The end of Jekyll and Hyde

Oh, Jekyll and Hyde. I may not have always enjoyed rehearsals, and I might not have spent much time onstage, but the people involved and the shenanigans backstage made the whole experience worth it. I finally got to work with a lot of people I've wanted for years to meet and work with, and be a part of a musical I've loved since I was in high school. There was no drama in my cast, thank goodness. The subject of the play was so dark that it would have been no fun at all if the cast weren't so humble and hilarious.

This was the result of a Friday after Amanda posted a bunch of photos from a dress rehearsal. The cast immediately started creating memes. I have rarely laughed out loud so much while at work!

A few of the many things I'll miss:

• Rocking out in a jam-packed vom as the ensemble harmonized in the "Alive reprise" and "Confrontation"
• Telling the same joke "Then I said: that's what she said!" every night, and Wendi, Madison, Matt, and Jackie laughing every time -- we all looked forward to it!

• Laughing at Adam and Seth's interpretive dance during "Dangerous Game" 

Adam (hugging my waist), Silas (above me), and Seth (the the right)

• Lacing up corsets (upon corsets). I'm one of few women who actually finds the things comfortable!
• Feeling like a hot girl for one minute (So long, Bo Peep Whore!)

• Talking about Gilmore Girls while pretending to flirt in the tavern

Ben

• Hearing all the girls sing "Bring on the Men" over and over for mic checks, with all of us in various states of undress
• All the girls stopping whatever they are doing to hear Jared (as Dr. Jekyll) sing the last note in "This is the Moment"...and then joking that he sucks and is unattractive

Jared (Jekyll/Hyde) and Regan (Utterson)

• Jared and Danny's bromance
• Everyone's hair transformations -- I don't think anyone ended the run with the same style they started with, including me
• Jillian Joy and I joking that Marmee would be horrified to see what Meg and Amy had been reduced to

Jackie, Jacob T (Spider), and Jillian (Nellie)

• Mary Ann and I sizing up the boys in the tavern while waiting to dance

Mary Ann

• Feeling grateful that I didn't have to move any of the staircases for the scene changes 

More than one cast member was injured on or by them

• All the steampunk details

Also my tiny, tiny corseted and belted waist

• Hyde ("Hyde is in the hair!") looking suspiciously like Sirius Black with his scraggly, curly hair and long green coat

Jillian, Jared, and Natalie

• This dress that I will happily wear in every show I do in the future, even if it is so long that I and everyone else trips over it:

• Singing "Facade Reprise 2" -- nicknamed "lurky, lurky" -- crawling across the stage in black lights, and then giggling as the audience gives us half-hearted, "what the crap was that?!" applause
• Pretty much the entire "Murder, Murder" song, and hearing the audience reactions to the murders

• Cecily's party planning, including shooting zombies with paint guns and the Red Rad Cabaret (karaoke)

"Brown paper packages"
Each of the women brought one of their favorite little things, and Cecily packed up one of each for each of us.
I'm now addicted to the Lindt Caramel Brownie Chocolate Stick

The Red Rat Cabaret

The Tuesday/Thursday women sang "The Cell Block Tango" from Chicago.
It should have been a mess, but it turned out to be really fun. We enjoyed the joke of each of us pretending to murder Jared after he murders so many people onstage as Hyde. Everyone commented later that it was enlightening and entertaining to see us all come out of our shells and act since we didn't get to do much acting in the show. I very much enjoyed screaming "You've been screwing the milkman" -- the audience pretty much died at that point. Yep, I'm funny.

Wendi, Madison, Jillian, and Adam (lurking in the back) at the Jekyllpalooza Thanksgiving party

And now for a LOT of photos (feel free to skip to the end for my parting words if you like)!

Holly Jo (Lucy)

Madison and Kyra

Choreographer Marilyn

Jake S and Tamara (Lady Beaconsfield)

Illustrated by Jake

Amazing dancers Aaron and Matt

Natalie and Kenn (Proops)

Christine, Sarah, Cynthia (Lady Beaconsfield MWF), and Lindsay

Trent

Real-life married couple Meredith and Garrett

Danny I (Hyde MWF)

Stacie, Cynthia, and Kristina

Cecily (Emma) and Christine

Megan Y (Emma) will never live this meme down!

Madison, Amanda (Nellie MWF), Jackie, and Jillian

Playing Werewolves between our one matinee and that evening's show.
Fun fact: I was terrible at it. Also, the villagers all died.

Dan C (Bishop of Basingstoke), Scott B (Stride), and Jared

Closing night treat by Mary Ann

Mary Ann, Megan Y

Wedding wardrobe bustles with Mary Ann and Megan

Closing night treats by Jackie -- different flavors and fillings, naturally!

Madison and Wendi

Jake, Marcie (our music director), and Jillian

Marilyn and Marcie on closing night

Closing night speeches

Cast gift to the production team

These were my thoughts to my cast the night after we closed:

Thank you all for making Jekyll and Hyde such a challenging and truly entertaining experience! I am thrilled that I got to work with so many people that I have long admire, and that we're all friends now. Who knew you were so nice as well as talented?! I hope I get to work with each of you again very, very soon, and that we hang out together even sooner!

October tybbling

Oh, October. You were filled with performances and other events surrounding Jekyll and Hyde. Turns out, the cast liked to party, and we liked to party together! But I'll talk about that another time (or will I?).

A few other things:

Fall is no longer kidding around

For some reason, the trees and leaves in this part of my condo's parking lot scream AUTUMN at me.

(Not literally, of course. Aaaaaah!)

"Every Autumn, I look forward to the day the leaves seem to leap from the trees and create a carpet of color. Tomorrow, the carpet will be pulverized by cars, but today all felt right with the world."

General Conference with my family

My brother David created this masterpiece with drafting help and suggestions from our nieces.
I love it. I should have stolen it so I could frame it. 

Breezy suddenly panicked that her mom's birthday was only a few weeks away and we needed to create birthday cards. This is my drawing of Lindsey crossing the finish line at the end of a race (the red things are the ribbon she is breaking through).

Cousins bonding while watching a video during the lunch break.

Day trip to the Utah Shakespeare Festival

I missed Twelfth Night during my trip in the summer. I'd never seen a live performance of the play but I adore the script, so I drove down for a Wednesday matinee, stayed for the talk-back afterwards, and then drove home.

The production wasn't perfect, but the music was delightful and I laughed a LOT for all the right reasons. I'm glad that I made the effort.

I started the day right, with a pumpkin bagel and honey-almond schmear from Einstein Bagels, and a frozen butterbeer* from Starbucks. I highly recommend both.
For the butterbeer, you have to give the barrista the recipe:
Cold Butterbeer:
cream frappucchino of whole milk
3 pumps caramel syrup
3 pumps toffee nut syrup
top with caramel drizzle

Hot Butterbeer:
(2 pumps tall, 3 granda, 4 venti)
Whole milk steamer w/caramel syrup
toffee nut syrup
cinnamon dolce syrup
top with whipped cream and salted caramel bits

*I have never been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so I have no idea how these compare to "real" butterbeer

During the drive home, I hit the 50000 mile milestone in my new car.
Not so new anymore, it seems!

Sent stuff to the dry cleaner

I know, this is kind of a lame entry, but I'd never taken my own stuff to a dry cleaner before, so it felt kind of momentous. Sadly, they wrecked the buckles on my trench coat; now I'm looking for new buckles so I can replace them...

Some of my siblings came to my play!

My siblings don't come to all of my many shows -- and I don't often make them come -- especially when my role is small and tickets are as expensive as they are at CenterPoint. I was awfully proud of the quality of Jekyll and Hyde, however, and I cannot express how special it felt that these fun-loving, discerning, and thoughtful people took the time out of their schedules to come. Their support and their love is very precious to me.

David and Aaron

Jordyn and Lindsey

Read Pride and Prejudice (adapted as a play) with Next Stage Productions friends

The friends I did Robin Hood with have formed their own theatre company, called Next Stage Productions. In addition to producing plays, about once a month someone from the group hosts different activities, most often reading a play. In October, we read Pride and Prejudice, and I have to say that the casting choices were spot-on, and a lot of the reads were just brilliant. I got to play Lydia and had a marvelous time!
Let me know if you want to join in the fun. This month they're reading The Crucible, and next month is Arabian Nights (the show they plan to produce next year). The more the merrier!

Liz, as Elizabeth Bennet, reacts to Mr. Collin's proposal (read hilariously by Anthony Buck).

It wasn't a costume party, but I dressed up as Sleeping Beauty anyway, because this was only my first party of the evening...

My one-and-only Halloween party

The second party was at Johnson Party Central, and comprised mainly of cast members from Jekyll and Hyde. I was there late enough that the Friday cast had completed their performance and were arriving as well. It's a crime that nobody got a clear photo of the two actors who played Jekyll wearing pink unicorn costumes -- they galloped into the house, through the kitchen, and back out the front door so quickly that those of us in the living room didn't even see them! Boo!

Chantryce and Amanda

Natalie, Silas, and Kristina

Baby-sat one of the world's cutest and most charming babies

Bamy got to baby-sit her Monster while his parents had rehearsal. Poor kid had a rough day that carried into our time together, so I think we both appreciated the short nap he took in the middle of the evening. He's such a perfect, squishable boy! Chip off the old block, for sure!

Gifted myself something nerdy

I've been waiting for months for the "Come Away with Me" design to come available on Companion Tees or TeeFury. I love it so much. It's kind of a shame I can't wear it every day! (Well, I could, but that would be weirder than a 36 year-old career woman buying this t-shirt in the first place.)

Halloween

My co-workers were disappointed that I didn't dress up this year. This was a little hypocritical because they didn't either! I DID consider wearing a costume to the movies that night, and then forgot about it and put on regular clothes after my workout. I rescued my mom and my grandma from having to answer their doors to trick-or-treaters and took them to see The Maze Runner. It was an entertaining movie and I like the child actors, and it was creepy enough to be a decent Halloween choice. I hadn't been to a movie in ages -- I've missed them!

I straightened my hair, so at least I didn't look quite like myself!
Bonus points for the scarf with the skulls printed on it :)

My show closed on the 28th. I auditioned for another on the 25th, but it didn't work out. I have an audition or two tentatively planned for this month.

Next stop, November. The holidays are upon us!

Important things I learned yesterday

My mom's and my older brother's favorite candy bar is the Almond Joy. The G-unit also likes Almond Joys... without the almonds. We informed him that means he likes Mounds. However, since we had no Mounds available last night, G ate about 8 fun-sized Almond Joys and spat out the almonds. Too funny!

Speaking of funny, Breezy spent quite a few minutes making baby PJ laugh. She had found a balloon from somewhere and would blow it up (as much as a 5 year-old can) until it naturally spat out of her mouth and across the kitchen table. PJ could not get enough. He laughed and laughed and laughed! And of course that made Breezy laugh and do it over and over again. And of course that meant all the adults in the room had to video tape it. Adorable to watch the two cousins bond.

Meanwhile, Zonks very seriously drew a photo of the world (including Arizona and Hawaii), space, and planet "Lurb." I thought she made Lurb up until I mentioned it to Lindsey and she said it was on some kid's television show. I tried looking it up and have no idea which show it's from. Any ideas?
My favorite part of the picture was where she drew a box to represent my neighborhood, with a dot for my house, a dot for my friend's house, and a stream flowing beneath it. It looked a lot like this:

(except that it was square and drawn in purple)

This time I managed not to laugh at her, but I sure wanted to! I don't think she noticed that she had drawn a face.

Lastly, my nieces and I made the very important discovery that I have magic. Specifically: I can magically stick flat buttons to my forehead and they stay (unless I wrinkle my forehead or move too quickly). The girls rightly thought this hilarious. For the next five minutes -- until it was time to go home -- they pulled various sized and shaped buttons from Grammy's button box and tried to stick them to my oily forehead (fine, it wasn't magic, but they didn't need to know that). They were delighted and so was I.

What have you learned about your family members lately?