So remember how in my last post (which was LAST YEAR, YOU GUYS!) I talked about how I had been auditioning for some non-musical plays and didn't want to talk about it because I was supersitious about talking about auditions? Well...I kept going to auditions and ended up getting cast...
...as Laura in Lakeside Community Theatre's production of Tennessee Williams's beautiful play, The Glass Menagerie!
I couldn't be more excited, and for several reasons. For one thing, I'm starting the non-musical part of my "career" with a classic. It's like starting off your musical theatre path with a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, or even a Sondheim. Basically, it's solid theatre with excellent storytelling in a (generally) clear-cut and traditional setting. Starting with the basics. Secondly, I absolutely love Tennessee Williams. In my undergraduate career, I took a class that was centered on Southern American authors (Williams, Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, etc.) and I just fell in love with all of them. It's actually a subject that I'd like to do more work/research in if I ever get an inclination to go back to school for a master's degree. And finally, I'm just really excited to be working with a new theatre, in a new space, and with a new group of people. The Campus Theatre and the companies that use that wonderful facility will always hold the key to my theatre-heart, but sometimes it's nice to step out and try something new. It's like....always getting the 7-layer burrito from Taco Bell, but ONE DAY you decide to try a Crunch Wrap Supreme. Something like that.
The cast is small; there are only four of us. So we're really getting a chance to do some cast-bonding and have a great time talking about the play, the themes, and the characters. And what a great group of people LCT has. I don't think this will be my last time working with this group...or at least I hope it's not.
So yeah. We open that show on February 18th, so you should definitely try to come out and see it! Even if it's for no other reason than to come and giggle at me trying to be all serious and "act."
So what else has been going on with me? I'm so glad you asked.
Really, besides GM rehearsals and a VERY busy time at my day job, not a whole heck of a lot...and it's been really nice. I've done a LOT of reading, both of scripts and of library books. Yes! Library books! I finally got myself a Denton Public Library card and I have been a readin' fool ever since the holiday break.
(side note: if you're on Goodreads, check me out and add me as a friend!)
Just this past weekend I took a trip to Nashville, Tennessee to spend the weekend with my very BFF of 20+ years, Shelly, and we saw a FANTASTIC band play while we were there: Manic Bloom.
I went to church with the keyboard player, Jeff, back in high school, and now that I've seen these guys play twice I can tell you two hard and fast FACTS:
1) They are EXCELLENT musicians and they put on an amazing show, and
2) They are a great group of solid, good guys.
Please go check them out, follow them on Twitter, and seriously, go buy their album, In Loving Memory on iTunes. Seriously, it's only $6 so just do it.
Anyway, back to the trip and part of the title of this post....
When I read, I tend to really delve into the storyline of a book. Or at least I will if it's well-written and captivating. The only problem with this is that I truly feel void and strange when I'm taken out of the story, either by having to stop reading for time's sake (meaning I need to get things done and stop reading) or just finishing a book. I literally feel like I've been yanked back into real life, and normally I'm none too happy about this.
Let me tell you, faithful readers, that this is even worse when I finish a book on an airplane. I already feel like a (Wo)Man Without a Country when I'm on an airplane, because I'm not really anywhere when I'm flying...at least not for very long. I'm thousands of feet above the ground and hurtling through the air with a bunch of strangers. Combine that with the aforementioned world I create for myself while reading a good book and my slight anxiety of flying in general...and when I finish a book with time left on my flight...well, I just feel really strange and empty and, to be completely melodramatic...lost. I don't like it. I was very thankful to have my GM script in my carry-on bag to read so that I couldn't get too deep into self-reflection and melancholy for the rest of my flight.
So what does that have to do with theatre? Nothing. It's just the dramatic artist in me, I suppose. I've always got my emotional and artistic antennae up, whether I really want to or not, but I guess I wouldn't have it any other way.
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