what you need

With a show as physical as this one, in a climate this hot, YK and I have taken to measuring the length of trips not in [days] but in [units of dry underpants].

I love a parade

Welcome to the Fringe!  Roller Derby Girls, parade staging, headless moppets, vain lilies, giant astronauts, new tattoos.  Play hard and go home tired!

Barossa scouting, day #2

Scouting locations.

Trooping up to Richmond Grove.

Pavilion at Langmeil.

Langmeil shiraz.

future yesterday comes too soon

Craig Ferguson got married.

And David Letterman resolves to stop eating roadkill in 2009.

I know because I've been up until 1am (or, um, later...) every night this week painting "newsprint" and sewing pinafores for this amazing little show. The newsprint fabric is going to be made into high-fashion accessories for teeny tiny people. The pinafores are going to have ruffles. It will all be marvelous.

It's pretty fun, although I have begun to dread the 12:40am knell of that fucking monkey puppet.

Please to note: the enormous expanse of hand-lettering was dashed off in, like, an hour by the amazing CCS -- I'm just filling it in. I only dropped the brush and stupidly splattered paint once! (I blame the monkey, not the whiskey.)

You're what?

I showed up for my first day of blocking rehearsals for my upcoming show -- one week after the first full-cast read-through -- and one of the other actors is already off-book. Dude, way to throw down the gauntlet!

my other new favorite thing

The inimitable RKatz offhandedly asked if I listened to the American Theatre Wing's "Downstage Center" podcasts. I do now, and you should, too. I'm very proud of what I do as a fringe theater actor in the Northwest, but the opportunity to listen to real, live career artists ("What are those, Mommy?") discuss the craft is not to be missed. 

Of particular note: James Earl Jones on the value of education, the "delusion" of race, not being an activist, and how annoying it is that film actors play entire roles off-voice for effect. (Of a talented actor playing an American president on TV, "He whispers. Too. Fucking. Much.")

and elevenses and tea...

Acting is, first and foremost, thinky work so I always forget how physically demanding mental exertion can be. True, I'm in an unusually athletic show, but it's disconcerting to catch myself mapping out meal plans with an almost primal attention to nutrition density and calorie input/output ratios divided by rehearsal hours. I've begun using the phrase "second breakfast" completely un-ironically.

tech notes

- My skin hates makeup. The situation is not improving as I get older. However,


- Head-to-Toe baby wash is an excellent makeup remover, particularly for waterproof mascara! Yay, babies!

- Note to self: yes, you're biking way more than usual, but you still don't get to eat candy all freaking night. Stop with the M&Ms already. Really.

- If you're going to be dancing in high-heeled tap shoes (two sizes too large), it really helps if you practice the routine in said high-heeled tap shoes (two sizes too large). Yeah, it's a little different than dancing in sneakers, isn't it?

- Tasks and assignments are great ways to tackle confusing spots in the text, but you actually have to, uh, do the tasks and assignments. Derr.

- Stretch your hamstrings after exertion, doofus, or you are going be a crippled old lady much sooner than you anticipate.

- No matter how it seems, we're all in this together. Really.

did you forget the...

I leave my house for work at 8:45 a.m. and return to it after rehearsal 14 hours later. Every morning feels like I’m packing for a little camping trip. I make lists like this one:

• tap shoes
• toe shoes
• white peignoir
• romper that kind of looks like old-timey bathing suit
• unitard
• curry, bread for lunch
• bag spinach for dinner
• water bottle, e-mer-gen-C
• vitamins
• power bars

• ProSys tax webinar (10am-1pm)
• SEP/IRA adjustment form
• get new bus pass


• p/u library holds (accordion sheet music!)

• don’t forget to buy cat food! (chicken/lamb OK, not salmon)