RONEN IS GONE!!!!

I'm starting this post at 2:31 AM MST. A zillion amazing things have happened in the past 3 days and I would wait until I'm bored at the airport to write about them all, but I just said goodbye to Ronen and so the idea of starting to clean the bathroom now or attempt to go to sleep would just be stupid because I'm too sentimental. So here I am writing my blog on the bathroom floor so the light doesn't bother anyone else. Let's just jump right in where we left off, shall we?

Chapter 8 - The Jazz
As I mentioned earlier in the summer, I was asked to be involved in one of the items auctioned off after the cabaret. This item was to have live jazz at an event and I was one of four singers along with 3 band members. The winning bid was $13,000 and the people who won were actually a group of people, mostly members of the board, who had a party solely to have us perform. Now, I've mentioned before that the people who live in Grand Lake are pretty well off, but I really really need to mention it again because, honestly, this kind of lifestyle is incredible and The Jazz performance really brought to my attention how freakin lucky I've been this summer to be treated the way I have. SOOO MANY open bars and full meals and parties on the lake with boat rides and the works all amounted to this day. It was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY we have had this entire summer. It was 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We were in someones backyard who had a private boat dock where the technical equipment was set up. Behind us were boats in the lake and there was food for us and wine and ALL the important people in town who have come to be like our own parents and grand-parents were there. Well let me tell you that I was NERVOUS! I mean, we only rehearsed our songs one time and it's not like I perform all the time these days. It's kind of rare for me to perform now and this was a pretty big deal gig. And you know what? I rocked. I'm sorry, but I sounded damn great up there. I first got to the mic and gave my little intro which was something to the effect of, "I actually didn't come here to sweep or mop any floors or run any fog machines or call the actors to places, I came here to sing so thank you so much for having me on this lovely day!" My first song was The Way You Look Tonight which I sang as a ballad in a REAL low key and pretty slow, but I worked the hell out of it and had a lot of fun. My second song was East of the Sun and West of the Moon which was also a lot of fun. After we had all performed we had the opportunity to mill about with all the guests and it was so great hearing the compliments from people. One woman was even in tears saying how fantastic it was that I am so multi-talented and it's touching that someone with such talent in performing could work backstage just to make theater happen. I was very humbled and really it was just such a NICE event for the last few days here.

Chapter 9 - Closing Pirates
There's really very very little to say here. I really didn't ever do anything for pirates except carry a wooden pirate ship across the stage and throw balls of black tape at someone. But Pirates was my favorite of the three shows because the talent in this cast is incredible and they sang it so well. I'll miss having such a relaxed job on a show.

Chapter 10 - The Great Scavenger Hunt of '09
So after Pirates we had a scavenger hunt. Let me tell you, I don't think I have consumed that many different types of hard liquor in one night in my entire life. A lot of the things on the list were things to be done in bars or involving alcohol. I'm actually going to keep most of the details of what went on that night to myself, but I will say that I had a great time and it MAY have involved skinny dipping in Grand Lake. =P

Chapter 11 - Closing All Shook Up...what a night!!!
I've mentioned a few times, I think, that we have been raising money all summer to build a new theater. I really downplayed that fact in this blog because the Raise the Curtain campaign was kind of a huge freaking deal all summer long. Everything we did was to raise $4 million for the first phase of the building project. Phase 1 includes the actual building of the new theater and all summer they've been showing blue-prints and what not promising huge and incredible things if we could just raise the money. This entire summer I've felt kind of like we were being whored out to raise money for them. However, during the curtain speech for our final performance of our last show, it was announced that we had raised the money. I cried. It was so beautiful how...gosh, I'm having trouble finding words for it even now because I'm getting choked up! It's just so incredible that this town and this community and these people care about this theater thing so much. It's not like this anywhere and I just feel so so blessed to have been able to not only bear witness to such generosity and commitment but to have also made a direct impact on it. WE were the season that raised $4 million! That's...oh, it's just so much and as many rough times as I had working for these people, I'm so proud to have been a part of this company this year. I don't regret my decision to come out here in the slightest.

There had been a rumor going around that Tim Allen was coming to the final show. A rumor, mind you, but it seemed plausible because Grand Lake is such an expensive place to live and it is true that Tim Allen owns a house around here. So I guess I shouldn't have been that surprised when everybody came backstage after the first number FREAKING OUT because they really did see him in the audience. I was kind of bummed, though, because I'd forgotten to put my contacts in that evening so I couldn't really see him at all through the small crack in the curtains that hide the backstage. I figured at the time, "Whatever, it's cool he's here and I know what he looks like."

The show was great. I cried at the end of the first act when they all sang I Can't Help Falling in Love with You because it was, in my opinion, the best song of the summer and so moving. Cat and I had a pretty radical dance party at the end of the show backstage. And after the bows were finished and the cast had gone outside to get their congratulations from everyone, I slipped out to just in front of the curtain where the side entrance is so I could watch the band play one last time. Next thing I know, Tim Allen is standing right in front of me because he was sneaking out before the hustle and bustle. He touches me on the shoulder and says "Tell everybody I had a really great time this evening." And that's how I met Tim Allen!

Okay, but for real it's 3AM and I have to clean the bathroom for a 7:30 AM checkout. More to come from the airport!