Shows, Shows, Shows, and Summer Vacation

I know I haven't blogged for months and months but honestly, life has been crazy until now. I started school again in January, got a pet bunny, Roy finally found a job and while he doesn't get a whole lot of hours lately because his boss is dumb at least he has a job, I've performed 2 shows, and am now rehearsing another. But now that it's summer I don't have much to do during the day and all I have in the evening is Hairspray rehearsal. Now a break down of the 2 shows I did: :)

From January to March I had rehearsal for Oklahoma. I was only in the ensemble but I was in it a lot and it was a very long, exhausting show. My brother played Curly which is awesome. He was definitely perfect for it. I made a lot of friends during this show, the best one being Heather, who played Laurey to my brother's Curly. She is one of my best friends now despite the fact that she is about 10 years older than me. I became close to a lot of theatre people that I have known for a long time but never became close to them until now. The Oklahoma cast really became a family and I still miss it every day. It's very rare to feel this close to a cast and have no drama. We all cried during the final curtain call and the cast party was full of giggles and really long goodbye hugs.

During Oklahoma performances I started rehearsal for Once Upon A Mattress where I finally got a lead. I played Lady Larken and it is my favorite role I've ever played. Rehearsals were frustrating at times for many different reasons but it all came together in the end. I went out with some of the cast almost every night and it was a lot of fun. The role was demanding but so much fun. I got to sing high-soprano songs which is my favorite because high-soprano is the range I feel most comfortable in. I had some annoying moments with my on-stage partner but whatever, it was all fun anyway. I am still very upset that the show is over and it breaks my heart even more that a lot of the cast doesn't care that it's over. Oh well, I will get over it eventually.

Now I am rehearsing Hairspray and I am very excited that it opens in less than a month. I've been in love with this show for several years and it is my dream come true to be one of the "nicest kids in town". It is the most stressful and demanding shows I've been in but I love it anyway. I sing in literally every song even when I'm not on stage and the choreography is difficult. But anyway, I'm super duper excited.

I really really really want school to start though. I'm super bored with having nothing to do during the day. I love school and honestly, I really hate summer vacation because there is nothing to do!!

Life Update

Hey Guys! I know I haven't posted in a little over a month. Things have been crazy..lots of decisions to make, etc. so I haven't really had the time to write anything over here. But anyway, let's catch you all up on my life.

Roy and I decided to live with my parents until we move to New York so that we don't have to pay rent and we can actually save money for New York cause well, it will be nice to have some cushion money when we are just starting out there. We will be paying for all of our own stuff, we just won't have to pay rent which will be nice. Also, this allows me to be able to go back to school and keep doing theatre. If we both had to have full time jobs, those things wouldn't have been able to happen. So all in all, it was a great decision we made. I don't care if people are judging us for living with our parents, it was a good decision for us and that's all that matters.

I got cast as Lily St. Regis in "Annie" which is really exciting. I finally get to play a part that is comedic relief, sexy, and a villain. I always get stuck playing the innocent goody-two-shoes but finally I get to do something different. This will allow me to grow as an actress which is really awesome. The more training I can get the better.

Everything's great. I have an awesome husband, a place to live. I'm in a great show and school's starting soon. And God is going to lead Roy to an awesome job soon. I can just feel it. Everything is finally heading in a positive direction :)

Community Theater

It is hard when you live in a small town to find a way to fuel your creativity once you are done with high school. You don't have the high school productions to be involved with every year and you don't have a mellow choir class to attend every day. But there is something out there for you.

Community theater is a great creative outlet. You don't have to join a union, it's easy to get cast, and the people are there to have fun. A lot of small towns have a community theater and if not, there are usually some in a nearby town. I have had a lot of fun doing community theater productions in my tiny, boring town and I recommend it to everyone.

There is not all fun and games when it comes to community theater though. I have had many difficult moments with it and I have known many other people in theater world who had the same problems. And this problem is, that everyone in community theater is cliquey.

Now when I say everyone, I don't mean everyone. But the majority of the people in it, are in a shut-off from the world, won't let anyone else in-clique. I have done many productions in community theater and I still do not feel completely welcome. Everyone knows each other and no one talks to me. I have been performing outside of high school in community theater productions since my junior year of high school and I still do not feel welcome. The shows are fun and I love being on that stage, but I feel like an outsider.

I suggest you try community theater because you will have a blast. But maybe bring a friend or two to the audition so you can have some people to interact with during rehearsals.

(I want to make a note that not every community theater in the world is like this. This is just my experience and also, the experience of some of my theater-world friends.)