And it all begins...

Monday started my first "official" day at the theatre.  We've been rehearsing... but I guess that wasn't real.  We started the morning off with a company meeting.  That was something else.  Each department head got up and gave their shpeal(sp?), just like what happens at all company meetings.  Everyone seemed very nice and all of that.  Then the artistic director got up and talked for over an hour, making the meeting run 45 minutes late. Bob is very nice, and super passionate, but a little intense.  For those Pitt people reading, he is like if Stephen and Holly had a baby, but it was raised by Lisa.  I'm not sure how that makes sense, but somehow it is a perfect description.  In any case, I think we will get along fine.

His wife and he run the theatre.  Actually, it turns out that they are both very good friends with Holly and Larry John Meyers, so we had a lot to talk about there.  They had lived in Pittsburgh for a little while before they moved to Sanibel to start a theatre company.  They also know Ken Bolden, so we talked about him for a good long time.  I'm hoping this connection will improve my chances of getting good roles.... but probably not.

Speaking of roles, auditions also happened on Monday.  They went surprisingly well, in fact.  I was not expecting them to, but I don't think I sucked.  I did my two audition monologues for the room, which went over well, and then I read sides from three of their plays.  I read the two lines for the cop in Rumors.  So there was that.  Then I read for Mary in It's a Wonderful Life.  I thought I was totally going to stink up the room with that one, but it wasn't bad.  Bob seemed to like it.  Then I read for Black Tie.  I hope he can look past the fact that I don't look like a white anglo-saxon protestant who runs 5Ks in her spare time, because I read pretty well for it.  But now I have no control over any of it:  now I wait.   We should hear about Rumors soon, as rehearsals start next week;  It's a Wonderful Life may not be until mid October; and we could be waiting on Black Tie until February, as it doesn't go up until April.   *sigh*

In the meantime, I've just been rehearsing Thomas Edison: Fire of Genius.  It's kinda exhausting.  I'm doing all right keeping all my different characters straight, but there is just so much that goes along with it that is driving me crazy.  We are supposed to have a designer run-through on Sunday, so hopefully by then I'll have my stuff together for the company to see it...

The acting interns are still a bit of a roadblock for me.  I think they don't like me because I don't carpool in with them every morning, which is super ridiculous, but it seems to be the case.  I get the feeling that this is like another freshman year of college for them, but I would like to be an employee of this company rather than one of the fantastic four.  They are all nice enough, I just don't want to spend every moment with them, especially when we are together from 11-7 every single blessed day.  But the three of them are inseparable... and then there's me.  This is fine with me, of course, since it will open up opportunities for me to meet everyone in the company, not just the people I rehearse with all the time.  Furthermore, the commute to and from the theatre is the only time I'm actually by myself, and it's my favorite part of the day. So there.  : )  

I met some of the other interns and staff at the BBQ, and a lot of them seem really nice.  There is a scenic painter intern named Mandolyn who is pretty cool, and the quiet little administration intern named Scott is very sweet.  I also started to get along with our Associate Director and our Business Manager very well, so hopefully I'll be able to see them more once mainstage productions start.

I'm sorry this was a long one today!  I miss all of you more than you could ever know, and I think about you all daily.  Hope all is well back in the Burgh.  

word to yo mutha. 

One Week Down

Today marks exactly one week in Florida.  It has felt like much longer, unfortunately.  Hopefully once the season gets going and I have more to do, the next 35 weeks will fly by.  (Yes, I counted them.)  I'm starting to panic a little about being here.  Partially because I'm worried that I will not be able to take advantage of as many opportunities down here as I thought I would; partially because I feel like I am missing out on opportunities in the Burgh; and partially because I'm a wimp.  I know these reasons are my own neuroses, but there they are.  So for  my good friends that are about to pounce on those comments to set me straight, I totally know what you will say, and you are completely right.  I just need to work it out in my brain.

Today there is a company BBQ in Cape Coral, so I'm hoping that will be a positive event.  The other acting interns want to carpool all the livelong day to every blessed thing, but I'm not sure it's wise to spend all our time together when we've still got another 8 months ahead of us.  I'm going to fly solo on this one.  We'll see how it goes.  I ain't mad at some BBQ.

Tomorrow we have mainstage auditions. (They were postponed from Saturday).  This is where my neuroses come in.  If the costume lady is correct in saying that I am in Rumors as a cop for two pages, I most likely can be counted out for It's a Wonderful Life (which has real roles available) which would be rehearsing while Rumors is in performance.  My only other opportunity for a good role would be in Black Tie which requires a "wasp-y" girl who is super fit and likes to go on long runs.....  so I have that goin' for me.  Yikes.   But I suppose it is what it is.  I'm going to try like hell to be in Black Tie despite the fact that I am aesthetically opposite of what the script requires.   I guess I'll report back on this at a later date.

In the meantime, I feel like my roommate Tyler and I are getting along swimmingly and could be friends. He seems to be the social cornerstone of the company, so people are often in and out of our apartment.  Hopefully I can befriend some people outside of the internship at least by default.  : )

Also, John and I have started planning visits and things, so I have been unbelievably excited about that.  I cannot wait until the first one.  If I know the next 35 weeks will be split up by sporadic visits, I might just make it out of here alive.  ;)

I apologize for the dismal tone of this post.  It's a weird morning.

Avolio:  Out.

My thoughts on the Sunshine State

I knew going into this move that Florida would be vastly different from Pittsburgh in every way.  I did.  What I didn't realize, however, is that I would kinda dislike the state of Florida.  This statement is excluding my actual job; I mean the actual environment of the state.  I have NEVER seen so many strip malls, shopping centers, drug stores, fast food places, etc. in one place in my life.  I'm not sure there are many places here that aren't associated to a giant, obnoxious chain or enterprise.  And of course to get to strip malls, there are giant four lane highways between each of them... all with a maximum of only 15 visible cars on them at a time.  Where are all the people that need so many Subway restaurants or Supercuts salons?  And can't they drive 5 more minutes to the one down the road instead of putting one at every intersection?  Alas, I suppose not.  I miss being able to walk to cool places and ignore the annoying ones.

It's hot here... so....

Moving on.  Dave Bisaha was right when he warned me about the bugs.  There are bugs here called love bugs that are EVERYWHERE!  They apparently just mate all the livelong day and eventually just attach completely and fly around looking like a two-headed firefly.  It's upsetting.

Also... a frog jumped on my head.  Yes. I was pumping gas, and a tiny little tree frog jumped onto my head then onto the gas pump.  I almost booked a flight home at that very moment.  Theo thought maybe it was a sign of good luck.  It wasn't good luck in the Bible.

In Other News:
Today we started rehearsals for Thomas Edison:  Fire of Genius.  Yes, that is truly the title.  It's a fun little play, but it's certainly a thing.  For those of you who saw the Farnsworth Invention out at Little Lake... It's basically the same play, but about Thomas Edison and for kids.  And not by Aaron Sorkin.     I play Edison's Mom, Edison's second wife Mina, an Italian stereotype named Giuseppe, a Swiss clockmaker, and a fast-talking newspaper editor.  And others.  Should be intensely stressful, but fun nonetheless.

I have auditions for the mainstage season on Saturday, so hopefully something comes of that.  The costume lady accidentally let it slip that I'll probably be playing the cop in Rumors, so there's that.  Hopefully she isn't wrong.

If you made it to the bottom of this annoying and whiny post:
A) I'm amazed.
B) You must be intensely bored.
C) I love you dearly.

More to come soon.  Cheers.

Julianne

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone!

So I've arrived in Fort Myers, Florida, to begin my work as an acting intern at the Florida Repertory Theatre.  This past Saturday, John and I started our drive to DC where I put my car on the auto-train.  (THAT was a thing, but I'll get to that later.)  I felt bad that John had to deal with my outrageous emotional outbursts and fits of sobs, but he took it like a champ.  I was glad to have him there with me, though he was certainly the hardest person to say goodbye to.

So... the train.  So many people said, "Julianne, the train will be so fun and relaxing and picturesque."  These people lied!  The train wasn't horrible, but it was certainly cold, extremely bumpy, and loud. (I sat by the doors that lead between cars... lots of slamming.)  At dinner I sat with two ladies who were on their way to Ft. Myers from Staten Island.  They were thrilled to hear that I knew things about Staten Island after our trip there this summer.

After arriving in Stanford, FL, and driving to Fort Myers, I moved into my apartment, took a shower, and promptly started to cry.  I really miss Pittsburgh.  And that's all I've got to say about that.

I started work today, reading sides for the young audience plays that we are doing:  Thomas Edison: Fire of Genius and The Imaginators.  We start rehearsals for that tomorrow and after that, it's busytown until I leave in June.

I get along best with a lot of the staff.  I live with the Development Associate and have met some carpenters and managers that are quite nice and have great senses of humor.  Hopefully I will continue to see and hang out with them.  The rest of the theatre staff and directors get in next week, so I will have a better idea of the company dynamic then.

Until then, texts are more than welcome.  I'm not sure I could get enough Pittsburgh down here.  I'll blog tomorrow about Florida in general.  It's certainly a place.