Go, go, go, Megan!

Have I mentioned yet that I'm in rehearsals for another show? No? Oh.

I'm in rehearsals for another show!

I'll be doing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for the new Cottonwood Heights Arts Council. We perform in August. I am in the ensemble which you may think would mean that I don't have a ton of rehearsals. Haha -- you think wrongly. The ensemble in Joseph is in almost every scene and each person plays a multitude of different roles. It is a lot of work. Am I a little masochistic for doing this even though I am exhausted from Seven Brides which just closed Monday night? Sure. But considering the cast and crew involved, and music that I have wanted to perform for a good 15 years I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. It's going to be a great show!

Anyhoo, I volunteered to post on the Cottonwood Joseph blog, and here is a link to my first post. I'll keep pointing you to links whenever I post something new over there.

Still to come: memories and anecdotes from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. I miss it terribly!

[For convenience' sake, and because I'm afraid the Cottonwood Joseph blog will suddenly disappear one day, here is the post in full:]

A great show starts with a great production team, and I will admit that Joseph's production team is the main reason I wanted to do this show. The producer, director, musical director, choreographer, childrens' director, and piano accompanist are six of the most positive, talented, patient, energetic people I have ever worked with! Their excitement for this show is infectious and I find myself doing everything I can to meet and then exceed their expectations.

At my second rehearsal (which was the fifth rehearsal for everyone else), when I felt like I was failing miserably and I was tired and frustrated and I just wanted to lie down on the floor and give up, our director told the cast to close our eyes and repeat the following:

"I'm awesome."
"This is the best cast ever. EVER!"
"My director loves me!"

Then we went back to work. And I started to do better.

Our director also remembers everyone's name. And if she forgets a name, the forgotten person gets to call her Harriet. Did I mention there are 62 people in the cast and we have only been rehearsing for two weeks? Everyone is included and anyone feels needed. It is insanely cool.

Yesterday, she was thrilled to read us a fortune cookie fortune she'd opened at dinner:

"'Soon, someone will make you proud.' It's written down!"

Imagine getting this kind of encouragement from six different people at rehearsal every day. Imagine getting this kind of encouragement everywhere you go -- at work, school, church, dance recitals, and basketball games. Everyone would feel good about themselves, and you'd want to do your best and be there all the time, wouldn't you? I know I do and would!

Can't believe we just barely started. I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Curses and theatre people

I discovered a new board game called Curses last week. A bunch of my cast members got together after the show Thursday night to eat ice cream sundaes and just play. Apparently, I was one of only 3 in 13 that had never heard of the game.

The premise is simple enough: you pick a card that gives you a simple task, such as "Try to mug the person next to you." (Notice it doesn't say you have to succeed, just try.) Then, you pick up a curse card and give it to someone else in the group. That person is now stuck having to play his tasks with that particular curse -- such as having to yell everything you say, or hold onto the curse card with both hands -- until he is caught not doing it. If you break a certain number of curses, you are out of the game.

Did I mention there is no limit to how many curses a single person can have? At one point, one of the boys had to do a falsetto/Italian/vampire accent. He managed to do it for quite awhile too!

Hilarity ensued.

I am evil and took a few snippets of video, partly because I was so impressed at how good some people were, partly because of just how darn funny it was, and partly because I love these people and I didn't want to forget how much fun that night was and how awesome they are.

Here is BD. He was cursed to have to make dance moves every time he talked, speak in an Irish accent, and talk like a witch. The card said something like, "You are a judge. Pronounce the crime and the sentence on someone else in the group."

In this next video, BB has been cursed with having his wrists glued to the back of his head, having to scratch his armpit every time he talks, talking like a pirate (appropriate, since he was Captain Jack Sparrow at Disneyworld for awhile), having to clap his hands whenever someone says an animal name, and possibly having to yell out a pizza topping every time someone stands up (that might have been added later). BB is a career councellor telling D (who is cursed with clenched teeth and having to shake like she's been electrocuted every time someone touches her) what job she would be best at and why. Later, they flip a card at N who had to keep her hands in fists for half the game.


Do you see what I mean? I love theatre people! Everyone was such a good sport. We played for two hours before BB and D finally called it a draw. I think I need to buy this game (or wish for it for my birthday). I really want to see how my family plays it.

No doubt, more hilarity will ensue!



(Be honest: how many people thought that I was going to talk about a different type of curses? Haha!)

Only great minds can read this

This is a forward I received in the mail. I don't know if I really believe it's true only "great" minds can understand it, but I have seen it before and I just think it's cool.

By the way: Yes

Only great minds can read this
This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it


FORWARD ONLY IF YOU CAN READ IT
Forward it & put 'YES' in the Subject Line

World Cup 2010 - Wavin' Flag

I have not watched any of the World Cup this year. I barely knew it was even going on. Now I'm sad I've missed out.



Awesome.

Why are my Short Cuts NEVER Short?!!!

Why is it that my "short cuts" are never actually short?!!!

On a good day, it takes me 35-40 minutes to drive from work in downtown Salt Lake City to the high school in West Jordan where I am performing in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Add in time to shut down my computer at work, get out of the parking garage, stop at some drive-through for some food before the show, and deal with the construction going on at EVERY street I have to take, and it makes for a good hour commute. I try to leave work by 5pm, and can usually get to the school a little before 6 o'clock. Believe me, I need every bit of the hour-and-a-half before the show for hair and make-up (which I do myself), vocal and stretching excercises, mic check, cast meeting, getting dressed, and checking my props. I'm a terrible time-manager, so it always takes longer than it should. I try to be organized, but it hasn't worked out so far.

Yesterday, I left work at 5:15. I was a little worried, but I hoped that I could still get to the school in 45 minutes or so.

Nope.

Traffic started before I even hit I-15. Usually, it doesn't start until at least 3300 South -- that's when I knew I was in trouble. I could see there was at least one ambulance driving up the HOV lane and figured there was probably an accident slowing things up, so I decided to take I-215 and go around the accident.

Ha! Fat chance!

Would you believe there were TWO accidents on I-80 before I even got to I-215?! It took FOREVER to get there. By 5:40, when if I take my usually route I usually get off I-15 to start my way up 7200 South, I had just barely reached the I-215 on ramp in south Salt Lake.

And now you all think I am a horrible person for being annoyed at traffic accidents. After all, they are "accidents", and my being delayed 20 minutes is waaaay better than actually being in the accident which would probably be a couple hours' -- if not an indefinite -- delay. It's horrible to see rescue vehicles and the mangled cars and crying and injured people. I am truly grateful I wasn't involved in any accidents. For all I know, if I'd left on time I would have been. I just thought it hideously ironic that I had detoured to skip one possible traffic accident and instead had to deal with two.

I finally got off the Redwood Road exit at 6pm, and honestly I started yelling "REALLY?!!" when I remembered that 6200 South is under construction. Of course. Why was I surprised? It's only been a few weeks since I drove up that road every day. It should not have been a surprise. But I just wanted SOMETHING to go right!

Bangerter was backed up. 7800 South was under construction. AND I hit every single red light and sometimes had to wait through two cycles before I was allowed to move on. I wished I hadn't left my makeup in the trunk of my car so that I could start applying while sitting at all those traffic lights, but there was nothing I could do about it. I decided not to bother to stop for dinner, because I didn't want to be later than I already was. I tried so hard to count my blessings: I was safe and hadn't been in an accident; I was listening to good music and warming up my voice; I was sure I'd get there eventually. There was almost nothing I could do, and what's the point of getting upset over something I can't control (which, by the way, is the most upsetting part about it for me)?

I finally arrived at my destination at about 6:25. Feeling really stressed and annoyed, I proceeded to set my props, grab my mic, and do my makeup and put on my costume for mic check (why the sound guy insists we have our costumes on for mic check I will never understand -- if we aren't properly dressed, he actually makes us go put our costumes on and ridicules us if we take too long). Luckily, the sound guy always requests me last. Being last at mic check bothered me the first couple of times, mostly because I'd bust my butt to get ready and then waste my time waiting around while he called everyone else's character name ("I'm always forgotten! I'm always LAST!" -- my favorite "Amy" line from Little Women the musical); once I realized he expected me to be last, I didn't worry as much about hurrying. Well, I was so annoyed about the traffic situation, I couldn't think of a single line to sound check with. How dumb is that? I have half of the lines in the script, but I had nothing in my brain! So, I ranted for about 15 seconds, and then he let me go continue to get ready.

I wanted to look especially pretty because my parents came to the show last night and I had specificially requested that my dad take photos. My hair refused to cooperate. I wouldn't have minded the extra time to work on it but I didn't have it; yet another reason I was annoyed about the delay. But, I managed to look okay, I calmed down, and the show went well.

Seriously though, I am almost afraid to try to EVER veer off my normal driving course. I have horrible luck with traffic lights, and even if alternate routes sound good in my head, they are rarely good in actuality. It really, really sucks. If I were more organized then maybe I could actually leave 5-10 minutes earlier like I usually plan to. It rarely happens. I'm either 30 minutes early somewhere or 15 minutes late. It's frustrating!

Once upon a time, I enjoyed driving. Not so much the past couple of years.

I cannot tell you how excited I am that my next show is close to home! Not only will I possibly be able to go home for a few minutes inbetween work, rehearsals, and performances, but it shouldn't take me more than 15-20 minutes to get there from my house. Hallelujah, I say! HALLELUJAH!

A Boys' Club

I like my job! It's taken me a couple of months to get to this point, but I am relieved. I know the first little while is always stressful, and I'm still not quite up to speed with my projects and I'm still anticipating another project to be integrated into my daily routine, but I'm feeling more comfortable, more accepted, more on top of things, and... well, just happier.

It's funny though: as one of few women in the office, I feel very much like I'm intruding on a boys' club sometimes. It's kind of like when I served a mission for my church, and learned after 4 months of being in a certain district that all of the Elders got together every Monday to play basketball and had never thought to include my companion (another woman) and I. I understood. I mean, sometimes boys just want to hang out with other boys because they can act differently than they would if girls are around (girls do this too -- I'm not imposing some double-standard). But it still hurt. After all, we were missionaries too and suddenly felt like we didn't belong. My respect and trust for those Elders diminished a little that day. If they had told us this was going on an explained why we hadn't been invited it would have shown my companion and I that at least they respected us. When the truth did come out, it was awkward. Oh well. They were young and so were we so I can understand why they might not have mentioned it.

Maybe growing up with all brothers has made me a little too sensitive to this issue. I hate being left out, or having people assume I wouldn't be interested in whatever they're doing. I am always so thrilled when they ask me to things! Even if they know I'll probably say "No" it means the world that they include me! My brothers are truly awesome!

But I digress, my current coworkers are all very, very nice and helpful. But between me being the newest person on the team, them not knowing what to do with a technical writer, and me being the only girl I feel quite a bit of uncertainty and tension. We're still getting to know each other, and I need to be patient. Maybe it would help if I were married, 'cause most of them are, but there's nothing I can do about that at the moment. I guess I just miss working with a team of women and having that comraderie and opportunity to be myself and relax and vent my frustrations if necessary. Women need other women because we can't always get what we need from men (and, again, vice versa)!

On the other hand, I am grateful that there is no drama for me at my current workplace -- the drama at my last workplace was hideously awful by the time I was finally laid off. Now, I get to start over! I can be who I choose to be, and I can share or not share my personal life as I see fit. I just come, work for about eight hours, and go home. It may be a tad lonely once in awhile, but I have my iPod, and my cell phone, and the (male) receptionist is always good for a chat. I'm a lucky, happy girl!

I don't expect that I'll ever break into the boys' club, and that's okay. It's not the first time and it won't be the last in my line of work. I knew what I was getting into, and I really do like this job!