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.