like me because I am a varmint. You've known so few dyed-in-the-wool varmints in your sheltered life that my very difference holds a quaint charm for you."
This was not the turn she had anticipated and she tried again without success to pull her hand free.
"That's not true! I like nice men..."

Any guesses what book that particular conversation is from? I know it's obscure, but you have to admit, the similarities are striking. I wonder if the writers happened to have that in the back of their minds when they wrote the screenplay for Empire Strikes Back...

I'll post the correct novel in an updated version of this post either later this afternoon or tomorrow, just in case no one has any guesses. You might be surprised!!

Happy Star Wars Day, and may the fourth be with you!

**UPDATED Saturday, May 5**

Karl guessed correctly in the comments: That conversation is from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind! Scarlett and Rhett... yeah, I can see the resemblance to Leia and Han (actually, typing out that sentence felt just a hair blasphemous to both franchises). If you haven't read it, you should -- it's a fantastic read. Definitely one of my favorites, and a lot more thought-provoking than the movie (although they did a pretty good job telling Scarlett's story in the movie).

Happy Cinco de Mayo, my friends! Thanks for reading!

New headshots

My last headshot has lasted me 9 years. Granted, I haven't changed much in those 9 years (I really think I look much the same), but I felt it was time for a change. Plus, the photographer who took the previous headshot had photoshopped out the mole on my chin. Call me sentimental, but I've missed it all these years.

This has been a good headshot for me for all these years.
I'm just a smidgen sad to retire it. 

My friend Mandie from Illumine Photography offered a terrific deal. Since I'm no fool, and I really wanted to see her anyway, I jumped on the chance. I'm so glad I did! Look how well they turned out! Much as I liked my last headshot, I love these a billion times more!

I honestly can't decide which I like better.  Mandie and I agreed the black-and-white one is a bit more Megan-y, so that's probably the one I'll use the most. I have both of these in color and black-and-white.

Mandie was so easy to work with. She asked me for my input and made changes when I asked. I even loved that she explained what she was doing with lighting and stuff. As someone who is interested in good photography (even if I can't reproduce it) I was grateful for the tips.

Also funny was when Mandie took a look at my face to see which was the "short side" -- most faces are asymmetrical, and Mandie was trying to figure out which was my better side. Funny enough, my face IS pretty symmetrical... until I smile, that is! I have a crooked smile. This was not new information for me, but the fact that my face is otherwise symmetrical was! Weird. As much as I look at myself in the mirror, I thought I would have noticed that before now. Whateves.

And now I'll stop being totally vain and talking about my face.

Instead, I'll tell you all that if you're in need of a great headshot, contact Mandie on her web site. She is a joy to work with, and produces marvelous results. I wish I could have stayed and chatted with her longer -- I love her madly!

Thanks again, Mandie!

Now to find a show I'm excited about auditioning for so I can start using these bad boys...