Grandma's Footsteps

Ok so this post is partially named for what's going on in my life right now (just wait one second) and partially because i'm sure my grandma is going - where is that next blog entry i told her to write?
This one is for you grandma :)

so, what's up? Well clearly returning to the blog because i started online dating was a silly idea that lasted about as long as my gymnast career (what? - exactly). I did continue with the online dateing longer than i blogged about it however, but i think i've taken it up as more of a hobby - some actors learn to knit or get a temp job between shows - me? i go on first dates. meh. its something to do.............

segway....

i am not between shows right now, rather i am in the middle of two. Right now i am currently rehearsing for two shows! woopy! one is The Odyssey a new adapted version for the stage and the other - are you ready? are you sitting down? (duh, who uses the internet standing???) Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake) Two very different shows in probably every aspect. The rehearsal experiances i can already tell are going to be different, the energy of the companies is entirely different, stories, goal of playwirte, goal of production etc. etc. etc.

BUT i am equally excited about both!

Odyssey
Exciting excteing things! For me as a non-speaking role (or 3rd-actor-from-the-left) its a different experiance honestly speaking since i got to mn. I am doing a lot of physical work which is awesome. i normally shy away from the movement stuff and i am having a far better time than i thought i would with it. Its challenging, and fun, and i feel special and feel like i am getting a moment to shine doing it too. I think most people are familiar enough with the story of Odysseus and his journey over seas and run ins with gods that i don't have to go in to too much detail. I am the prow of his ship that opens the show in a god created terrible storm at sea and then Odysseus' dog who is the only one to recognize him when he first returns home and then also a bunch of variouse servents and scene setters. oh! and a loom! I am getting a chance to work with some really amazing people who have been in this buissness in this town a long time. i am also meeting some awesome new people which is always fun about any show you do. AND i am collecting points or weeks towards joining the actors union! woot! first show that i can do that with - i got an official card and everything from the union stating that i am apart of their candidacy program. Yay! its like i'm a real actor or something ;)

for a fun peek (a few pictures!) at what odyssey is all about and what i have been doing almost everyday from noon until 8 since Dec 2o, you can go to the theater's rehearsal blog that they have made for this show. http://parksquaretheatre.tumblr.com/

Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake) or as i called it for a long time Crumble Me Justin Timberlake is a great show - filled with confusion and obserdtiy and saddness and laughter and heart. I play a foul mouthed greasy 11 year old girl that is definetly one of those kids perceived to beat their own drum (or whatever the phrase is). She is smart for her age and trying to cope with having lossed her father and struggling with middle school all at the same time. Oh, and she loves Justin Timberlake. Oddly enough this really goes against my 6th grade self who was a total Backstreet Boys fan and never at any point owned a single album of NSYNC. I guess i'll have to do some charachter research for this one ;) I think the play will be awesome design wise, story wise, production wise, everything else wise too i guess. I'm in love with the script and my charachter. So far (3 days of rehearsals) we have been doing so much wonderful actor shmactor bullshit stuff. Playing theater games, developing a common language so we can really talk to each other on a more specific level when it comes to developing the show. I love this stuff, can't get enough of this stuff. All that stuff that make us actors people-watch all the time. or rather.... what comes of all that people-wathcing - playing games to try and replicate those interesting people we see out there in that big facinating world filled with the human condition. My director for this one also built into rehearsal time about 5 min of journaling at the end of the night - maybe that's why i am here, caught the bug i guess. I'm really bad at journaling - exhibit A: this blog.......so i think that will be good for me. especially because while this charachter is going to be endless amounts of fun to play i think she will also be a challenge for me. GOD I LOVE THIS STUFF!

Recently i had an existensial thought - could i just drop all of this cold turkey and not care? i don't think i came to a conclusive answer but then its moments like this or times like rehearsal tonight that i just remember that on some other level - i can't descirbe what ...deeper.....higher.....who knows but some other level it just does it for me. there is a click, a snap, a gear alighnment, a shift, a drop, a settleing........i don't know .......something that just feels good and relaxed and at peace. and all at the same time, i get tremblingly excited!





PS. Grandma's Footsteps is the British name for Red Light Green Light apparently. We played it to explore a state of tension that people will sometimes exist in for whatever reasons - you are trying to sneak out of the house unnoticed, you are carefully walking past a bomb so as not to set it off, you are in a cage with a ferocious lion, in this case, you are tense, i guess, because you don't want to wake Grandma. (see: actor shmactor bullshit)