Soul Sister

Tonight while I was driving home with the windows down, I was singing (nearly) at the top of my lungs - since that's what you do on a summer night, you drive around with the windows down whether or not you have air-conditioning and play rock star in your car. The thing you may not realize is that there are times when it's not just you and the radio. At a stop light I had just hit a chorus when I heard a voice from over my left shoulder hollering, "you've got a beautiful voice!" I turned to see a scruffy man in a John Deere cap in the next car over, both his windows down, grinning at me. I sized up the situation, took stock of the song, and sang louder.

Lesson one: Take your entertainment where you can find it, with the corollary: It's OK sometimes to participate in other people's fun, particularly if you are safely separated by two full cars (hey, he had no idea if I had mace or was a serial killer - gotta take a risk now and then!). Lesson two: SING. Sing loudly, enthusiastically, with style and attitude and only a passing consideration of accuracy as long as it's fun (which will pretty much be always). Lesson three: Make sure to show your fans a little love.


Watch out for falling turtles (especially if they look like Cher or a pop-y emo band),

Cyd



P.S. How much do you want to bet John Deere Cap is intimately acquainted with all the lyrics to the entire Charlie Daniels' Band catalog? You KNOW he's a superstar in his Subaru!

A Cinematic Lunar Event (Twitter-Style)

There have been two major lunar events this month - an eclipse of the moon, which I missed since it happened around 4 AM some days ago, and "Eclipse" the movie, also known as "Eclipse: the Twilight Saga - Yes, This Has Become a Cultural Icon and Will Be Seen Repeatedly and Adored by Millions Regardless of Actual Quality (Fortunately, It's Pretty Good, Relatively Speaking)". I did make it to the movie, thanks to a friend of mine (yay, Amanda!) who offered me a couple of tickets. I invited another friend (yay, Tara!) to come along, and here I document the event as a Twitter feed (since I don't have one).

11:30 PM: Almost ready - leaving for the movie. Updated Facebook status.

11:38 PM: Did not expect this many people. Stupid, I guess. Parking lot is packed - must be more showings of the midnight movie than I thought.

11:40 PM: Going in to meet up with Tara and Amanda. 95% of the people milling around (and there are TONS) are girls. Conversely, beginning to feel a little silly in my "I Kissed a Vampire and I Liked It" t-shirt. Not enough irony?

11:41 PM: Found Amanda and her sister. Got tickets. Found Tara. Tara's "Team Jacob Taylor Lautner" shirt makes me feel better.

11:50 PM: In huge line for concessions. Choosing favorite fan shirts out of crowd: "A-Team" (um, OK). Cardboard cutout of Edward sticking up the back of girl's shirt (awkward). Full-on Napoleon Dynamite; hair, glasses, moon boots, "Vote for Pedro" - excellent execution. Ironic eyebrow for timing. Embroidered "Team Alice" - that's one committed guy!

12:00 AM: As far as I can tell, all eight theaters at this end of the complex are showing "Eclipse". If the entire building is full... whoa.

12:10 AM: In seats, front row of middle section. Nice, Amanda! Only a few previews - "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". Harry looks so grown up!

Movie moments (POSSIBLE SPOILERS - SORTA, MAYBE):

- Edward to Bella, re: Jacob - "Doesn't he own a shirt?"

- Jake (shirtless, natch) to Edward - "Face it, I'm hotter than you."

- Bella and Charlie, conversation re: marriage - Bella: "Why didn't you ever get married again? You know, after Mom?" Charlie: "Um, well, I guess I never met the right woman." Me: *raises hand* Tara and Amanda: "Bwahahaaaa!"

- Seriously, I want a "Team Charlie" shirt.

- The tent scene with Jake and Edward talking and Bella pretending to sleep is pretty awesome - and I can totally envision the J/E bromance. They really are cute together. When they're not trying to kill each other. (Lame.)

- Evidently, once Jasper got lines he (or the screenwriter) realized he should have a Southern accent. Listen to it magically arrive!

- Esme gets waaaay fierce and intense in this one. She's super-scary. She's also this film's Jasper, as she has practically no lines.

- This is an incredibly kissy movie. Even I started to feel a little awkward. You could maybe almost get drunk if you chugged something every time somebody kissed somebody else.

- Watch the credits - Seth's (who is adorable, BTW) real name is "Booboo Stewart". No joke.

- I will be owning the soundtrack shortly.

(END POSSIBLE SPOILERS.)

2:35 AM: We waited for an "extra" scene where Jake gets the wedding announcement. Nothing doing.

2:40 AM: Heading to car.

2:55 AM: Still waiting in parking lot in car. Feels longer than the movie. (Honestly, pretty good pacing in this one!)

2:58 AM: I wish I'd brought a book. Always bring a book!

3:05 AM: On my way home. Pretty sure I'll see this one again - maybe marathon the first two to make the third look even better.

Good times, fun show - Riley was HOT, yay for the big fight, boo for the shaky-cam; Taylor's getting better every movie, there were moments when I finally bought R.Pattz as Edward (who knew!) and K.Stew was pretty much the same.

Charlie - he was AWESOME. Could I get a (fake) documentary on the Forks PD, please? Thanks.

Zero Calories

My newest prop specialties are martinis, highballs, red wine, pina colada (made from a loofah, seriously), slices of wedding cake, and Twinkies. All fake.

Not a single dead body, piece of fringe, or random teepee in this show. It's a nice change!

Non-Text Message

... But when, in an effort to contribute to the chat, I sent this: "BTW, you'll never guess where I am right now!" ... I didn't expect him to take it literally.

Conversation = FAIL.

*sigh*

Commencing

Say what you will about theatre people (or don't, we've all heard it before), they really know how to throw an awesome graduation. That's right, I said it - with no other group of people will you willingly spend 2.5 hours in crappy school auditorium seats and consider it time that has amused, delighted, and amazed. Go SLSPA!

I've recorded here my notes from one of the keynote speakers. As this was his fourth year as a student-voted speaker, he promised he would give the same speech as the last three years - since he's also the acting teacher, it still sounded completely different. So, following is his list of "50 Ways to Not Ruin the World, Actually Condensed to Ten Since We Don't Want to Be Here for Two Days."

1 - Love what you do. Love the acting, not being an actor; love the dance, not being a dancer. Focus on the process, not the product. The product happens anyway.

2 - Recognize the value of what we (you) do. (Insert applicable passion/interest) What is the value of dance? What is the value music alone can bring? How would your community be damaged if it were deprived of theatre?

3 - Be dedicated. Work. Find joy in the work; turn wounds into wisdom and move forward.

4 - Recognize your talent. Do not give yourself limits. People will tell you "no" - do not be the first in line.

5 - Be yourself. Be a leader. Always preserve your integrity. Do not pretend to be something you're not. Think for yourself, and then determine whether other people's ideas and philosophies compliment what you know and believe to be true.

6 - Cherish, savor the road. Find the joy in the journey.

7 - Be aware. Be aware of others as artists, and as fellow humans. The world around you is crying out in need - LISTEN. We cannot afford to live our lives without listening.

8 - Never mind. *

9 - Turn off the TV, pick up a book. Read a sonnet. Listen to a symphony. Get up and move; dance.

10 - ACT. Take action. All that you hope to achieve is a result of taking action. Do not just spend your life, spend it DOING something. Go out and betray your age (era) - recognize the ideas and theories that are incorrect, repressive, and unfair; stand against the social commonality to change and right them. Find your profound joy, the world's deep hunger, and the place where they meet. There may you take action.

Thanks, Jared! You're amazing!

* Always sleep in the nude. In a world where people don't get dressed up to go to the theatre, it's pretty silly to get dressed for bed.

Dear A. Dumas: Thanks for the Hair

In which we shall see: convent envy, "Shirley Temple"s, a dance club, sweaty hair (oh, those WIGS), diamonds the size of (very small) chicken eggs, potent quotables, a remarkable memorial service, Cyrano de Bergerac and the Actor's Creed, going (nearly) commando, fantastic FOOD, and one of the lamest, most melodramatic buttons ever seen on a production. Much love.

* * * * * * *

I should've been a nun. In addition to the fairly obvious messages the Universe is sending re: myself and the likelihood of having an actual date with an actual guy (namely, "HA. I DON'T THINK SO"), they just seem to have quite a bit of fun. I like fun.

She's a Super-Ninja Nun! All she needs now are nun-chuks! (HA! Sorry.) Also, they throw great parties:

Trust me, this was even cooler than it looked. Club Nun had a velvet rope, a bouncer (er, the guy in the middle with the wonky eye - awesome, right?!?), a disco ball, red light, fog, and stellar music. In this shot, in fact, the entire club (all 10X20 feet of it) was rocking out to "Thriller" and doing their best zombie impressions. As we are (paid, if not "highly paid") actors, those impressions were pretty darn good.

So, I'm thinking I should go into the nightclub business. As a nun.

* * * * *

In other news, I've just spent the last six weeks not blogging, because I was working as a dresser on the REGIONAL PREMIERE of "Alexandre Dumas' By Way of Disney and Gene Kelly Thanks to Ken Ludwig and Including Snippets of Actual French 'The Three Musketeers' or, How D'artagnan Became a Man With Bad Hair, with Some Help From a Few Supposedly Famous Dudes (But Not Like THAT)" - It was actually called "The Three Musketeers" for short.

Issues with origin and script (and there were/are many) aside, this was a great show. I've had plenty of frustration with casts who: abused their props and costumes, were snippy and catty with each other, constantly attempted to upstage fellow actors, were slitting their wrists by the second week because they so badly wanted out of the show, etc... This show had none of those problems. The rehearsal period was even longer than with a typical show at this particular theatre - the cast started several weeks early in order to really nail down all of the complicated fight choreography. Additionally, during the second week of performances several script/plot/fight cuts and changes were made, which can be really tough on a group who are just getting into their performance swing. These guys, though - they hung on, laughed it off, hugged it out, and at the end of the run were wistfully wishing for more. I don't know that I've ever seen a bunch of actors more concerned with each other's well-being, more supportive and loving, or more respectful of their props and outfits. (Granted, handling full-on swords will teach respect for your tools... yay!) Ironically, no nuns were harmed in the making of this show, even though that was originally important to the plot. (Next time.)

Things I loved:

* dressing-room dance parties, impromptu and planned

* "Pull it together, Dickamore!" (hissed repeatedly onstage)

* Hallway sing-alongs

* clean boy-hair, prior to wigging

* Completely random backstories

* writing off-the-wall messages on prop notes, to make the actors laugh

* The Miss Utah Intermission pageant (featuring knife-juggling, double-joints, and 8-second wig repair)

* Bradford hugs

* Kacey's green room leadership

* John's appropriate (and timely!) eloquence

* gleeful little boys handling swords like grownups

* the World's Best Quick-Change Team

* extra "oomph"

* "Char-ISSSSE!"

* "I want a wench! Bring me a wench!"

* Bollywood music

* Frank conversation

* "KnnowwWLLLES!!!"

* Tom's "Kaleb" hair

* the wigs (except that One)

* making Bradford's family the heart of the show

* the EPIC cast party

* "OoodeLALLY!"

* the memorial service held onstage for Heather Garrison, full of music and love

* beautiful masks and fans

... and really feeling like an important part of the team. So much love, so much friendship - AMAZING.

Now I'm back, with a slew of pictures and memories, and the hope that I can find a way to re-create some portion of that feeling again with a new group of old friends! Onward, to summer shows, packing, student loans, and getting myself fitted for a nun's habit! (Just in case.)

Watch out for falling turtles,

Cyd

Bottlenecking

Why is it that any time two cars are parked on opposite sides of a suburban street, they will be parked directly across from each other?

And why is it that, 7 times out of 10, when driving down that suburban street there will be a car coming in the opposite direction and the passing point between that car and yours will fall immediately between those two parked cars, creating a moment of "Nuts will we both fit? I don't think we'll both fit With the whole street to park along why are there TWO cars right there Doesn't anyone pay attention to these kinds of things when they park? Should I slow down and wait for them Are they waiting for me They're waiting for me/They're not waiting Whoa Watch the mirrors HONESTLY I can't believe we both fit I guess I'm glad I've got a small car Whew."

Seriously.

* * * * *

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