Hello dear friends and family!
I still miss you all so much it hurts.
In other news, Rumors rehearsals have started. It has been a long first week of 8 hour rehearsals, especially since my character has two lines in the last five pages of the show. Needless to say, I haven't gotten up on my feet yet. Even though I haven't been doing anything with my actual role, I have been taking notes and tracking blocking for two of the other actors. We have a really good cast of very talented actors, so it has been fun and interesting to watch them at work all week. I am first and foremost understudying the role of Chris, which has been really helpful. The actress playing Chris is super tiny, really funny, and has a great method of working. It has been quite beneficial to observe an actress of a similar type as myself. She knows how to work honestly with what her best skills are instead of trying to sell herself as someone else: an ability that, while I am usually somewhat comfortable with what I have, I am still working hard to perfect. The other role I am understudying, Cookie, is also pretty fun. The actress is the sweetest woman in the world, and one of the funniest to boot. In general, sitting in on rehearsals, though it makes my butt fall asleep, has been a useful experience. Let's hope I don't mess up my two lines when we come to them this week...
Tomorrow starts the craziness of the acting interns' schedules that apparently won't let up until we leave in June. We start rehearsing for The Imaginators, the other kids' show, at the same time that we are rehearsing and observing Rumors rehearsals. An average day now will be from 10am-11pm give or take, depending on the day. Once we get The Imaginators put together, we start to tech both that show and the Edison show so that they are ready to take out on tour in November. In the middle of all of that, Rumors will be in tech and will open the week of October 25th. And then in the middle of all THAT, rehearsals for It's a Wonderful Life will start. I don't know in what capacity I'll be working on that show, but I'll at least be sitting in on rehearsals every day. Then the basic schedule is touring, rehearsals, working the evening shows if we aren't in them, hanging and focusing lights, and I also start teaching my class in November! I have no idea if I'll survive this. At least I won't have much time to spend money and get fat.
Speaking of getting fat, I need to stop that. I had a huge revelation this week while watching rehearsals. The woman playing Chris is in her mid forties and is in incredible shape. I, at the age of 21, am not in incredible shape. If I want to continue to work in this profession, I need to lose weight and take control of how I care for my body. I am tired of being a seemingly tiny person, but not being able to do the things a tiny person should be able to do. Now, I am well aware that I am not dangerously overweight, nor disgusting to look at, but I want to give my body a break from feeling tired and bogged down. If I want to be like Michelle (this particular actress) then I need to give myself a chance. I am not, and never will be, tall or blonde or outrageously beautiful, so I need to work on what I actually am. I am an attractive, short, funny actress. Being chubby isn't doing me any favors, especially when I know I have lost roles because of it. So this week I've been trying to eat better, but today I have started an actual plan. I did research on recommended calorie intake based on my body's statistics and how much weight I want to lose; I dusted off my yoga mat this morning and found an online pilates workout; and I went to the pool and did a few laps across the length of it. Later tonight I am going to map out my meals for the week so I don't have to worry about counting calories every blessed day, but instead it will be all planned ahead of time. So there we go. Hopefully I will stick to this and change my ways. One of the other acting interns keeps saying, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." He's a tool. Of course there are things that taste that good. I just need not to let them take over my life.
On the social front, things are somewhat better. I decided to go up to our Scenic Charge, Erin, and just ask her to be my friend. Second grade style. Thank goodness she is hilarious enough to handle my bizarre question. She has been a small breath of fresh air in between the people I am forced to see every day. She lives right next door, so we have planned nights to watch certain shows and other things of that nature. Now I can say I have a friend here! Tyler is still pretty fun, but he has his people that he usually spends a lot of time with. Tables have turned within the acting interns, interestingly enough. One of them doesn't seem to be doing even a fraction of the work that the rest of us are, but instead sits on his iPhone all the livelong day during rehearsals when the rest of us are taking notes and watching the actors and learning lines and doing a million other things. The girl who carpools with him seems to be at her limit. He just insists on making fun of people all the time and doesn't seem to be here to work, but instead to socialize and get paid. Not to be rude, but Bob said on the first day, "If you're here for the paycheck, there's the f***ing door." (Edited for the appeasement of my Mom (: ) As I predicted, this girl said the carpooling is getting to be too much, but now she's stuck in it. Why doesn't anyone listen to me? Did I not say this would happen? Ugh. Oh well. I am just trying to stay as far away from the drama as I possibly can. I cannot afford to waste my time here worrying about lazy actors who are mean to their peers. I told her that we have to keep our heads in our scripts and trust that those who matter will see that we are here to work, and others are not. And if it doesn't work out that way... well... life's a bitch.
In response to my last blog post, I still think palm trees are ugly, but I'm trying to spend more time in the sun so I can learn to love the hot Florida days. This transition is still in the works. I still check craigslist almost every day for places to live when I get back. John must be getting really tired of receiving links in his email that say, "LOOK AT THIS PLACE!" Oh well. It's what I've got. ;)
Here's a link to a video of our first Rumors rehearsal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o37DsF0V7uE
Good night and good luck.
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