After Rehearsal Snack

I dunno why, but this reminds me of my ex-roomie.

Emo

For documentation's sake, I am currently feeling:

• excited
• nervous
• tired
• energetic
• angry
• sad
• relaxed
• loved
• alone
• grateful
• selfish
  
• unaccomplished
• accomplished
  

sam brown, explodingdog

Just for reference I am a recent college grad, an actor, and a female living at home. I have a lot to fight against to maintain my sanity.

Preview

Just wanted to give you guys a preview of what I have been working on lately:

One week until OPENING!

Drunken Tired

I am so tired right now that I feel drunk. Seriously, the bags under my eyes are scary. I am sick of looking shitty everyday. I will be happy in a week or so. Just keep chugging-along. "Toot-Toot" (that was the train not a fart, childish reader).

Umm... okay bed.

Pretty Pretty Princess

So I treated myself for the summer to a manicure and pedicure with Ali on Friday after the hospital show. I thought I picked a muted purple, but it ended up being glittery fuschia... also referred to as "pretty pretty princess pink" by me. I do, however, enjoy my deep cherry toenail color:


Ah, summertime.

Saddies

I love my job, and my show, and the people are really great at both. Being busy is fabulous, because I go crazy when nothing is doing. Speaking of which, I had some free time this weekend. Although I had a friend's graduation party, an audition, a bridal show, and had to put up posters - I actually had more free time than usual!

I've had a few free hours to reflect on the past two months.

Unfortunately I feel like all of my relationships are taking a backseat. Granted everyone else is busy too, so even if I was doing nothing it would be hard to see people anyway.

I don't like feeling that seeing people, or calling people is something I need to do-- and that is how I feel right now. Bah. This might come off badly, but I have such limited free time, I really need to use to gather my thoughts and focus on what's next.

On the flip side, I desperately want to talk with everyone in depth, and do nothing but hang out with them all the time. I wish two of my closest friends were here... so move to Skokie, okay? Everyone is so dispersed and in their own worlds. I feel horrible talking to them about any of my problems, when they clearly have lots of their own that I really can't help them with right now.

The sunshine through the clouds: My show goes up in a little over a week. My schedule will relax then. Also, tomorrow is a work day, so I will have no more time for saddies until the weekend.

Kids' Show

Today we performed a 15-20 minute version of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown at Comer Children's Hospital in Chicago. There were only three kids well enough to make it to the room where we performed, but they videotaped us and broadcast it to 50-70 kid's rooms.


The hospital is so well thought out for children. The colors, the rooms, the facilities and the staff were all amazing. I was so glad we got to do something to entertain those kids for even the short amount of time that we did. When I get the photos back of us I will post them.

Movie Time

Paris, je t'aime

This movie was sweet, pretty, fun, and touching. It was at least 30 minutes too long, and there were definitely some stories that could have been cut (a.k.a. the vampire scene).

A to the S grade: B+
Teacher Comments: Great work, but you need to know when enough is enough.


Me and You and Everyone We Know

Surprisingly a very captivating movie. Lots of interesting quirky characters, some great young actors, and an almost non-existent plot. The ending and beginning were a bit abrupt for my taste and I wish we had more time with everyone.

A to the S grade: B+
Teacher Comments: Fantastic start! Now just expand the the whole thing.

Professionals

Which one is real?

Blondes Have More Fun?

Lots of ladies I know, especially in theatre, dye their hair. I find it hard to believe that a brunette would go to the extreme of becoming blonde. I mean, some chicks can pull it off.

I, however, never even considered going blonde. Thank goodness the costume designer for my show is trying to get me a wig.

One word: SCARY

Bravo and a Bruise

Will and I can't get enough of Bravo. They have lots of reality TV, which as an actor I should be against. However, it's very addictive. Also Bravo supports gay rights and the arts so I'm down with them. Anyway all their shows provide excellent character studies. The most entertainment value, however, comes from their competitions. Here they are in order of creation:

PROJECT RUNWAY: The first and the best. Like most TV I get hooked-on, there was a marathon running the first time I saw it. Luckily for me my roommate also loved the show, as well as the people in the costume shop during my practicums.





TOP CHEF: Next and slightly less addictive -- mostly because you can't fully experience food through a television screen. You don't really get to judge the way you can with clothing, or...


TOP DESIGN: Design. This show sucked. Boring people, boring host, and boring challenges.







SHEAR GENIUS: Not so genius. Let's face it. There isn't enough you can do with hair to warrant an entire show. Hopefully, there won't be another attempt at this one.

So why this recap? Well Top Chef Season 3 airs tonight! Yeah! My feeling is that the first season of any reality show is always the best. They don't know what is going to happen, and the people they choose are slightly less cartoony. Regardless of this being the third season, it's something to look forward to watching.

AND I promised a bruise, so here it is:


It looks about 10x worse in person (more red and purpley). I think I kicked myself during rehearsal. Yeah, I'm that girl.

Camping

This week I am working with 8th-12th graders for a week long audition workshop. I am in charge of a 30 minutes warm-up, assisting, guiding, and generally assisting. Everything has been pretty chill so far ::knocks on wood::, and the kids are all really sweet.

Leading warm-ups and playing games on the spot has come back just like riding a bike. It's amazing the things you can remember from as far back as 7th grade.

The people we have come in are people who I am currently trying to audition for so really I am getting an extra chance to meet them. I also get to hear their opinions and preferences about business things.

I wasn't so excited about doing camp, but I think it's really the environment I need right now. I am also getting to meet lots of people my age and older who are in the Chicago theatre scene.

I like it when things work out well.

Busy Times

So tomorrow I begin my "day" job. I am a bit nervous. I am mostly not prepared to be so busy all of a sudden. I have an 8:30 AM-3:30 PM schedule at the camp. Then I have rehearsals 6:30-10 PM. Then auditions in-between and voice lessons on Fridays 5-6 PM. Weekends are pretty free which is nice. Then when the show goes up, weekend shows.

It's gonna be good, I think.

P.S. Tony awards tonight-- let's hope they are fun to watch.
P.P.S. I miss this guy.

The Sleepiest

I am the sleepiest. I will catch-up on blogging tomorrow hopefully.

Love Always,
The One in the Profile Picture

Everything is Illuminated

Let me begin by saying that I did not read the book, but that I bet the book is better.

This movie was beautiful. The visual style reminded me of Big Fish only more realistic.

(Everything is Illuminated)

(Big Fish)

The characters were endearing and complex. The movie starts of in a completely different way from how it ends, yet somehow it all works. Every shot was clearly thought-out and every frame was a beautiful picture. The movie deals with WWII and finding your past in a non-melodramatic way that still has a great impact. It's a little slow, but you almost need the extra time to process everything.

The only thing about this movie that bothered me was how much Elijah Wood's character reminded me of his character from Sin City.


(Everything is Illuminated)

(Sin City)

Yeah... creeeepy.

A to the S grade: A
Teacher Comments: Beautiful work - artful and simple. An original way of telling an old story.

X Effect

Okay, here's the new reality MTV show. Why anyone would go on this show is beyond me.

The premise: Two ex's have moved on and are in new relationships. These 2 couples decide to spend their spring break together, fully paid, with MTV cameras. However, when they show up they are told the ex's will be spending the week together, and their significant others will be going home.

The surprise: The ex's enjoy a spa, room service and each other, while "secretly" their boyfriend and girlfriend watch the whole thing from another part of the hotel. At the end they decide who they want to be with... wow.

This seems like disaster from the get go. Clearly if your significant other has any desire to spend spring break with their ex, in any capacity, there is a problem. I watched two episodes of this show, and it takes minutes for the ex's (called X's) to rekindle their old feelings. Then their boy/girlfriends (called O's) who are spying also hook-up because they feel betrayed.

The fun games: The X's wear a bracelet they think is used like a credit card, but really it let's their significant others know if they are touching by making a red light go on in their "spying" bungalow. Then the O's get to decide what activity the X's are going to do. If they chose the sexy option they get to spy, if they chose the tame option don't. Let's just say the O's really are looking to hurt themselves, as they always pick the sexier option and choose to watch.

Then at the end they do something with tiles that has an 'X' on one and an 'O' on another. This represents who they want to stay with, but they never really explain this or let us see what they do with these tiles.

This episode kills me. This guy is clearly a cheater. He cheated on his ex with his current girlfriend, and then cheats on his current girlfriend with his ex. Yes... you should be cross-eyed. Anyway, the ex's end up getting back together. You might has guessed this as the first thing he says is something like "My feeling for my ex haven't changed. I still want to bone her."

In short, it's like Jerry Springer in that if you are going to go on this show, be prepared to come back alone. These people are looking for a way out of their relationships. They are looking either to get back
with their ex, or prove their significant other isn't over their ex.




It is very much not like Jerry Springer in that it's good-looking, rich, heterosexual, college kids. Also it turns into some pretty tame softcore porno in the middle of the show.

Montra

Think and speak the beautiful only.

-Christian Larson

Let's focus on this for the week.

My Birthday Gift

My parents are the best.

They got me tickets for my birthday.

Which means I am going to Ravinia this summer to see my two favorite gals...

Audra Mcdonald

and...

Patti LuPone

I am SOOO excited. I had an extra ticket, so I called Will...


All I said was "Hey,Will. Quick question: Will you be back by August 26th?" And he replied immediately with "I know what is happening that day, and I am trying to go see it"... he is a musical theatre nerd.

So now he is going. I am going. It's will be like a reunion for everyone... only they won't know it.

Happy Birthday!

Who doesn't like a good rendition of "Happy Birthday"? Dang, that tune is catchy.