So it goes.

Well, here we are at the end of the festival. I closed three shows in two days – brutal – and in four days (if the gods allow my car to be in the shape we need it to be), we will be leaving Arkansas and heading back to Virginia. This has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life and has certainly been one of the most rewarding. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of this festival and I hope to come back in the future, even if only as an audience member. There are so many things that I have learned this summer, like how I can handle eight shows in days, that coffee is not a good breakfast, that Tall Tyler is a fierce Apples to Apples player…life lessons, basically.

Over the next few days, we’re going to get my car towed and repaired and pack up all our stuff to head home. As an intern, I’ll be helping with strike in some capacity, so I’m sure I’ll be relying on Adam to take care of a lot. Sorry, honey! I’m really hoping it’s a quick and easy repair, ideally one that the AAA guy can figure out right there in the parking lot. The keys are another issue. Here’s hoping they somehow wound up under the car seat or something. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.

As I write this, I can hear Andrew packing up his car with Sera. It’s going to be so weird to leave – I’ve gotten really used to this town. I do really miss Richmond, though. Random things about it. I miss Ellwood Thompson’s and walking to the VMFA on my days off. I miss our theaters. I miss walking my dog in our apartment courtyard. I miss my gigantic windowsills. It’s going to be so nice to finally come back home, snuggle with Percy, and rest a little in our home. It’ll be a bittersweet departure, that’s for sure.

Today is our epic 4th of July celebration. I’m told there will be a bouncy castle. I vote yes.

Adventures

Yesterday was the second day off before we hop right back into the madness today, so we decided to have an adventure with Matt and his lovely girlfriend Ashli. It was a blast, and just what I think we all needed before we hit this last crazy week of the festival (sob!).

We started off in Conway, checking out a few of the vintage and antique stores. It’s amazing what can be found in there, and I admit I went a little crazy making some purchases. I bought an assortment of beautiful shot glasses, a kitchen letter organizer (reminded me of something my grandparents had), a gorgeous green glass bowl from the 1940s, an adorable hat from the same era, a copper candle stand, and a vintage Coca-Cola glass for my dad. Of course, being a flea market situation, I got all this for an insanely low price…but I can spend a fortune in those types of stores if I’m not careful, so I had to keep myself in check! Matt had a great time pointing out some lovely racist paraphernalia, such as can often be found in antique stores. It’s awkwardly amazing to imagine someone just having those things lying about their home without a dash of irony.

After shopping, we headed to Little Rock, which I had been wanting to do since getting to Conway! The first time Adam and I tried to go to Little Rock, it was a Sunday evening and pretty much everything was closed. The second time I got to Little Rock, the interns were hanging up posters, so we didn’t get to explore too much before we had to head back. Last night, we went bar-hopping and exploring a few different areas of town, which was fantastic. We had an excessively awesome seafood meal at Flying Fish – we tried frog’s legs – and hit the Flying Saucer (apparently a lot of things fly in Arkansas) for drinks. Ashli and I each had a beer flight, possibly my new favorite way to order drinks…must investigate to see if there is anywhere in Richmond that does beer flights! We then headed to a neighborhood called…I can’t remember. Something Heights. There, we checked out a really cool, smoky, pool table-type bar before hitting another nearby to hear some live jazz and have the best Old Fashioneds I’ve had in a while. Which was amazing. I know I often say that I cannot stand the sound of the saxophone, and generally I stand by my statement, but I can officially say that I like the saxophone in very specific situations now. Such as when it is being played alongside steel drums during an uptempo solo. That was too cool. We headed back to where we had started the evening and spent some time in a piano bar – another first for me – and then went back to the Flying Saucer to have a late-night snack of whiskey cheddar and some kind of magnificent, peppery sausage.

It was a fantastic evening. I really love Matt and Ashli and I’m so glad I’ve gotten to know them. We’re hoping they can come visit us in Richmond soon so that we can return the favor – you know, before we all move down to New Orleans and start a vaudeville theatre. And I am absolutely not kidding about doing that. I’m so on board with the idea.

Today, Dan Matisa is holding another session of the workshop we did when we started here – not a required one, just a sort of “let’s reconvene and see where we are now” class. I’m not going today, because I wanted to get a little extra rest and go over my lines and blocking before our As You Like It brush-up for Argenta begins. I’m a little bummed at not going to the workshop, but I have to give the play priority. I’ll go on Sunday – I definitely want one more chance to be Gertrude before I get out of here.

A whirlwind and a lull

The past couple of days have been utterly insane. A couple of performances of The Tortoise and the Hare here, the opening of Joseph and Othello there, working several changeovers from one set to the other in between, trying to figure out several details of my life back home…it’s a good thing we have two days off in a row.

It’s not that I don’t love the crazy schedule we have had here. I do. I’m a big fan of constantly being busy, or at least occupied. I don’t like having too much downtime. Generally on days off, whether they have been here or elsewhere, I can only handle a few hours of idleness before I start getting restless and look for something to do. That’s why I’m glad there are so many people here who seem to feel the same way. There are a few gatherings throughout the days off, so I’m going to see what I want to join in on. I’m hoping to make it to the Arkansas Arts Center at some point before the festival is over – I have heard it’s a great museum.

For those who may be concerned, my leg is doing far better. Having one day off from Joseph made all the difference. I think I’m starting to get past the worst of it – that, or my body is on permanent adrenaline mode. Either way, I’m improving a lot. It still hurts, but in a more heal-y way. There’s a pun to be found somewhere in there…

Go, go, Jo…

Well, it’s finally here…Joseph previews tonight! I am so excited to be a part of this show. It’s great to have gotten past all of the technical stuff, because now we can just rock out and have fun with it.

Our costumes are fantastic, and I adore my wig (to the point where I wish it was my real hair. It’s very Mia Wallace)…I just have to get those quick changes under control. I have a couple and they’re quite difficult, but if I practice, I’m sure I can handle it. It’s a matter of layering, which I totally have down to a science thanks to a couple of particularly chilly winters in a row.

We had ten hours of rehearsal on Monday, eight hours yesterday, and today is a combined “Tech ‘N Run” and preview, so it has been a full week already. It gets better every time, though…despite how some people may feel about Joseph, it’s easily one of the most fun shows I’ve ever been in. You can’t deny that no matter what you think of a show, when the actors are obviously having a truly good time, it’s hard not to join in. I’ve spoken with some friends about this musical, and they all basically said the same thing about it: it’s a guilty pleasure. But I’m not sure why there has to be guilt attached to enjoying it. Sure, it’s very simple on the surface, and there are some genuinely bizarre moments (okay, sure, let’s calypso in order to keep our brother from being wrongfully thrown into jail…like you do), but at the core of it is a sweet story with a good message. And all throughout those bizarre moments that seem to come out of nowhere is a cast that is honestly having a great time telling said story. This has been a very special process and I can’t wait to move into this next phase. It’s going to feel great to do this in front of an audience, finally!

Gentle days and pounding nights

Exactly what am I referring to with that subject line? Why, today, of course.

We were given the daytime off from work (yes, even the interns!), so I took the time to actually visit a doctor at long last and make sure my leg wasn’t entirely FUBAR. The diagnosis was exactly what I had assumed all along – a sprained knee and ankle – and the doctor and I had an interesting conversation. Thus it goes:

Me: So, the thing is, I’m an actor and I’m in three shows right now, all of which are pretty physical. How should I be taking care of myself right now?
Doctor: Well, you probably shouldn’t do the plays.
Me: That’s not an option.
Doctor: Okay, well, can you just do some of them and not all?
Me: No, this is actually my profession.
Doctor: Oh.
Me: I need a third option.

The third option turned out to be “do the plays, but don’t you dare move unless you have to offstage”, which is what I’m attempting to do. I’m elevating and resting my leg whenever I get a chance, but I can already tell that the recovery time will be longer than the estimated 6-8 weeks usually given for sprains. I run and twist around as Phebe, I dance in Joseph, and the Tortoise walks in slow-motion. It’s hard to avoid using the leg. Luckily, the doctor told me that it’s not likely I’ll mess up my leg more, so as long as I care for it, I’ll be fine. It will just take at least one extra month to fully heal. It’s a fine trade-off.

So I took the day easy. I slept in, did the doctor’s visit, and grabbed sandwiches with Ben West before heading back to shower and go to As You Like It. This was easily our best performance. Our audience was fantastic and very enthusiastic, and I got to speak with a few audience members after the show. It’s so satisfying to meet people who traveled all the way from the eastern side of the state just to see us perform, as one family did, and to meet kids who love to shout “YOU WERE FUNNY!” as we walk by. I’m one of those actors who is all about seeing a happy, thoughtful audience after a show, so this is heavenly for me. There was even a little eight-month-old baby sitting in the front row who was all giggles and grins the whole time. Best audience member ever. He was dancing a little to our ending song…cue desire to kidnap. So cute.

After the show, Ben and I went to grab a drink and chat. We always end up on the subject of other plays we want to be in, and tonight’s hot topic was The Tempest. When I get back to Richmond, I forsee some playtime in my future. But for now, I’ll sleep, and if I cannot, I’ll rail against all the first-born of Egypt.

Good times all around

Two of my three shows have opened, and both are definitely a success. ROCK.

As You Like It opened on a beautifully clear and comfortably cool night, and the most wonderful part for me was when I walked onstage as Phebe for the first time before an audience, changed the set from city to country, and settled onto the bench for the scene to begin – and looked out to see one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. I really felt like I was in the magical countryside that Shakespeare intended. It was stunning. We had 220 audience members show up. To see Shakespeare. Outside. In Arkansas. Anyone who snobs about trying to do Shakespeare in Arkansas needs to think twice. We not only had the audience, but they loved the show. There were lots of children there, too, and they all had a blast. That’s something that I particularly love to see: children enjoying and understanding Shakespeare. I remember being very small and talking to my mother about Hamlet. Starting early on something like Shakespeare will help kids in so many ways, not just in school and not just in the “they will appreciate great literature” way. So many relevant lessons can be found within Shakespeare’s works, and to learn these lessons early can give kids a leg up.

There were, of course, plenty of children at the opening show of The Tortoise and the Hare yesterday, and their adorable reactions made our 6:00 AM call completely worth it. Tyler of Syracuse came backstage before the show and told us how cute and funny he thought the show was, which I was glad of. We all think the show is great, but having a little outside approval perked us all up quite a bit. The performance went great, and the kids were totally on my side. Every time Tall Tyler, as the Hare, asked if they had noticed anything after I passed him, they all gave a very emphatic “No!” Tyler was cracking up about how they lied to  him after the show. I even got applause when I completed each lap! It was so nice to finally have an audience that was so responsive. We did a question-and-answer session afterwards (question: How did the Owl and Tortoise hurt their feet? Answer: Owl got his leg caught in a bear trap in the forest, and Tortoise’s equilibrium was thrown off by her shell while she was trying to dance), and then the whole cast had lunch with the kids. They had so many great questions about acting and were so much fun. We even played Tag with them (though I wasn’t terribly good at it with the bum leg). It was a blast.

After T&H I went home and crashed for a little while, then headed out for the second performance of As You Like It. The weather was just as lovely, and we had a large audience again! They were a lot less verbally responsive than the previous night, but we could see on their faces what a good time they were having. Many of them approached us afterwards to tell us how much they loved the show and that they wanted to come back or send people to come see it. It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm! I felt pretty good about my performance, though I rolled my ankle yet-a-freakin’-gain onstage and ended up rushing some lines. I think it was okay, but it hurts a lot. I’m planning to go to the doctor today to get it checked out and make sure I’m doing everything right.

After last night’s show, we went out to celebrate Andrew of Syracuse’s 21st birthday with lots of drinking and karaoke. I refrained from the “lots of drinking” part and just had two, but I did go up and sing “Wonderwall”. Opening night of AYLI got me up with Alaina Kizer to sing “One More Angel in Heaven” from Joseph, to the delight of Dennis in particular. Everyone was singing along, probably to the bemusement of anyone at the restaurant who wasn’t in the show.

Today’s lineup includes doing absolutely nothing apart from going to the doctor before heading out for the third performance at the Village. Here’s hoping for another great night and another great audience!

Penultimate rehearsals

There’s something about that final dress rehearsal that really freaks people out. Whether it’s because the cast had never gotten an entire run in without stopping yet (check), because the heat was making people a little irritable (check), because cues were difficult to hear because of previously unreliable monitors (check), or because it’s just SO CLOSE TO PERFORMANCE TIME, there is always a lot of freaking out that goes on backstage at one of these things.

What’s fortunate is that we got a run in (and shaved off ten minutes), the heat tapered off nicely (and included a lovely breeze), the monitors worked at last (and one was added to stage right, which was very helpful), and everything went quite well. There were of course plenty of hiccups – such as my quick change and Phebe’s unexpected haircut when my wig was taken off and I didn’t have time to put it back on – but for the most part, it all went beautifully.

I have complete faith that As You Like It is going to be a wonderful show. We’ve all come together so well as a cast and are still finding new ways to play that I know each show will feel fresh and new, full of discoveries we perhaps haven’t anticipated. As long as we continue to move onward and upward in our performances, there can be little doubt that we have something truly special here.

As for my other projects, Joseph is on a rehearsal hiatus for this week, but we move into tech very soon. On top of that, The Tortoise and the Hare is opening on Friday, so that’s very exciting! We’ve added so much to T&H and every day it feels better and better. The show is a blast to perform and I know the kids and parents alike will love it. And now begins the part where I go off on a tangent about one of my castmates.

Josh. Freaking. Rice. Yeah, that’s right, the guy who broke both of his feet and is still finding ways to perform effectively and wonderfully. The one who, while he really should just be worrying about himself, is taking incredible care of me while I’m in my injured state. He brought me his spare crutches and a walking boot (which he ended up putting on me himself when I couldn’t reach the straps). He gave me horse pill-sized Ibuprofens to help assist with the pain and swelling. He gave me a ride today and even offered to wait until I had finished my costume fitting to be sure I had a way home. This guy is awesome. I don’t know how one gets to be as awesome as he is, but I sincerely would like to learn. Also, he’s talented. The end.

After we open AYLI tomorrow, there will be a reception, but I’m probably not going – we have a 6:00 AM call the next day for T&H so we can run our tech and perform at 10:00. It’s going to be a little rough, but I’m sure we will turn in an adrenaline-filled performance that the kids will enjoy.

Injury update: still have not been able to find time to go to the doctor…the only appointment times they had all conflicted with rehearsals, and being this close to opening, I just can’t skip the rehearsals, but Josh (okay, my tangent about his awesomeness was not completed, and continues now) said he would talk to his doctor and see if she can see me. Apparently she’s really great and can do pretty much everything in her own office. Which would be helpful. My limited experience with student health is of the “well, it doesn’t LOOK broken” and “I see you’re here for an earache. Any chance you could be pregnant?” variety, so it would be easier to just go to a place that can take care of me all in one fell swoop. Preferably on one of our off days. The swelling and bruising is significantly less than it was initially, but it is still quite painful. I’ve been performing at about 60% for my action, but it is still really rough by the end of the evening. Fortunately, most everyone is very mindful and helpful, so I’ve been catching a lot of breaks. I’m also going to have amazing arm muscles from using crutches by the end of this summer. Phwah. I’m keeping off of my leg as much as possible when not acting, so I’m hoping that the damage will be of the minimal and non-permanent variety. Fingers crossed!

Not my week, apparently.

“My week” will probably be coming up soon. This wasn’t it. Not only did my car spontaneously stop working, but I also managed to lose the keys (I know. It’s gonna get ‘spensive around here). And then today, I did something moderately serious to both my ankle and my knee during rehearsal, so now I am wearing braces on both and limping. And we open in a week. Good timing.

We started the day with Joseph rehearsal – which I love doing, because it perks me up for the rest of the day. We are getting really intensive with the choreography (or just the “ography” as it is referred to here, which I still haven’t decided whether to fight or embrace), and it’s great to see the little details get tweaked. We managed to set the bar for a few numbers, especially the boys. Our brothers are awesome, and every personality is wonderfully distinct. I even got to turn in a performance as Dan Matisa (he wasn’t at the rehearsal since he doesn’t really have to dance in the show)…at the end of “One More Angel”, Dan and I come out of the house and surprise everyone who has been celebrating Joseph’s supposed demise, and then Dan wanders off in a fairly hilarious way clinging to Joseph’s coat. Today, I came out clinging to the coat and did my best Jacob shuffle. I’m not saying I’m going to be Dan’s understudy anytime soon, but I am saying I can shuffle like a champ. Unfortunately, this rehearsal was where I hurt myself. During “Go, Go, Go Joseph”, I came down weirdly after a pirouette, pulling and popping my left knee and ankle almost simultaneously. I was sort of stunned by the pain of it, but I figured it was just one of those weird twisty rolls where it hurts for a few minutes and you think it’s a sprain and then it goes away. Well, not this time. I was swollen and sore by lunch. Luckily, I have wonderful friends here who took good care of me.

At The Tortoise and the Hare, however, this caused a bit of a problem. We already have one cast member with a mobility issue – Josh Rice, who is recovering from two broken feet and is using a wheelchair in the show. Josh lent me his crutch for the rehearsal, which helped a lot (especially since we did an Italian rehearsal and I had to go at double speed…even though it’s still sort of slow as the Tortoise). We ended up just cleaning a few things, most of which didn’t actually involve me anyway so I got to rest, and then we went over music and did our speed-through. It was a nice way to mix things up a little, because with shorter shows, running them over and over makes you feel like you have done them to death. It’s fun to do a speed-through every so often, just to keep things fresh. The show is so much fun to do and I can’t wait to perform it for the kids!

As You Like It was an adventure. After my date with Matt last night, I was really excited to try our new things out, and we came up with even more throughout the evening. I felt that the run-through went quite well, and with just a tweak more polishing we should all be in great shape. It’s going to be a wonderful show. I felt especially good about the new things that I got to incorporate with Matt, these little moments that hint at a past with our characters and which soften Phebe ever so slightly. I don’t want her to go instantly from a brash brute to a simpering schoolgirl, but we added a couple of moments that give her some depth. Whether anyone apart from ourselves will notice these moments is a question that has no answer right now, but at least for me, I feel far more confident about our relationship. It’s great to work with someone who makes me feel so at ease. It would be very difficult to play a character like Phebe with anyone I wasn’t comfortable with, and Matt and I have gotten to be really good friends. He’s a great guy, and I have a great time beating him up. It’s also nice to work with someone who I am comfortable having smack me on the bottom and lay a great big kiss on me – while not being my real-life husband. I have little experience with stage romance, so until I’m a little more used to it, it’s helpful to get to portray it with someone who I know I am safe with. Especially since Adam is about six feet away while all this is happening.

Well, the pain meds that I was totally prescribed and in no way took from Ben’s prescription after he had a cavity filled are starting to kick in, so it’s time for sleep. I’m thrilled for tomorrow – injury and all, exhaustion and all, car and financial troubles and all, what better place to be than the theatre?

An Old Fashioned evening.

After an insane day (intense work on all three shows), there’s nothing much better than a couple of drinks with a dandy friend.

The Tortoise and the Hare is really coming together, and the music we have added seems to pull it all together so nicely. It has a bluegrass-y feel to it, so it’s a lot of fun to sing. Even better? The entire cast can sing. Bonus points. Apart from a couple of hiccups (such as me not remembering whether this lap around the lake was where I meet Mister Bird), the run went really well. I think we have something very special here, something that parents will truly enjoy right along with the kids. It’s rare that a children’s show actually achieves a balance like that, and I think we have managed to do it. Since the dialogue is easy for kids to follow but doesn’t talk down to them, adults will surely find plenty of merit in there – and we have added a few jokes specifically for them. It’s a 70-30 split as far as who the humor is geared towards, which is a nice number to aim for.

As You Like It opens IN A WEEK. That’s not a typo, and it only just hit me today how soon that is. We still have some time to play – more on that in a later paragraph – but it’s really getting to the point of being a little terrifying. We did some script trimming today, which may help with the pacing, and I am trying harder and harder to bring some truth out of Phebe. It’s easy to play her like a caricature, and I sort of do (can’t help it…she has brute strength and hilarious lines), but there is definitely something tender in her. I think Phebe has some sweetness to her. She’s not a bad person, she’s just unrefined and possibly afraid to want what’s good for her.

Joseph broke my back a little bit. We went through the entire show and worked on the Megamix for about an hour or so – we finished it! – and that means we were all sweaty, disgusting, exhausted, and in pain. I’m not sure exactly what I did to the left side of my body, but it hurts like the dickens. My back is sore, too, and my bruised palms are more bruised after clapping so much. So what I’m saying is, after this festival, I am investing in acupuncture and several massages. It’s for my career, I promise.

After rehearsals, Matt Duncan (my darling Silvius) and I went out to drink Old Fashioneds (I have no idea if that is the proper plural, but it’s the only one that makes sense) and discuss the relationship between our characters. Off note: what is my obsession with parenthetical statements? Back on track: we decided it makes the most sense if there is, in fact, a previous romantic history of some kind with Phebe and Silvius. Our characters have known each other for their whole lives, after all. We worked for a while to find a few new subtle blocking things we could do to make this clearer, and we worked to find the aforementioned tenderness in Phebe. I think that’s the key. Otherwise it’s some pathetic guy chasing a bruiser around the woods and them getting married because that’s what the plot says to do. I prefer the “those wacky kids and their poor timing” version of the two. For that to work, Silvius has to give back at least some of what Phebe throws at him. I have no doubt that Matt will throw some great stuff at me tomorrow. I can’t wait to play.

And then I melted.

You guys, you know how I kept saying I’d be totally fine in the Arkansas heat since it couldn’t be that different from Virginia in the later summer? Well, I’m not not fine, but I’m just saying…it’s hot. It’s really hot. Which would actually be perfectly okay with me…except that I literally stopped breathing for a hot second there when I left rehearsal today.

You see, my allergies hit me all of a sudden. I was skipping through springtime with relatively minimal allergy issues, and I made it all the way to June. I was so proud of myself. And then today, halfway through Joseph rehearsal, my body decided that I was ALLERGIC TO EVERYTHING IN THE ROOM! which was bad timing since we were about to start the “Megamix”. More on that later. I should go in sequence of the day,  as I usually do.

As You Like It started the day. Several of us found it to be a particularly difficult rehearsal as far as emotions are concerned. Andrew called us a bunch of crybabies, but it wasn’t just us getting weepy for no reason. Sure, the music always gets me going, and I’m sure I’ll still be fighting back tears come closing night, because I’m a sap and I’m okay with admitting that. But it was working the “All the world’s a stage” speech that really got to me today. If you know me, then you know I work primarily as a caregiver and that I previously worked in a nursing home for over two years. In that short time, I’ve seen a lot of very difficult and sad things, become close with wonderful people who have left either physically or mentally, and generally been around a lot of hardship. It’s tough to watch families suffering along with an ailing and elderly loved one, and it’s even tougher to watch patients becoming confused and getting sick. So when Dan Matisa, already a wonderful actor to start with, really pulled out all the stops at the end of his speech and began to talk about “second childishness”, I had to fight hard not to start weeping. I didn’t win that fight, and thankfully the lovely Alaina Kizer was there to hold my hand and give me a hug while we bawled together for a little while. And then we went and had Mexican food. It’s great working with people who I can cry with and then go and giggle about show-related injuries over queso dip with.

Now for Joseph. It’s tough to be in the “death slot” (2:00-5:00, which means after lunch and before dinner and right smack dab in the middle of the time when we all get sleepy) for the musical rehearsal, since it requires oh-so-much singing and dancing. And we have to keep trying to remember that our spacing will be different on the Reynolds stage. And that damn Calypso choreography that is all like “oh, hi, Caroline’s existence, I’m here to be the bane of you. What up?” My solution is to just never. Stop. Moving. Every time I was offstage today, I was stretching or bouncing or doing crunches. Anything I could to keep my eyes from glazing over. Yes, I’m utterly exhausted and extremely sore from who-knows-what-reason, but the last thing I wanted was to make Dennis upset. I figured if I just did everything at the highest percentage I could safely manage and keep moving constantly I’d stay awake enough. Failed. There was some moderate frustration at how sleepy we all were around 4:00. But only for a couple seconds (he has a nice rebound rate), because then we got to work on the “Megamix” and it was so much fun that we woke up! There’s so much clapping and I got so into it that I literally have bruises on my palms – which, by the way, hurts way more than I was expecting – and at one point Tyler of Syracuse and I have to get a little freaky. Don’t worry, Tyler, Adam will be instructed to watch stage right at that point.

And now I have the evening off, which I am planning to use to have some beautifying time with Tall Tyler, some broth-making time to cure what ails Christa, and hopefully some downtime to give my confusingly achy left side a break. Seriously, left side of my body, get it together. Right side can’t be doing all the heavy lifting.