Thespihonest...: February 2013

Howdy! Long due for an update. Two weekends ago Jillian, Garret and I drove to Memphis for UPTA. I felt much more prepared and relaxed than last year and am pretty satisfied with the outcome. I also got to see some beautiful faces from back home. I had a lot of fun but am glad the stressful part is over. Now it's just the waiting game while I have my fingers crossed for some good contracts this next year!!

We've been traveling a lot with the tour and have been having a really good time. We survived our first two show day, so hopefully this marathon of shows starting tomorrow won't be as bad as previously thought. I've also have had a lot of down time to go on adventures around the city! And now, for a slew of photos.

It's UPTA time!

Temple Reunion UPTA style.

So happy the stressful part is over!

I sneakily took this on our way to an early morning call. They are pretty adorbs.

A beautiful view of the sunrise from our van.

Been spending a bunch of time with this little nugget, Ripley.

Finally got to see Adam Faucett and The Tall Grass play. I've been obsessed for months. Sarah, you need to check him out.

Found some awesome stuff in this antique store.

Terrifying, sad doll shoved in a corner. Probably for good reason.

Another pretty sunrise.

Met Snap the goat at our last show!!

Feel like Mrs. Doubtfire every day on this tour.

Fort building at 24 is awesome (especially when whiskey and puppies are involved).

Fort Building Team!

I know it has been so long since my last blog post and for that I am terribly sorry! I kind of like how I feel responsible now to update this thing. Documenting stuff on here kind of helps me to not lose perspective and to stay positive about all the craziness that a life in theater can provide. So I will attempt to update y'all on what's been happening.

So my last performance of The Three Billy Goats Gruff and The Three Little Pigs came and went. I sincerely LOVED performing this show every day, even though I was extremely exhausted towards the end, both mentally and physically. I guess I wasn't aware of how taxing doing two shows a day and then trying to memorize and rehearse a play where I was required to learn tons of lines and speak in a psuedo-Arkansan accent in less than two weeks would be. (Even typing that sentence was exhausting!) I have been that busy before, but this time around was super stressful because I am the manager for this tour show. Basically the tour manager is the stage manager for the tour show while the production stage manager is busy dealing with the mainstage show going on. I know I can be a leader, but this is a job I never really wanted because I don't like doing a sub-par job and was afraid if I was overloaded that is what would happen. I will admit there were days where I felt distracted with all my responsibilities for the next show while still trying to stay present in a high energy children's play. Lines like "I'll bet you a dollar to a bucket of corncobs.." and "they's and them's and we's...." aren't natural for me and drastically different from how we speak at home so that responsibility weighed on me. And yes, we have "Yooz guys" and "Wooder" but it isn't quite the same. I had some of the worst run-throughs I have done since high school, but during our last one I finally felt everything clicked and I was able to really enjoy the performance and feel what it will be like to perform for kids. We have had three days on the road so far and things have gone pretty darn smooth. Granted, driving three hours each way through the Ozark mountains isn't too much fun, but as much as I am tired, stressed out, and currently writing this with some chest pains, I still absolutely LOVE what I do. I'd much rather feel sick and tired from doing this than from doing anything else. Period. Something about me just turns on when I'm performing and I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything. For now I'm enjoying my day off, breaking in my audition heels while dressed for the gym, and trying to stay thankful, positive, and keep on keepin on.And now for a ton of photos to give you an idea of what's been goin on in mah life!