Today is the first day of tech for All Shook Up. It's only 9:34 as I start writing this post and I've already been reprimanded over 3 times for not having one hundred zillion hands to do everything as soon as rehearsal starts (clearly I'm the ONLY person who needs one effing minute to set up their station....cough sarcasm cough), so I'm gonna start writing about the pat three days right away because at least they didn't suck.
But actually, before my sucky day started, I had decided that I would start today's post with this: There is nothing like riding in the bed of a pick-up truck early in the morning through the mountains of Colorado to make you feel fantastic. If only I was still in the truck and not sitting backstage fuming over douchebag directors. Pardon me.
Anyway, prior to this morning, things were kinda getting better at work. I say that because I wasn't getting scolded and that's pretty much it, but it seems like that's a pretty big deal these days. Sadly the director did EXACTLY what I begged for him not to do and that's add props at the last minute. I said TWO WEEKS AGO that my prop list only had like 6 things on it and I got all of those things, but please let me know if there are more because once tech starts I won't have time to work on them. About 10 minutes into rehearsal, Scott comes up to me and says "Hey Biebs, I'm supposed to have 3 letters?" and I almost cried because lord knows how many more times that's going to happen today. STOP, Lauren, we're being positive in our posts. Huhhh....yeah, everything is freakin hunky dory in the land of work.
Sunday was Gay Pride Day in Chicago and one of my roommates, jokingly, decided to create a Pride Party. She baked a cake that said something along the lines of "Yay Pride, Gays RULE" and invited everyone in the company to come to our cabin on facebook. She did this because she misses all her gay friends back in Chicago but also mostly just for an excuse to bake a cake. I have to say that it turned out to be so terribly incredible an evening. About 15 company members, and Kathleen decided to put about 17 billion birthday candles on the cake (Ronen also baked banana bread which was ever so appropriate for the occasion). Then someone had the idea that instead of just lighting all the candles at the same time that people could light a candle with another candle and everytime they did it they would say something they were proud of regarding the gay community. Some people had personal things like friends coming out or things they did to raise awareness and so forth and some people had general things like religious denominations accepting gays or college groups and so forth. It was so great. Then we sat around and ate cake and banana bread and the gays told stories about coming out to their families. 15 people sitting in our living room drinking and eating cake and talking about gays. After about an hour and a half of that and a number of us getting further intoxicated, about 7 of us took a walk to some benches by the edge of the lake and just stared into the sky. It was beautiful. The silhouette of the mountains looked more like a set piece than an actual landscape. The reflection in the water was breathtaking and all 7 of us saw at least one shooting star.
Yesterday I went to buy more candy for Brigadoon because Jeff said he wanted there to be more color. The candy store actually just gave me a bunch of candies that they thought were to old and hard to sell. They gave me 6 bags. Naturally I kept 3. And it was NOT too hard or old. Awesome.
I got a care package from the folks. Also awesome. I'm not certain I really needed a doodle board, but I'm sure glad to have it along with my new Phillies t-shirt (which perfectly matches the nail polish I DIDN'T put through the laundry that Lisa sent me) among other things. The veggie chips were an interesting addition, but I love 'em.
Still working hard on my astrology endeavors. I still haven't been too in depth with any particular sign, I'm still working on the four elements and the three qualities and planetary rulerships in addition to other classifications. I know it's totally bizarre, but I'm still interested.
That's all I can think of. I'm about to either continue on reading about the stars or start watching LOST. Take care!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Oooooooyyyyy Vey
Well, I did it again. I let another few days go by without posting but you know what? That's probably for the best. Things were not good. They were pretty terrible as a matter of fact. I screwed bigger than I think I ever have before during Thursday's Pirates of Penzance and Friday's Brigadoon was my breaking point where I pretty much cried during the whole show. I will be happy to write in depth accounts of all the incidents that have happened in the past few days at some point but at this point I'm on the up again after Friday's crash and I'd rather not dwell. The Pirates saga is actually pretty humorous when looking at it as an outsider but I'm not yet at the point where I can fully appreciate it so you all have something to look forward to I suppose.
In any case, I'm feeling much better today. A few good things did happen this week. Jesus's mother did cut my hair. She was so funny. When I walked in it was the day after I'd showered and styled my hair curly which means it was a hot mess. She looked at me and said, "Oh honey, don't tell me you just want a trim." She didn't do that much, she cut it a bit shorter in the back than in the front. Since it was curly it was still kinda wild but fashionably so. She parted my bangs opposite how I usually do them and rather than fixing them I've decided that I'm gonna go with the switch. Today I wanted to see what it would look like straight so I started to blow dry it but ran out of time and had to leave the house with my hair damp. Surprisingly it doesn't look dreadful. I have kind of a Farrah Fawcett thing going on. Oh Farrah, and MJ and Gary Pappa and Ed and now Billy Mays(the guy from all those infomercials like agent orange and what not who screams at you)! If I were back in Philly I'd probably be glued to the tv but I feel so removed out here that it's kinda just surreal. I'll probably be much sadder when I get back home and start dwelling.
So here's a bunch of short random things.
Last night was one of the carpenters last evenings here so a bunch of people drove to Granby and got Chinese food together. It was freaking incredible and that says a lot because I'm a pretty harsh judge.
Today begins our hell week. We start loading in All Shook Up but we also have a matinee performance of Pirates. And then changeovers and tech and OY! I'll make sure I update frequently because there's a lot going on.
One of the actors asked if I'd like to be in a "Perfect Push-ups" competition. A "Perfect Push-up" is a push-up but there are these two handles that spin out when you push yourself up and it's super hard to get through even like 10 if you're a NORMAL person. I told him I didn't think I wanted to and he said he was really trying to get everyone including the two directors of the shows this season (both less than athletic men who happen to be partners). I told him that if he could convince both of them then I'd do it. Well ef me because they both said yes and now I'm one of two females in the entire company in this stupid thing. I can't even do a regular push-up. Oy, whatever.
My parents are probably coming to visit and see some shows at the end of July. I think it's funny because they not only told me that they wouldn't be coming to visit but the reiterated it several times before I left. Guess they miss me too much. =)
I'm on the last episode of the 2nd season of LOST.
I've been reading up on astrology. Now please know that I'm not one to believe in ghosts or haunted houses or life after death and such, but I read my birth chart before I came out here and it's freaking weird how many coincidences there are. So I figured I could become one of those pretentious assholes who can say "Oh, you're a Libra? Figures." It's interesting so far but there's a lot of information and it's not very concrete so I'm going to have to read through my book many times. In addition, the book I got is not just about zodiac signs, it's about reading your horoscope so there's a lot of information about planets and so forth that are unique to each person regardless of their zodiac sign and that's what I'm most interested in since most people don't know what house their ascendant sign is in and all that jazz. It's fun to read about to look into my own personal planetary alignment, but I'm really mostly interested in the zodiac signs.
So there you go, that's about all I can think of to post. I'm doing very well for the most part and my frustrations are definitely not bumming me out enough to make this experience a negative one. Hope everyone is doing well!
Also, if anyone wants to send me things (letters and/or packages, a number of people have been asking) here is my address.
Props Mistress Bieberton
404 Vine Street
Grand Lake, CO 80447
In any case, I'm feeling much better today. A few good things did happen this week. Jesus's mother did cut my hair. She was so funny. When I walked in it was the day after I'd showered and styled my hair curly which means it was a hot mess. She looked at me and said, "Oh honey, don't tell me you just want a trim." She didn't do that much, she cut it a bit shorter in the back than in the front. Since it was curly it was still kinda wild but fashionably so. She parted my bangs opposite how I usually do them and rather than fixing them I've decided that I'm gonna go with the switch. Today I wanted to see what it would look like straight so I started to blow dry it but ran out of time and had to leave the house with my hair damp. Surprisingly it doesn't look dreadful. I have kind of a Farrah Fawcett thing going on. Oh Farrah, and MJ and Gary Pappa and Ed and now Billy Mays(the guy from all those infomercials like agent orange and what not who screams at you)! If I were back in Philly I'd probably be glued to the tv but I feel so removed out here that it's kinda just surreal. I'll probably be much sadder when I get back home and start dwelling.
So here's a bunch of short random things.
Last night was one of the carpenters last evenings here so a bunch of people drove to Granby and got Chinese food together. It was freaking incredible and that says a lot because I'm a pretty harsh judge.
Today begins our hell week. We start loading in All Shook Up but we also have a matinee performance of Pirates. And then changeovers and tech and OY! I'll make sure I update frequently because there's a lot going on.
One of the actors asked if I'd like to be in a "Perfect Push-ups" competition. A "Perfect Push-up" is a push-up but there are these two handles that spin out when you push yourself up and it's super hard to get through even like 10 if you're a NORMAL person. I told him I didn't think I wanted to and he said he was really trying to get everyone including the two directors of the shows this season (both less than athletic men who happen to be partners). I told him that if he could convince both of them then I'd do it. Well ef me because they both said yes and now I'm one of two females in the entire company in this stupid thing. I can't even do a regular push-up. Oy, whatever.
My parents are probably coming to visit and see some shows at the end of July. I think it's funny because they not only told me that they wouldn't be coming to visit but the reiterated it several times before I left. Guess they miss me too much. =)
I'm on the last episode of the 2nd season of LOST.
I've been reading up on astrology. Now please know that I'm not one to believe in ghosts or haunted houses or life after death and such, but I read my birth chart before I came out here and it's freaking weird how many coincidences there are. So I figured I could become one of those pretentious assholes who can say "Oh, you're a Libra? Figures." It's interesting so far but there's a lot of information and it's not very concrete so I'm going to have to read through my book many times. In addition, the book I got is not just about zodiac signs, it's about reading your horoscope so there's a lot of information about planets and so forth that are unique to each person regardless of their zodiac sign and that's what I'm most interested in since most people don't know what house their ascendant sign is in and all that jazz. It's fun to read about to look into my own personal planetary alignment, but I'm really mostly interested in the zodiac signs.
So there you go, that's about all I can think of to post. I'm doing very well for the most part and my frustrations are definitely not bumming me out enough to make this experience a negative one. Hope everyone is doing well!
Also, if anyone wants to send me things (letters and/or packages, a number of people have been asking) here is my address.
Props Mistress Bieberton
404 Vine Street
Grand Lake, CO 80447
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Stuffed once again
Bob Scott made dinner for us again and it's getting to be a problem. I can't get my class ring off anymore. Then again, now that we're changing over the set on a daily basis I may start building up some muscle. I'm not sure if I explained this yet or not but the way the season works here, we perform three shows all summer long and never the same show two days in a row. What that means is that after a performance, the entire set of the next show needs to be brought downstairs from the town hall attic, the stage must be disassembled and all of THAT set brought back upstairs and packed away tightly and THEN the new set gets reassembled on the stage. Typically this changeover will happen during the day time, but since the actors are rehearsing for All Shook Up and we're building the sets during the day, the changeover has to happen every night for the next two weeks. Not only that, next week we'll have to be changing the set over at night to All Shook Up so that we can have our tech and dress rehearsals and then have to change the set over again for whichever performance we have that evening. That's two changeovers a day. Did all that make sense? It doesn't matter, the point is that I'm doing a s*** ton of physical labor but I don't mind too terribly. I kinda get off on being able to pass two actresses struggling with a small set piece while carrying a set of stairs of equal or greater weight. =P While we have these crazy changeovers the entire cast is required to help out, but after next week it'll be me, the TD and 8 gentlemen from the cast.
I hear the weather back home sucks. Sorry everyone! The weather here is fantastic! I've been very good to make sure to wear sunscreen even though I'm dying for color, but I def see a difference in my tone from this past weekend when I wasn't working outside. It's a gradual process, but I haven't burned yet! I do have the twelve-year-old freckles already. The summer makes me want to dye my hair with blonde highlights or streaks, but I really need to stop being so self-absorbed and leave my hair alone. I change it every hot second and it's not a fantastic habit. However the costume designer's mother is in town and apparently she offers up free haircuts so I may not be able to resist a trim or something.
Nothing much else to report. Today is the company director's daughters 21st birthday and a bunch of people are going out to celebrate, but I may skip out. I got the cost for the clothes and it's $73. Not a back breaker or whatever it's called, but it may not be a terrible idea to keep my spending at a minimum for a while.
Oh, one more thing is that I finally thought of some new lyrics for a song I started writing before I came out here. Lyrics are def not my forte, but it's a work in process. Cheers!
I hear the weather back home sucks. Sorry everyone! The weather here is fantastic! I've been very good to make sure to wear sunscreen even though I'm dying for color, but I def see a difference in my tone from this past weekend when I wasn't working outside. It's a gradual process, but I haven't burned yet! I do have the twelve-year-old freckles already. The summer makes me want to dye my hair with blonde highlights or streaks, but I really need to stop being so self-absorbed and leave my hair alone. I change it every hot second and it's not a fantastic habit. However the costume designer's mother is in town and apparently she offers up free haircuts so I may not be able to resist a trim or something.
Nothing much else to report. Today is the company director's daughters 21st birthday and a bunch of people are going out to celebrate, but I may skip out. I got the cost for the clothes and it's $73. Not a back breaker or whatever it's called, but it may not be a terrible idea to keep my spending at a minimum for a while.
Oh, one more thing is that I finally thought of some new lyrics for a song I started writing before I came out here. Lyrics are def not my forte, but it's a work in process. Cheers!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Do not fret for me!
Hello everyone. I'm sorry if my last post was a bit morbid and upsetting. I did a fantastic job of freaking out my parents and recieved a concerned letter from my father this afternoon asking if I was alright. I thought I would share with you my response to him because it'll probably put you all at some ease if you are worried too.
They're not gonna fire me, I haven't messed up that bad, it's just little things that I take personally which you absolutely cannot do in theater. I know that from my experience at Temple and I know that it's something I need to work on in general, it's just that no one is holding my hand here like they do at school, so I suppose that all this can be taken as a learning experience for me. It's hard when someone says, "Well, just do your best" and you do your best and it doesn't seem good enough cause then you second guess yourself and say "Well, was that really my best? Either it was and I'm just not cut out for this or it wasn't and I'm not doing my job." But again, that's me taking things WAY too personally and the fact of the matter is for this kind of position I'm not doing too horribly. This isn't my forte, you know? I'm a stage manager and this job is a bit unique in a lot of senses and I'm not doing what I'm best at. But I'm making things happen and there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, it's just very stressful getting everything done on a time crunch like this, but once the shows are up things will change and I think I'll really come into my own. Thank you for caring and I'm sorry if I'm worrying you both, please don't be. I'm working really hard and that's all there is to it, but I knew that things would be like this sometimes when I decided to pursue theater as a profession. I have to toughen up and it's a long process but even me coming out here and accepting this job is a step in the right direction.
They haven't told me how much money the damage is going to be for replacing everything, but I apologized to the musicians and they all said that I shouldn't worry so much, it's just clothes. Elisa, the wardrobe manager, is speaking to me again so that's fine, and as far as the company forgiving me I did a super job making sure everyone was quiet while we changed over the set last night while a town hall meeting was going on and the board members of the town were very impressed so the company is not hating me right now. I don't think the money I owe them is at the top of their priority list right now, but I'll let you know as soon as I get info.
~Laur
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They haven't told me how much money the damage is going to be for replacing everything, but I apologized to the musicians and they all said that I shouldn't worry so much, it's just clothes. Elisa, the wardrobe manager, is speaking to me again so that's fine, and as far as the company forgiving me I did a super job making sure everyone was quiet while we changed over the set last night while a town hall meeting was going on and the board members of the town were very impressed so the company is not hating me right now. I don't think the money I owe them is at the top of their priority list right now, but I'll let you know as soon as I get info.
~Laur
Monday, June 22, 2009
4 days from "Awesome!" to "Kill me, please"
I've realized the importance of updating this thing as frequently as possible because Friday and Saturday were incredible, Sunday was starting to get me down and today was awful. I apologize for not doing a better job of staying on top of things, but I'll do my best to describe each day as it played out.
So Friday we opened Pirates and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Seriously, people were saying it was the best show they've ever done here and that is saying A LOT because pretty much anything this company does is gold. They loved it and Pirates is so much more fun than Brigadoon even though I only do the pirate ship in the beginning and pulling down the portrait of the queen at the end, but it's so nice hearing the response from people. I've also been sitting backstage with the score in my hand and singing along when possible. I'm trying to learn all the voice parts by the end of the summer. I def think it's possible.
The cast party was really pleasant. There was a lot of food and I ate waaaay too much and made myself feel sick. A nice boy did buy me a drink though =P so I felt special. There was a fire after that back at the cabins, but the combination food plus alcohol plus more episodes of LOST pulled me back inside and I slept very well.
The next day, we had off until our show at 7. What did I do with my time off? Well, I woke up at 10
, packed an apple and peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my backpack and climbed a mountain with two of the musicians and an actress. It was delightful, seriously. I'm really proud of myself for doing it cause it wasn't particularly easy. We hiked up a trail that took just under 2 hours. The trail wound back and forth up the mountain and was r
eally steep in a few places. The whole hike up was totally worth it though. Not only were there so many different interesting types of flowers and birds, but the view at the top was incredible. Again, totally worth it. We decided that we would go straight down the mountain and see how much time we saved by going off the trail. That was probably a bit dangerous, but it was SOOOO much fun and I only ended up with a minor cut on my leg. Again, I'm really proud of myself.
When we got back to the cabins, I took a 2 hour nap and then left to do my mopping and sweeping which I'm really enjoying. I think I get as much physical exercise mopping and sweeping as I do riding my bike to school every day. Actually, that's a huge lie. In fact, I REALLY need to get back on this water drinking thing. Kent H, the scenic designer, stocked the mini-fridge with whatever soda we requested, and so I've been drinking soda and not water. In addition to that, I've been eating pretty much all the time. I'm sure I've gained 7 pounds at the very very least. Everyone keeps feeding us though! I'm not used to being hungry in the day, either, but I think I'm starving all the time because I'm working so much every day. I don't think it's evening out though and I really need to start watching it. I'm thinking about trying to start jogging in the morning later in the summer when the shows are all up. Not the worst of habits to pick up, right?
So Sunday wasn't AWFUL, but I was looking at the schedule for the next week or so and was really frustrated all day because one of my good friends from Philly will be in Denver from the 29th to the 2nd and it seems that there's literally NO TIME that I'll be able to see him. We're loading the set of All Shook Up in and rehearsing that and teching that in the day time, then changing over the set, THEN performing Brigadoon and Pirates, and THEN changing the set BACK to All Shook Up for rehearsal the next morning. Joe couldn't possibly come at a worse time in the summer, and he'll be missing my first full day off by like one day. So that was a bummer, but again, yesterday wasn't awful.
Today was AWFUL. It started off pretty decently. I was really excited about getting to work the the carpenters a lot today because the props for All Shook Up are really minimal. So I worked and the morning was great! And then lunch happened and everything turned to shit. I thought things were bad enough when I had trouble locating 2 receipts that needed to be turned in to the shop for props I bought. Then I found out that the reason my acrylic shot glasses never came in is because Crate and Barrel shipped it POSTAL instead of FedEx. While I was on the phone with them, Sally, the company manager, comes into the props loft and says "Biebs, did you leave pink nail polish in your blacks that you asked Elisa to wash?" And that's when my heart dropped into my stomach and everything was sad. All the clothes in the machine (my blacks, Elisa's blacks and the musicians' blacks) are ruined and the machine is hardcore messed up. I feel awful. The company is paying the musicians back for half of their clothes and I'm paying the other half. Honestly, it's not even the money that gets me, it's just that I feel like I've messed YET another thing up. This job is hard and this is not the first mistake I've made. Last week I was reprimanded for yelling places up the stairs to the dressing rooms while a town hall meeting was going on next door. I'm also quite accustomed to the directors being frustrated with not getting exactly what they want, but I'm really trying. I just feel like I'm one step behind where I should be and I'm so not confident in myself at this point. A lot of small things here and there have happened that I usually don't write about here because nothing is disastrous on it's own, but together I seem like a hot mess. I know I'm a great stage manager, but here I feel like a little kid and way overwhelmed sometimes. I shouldn't need the TD and the lighting designer reminding me not to take anything personally when I'm reprimanded for making a mistake, but it just feels like one thing on top of another and I start to second guess my skills. I've heard horror stories about a girl in my position about 2 years ago who they fired and I'm so afraid that I'm not good enough and eventually they're gonna figure out I'm more trouble than I'm worth and send me home. But I'm just gonna try and keep my head up high and work twice as hard this week and give everything my 200% and prove that they didn't make a mistake when they hired me.
Of course, that would require that I get a good nights sleep which may be difficult as I am scared to go home. Elisa is waaay pissed at me from the laundry... =(
So Friday we opened Pirates and it was fan-freaking-tastic. Seriously, people were saying it was the best show they've ever done here and that is saying A LOT because pretty much anything this company does is gold. They loved it and Pirates is so much more fun than Brigadoon even though I only do the pirate ship in the beginning and pulling down the portrait of the queen at the end, but it's so nice hearing the response from people. I've also been sitting backstage with the score in my hand and singing along when possible. I'm trying to learn all the voice parts by the end of the summer. I def think it's possible.
The cast party was really pleasant. There was a lot of food and I ate waaaay too much and made myself feel sick. A nice boy did buy me a drink though =P so I felt special. There was a fire after that back at the cabins, but the combination food plus alcohol plus more episodes of LOST pulled me back inside and I slept very well.
The next day, we had off until our show at 7. What did I do with my time off? Well, I woke up at 10
, packed an apple and peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my backpack and climbed a mountain with two of the musicians and an actress. It was delightful, seriously. I'm really proud of myself for doing it cause it wasn't particularly easy. We hiked up a trail that took just under 2 hours. The trail wound back and forth up the mountain and was r
eally steep in a few places. The whole hike up was totally worth it though. Not only were there so many different interesting types of flowers and birds, but the view at the top was incredible. Again, totally worth it. We decided that we would go straight down the mountain and see how much time we saved by going off the trail. That was probably a bit dangerous, but it was SOOOO much fun and I only ended up with a minor cut on my leg. Again, I'm really proud of myself.
When we got back to the cabins, I took a 2 hour nap and then left to do my mopping and sweeping which I'm really enjoying. I think I get as much physical exercise mopping and sweeping as I do riding my bike to school every day. Actually, that's a huge lie. In fact, I REALLY need to get back on this water drinking thing. Kent H, the scenic designer, stocked the mini-fridge with whatever soda we requested, and so I've been drinking soda and not water. In addition to that, I've been eating pretty much all the time. I'm sure I've gained 7 pounds at the very very least. Everyone keeps feeding us though! I'm not used to being hungry in the day, either, but I think I'm starving all the time because I'm working so much every day. I don't think it's evening out though and I really need to start watching it. I'm thinking about trying to start jogging in the morning later in the summer when the shows are all up. Not the worst of habits to pick up, right?
So Sunday wasn't AWFUL, but I was looking at the schedule for the next week or so and was really frustrated all day because one of my good friends from Philly will be in Denver from the 29th to the 2nd and it seems that there's literally NO TIME that I'll be able to see him. We're loading the set of All Shook Up in and rehearsing that and teching that in the day time, then changing over the set, THEN performing Brigadoon and Pirates, and THEN changing the set BACK to All Shook Up for rehearsal the next morning. Joe couldn't possibly come at a worse time in the summer, and he'll be missing my first full day off by like one day. So that was a bummer, but again, yesterday wasn't awful.
Today was AWFUL. It started off pretty decently. I was really excited about getting to work the the carpenters a lot today because the props for All Shook Up are really minimal. So I worked and the morning was great! And then lunch happened and everything turned to shit. I thought things were bad enough when I had trouble locating 2 receipts that needed to be turned in to the shop for props I bought. Then I found out that the reason my acrylic shot glasses never came in is because Crate and Barrel shipped it POSTAL instead of FedEx. While I was on the phone with them, Sally, the company manager, comes into the props loft and says "Biebs, did you leave pink nail polish in your blacks that you asked Elisa to wash?" And that's when my heart dropped into my stomach and everything was sad. All the clothes in the machine (my blacks, Elisa's blacks and the musicians' blacks) are ruined and the machine is hardcore messed up. I feel awful. The company is paying the musicians back for half of their clothes and I'm paying the other half. Honestly, it's not even the money that gets me, it's just that I feel like I've messed YET another thing up. This job is hard and this is not the first mistake I've made. Last week I was reprimanded for yelling places up the stairs to the dressing rooms while a town hall meeting was going on next door. I'm also quite accustomed to the directors being frustrated with not getting exactly what they want, but I'm really trying. I just feel like I'm one step behind where I should be and I'm so not confident in myself at this point. A lot of small things here and there have happened that I usually don't write about here because nothing is disastrous on it's own, but together I seem like a hot mess. I know I'm a great stage manager, but here I feel like a little kid and way overwhelmed sometimes. I shouldn't need the TD and the lighting designer reminding me not to take anything personally when I'm reprimanded for making a mistake, but it just feels like one thing on top of another and I start to second guess my skills. I've heard horror stories about a girl in my position about 2 years ago who they fired and I'm so afraid that I'm not good enough and eventually they're gonna figure out I'm more trouble than I'm worth and send me home. But I'm just gonna try and keep my head up high and work twice as hard this week and give everything my 200% and prove that they didn't make a mistake when they hired me.
Of course, that would require that I get a good nights sleep which may be difficult as I am scared to go home. Elisa is waaay pissed at me from the laundry... =(
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Ridiculous...ly awesome
So I am having a bizarre day and loving it. It's not even that anything is SO very strange about today, today has just been very different from my others here so far. And it's only 4:20!
The actors were given off this morning until 1:00 PM because Pirates has been going so well. The carpenters worked this morning, but Cat said they didn't really need me and since I only had a few props to fix and what not I decided to take the actors' schedule and make my fixes during the time when they were working out kinks in the show. I slept later than usual because I decided to stay up late and watch the first few episodes of the second season of LOST. When I woke up at 11, I got a call from the guy at the hardware store telling me that he'd gotten something in that I've been trying to get a hold of. So yay!
When I went into work, I made my fixes and then got call from Carol at the office telling me that a package had arrived for Props Mistress Bieberton which is how I started having things shipped to me. I went and got the package. Well, Biebs made a mistake. Biebs was supposed to order 9 fake palm tree fronds for Pirates. Biebs INSTEAD ordered 9 REAL palm tree fronds for Pirates. So ef. I freaked a little bit and then went to tell Michael the news. Needless to say, he was a little less than ecstatic about my pricely mistake, but only because I'd spend the money and not because I'd gotten the wrong thing. Turns out he'd decided to cut the fronds from the show. So now I've got 9 fronds on my hands and Michael tells me to go ask the (mean) lady at the flourist's if there's anything she can do with them. So I walk down the street looking like a total idiot with my 9 palm tree fronds until I get to the flourist who first tells me what a shame it was that I made such a dumb mistake and then tells me she has no use for them. BUT, she says, there's a couple who's getting married tomorrow and they're having a tropical themed wedding which she knows since she did the arrangements for them. Rather than giving them a call on my behalf asking them if they'd like this donation, she tells me she doesn't feel comfortable getting involved or giving me their number. However, she feels comfortable enough to tell me that they live, "somewhere behind the bowling alley in a cabin with lots of steps." So great. I take my stupid fronds and walk once again across town to the bowling alley. I go out back and stand like an idiot for a moment wondering if I should just start hollering," Anyone around here getting married?" when I see this guy pulling into a garage. So I go up and ask him if he knows about any weddings going on and he says, "Oh yeah! My son is getting married!" I explain I'm from the theater company and that we made this mistake and heard they may want some of these fronds, and he invites me up the BILLIONS of stairs to his house which I climb with palm fronds in tow. We walk into his house to find the entire bridal party posing for pictures and he doesn't say anything! So I'm just standing there, a stranger in their house, and I say, "Um, hi. Congradulations, I hear you're getting married. Would you like some fronds?" I thought it was cute, but they all just stared at me so I explained the whole thing over again and finally got some smiles, and the bride accepted the theater's donation of fronds. And everyone was happy and I didn't have to look like a tropical jerk walking through town anymore.
Next, I walked up the biggest hill in ever to the post office to mail out some postcards, and now I'm back in my cabin. Bob Scott, the gay man who cooked for us last week, is currently cooking a Thanksgiving dinner complete with a 26lb turky in the main house for all of us. I'm super stoked. Tonight is our second dress run, and tomorrow we open. That's the story of my weird day.
I made a realization sometime in the past 12 hours or so that I don't hear sirens ever out here. I don't know which is more sad, not hearing sirens (aka missing good old Philly) or realizing that I'm sad about not hearing something indicating that something bad has happened. Weird, right?
The actors were given off this morning until 1:00 PM because Pirates has been going so well. The carpenters worked this morning, but Cat said they didn't really need me and since I only had a few props to fix and what not I decided to take the actors' schedule and make my fixes during the time when they were working out kinks in the show. I slept later than usual because I decided to stay up late and watch the first few episodes of the second season of LOST. When I woke up at 11, I got a call from the guy at the hardware store telling me that he'd gotten something in that I've been trying to get a hold of. So yay!
When I went into work, I made my fixes and then got call from Carol at the office telling me that a package had arrived for Props Mistress Bieberton which is how I started having things shipped to me. I went and got the package. Well, Biebs made a mistake. Biebs was supposed to order 9 fake palm tree fronds for Pirates. Biebs INSTEAD ordered 9 REAL palm tree fronds for Pirates. So ef. I freaked a little bit and then went to tell Michael the news. Needless to say, he was a little less than ecstatic about my pricely mistake, but only because I'd spend the money and not because I'd gotten the wrong thing. Turns out he'd decided to cut the fronds from the show. So now I've got 9 fronds on my hands and Michael tells me to go ask the (mean) lady at the flourist's if there's anything she can do with them. So I walk down the street looking like a total idiot with my 9 palm tree fronds until I get to the flourist who first tells me what a shame it was that I made such a dumb mistake and then tells me she has no use for them. BUT, she says, there's a couple who's getting married tomorrow and they're having a tropical themed wedding which she knows since she did the arrangements for them. Rather than giving them a call on my behalf asking them if they'd like this donation, she tells me she doesn't feel comfortable getting involved or giving me their number. However, she feels comfortable enough to tell me that they live, "somewhere behind the bowling alley in a cabin with lots of steps." So great. I take my stupid fronds and walk once again across town to the bowling alley. I go out back and stand like an idiot for a moment wondering if I should just start hollering," Anyone around here getting married?" when I see this guy pulling into a garage. So I go up and ask him if he knows about any weddings going on and he says, "Oh yeah! My son is getting married!" I explain I'm from the theater company and that we made this mistake and heard they may want some of these fronds, and he invites me up the BILLIONS of stairs to his house which I climb with palm fronds in tow. We walk into his house to find the entire bridal party posing for pictures and he doesn't say anything! So I'm just standing there, a stranger in their house, and I say, "Um, hi. Congradulations, I hear you're getting married. Would you like some fronds?" I thought it was cute, but they all just stared at me so I explained the whole thing over again and finally got some smiles, and the bride accepted the theater's donation of fronds. And everyone was happy and I didn't have to look like a tropical jerk walking through town anymore.
Next, I walked up the biggest hill in ever to the post office to mail out some postcards, and now I'm back in my cabin. Bob Scott, the gay man who cooked for us last week, is currently cooking a Thanksgiving dinner complete with a 26lb turky in the main house for all of us. I'm super stoked. Tonight is our second dress run, and tomorrow we open. That's the story of my weird day.
I made a realization sometime in the past 12 hours or so that I don't hear sirens ever out here. I don't know which is more sad, not hearing sirens (aka missing good old Philly) or realizing that I'm sad about not hearing something indicating that something bad has happened. Weird, right?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Narcissim at it's finest
So I really don't much feel like writing at this moment but I thought it might be fun to share a video of my pursuit to become better at playing guitar so here you go. This is a clip from a song called Paranoia in Bb Major by The Avett Brothers. Enjoy!
Tech tech tech, all day long. Tech tech tech while I sing this song
Yesterday was a LOOOOONG day made longer by the fact that I worked through both my lunch and dinner breaks. Phew!
I woke up at 8 to drop my laundry off at the laundromat. I haven't had any opportunity to do laundry since I got here and, quite frankly, my room was smelling pretty foul. There's a laundromat about one block away from the cabins but I just haven't had time to sit and watch my laundry. This summer they offered up a special on Tuesdays that you can drop your stuff off between 8:30 and 9 and for $1.10 per pound they'll do it all for you including folding! While I know that $23 is a lot of money for laundry, it also means that I don't have to spend my first day off doing laundry so it's totally worth it I think.
Anyway, I spent the morning and afternoon fretting over props we didn't yet have because Michael, the director of Pirates of Penzance, had not really liked anything I'd given him the day before and I was feeling really badly about it. So I made a bunch of phone calls and managed to find a few things that I'd been having difficulty getting a hold of. So yay! Then I started loading the set into the theater with the carpenters. I must say that it's a monster of a set. COUGHITHINKIT'STOTALLYOVERDESIGNEDTHEREISTOOMUCHGOINGONSCENICWISEANDNOTENOUGHSPACEFORTHEACTORSTOTAKEADVANTAGEOFCOUGH There was a lot f painting to be done before it could be loaded in and we also had to clear out Brigadoon so the whole process took a long freakin time. I was really pleased though when, as I was holding a column that was being screwed into place, I hear from the house "Biebs, this is all perfect!" from Michael who had found all the props that I brought over that day. So yay again!
The carpenters took their dinner break at 6:30 but that's also when the actors came back from their dinner, so I had to stay so that I could see the show at least once before we open and I'll be backstage then. It is SO GREAT. For having just one week of rehearsals and having JUST opened another musical I'm astounded. Seriously, it's such a shame it's so far from Pennsylvania because I would make all of you come and see it.
So now I'm sitting in the house and tech is going on. There's no scene changes except for during intermission and the ship battle I'm in happens during the overture so I pretty much have nothing to do for the entire day except sit here and enjoy the view. Which is fine except I've reached the season 1 finale of LOST and even though I know I'll only get to hear the show once it's up and running, I'm really tempted to go somewhere where I get the internet and stream it. In fact, I'm probably gonna do that right now and just watch the show from the house tonight since they don't need me backstage. Yup, I'm on it. Cheers!
I woke up at 8 to drop my laundry off at the laundromat. I haven't had any opportunity to do laundry since I got here and, quite frankly, my room was smelling pretty foul. There's a laundromat about one block away from the cabins but I just haven't had time to sit and watch my laundry. This summer they offered up a special on Tuesdays that you can drop your stuff off between 8:30 and 9 and for $1.10 per pound they'll do it all for you including folding! While I know that $23 is a lot of money for laundry, it also means that I don't have to spend my first day off doing laundry so it's totally worth it I think.
Anyway, I spent the morning and afternoon fretting over props we didn't yet have because Michael, the director of Pirates of Penzance, had not really liked anything I'd given him the day before and I was feeling really badly about it. So I made a bunch of phone calls and managed to find a few things that I'd been having difficulty getting a hold of. So yay! Then I started loading the set into the theater with the carpenters. I must say that it's a monster of a set. COUGHITHINKIT'STOTALLYOVERDESIGNEDTHEREISTOOMUCHGOINGONSCENICWISEANDNOTENOUGHSPACEFORTHEACTORSTOTAKEADVANTAGEOFCOUGH There was a lot f painting to be done before it could be loaded in and we also had to clear out Brigadoon so the whole process took a long freakin time. I was really pleased though when, as I was holding a column that was being screwed into place, I hear from the house "Biebs, this is all perfect!" from Michael who had found all the props that I brought over that day. So yay again!
The carpenters took their dinner break at 6:30 but that's also when the actors came back from their dinner, so I had to stay so that I could see the show at least once before we open and I'll be backstage then. It is SO GREAT. For having just one week of rehearsals and having JUST opened another musical I'm astounded. Seriously, it's such a shame it's so far from Pennsylvania because I would make all of you come and see it.
So now I'm sitting in the house and tech is going on. There's no scene changes except for during intermission and the ship battle I'm in happens during the overture so I pretty much have nothing to do for the entire day except sit here and enjoy the view. Which is fine except I've reached the season 1 finale of LOST and even though I know I'll only get to hear the show once it's up and running, I'm really tempted to go somewhere where I get the internet and stream it. In fact, I'm probably gonna do that right now and just watch the show from the house tonight since they don't need me backstage. Yup, I'm on it. Cheers!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Danke!!!
Okay so pictures are up on biebs.shutterfly.com for those of you who don't have access to them on facebook, so enjoy!
I would like to say thank you so much to all of you who have been keeping up with my experiences here by reading my blog. A number of people have gotten in touch with me to tell me that they are enjoying reading along and I can't tell you how fantastic that feels, so thank you thank you thank you! I will continue to keep you all updated as much as possible this entire summer even after all three shows are open and my life becomes nothing more than sitting around all day and running shows at night. Lucky for you readers, that is a loooooong way off.
Speaking of which, I got some interesting info about Pirates of Penzance today. I don't have to wear a costume...but that hardly means I'm not on stage. Oh no no no. So apparently there is a scene in which two ships, the pirates and...someone else, have a cannon battle. Onstage. Part of the set already has a ship painted on it, but only one ship, so here's how the battle plays out. Lauren Bieber, holding a large piece of wood cut out and painted to look like a pirate ship, crosses onstage hiding behind said pirate ship and literally throws a golf ball painted black across the stage. Seriously, folks. It's like a scene from a romantic-comedy movie where the kid has some stupid role in the school play. That's me. I'm that kid. It's brilliant. Hopefully I can get someone to take some video footage during a dress rehearsal so that you can all appreciate it as much as I'm going to.
In any case, I'm SOOOOO stressed and busy getting everything done and I've actually got a pretty bad cold that I seem to be sharing with Kent, the lighting designer. However, things are getting done and I'm drinking more orange juice than I ever thought I possibly could and I think we'll be in decent shape for tech in two days. It's so incredible to me that tech is in two days. It seems like only a few days ago we opened Brigadoon. Oh wait, it was.
I would like to say thank you so much to all of you who have been keeping up with my experiences here by reading my blog. A number of people have gotten in touch with me to tell me that they are enjoying reading along and I can't tell you how fantastic that feels, so thank you thank you thank you! I will continue to keep you all updated as much as possible this entire summer even after all three shows are open and my life becomes nothing more than sitting around all day and running shows at night. Lucky for you readers, that is a loooooong way off.
Speaking of which, I got some interesting info about Pirates of Penzance today. I don't have to wear a costume...but that hardly means I'm not on stage. Oh no no no. So apparently there is a scene in which two ships, the pirates and...someone else, have a cannon battle. Onstage. Part of the set already has a ship painted on it, but only one ship, so here's how the battle plays out. Lauren Bieber, holding a large piece of wood cut out and painted to look like a pirate ship, crosses onstage hiding behind said pirate ship and literally throws a golf ball painted black across the stage. Seriously, folks. It's like a scene from a romantic-comedy movie where the kid has some stupid role in the school play. That's me. I'm that kid. It's brilliant. Hopefully I can get someone to take some video footage during a dress rehearsal so that you can all appreciate it as much as I'm going to.
In any case, I'm SOOOOO stressed and busy getting everything done and I've actually got a pretty bad cold that I seem to be sharing with Kent, the lighting designer. However, things are getting done and I'm drinking more orange juice than I ever thought I possibly could and I think we'll be in decent shape for tech in two days. It's so incredible to me that tech is in two days. It seems like only a few days ago we opened Brigadoon. Oh wait, it was.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Finally uploaded pictures!
Well friends and family, I have finally gotten around to uploading pictures from the past three weeks. They are all available on facebook and should be up on biebs.shutterfly.com within moments of posting this. I thought I'd share some of my faves from the bunch here but I'm really tired and have a bad cold so I'm going to bed. However, this is the company photo of all the people that I work with.
More to come!
More to come!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
And this is how we open, yo!
Last night was the opening night for Brigadoon and it went spectacularly! I had the chance to get everything I needed to finish done well before the show opened and had a four hour break of time to watch LOST and even take a quick nap before I had to be at the theater. My call time is a half an hour before everyone else because I have to set all the props and mop and sweep the stage. I kinda like being in the theater all by myself actually. I feel sorta like Cinderella because I have to "work" but I can sing to my heart's desire in the empty space and no one can hear me. It's somewhat therapeutic.
One hour before curtain, the actors start arriving to warm up and possibly start their hair and makeup. I'm usually still running around like a crazy person at this point. At half hour till curtain I start giving everyone warnings about how much time is left all the way up until two minutes before curtain when I call places and take my position to start the fog machines going. Yes, I run the fog machines that transport the audience into the magical Scottish town of Brigadoon. I make the show spectacular, pretty much. After that point it's all moving carts on and off stage, paging curtains for running men in kilts and leading the bagpipe player around backstage with a flashlight.
As I said, last night was phenomenal. A number of people even arrived wearing their own kilts. It was adorable. There were no real catastrophes and life was beautiful. After the show, the entire company met in the costume shop for a champaign toast. I had two glasses. Bad call. Next, we were invited to a bar across the street, and as we would come in, the entire room would just burst into applause whether you were a technician or an actor or anything really. I had two glasses of wine at the bar. Bad call. It's kind of incredible what alcohol will do to you at a high altitude. I also got to try elk and boar. I really enjoyed the boar. =)
So after my four drinks, I headed in the direction of the cabins. I'm pretty sure I spoke to a few people on the phone, but I don't remember who. From that point, I got into bed to rest my eyes and promptly fell asleep. I was awoken lord knows how long after that by my roommate and a beautiful gay man telling me that they'd started a fire in the pit and I needed to come outside. SO I pulled on my snuggie and slippers and proceeded outside where I quickly realized that I was not the only one who had underestimated the effects of a high altitude in combination with drinking. Everyone was effing crazy. A little bit too crazy I decided, and about ten minutes later I again pardoned myself and somehow managed to climb into my top bunk without killing myself.
This morning a number of us went to a buffet style breakfast place that cost $11 a person but was SOOOO good so I don't feel too awful about it. There, we exchanged "Do you know what you did last night?" stories and I was happy to say that my infamous "I'm going to bed while the party is still going" move may have saved me some embarrassing stories of my own. Perhaps next time I'll have one less glass of champaign so as to remember the evening better. Good thing I'll have that opportunity in SIX DAYS when we open Pirates. Oh my gosh, I can't believe we open another show in only six days. I feel so not ready, but I'm sure it will pull through.
I do apologize for the lack of pictures. I will be sure to post them as soon as I have a spare moment or maybe even this evening when I get home from the theater. However, here's a little preview of what I look like in my dress with my headset on. =) Love you all!
One hour before curtain, the actors start arriving to warm up and possibly start their hair and makeup. I'm usually still running around like a crazy person at this point. At half hour till curtain I start giving everyone warnings about how much time is left all the way up until two minutes before curtain when I call places and take my position to start the fog machines going. Yes, I run the fog machines that transport the audience into the magical Scottish town of Brigadoon. I make the show spectacular, pretty much. After that point it's all moving carts on and off stage, paging curtains for running men in kilts and leading the bagpipe player around backstage with a flashlight.
As I said, last night was phenomenal. A number of people even arrived wearing their own kilts. It was adorable. There were no real catastrophes and life was beautiful. After the show, the entire company met in the costume shop for a champaign toast. I had two glasses. Bad call. Next, we were invited to a bar across the street, and as we would come in, the entire room would just burst into applause whether you were a technician or an actor or anything really. I had two glasses of wine at the bar. Bad call. It's kind of incredible what alcohol will do to you at a high altitude. I also got to try elk and boar. I really enjoyed the boar. =)
So after my four drinks, I headed in the direction of the cabins. I'm pretty sure I spoke to a few people on the phone, but I don't remember who. From that point, I got into bed to rest my eyes and promptly fell asleep. I was awoken lord knows how long after that by my roommate and a beautiful gay man telling me that they'd started a fire in the pit and I needed to come outside. SO I pulled on my snuggie and slippers and proceeded outside where I quickly realized that I was not the only one who had underestimated the effects of a high altitude in combination with drinking. Everyone was effing crazy. A little bit too crazy I decided, and about ten minutes later I again pardoned myself and somehow managed to climb into my top bunk without killing myself.
This morning a number of us went to a buffet style breakfast place that cost $11 a person but was SOOOO good so I don't feel too awful about it. There, we exchanged "Do you know what you did last night?" stories and I was happy to say that my infamous "I'm going to bed while the party is still going" move may have saved me some embarrassing stories of my own. Perhaps next time I'll have one less glass of champaign so as to remember the evening better. Good thing I'll have that opportunity in SIX DAYS when we open Pirates. Oh my gosh, I can't believe we open another show in only six days. I feel so not ready, but I'm sure it will pull through.
I do apologize for the lack of pictures. I will be sure to post them as soon as I have a spare moment or maybe even this evening when I get home from the theater. However, here's a little preview of what I look like in my dress with my headset on. =) Love you all!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Wait, we're opening already?
Yesterday was a great day! All my work was in preparation for last night's final dress rehearsal which was also a performance for some kids staying at a local hostel. I did some touches up here and there to some props that were falling apart, I FINALLY got ribbon to make the maypole, and I painted a whole bunch of candy in schelac and polyurethane so that it would stay usable for the entire summer. Actually, that part was kind of depressing. I never want to deface such beautiful candy again. Fudge and almond toffee and licorice and caramel and oh man the list goes on. All ruined for the sake of the show. Oh, and peanut brittle.
There is the most fabulous gay man who lives just up the road at the top of a hill. His name is Bob Scott and he is on the board of trustees. Don't get me wrong, every single person in this town is so incredible and has shown us all so much love, but let me tell you that this man invited every single company member to his bedazzled mansion of a cabin filled with glitter and turquoise and cooked us all dinner. Apparently he does this with some frequency throughout the summer. Just picture this man saying "Nayw ahm sawrry, yall, but ah underehstimayted hayw many of you thaired be aynd ah only mayde three pahs but next tahm I'll make five!" It was incredible and dinner was delicious.
Final dress was relatively painless. I few lanterns didn't make it out on stage and I think Elisa and I almost peed ourselves laughing when a broom that was up against something she moved backstage fell over at one of the most silent parts of the show, but I think we're in excellent shape for this evening's opening. Again, I've got a few touch ups to do today but they shouldn't take long. The actors and the musicians have the afternoon off from 12 to 6:30 and I think that the TD was planning on giving the carpenters some time off as well. I may work anyway because I want to be totally set for when we start teching Pirates on Tuesday. I also want to spend some time working with the carpenters because I know they're super stressed about finishing Pirates in time. It's really incredible to me how quickly these shows go up, but I think Brigadoon looks beautiful.
I bought cowboy boots. Yay! They're not the fanciest things ever, but I fit into a kids size and ended up paying a lot less than I originally planned. So yay! Expect pictures soon! Opening night tonight!
There is the most fabulous gay man who lives just up the road at the top of a hill. His name is Bob Scott and he is on the board of trustees. Don't get me wrong, every single person in this town is so incredible and has shown us all so much love, but let me tell you that this man invited every single company member to his bedazzled mansion of a cabin filled with glitter and turquoise and cooked us all dinner. Apparently he does this with some frequency throughout the summer. Just picture this man saying "Nayw ahm sawrry, yall, but ah underehstimayted hayw many of you thaired be aynd ah only mayde three pahs but next tahm I'll make five!" It was incredible and dinner was delicious.
Final dress was relatively painless. I few lanterns didn't make it out on stage and I think Elisa and I almost peed ourselves laughing when a broom that was up against something she moved backstage fell over at one of the most silent parts of the show, but I think we're in excellent shape for this evening's opening. Again, I've got a few touch ups to do today but they shouldn't take long. The actors and the musicians have the afternoon off from 12 to 6:30 and I think that the TD was planning on giving the carpenters some time off as well. I may work anyway because I want to be totally set for when we start teching Pirates on Tuesday. I also want to spend some time working with the carpenters because I know they're super stressed about finishing Pirates in time. It's really incredible to me how quickly these shows go up, but I think Brigadoon looks beautiful.
I bought cowboy boots. Yay! They're not the fanciest things ever, but I fit into a kids size and ended up paying a lot less than I originally planned. So yay! Expect pictures soon! Opening night tonight!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Shopping trip took way longer than I expected. Not only that, the fabric store (which was my number one reason for going into Granby) wasn't even open today so I'm probably gonna have to skip my lunch break AGAIN tomorrow to go buy ribbon for the maypole. That's annoying. However, I managed to find a really fantastic oil can in an antique store that I spent too much money on. I've finally found reason to be excited for all shook up. It's an oil can. I also bought a jug for Brigadoon and went to the market. Three quarters of what I paid was spent on beef jerky and beer. I feel like a dude.
Speaking of which, I slipped and fell getting out of the back of the truck when I was bringing some props over from the shop to the theater and banged up my leg pretty well. I have a zillion bruises all over my body, I look like I'm dating someone who has a habit of pushing me down stairs. Fantastic.
Anyway, two packages came for me today. Now, I've been getting packages pretty frequently because I ordered things for the shows. One of the packages contained a bobby whistle for pirates which was super exciting because now I have a new toy to annoy everyone with. But, says I, what could the other package possible contain? I wasn't expecting any more. Well, friends, let me tell you that I got the most AWESOME care package from the most AWESOME sister someone could ask for. Lisa is fantastic. I now have a fun wooley mammoth pez dispenser, some balloons for making fun animals, a Jonas Brothers lunch box, two colors of nail polish, eyeliner, silly string, silly puddy, a t-shirt to help fight against malaria, and the most adorable purple dress that I am absolutely in love with. Thanks sister!
Dress rehearsal for Brigadoon was a bit hectic, but I'm going to try and refrain from saying too much because I'm fully confident that the show will be fantastic when we open on Friday and that's the most important thing. I will say that I'm a bit sad I don't know how to make my hair prettier. I have a beautiful dress for scene changes, but my hair in comparison with the other ladies makes me look like the town wench or something who lives under a bridge and only comes out to move benches and tree stumps.
FINALLY, after dress, a number of us watched Mommy Dearest tonight in the cabin that seven people live in. I've seen it before, but I think it was better with a group. I'm a little bit arfraid though that we may start something that will end up as a war of who can beat each other hardest with wire hangers.
Speaking of which, I slipped and fell getting out of the back of the truck when I was bringing some props over from the shop to the theater and banged up my leg pretty well. I have a zillion bruises all over my body, I look like I'm dating someone who has a habit of pushing me down stairs. Fantastic.
Anyway, two packages came for me today. Now, I've been getting packages pretty frequently because I ordered things for the shows. One of the packages contained a bobby whistle for pirates which was super exciting because now I have a new toy to annoy everyone with. But, says I, what could the other package possible contain? I wasn't expecting any more. Well, friends, let me tell you that I got the most AWESOME care package from the most AWESOME sister someone could ask for. Lisa is fantastic. I now have a fun wooley mammoth pez dispenser, some balloons for making fun animals, a Jonas Brothers lunch box, two colors of nail polish, eyeliner, silly string, silly puddy, a t-shirt to help fight against malaria, and the most adorable purple dress that I am absolutely in love with. Thanks sister!
Dress rehearsal for Brigadoon was a bit hectic, but I'm going to try and refrain from saying too much because I'm fully confident that the show will be fantastic when we open on Friday and that's the most important thing. I will say that I'm a bit sad I don't know how to make my hair prettier. I have a beautiful dress for scene changes, but my hair in comparison with the other ladies makes me look like the town wench or something who lives under a bridge and only comes out to move benches and tree stumps.
FINALLY, after dress, a number of us watched Mommy Dearest tonight in the cabin that seven people live in. I've seen it before, but I think it was better with a group. I'm a little bit arfraid though that we may start something that will end up as a war of who can beat each other hardest with wire hangers.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Oh my freaking face
Last night I slipped in the shower and face planted into the floor. Specifically, I hit the little step from the rest of the bathroom into the shower. I landed on my nose. I look like Rudolf and my entire head is screaming at me now. I'm trying to view the whole situation as another learning opportunity. Lesson learned: Don't take showers after 14 hour days after midnight.
Yesterday was tech for Brigadoon. It went pretty well actually. It was a little tough sitting there knowing that I had so much left to do propwise, but even props are coming along. We only teched until dinner time, so I had a few hours and a number of cast members who weren't rehearsing Pirates of Penzance helping me after dinner. It was all very stressful but like I said, it's coming along. Tonight and tomorrow are dress runs of Brigadoon and then we open on Friday. And then Pirates opens next Friday.
I'm taking the pick-up truck and driving to Granby again today for another shopping trip. Gotta find jugs and ribbon. I love driving that pick-up truck. It makes me feel rugged. I'm probably gonna have to stop by the grocery store and pick up some beef jerky while I'm at it. =)
Yesterday was tech for Brigadoon. It went pretty well actually. It was a little tough sitting there knowing that I had so much left to do propwise, but even props are coming along. We only teched until dinner time, so I had a few hours and a number of cast members who weren't rehearsing Pirates of Penzance helping me after dinner. It was all very stressful but like I said, it's coming along. Tonight and tomorrow are dress runs of Brigadoon and then we open on Friday. And then Pirates opens next Friday.
I'm taking the pick-up truck and driving to Granby again today for another shopping trip. Gotta find jugs and ribbon. I love driving that pick-up truck. It makes me feel rugged. I'm probably gonna have to stop by the grocery store and pick up some beef jerky while I'm at it. =)
Monday, June 8, 2009
I think those bagpipes blew out my ear drums
Two nights ago we were all invited...well, requested to attend this event held at a dude ranch. Another benifit to raise money for the theater I suppose. We had to dress up nice and all and we had to eat in the staff kitchen while all the guests had dinner in the dining room. Regardless, the food was incredible. I'm really appreciating how much free food we get. Makes me feel less bad about spending $90 on a pair of boots sitting in a store window that I pass every day on my walk to the theater. Oh boots, you will be mine! Before we left, some guy came up to a few of us and asked if we didn't mind singing a few songs for other patrons in a different part of the ranch, so we walked down a hill and sang for a bunch of cowboys. I even sang myself. The actors sang the theme from Brigadoon and then just stood there like, "What should we sing now?" so I saids "Does anyone here listen to jazz music?" and sang Honeysuckle Rose accapellla because I'm awesome like that. Gotta represent the tech team.
The rides back and forth from the ranch were exciting. It was about half an hour away. To the ranch was positively surreal. It was the first REALLY nice day we've had since I've been here, and the mountain's just looked incredible. I didn't even mind that the driver had the country music station turned onto the radio, I was too busy staring out the window to care. On the way home, our driver passed someone who was in front of us which prompted me to ask, "What's the cop situation around here?" and as if with superman hearing the lights went off and we were pulled over. Poor Zach had been followed for speeding for four miles before he was stopped for passing without a signal, failing to conplete the pass within the pass zone and speeding. When we got back home we celebrated is $230 ticket by getting ice cream.
Things are moving along on the prop front. I only have a few more things to find or make or paint and it will all take a considerable amount of time, but that's what they hired me for. I was supposed to make a scotish dagger called a dirk and I asked for one of the carpenter's help. His name is Matt and he's a military man among other things. Well, I was expecting him to just cut it out of wood but I come to him at the end of the evening and he has not one but TWO daggers, beautifully cut out and sanded, to choose from. He's incredible.
I watched a run of Brigadoon last night to get an idea for what I still need to do props wise and also what I will be doing backstage during the show. Seems like I'll actually be onstage moving furniture at some points during the show. Surprisingly, I've never had to go on stage during a scene change in all my theater years. Lucky for me (heh heh) there are only a handful of black outs. Which means I'll be helping change sets during some musical scenes. Which means I get to wear a costume. Haha. Today I'm going to try on some dresses I suppose and we'll see what I can still move in.
Love to all!
The rides back and forth from the ranch were exciting. It was about half an hour away. To the ranch was positively surreal. It was the first REALLY nice day we've had since I've been here, and the mountain's just looked incredible. I didn't even mind that the driver had the country music station turned onto the radio, I was too busy staring out the window to care. On the way home, our driver passed someone who was in front of us which prompted me to ask, "What's the cop situation around here?" and as if with superman hearing the lights went off and we were pulled over. Poor Zach had been followed for speeding for four miles before he was stopped for passing without a signal, failing to conplete the pass within the pass zone and speeding. When we got back home we celebrated is $230 ticket by getting ice cream.
Things are moving along on the prop front. I only have a few more things to find or make or paint and it will all take a considerable amount of time, but that's what they hired me for. I was supposed to make a scotish dagger called a dirk and I asked for one of the carpenter's help. His name is Matt and he's a military man among other things. Well, I was expecting him to just cut it out of wood but I come to him at the end of the evening and he has not one but TWO daggers, beautifully cut out and sanded, to choose from. He's incredible.
I watched a run of Brigadoon last night to get an idea for what I still need to do props wise and also what I will be doing backstage during the show. Seems like I'll actually be onstage moving furniture at some points during the show. Surprisingly, I've never had to go on stage during a scene change in all my theater years. Lucky for me (heh heh) there are only a handful of black outs. Which means I'll be helping change sets during some musical scenes. Which means I get to wear a costume. Haha. Today I'm going to try on some dresses I suppose and we'll see what I can still move in.
Love to all!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Goals for the summer (aside from my actual job)
1) Drink more water
2) Practice guitar a lot and be able to play a decent number of chords
3) Get cowboy boots
2) Practice guitar a lot and be able to play a decent number of chords
3) Get cowboy boots
Friday, June 5, 2009
No rain!
It didn't rain today! A first since I've gotten here. It wasn't even too cold, in all honesty. I wouldn't mind, though, if it started to feel like summer in the near future.
I've been going through multiple ups and downs every day as far as my stress level goes and whether or not I feel like props are in a good place to open in only one week. The tricky thing is that once the actors start doing full runs of the show I have to be there so that I'm prepared to run everything backstage as deck chief. That means if there are any props left at that time to be completed, I won't have the opportunity to work on them. However, I think we're in decent shape. I've still had a few problems finding things here or there like decent oversized shot glasses and plastic bottles that look like glass, but thankfully many of the props that are being BUILT were worked on today and many completed. The actors were really helpful in this sense. I appreciate the opportunity to have a crew working under me who I can teach things. Like today I taught someone how to use a jigsaw!...okay, actually I gave him the jigsaw and watched for a moment and then realized that I had probably explain better how to use it. But he learned and he cut the hell out of those hexegons and everyone was happy!
So yep, alls left to do is buy more ribbon for the maypole, paint the fish and the bacon, cut fabric pieces for the vendors, draw a map of the Scotish Highlands, find a Scotish dagger, cut holes in the lanterns for wiring them to the flicker candles...haha. I've got till Tuesday. I'ma make it happen. And what.
On another note, last night was one of the best nights I've had here so far. I mentioned before that most of my nights thus far have been spent drinking wine with my cabin mates and watching streaming tv shows. Well, last night there was wine. But Cabin 4 was a little less antisocial than usual. First, I had the opportunity to partake in a jam session outside the cabin with some other folks. Two guitars, two banjos and a bongo drum make for an excellent enselmble, for the record. It was a lot of fun and even though we all have a very limited repitoire by ourselves we were able to play through a few songs. After I couldn't feel my fingers anymore I went back inside to find the other half of the company in my living room and eating my Triscuts and straigtening one of the boys hair. And then he was put in a dress and make-up and we all had a blast. While I enjoyed the festivities, I do hope that the majority of my nights here will be along the low key line as I see myself tiring out much more quickly when we do it up party style.
Time to eat dinner and then go back to work. Thanks for readin, all. Much love!
I've been going through multiple ups and downs every day as far as my stress level goes and whether or not I feel like props are in a good place to open in only one week. The tricky thing is that once the actors start doing full runs of the show I have to be there so that I'm prepared to run everything backstage as deck chief. That means if there are any props left at that time to be completed, I won't have the opportunity to work on them. However, I think we're in decent shape. I've still had a few problems finding things here or there like decent oversized shot glasses and plastic bottles that look like glass, but thankfully many of the props that are being BUILT were worked on today and many completed. The actors were really helpful in this sense. I appreciate the opportunity to have a crew working under me who I can teach things. Like today I taught someone how to use a jigsaw!...okay, actually I gave him the jigsaw and watched for a moment and then realized that I had probably explain better how to use it. But he learned and he cut the hell out of those hexegons and everyone was happy!
So yep, alls left to do is buy more ribbon for the maypole, paint the fish and the bacon, cut fabric pieces for the vendors, draw a map of the Scotish Highlands, find a Scotish dagger, cut holes in the lanterns for wiring them to the flicker candles...haha. I've got till Tuesday. I'ma make it happen. And what.
On another note, last night was one of the best nights I've had here so far. I mentioned before that most of my nights thus far have been spent drinking wine with my cabin mates and watching streaming tv shows. Well, last night there was wine. But Cabin 4 was a little less antisocial than usual. First, I had the opportunity to partake in a jam session outside the cabin with some other folks. Two guitars, two banjos and a bongo drum make for an excellent enselmble, for the record. It was a lot of fun and even though we all have a very limited repitoire by ourselves we were able to play through a few songs. After I couldn't feel my fingers anymore I went back inside to find the other half of the company in my living room and eating my Triscuts and straigtening one of the boys hair. And then he was put in a dress and make-up and we all had a blast. While I enjoyed the festivities, I do hope that the majority of my nights here will be along the low key line as I see myself tiring out much more quickly when we do it up party style.
Time to eat dinner and then go back to work. Thanks for readin, all. Much love!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Snuggle up with some hot cocoa, this here's a long one
As promised, here's a large post for you all to read about what I've been up to since I arrived here and what not. I've tried to break it down into sections and hopefully I haven't missed anything.
The Colorado Experience
I arrived here on Saturday the 23rd which was about a week and a half ago. The flight was boring and tired me out considerably since I saved a great deal of packing and moving everything out of my room for the subleter for the night before I left. After a four and a half hour plane ride, I was driven 2 hours out of Denver to Grand Lake, CO where the theater I'm working for is located. This is my first time out west and I have to say it's hard to feel homesick when you wake up every morning and see mountains as beautiful as the ones out here. It's been cold and it rains at least once a day, but I'm handling it very well. Luckily I didn't really have any problems adjusting to the time difference or the altitude. I am trying to drink more water, though, because they say it's a necessity for living so high up in the mountains.
Grand Lake is a cute little town that consists of basically one road with lots of gift stores, a bank, a library, etc. It's freakin adorable. Most of the people here are residents year round but the town really doesn't come alive until the summer time when vacationers come to visit and the theater opens up. The theater is pretty much the heart of the town. The people who live here wait for summer time every year because they love the theater but I'll get more into that later.
I don't have much time to explore the place as much as I want to because I work so much, but later in the summer once the shows are all up and running I will have a bit more free time to go hiking and such. We have about four full days off from now until August 24th when I come home, and I will probably participate in company activities on those days such as horseback riding, white water rafting and mountain climbing. I'm really looking forward to it. I did get a chance to go kayaking in the lake that sits right next to the town a few days ago. I woke up at 6:30 and went out with Cat, the technical director, for an hour before work. It was really fun and I plan on doing it again a few more times.
I live in a cabin with two other girls. The theater company consists of approximately 30 actors, technicians and designers and many of them live in cabins in one area of the town. The cabin has a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom with bunk beds where I stay and a living room that Elisa, the wardrobe manager, sleeps in. It's cozy and is a really fun place when Elisa and Kathleen (my other cabin mate) and I all come home at the end of the day to drink wine and watch episodes of How I Met Your Mother.
Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre
The theater that I work for is a summer stock theater that could be considered semi-professional. They put on three shows in the summer and then one more in the fall but I will be gone by that time. The shows that I'm working on are all musicals; Brigadoon, Pirates of Penzance and All Shook Up. Brigadoon opens on the 12th, Pirates one week after that and then about two weeks after that All Shook Up will open. Opening for All Shook Up is on July 3rd. At that point, all the shows will be completely built and the rest of the summer will just be a matter of running the shows on a three day rotation schedule and changing over the set between shows. Until then, we work from 9AM to 9PM every day of the week. It's a long day, but there's lots to do and so at the very least I don't get bored.
As I mentioned earlier, this town thrives on the theater. There's a whole board of trustees set up that works year round raising money for the theater and making sure that we are all comfortable while we're here. They love us and treat us like celebrities. Every time I go into a store, I'm asked about what I'm doing and where I'm from and if I'm enjoying my time, etc. We have also been treated a few times already to home-cooked dinners, barbecues, and banquets for everyone in the town to come out and meet us. It's so different from my experience working at PSF last summer. It's much more positive and even though I'm working much harder than I did last summer, I'm enjoying myself so much more. I've never seen a community embrace theater as much as this one does.
My jobs here are working as the props manager and the deck captain for all three shows so essentially I have two jobs. Right now I am really only working on props. What this means is that I'm res
ponsible for finding all the props for all three shows and making sure they're ready for a full summer of performances. Some props I've found in storage and some I've had to go out and buy either in the town here or driving in a pick-up truck through the mountains about 17 miles to the next town over which is a bit larger than Grand Lake. Some props have been donated by people in the town who love us and some have just been given to me for free when I tell people that I work for the theater. I've also worked with the carpenters on some of the set pieces and larger prop pieces. My biggest accomplishment thus far has been building two carts for Brigadoon. I worked three hard days on cutting out all the pieces and then handed the project over to actors once I started working harder on finding all the props for the shows.
The company is made up of about 16 actors, a handful of musicians, myself, a technical director who manages the set construction, three carpenters who are all students at a nearby college who will leave once all three shows are running, Elisa (my cabin mate and the wardrobe manager) and another costume construction person, and then a production team of designers and management people. There's also some sort of youth program that will be starting up later in the summer but I don't have any real duties in that department. Because we are on such a tight schedule and have so much to do, the actors are required to help out in all departments when they're not in rehearsals. It's so much fun. It's kinda weird but really nice when two actors will come up to me and say "Biebs, I'm here to help! What do you need me to do?"
Throughout the summer, the company will hold events such as cabarets and auctions to raise money for a project they're working on to build a new theater. I'm hoping to be able to participate in these. I'd like to get some opportunities to sing some jazz standards. It should be a blast and I'll keep you all updated as things come up.
My (Limited) Down Time
As mentioned, we work 12 hour days. We get an hour off for lunch and an hour and a half for dinner. Usually I go back to my cabin during these times. I spend my time at lunch messing around on the guitar mostly. I'm trying to work on my skills so that I can build my repertoire up from just being able to play Leaving on a Jet Plane and Wherever You Go There's Always Someone Jewish. At dinner, I eat and again mess around on the guitar or just shoot the breeze with my cabin mates or other company members. Luckily we have internet set up in the cabins so I also get a chance to check up on everyone's facebook dealios and sometimes chat with people on the phone or on Skype. I think Skype is the greatest thing ever and if you don't have it, get it. And add me to your contacts. Search for Lauren Bieber or my screen name which is HyperHead1.
Other Things
I really want to buy a pair of cowboy boots in the near future. I can't come back to Philly without a pair. They're pretty pricey, but perhaps on one of my outings to a thrift store for props I'll be able to find a cheap pair. I ate beef jerky for the first time and loved it. I haven't had a chance to take as many pictures as I'd like, but there will definitely be plenty of time for that once the work load lets up. I miss everyone a lot but I know that many of my friends are out working across the country or doing fun things in Philadelphia. I know that some of t
hem are doing BORING things in Philadelphia and they should definitely give me a call or Skype me! I wish I had brought my green sneakers along with me, but my Converses are finally getting the full wear that they deserve and hopefully they'll make it through the entire summer. My snuggie has proven to be the greatest thing ever and I'm so happy that I remembered to pack it. I plan on bringing it with me when I go mountain climbing so that I can take some epic photos. In my first two days here I saw a total of four moose and haven't seen any since. I did see about a zillion elk the other day driving back to the shop from someone's house who made tacos for all the carpenters and me. They're a bit more startling than deer. No bears yet, but I hear they like to hang out by the dumpster in the cabin area later on in the summer.
Alright, so that's about our show for now. I've left a lot of stuff out but I think that's all the writing I can handle at this time and probably all the reading you can sit through in one go. I'd love to go into more detail about all the people that I work with and the specifics of what I do on a day to day basis but I'm sure within the next few days I'll be on here writing away a storm. I hope you all appreciate the posts and will continue to follow my experience. If there's anything you'd like to hear about leave me a comment or text me or email me. I love and miss you all!
The Colorado Experience
I arrived here on Saturday the 23rd which was about a week and a half ago. The flight was boring and tired me out considerably since I saved a great deal of packing and moving everything out of my room for the subleter for the night before I left. After a four and a half hour plane ride, I was driven 2 hours out of Denver to Grand Lake, CO where the theater I'm working for is located. This is my first time out west and I have to say it's hard to feel homesick when you wake up every morning and see mountains as beautiful as the ones out here. It's been cold and it rains at least once a day, but I'm handling it very well. Luckily I didn't really have any problems adjusting to the time difference or the altitude. I am trying to drink more water, though, because they say it's a necessity for living so high up in the mountains.
Grand Lake is a cute little town that consists of basically one road with lots of gift stores, a bank, a library, etc. It's freakin adorable. Most of the people here are residents year round but the town really doesn't come alive until the summer time when vacationers come to visit and the theater opens up. The theater is pretty much the heart of the town. The people who live here wait for summer time every year because they love the theater but I'll get more into that later.I don't have much time to explore the place as much as I want to because I work so much, but later in the summer once the shows are all up and running I will have a bit more free time to go hiking and such. We have about four full days off from now until August 24th when I come home, and I will probably participate in company activities on those days such as horseback riding, white water rafting and mountain climbing. I'm really looking forward to it. I did get a chance to go kayaking in the lake that sits right next to the town a few days ago. I woke up at 6:30 and went out with Cat, the technical director, for an hour before work. It was really fun and I plan on doing it again a few more times.
I live in a cabin with two other girls. The theater company consists of approximately 30 actors, technicians and designers and many of them live in cabins in one area of the town. The cabin has a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom with bunk beds where I stay and a living room that Elisa, the wardrobe manager, sleeps in. It's cozy and is a really fun place when Elisa and Kathleen (my other cabin mate) and I all come home at the end of the day to drink wine and watch episodes of How I Met Your Mother.Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre
The theater that I work for is a summer stock theater that could be considered semi-professional. They put on three shows in the summer and then one more in the fall but I will be gone by that time. The shows that I'm working on are all musicals; Brigadoon, Pirates of Penzance and All Shook Up. Brigadoon opens on the 12th, Pirates one week after that and then about two weeks after that All Shook Up will open. Opening for All Shook Up is on July 3rd. At that point, all the shows will be completely built and the rest of the summer will just be a matter of running the shows on a three day rotation schedule and changing over the set between shows. Until then, we work from 9AM to 9PM every day of the week. It's a long day, but there's lots to do and so at the very least I don't get bored.
As I mentioned earlier, this town thrives on the theater. There's a whole board of trustees set up that works year round raising money for the theater and making sure that we are all comfortable while we're here. They love us and treat us like celebrities. Every time I go into a store, I'm asked about what I'm doing and where I'm from and if I'm enjoying my time, etc. We have also been treated a few times already to home-cooked dinners, barbecues, and banquets for everyone in the town to come out and meet us. It's so different from my experience working at PSF last summer. It's much more positive and even though I'm working much harder than I did last summer, I'm enjoying myself so much more. I've never seen a community embrace theater as much as this one does.
My jobs here are working as the props manager and the deck captain for all three shows so essentially I have two jobs. Right now I am really only working on props. What this means is that I'm res
ponsible for finding all the props for all three shows and making sure they're ready for a full summer of performances. Some props I've found in storage and some I've had to go out and buy either in the town here or driving in a pick-up truck through the mountains about 17 miles to the next town over which is a bit larger than Grand Lake. Some props have been donated by people in the town who love us and some have just been given to me for free when I tell people that I work for the theater. I've also worked with the carpenters on some of the set pieces and larger prop pieces. My biggest accomplishment thus far has been building two carts for Brigadoon. I worked three hard days on cutting out all the pieces and then handed the project over to actors once I started working harder on finding all the props for the shows.The company is made up of about 16 actors, a handful of musicians, myself, a technical director who manages the set construction, three carpenters who are all students at a nearby college who will leave once all three shows are running, Elisa (my cabin mate and the wardrobe manager) and another costume construction person, and then a production team of designers and management people. There's also some sort of youth program that will be starting up later in the summer but I don't have any real duties in that department. Because we are on such a tight schedule and have so much to do, the actors are required to help out in all departments when they're not in rehearsals. It's so much fun. It's kinda weird but really nice when two actors will come up to me and say "Biebs, I'm here to help! What do you need me to do?"
Throughout the summer, the company will hold events such as cabarets and auctions to raise money for a project they're working on to build a new theater. I'm hoping to be able to participate in these. I'd like to get some opportunities to sing some jazz standards. It should be a blast and I'll keep you all updated as things come up.
My (Limited) Down Time
As mentioned, we work 12 hour days. We get an hour off for lunch and an hour and a half for dinner. Usually I go back to my cabin during these times. I spend my time at lunch messing around on the guitar mostly. I'm trying to work on my skills so that I can build my repertoire up from just being able to play Leaving on a Jet Plane and Wherever You Go There's Always Someone Jewish. At dinner, I eat and again mess around on the guitar or just shoot the breeze with my cabin mates or other company members. Luckily we have internet set up in the cabins so I also get a chance to check up on everyone's facebook dealios and sometimes chat with people on the phone or on Skype. I think Skype is the greatest thing ever and if you don't have it, get it. And add me to your contacts. Search for Lauren Bieber or my screen name which is HyperHead1.
Other Things
I really want to buy a pair of cowboy boots in the near future. I can't come back to Philly without a pair. They're pretty pricey, but perhaps on one of my outings to a thrift store for props I'll be able to find a cheap pair. I ate beef jerky for the first time and loved it. I haven't had a chance to take as many pictures as I'd like, but there will definitely be plenty of time for that once the work load lets up. I miss everyone a lot but I know that many of my friends are out working across the country or doing fun things in Philadelphia. I know that some of t
hem are doing BORING things in Philadelphia and they should definitely give me a call or Skype me! I wish I had brought my green sneakers along with me, but my Converses are finally getting the full wear that they deserve and hopefully they'll make it through the entire summer. My snuggie has proven to be the greatest thing ever and I'm so happy that I remembered to pack it. I plan on bringing it with me when I go mountain climbing so that I can take some epic photos. In my first two days here I saw a total of four moose and haven't seen any since. I did see about a zillion elk the other day driving back to the shop from someone's house who made tacos for all the carpenters and me. They're a bit more startling than deer. No bears yet, but I hear they like to hang out by the dumpster in the cabin area later on in the summer.Alright, so that's about our show for now. I've left a lot of stuff out but I think that's all the writing I can handle at this time and probably all the reading you can sit through in one go. I'd love to go into more detail about all the people that I work with and the specifics of what I do on a day to day basis but I'm sure within the next few days I'll be on here writing away a storm. I hope you all appreciate the posts and will continue to follow my experience. If there's anything you'd like to hear about leave me a comment or text me or email me. I love and miss you all!
For the record
I think this blog site is the most difficult thing I've tried to do with a computer in a long time.
Check this, yo.
Hello, all! I mades me a blog site. I'm pretty awful at these things, but I figured it might be nice to have some sort of place to update you all on my daily activities at least for the time being. I'm in beautiful (albeit chilly) Colorado workin in the mountains with the Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre. I am their props manager and deck captain. I will happily write a lengthy post late late late this evening when I get finished work to give you the whole scoop since I've already been here for over almost 2 weeks, but I am actually supposed to be working right now so you'll have to check back tomorrow. In the meantime, go ahead and make this your homepage since I know you will all be on the edge of your computer seats waiting for me to update every second of the day. Cheers!
PS - I'm in Mountain Standard Time which is two hours behind Philadelphia time. I don't know why I wanted to tell you all that, I guess I just think it's pretty trippy.
PS - I'm in Mountain Standard Time which is two hours behind Philadelphia time. I don't know why I wanted to tell you all that, I guess I just think it's pretty trippy.
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