Aspen...the aftermath.

I am back from Aspen and reflecting on the whole experience. Overall, I think it was a good one, but it certainly had its ups and downs. After my last post, I had the last two performance on Monday and Tuesday. I have to say that for me, they went well and I got a lot of compliments from the audience. I don't know how the director felt, but I'm not too worried. I can only be true to myself, that's why in some weird way I really want my tattoo after this experience. If I hadn't had my foot issue my butt would have been on the ski slopes, tearing it up. I had no idea that such an experience could get me to doubt myself as an actor. Am I giving up on my dream, no, not yet. Am I a little more cautious now, yes and that sucks. I have several auditions coming up in February which is exciting and terrifying at the same time. February and March are HUGE months for auditions here in the DC/MD/VA area. On the 13th I have two auditions in ONE day! Kennedy Center in the morning and The Little Theater of Alexandria at night. I most likely won't be singing for the Kenn Cen auditions because last year I just sucked....trying to save my face this year. We shall see how it goes.

Anyway, this turned into two blog posts in one. Maybe I will post Aspen photos, probably not.

Home

I am home. It was an ordeal. The end.

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Take Ten Theater Masters Tech and fancy dinners.

Tech for Take Ten has taken up a lot of my time...that a making sure all of my lines are correct. The days have begun to blend together, because I am so exhausted. After rehearsal we have been going to a lot of dinners at rich people's houses. We had one Friday night and last night was a fundraiser dinner that turned into a total doozy. Yesterday we finished cue to cue pretty much and a few of us decided to go grab some dinner and a drink before a playwright panel discussion. We ended up at Little Annies where they had a $3.50 shot and drink special...can't beat that!! I had some soup too but that part is irrelevant. We left and headed out to the discussion...which we got lost for and ended up missing. It was totally embarrassing because we didn't intend to miss it, the directions weren't great so we drove around and when we found it....everyone was leaving the building. We went back to a friends condo and watched some tv before we had to be at the dinner at the Tripplehorn's. The dinner was really nice. The Tripplehorn's are from Texas and they live in Cher's old house! There is a diorama of taxidermy squirrels....seriously. I will post the photo eventually. LOL. The wine was flowing and the dinner was really, really tasty. We had this girl named Heather at our table and we totally thought she should be at this dinner. So Julia wants us to have a discussion at our table and we will talk about it later.

We nominate Heather to speak on our behalf as she took notes on her iphone. Our discussion was about what counts as art? We touched on a bunch of different topics within that question. It comes time for us to speak and she goes up there and she is really nervous. She starts talking about how Broadway is crap and all of this weird, inappropriate crap. Julia is freaking out because half of the people at this fundraiser love the arts and give money to BROADWAY!!! I am like shitting myself because this is soooo awkward. All i can do is keep my head down and just keep drinking my wine! It turns out that this girl wasn't even allowed at this dinner, she was invited by one of the playwrights but they barely even spoke to each other the WHOLE night. Julia was trying desperately to get this woman to stop talking. I still don't understand why they just didn't kick her out or not let her speak. Anyway, I have to now smooth things over so our table doesn't look like a bunch of assholes who hate theatre...further from the truth really. Not what I want to do before I have to do a dress rehearsal in front of all the playwrights.

Bloody Hell, I need a dirty martini.....

Aspen...been too tired to write...Day ?

So since I last wrote to all of you a lot has happened. I have been WAY too tired to keep up everyday. After rehearsal I usually come home and crash. I have rehearsed all twelve hours for both of my shows. It hasn't been an easy one for me. The other day in Ground rehearsal I broke down crying because I was just so frustrated with myself and that I wasn't giving the director what he wanted. He kept telling me to keep it simple and to stop showing him that I was acting. I finally gave him what he wanted, but I can't help thinking in the back of my mind that I suck. It is truly amazing what simplicity can do for a scene. To me it doesn't feel like acting...but I guess it is. Hooked up is another beast entirely. It has been sooo hard to memorize but I think MArk and I finally have it down. The wording is just not normal so its hard to get it in your brain. We did tech last night, which is Thursday and that went really well. I've been going to these dinners at 10 pm which are ok, I just remind myself not to eat a whole lot....I probably put on five pounds. I will be going on a diet when I am back in DC.

Last night after tech, four of us actors went back to the house to eat some burritos and have a glass of wine. We got there and there wasn't a whole lot of food left, but we made it work. We ended up chatting about Broadway and the trials and tribulations of acting which was really neat. I was home and in bed by 11:30pm. I got the much needed rest I had been looking for. If I had gone another day with very little sleep, I am pretty sure I would have gotten sick again.

Tonight it a run through for the playwrights who are all flying or driving into town. At 5:30 we begin the run and then after we go to dinner at some board member's house. We see how tonight will go. I really hope I have all my lines down and everything goes smoothly. I am very homesick and I miss a lot of people that I usually talk to you...you know who you are! :) This has been a good experience so far, I just wish I had more people to talk to or someone to share this experience with me. I also REALLY wish I could ski....damn foot surgery, keeping me from some of the BEST skiing around. BOO! I guess I don't really want to deal with a blown ACL either....oh well. Fingers crossed for tonight.

Theatre Masters Day 3...4 meals eaten.

Today marked my first day of rehearsal. I am keeping this short because I am le tired!!! I had rehearsal for Hooked Up tonight which is one of the plays I am in. It was written by a 12th grader at Aspen High School. I must say that it is pretty freakin' funny. Does it compare to the work of MFA Playwrights? No. Still, she might want to consider a future as a writer. We actually got to work in the space which was great. It will be our only time in the Black Box until tech begins on Thursday. We only get six hours total for each play. So to put up two ten minute plays I only get 12 hours of rehearsal time before I begin to tech. That's with sound, lights, costumes, and being completely off book. I'm having trouble connecting to this play versus my other one called Ground. There are a lot of technical aspects and it isn't as simple as the other play. I sometimes like simplicity in a play, because once you find the tone, it ALL just sort of falls into place. I do my work....but it is less of a headache (which I get frequently around here...lol). Oh and btw, before rehearsal..where I FELL mind you. I was on my way up a hill and it was all icy-snowy and I went down hard. It was something out of Home Alone. I was airborne...seriously. I have a big ass bruise on my hip and butt and one on my knee. It really is sad that I lost all that weight from surgery because I really needed it in that situation.

After rehearsal we all went to dinner at Julia's house. Yes, you heard right....dinner...at 10 pm! That's like midnight normal people time...i.e Eastern Time. LOL. That's how all us East Coasters think of this time change. We had wine, chicken, twice baked potatoes, bread, salad, roasted tomatoes, and pineapple for dessert! I had already eaten my 3 meals, now I was consuming a 4th. Tomorrow I plan to still go to the dinner to be social, but I will just be having a light snack, some wine, and leaving early to go be off book. Peace Out!

But I'm le tired.....

Aspen Day Two....Read Thru and dinner at a Doll House!?

I'm writing a day late, but I was too tired last night to write about what I did. So I had to meet everyone at 4 pm for a Read Thru of all the play; pretty much to make sure the casting was done right. It was a little nerve racking to meet all of the actors and directors...Julia (Artistic Director) and Pesha (Assistant Artistic Director). Turns out that a lot of people have done Theatre Masters before so they knew each other. I managed to make friends easily and I really like the group of actors we have this year. They all like to drink which is incredibly promising. After reading, I was more nervous because I was hoping that I wouldn't be recast. I wasn't!!! Julia pulls me aside after the reading and tells me something about a special dinner that I am invited to. I guess we had to keep this info on the DL because this dinner was meant for the out of town actors ONLY. I spent a lot of time at Julia's home, just waiting for someone to give me an address or at least give me a freakin' ride. At around 7:30 we vacated Julia's and headed to Lucy's home. This dinner requires another paragraph entirely!

Let me begin my saying that after a tour of this woman's home...it's a mansion that looks like it could be a life-size replica of a doll house. Her bedroom door blends in with the wallpaper so you can't see it! CRAZY! The wine was flowing and it was absolutely delicious...although in the high altitude I should have refrained but I really can't turn down good wine. There was guacamole which was a little odd as I think it had cheese in it. No thanks. There were puff pastries with cheese and jalapenos which were divine. We pretty much just sat around with our wine and chit-chatted. The director of my shows came up to me later and told me that I did a wonderful job in the cold reading. He was really excited to work with me!!! Then dinner arrived. There was meatloaf, ribs, asparagus, chicken fajita wraps, and deviled eggs. It was a pretty random spread, but it was all really good. We ate and talked about the acting world and what a pain in the ass it is to become part of the Union or Actor's Equity as it's called. At around 9:30 we were pretty much told to leave. Away we went, fat and happy. I came back to my place, put on my PJ's and crashed. For some reason the altitude gives me insomnia...I really don't like that I am having trouble sleeping. :(

Aspen....the Experience...Day One.

Well, here I am. I sit in my grandparents guest home....it's very quiet...a bit lonely I might add when you don't have a tv. Thankfully, by some sort of miracle, I have the interwebs! YES! My trip to Aspen began by getting up at 3am. I should let all of you know that I was up before this and I only managed a half -assed hour of sleep....not enough to be functional. I was up and at 'em when most people were getting in from the bars! My wonderful friend Jeff took me to the airport. I had a bit of a debacle with United Airlines, because for SOME reason they don't do check-ins until 4:45am. My flight was at 6am and I STILL had to get through the hell that is DCA security (with a boot).



Got my ticket and set sail...only to go to the WRONG security check point. I had to haul my skinny little butt to the other side of the terminal and then there was a ginormous (yes, I created a word) line. No one has common sense to let the people with the early flights go ahead of them. I thought it would be ok to not take off my boot. I COULD mind you, but I decided against it, which was a really bad decision. I went through the machine and I beeped. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was that asshole stuck in some little box, waiting for a female TSA attendant to give me the dreaded pat down. I got it. It wasn't that bad...just slightly awkward and I was kinda pissy, considering I thought I might miss my flight. As well as getting the pat down, my whole entire boot had to be x-rayed and the dumbass TSA lady STILL thought I was concealing some sort of weapon. Turns out it was a metal support to keep my ankle in place....idiots.



The flight to Chicago was ok. I slept some, but this damn cold really sucks. Chicago to Aspen was a pain in the ass because I had to go to a terminal REALLY far away. Like BFE far away. I made it...scarfed down a really greasy McDonald's McGriddle and got on the flight. I spent the whole 2 1/2 hours with one nostril that ran and ran and ran. Lots of tissues and I pissed off a lot of people who thought they were going to catch my cold. Suckers. There were also two tiny children who had terrible parents....they spent a lot of their time kicking the back of my seat, while I tried to sleep.



I was picked up by Marion, wearing my Prada shades of course, because you can't do Aspen, without designer shades. ;) We went grocery shopping and I spent a lot of money, but there was seriously nothing in the house for me to eat. I decided since it is my first night here I would cook a meal. I seasoned a pork tenderloin with salt, pepper, and garlic. As it was being finished off in the oven I added some sauerkraut and I let a sweet potato cook as well. To add to the wonder that was my meal....I had some root beer. Here's the picture....it looked better in the pan, but this is what was on my plate:



Side note: When in severe high altitude...you shouldn't be a smoker...thank god i quit and drink lots of water because you get dehydrated really quickly.

Progress

So I got the all clear from my ortho surgeon. I STILL have to see him when I get back from Aspen, but he said I have come a long way for just having surgery two months ago. <---- run on sentence much? I am now off to therapy where Laura will kick my ass. I leave Saturday at 6am...got a ride to the airport from my very good pal Jeff....so glad to save some cash. I hope that with my boot the airline will bumb me to a seat with leg room and maybe first class? Wishful thinking, maybe they'll feel sorry for me. I am getting more nervous. I land and hit the ground running with a full day on Sunday. I have a cold and i think it is slowly heading into my chest. Fingers crossed no urgent care visits in Colorado. I,m gonna eat McDonalds for dinner...because I feel like it.

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Aspen Bound

I will be boarding my flight for snowy Aspen on Saturday bright and early in the morning. I get it, have to pick up groceries and other provisions as well as unpack. Sunday I hit the ground running with a read through, rehearsal, and dinner. My days will usually be running from 10 am- 10pm. 3 to 4 days of actual rehearsal, then we begin tech, then we perform. This festival doesn't mess around. I am not sure if I will have computer access 100% of the time. I will blog a bit from my phone. Although, the posts won't be very long. I am both excited and nervous to begin my career. I am in two shows at the moment. One written by an MFA playwright and the other, a 12th grader. I look forward to delving into both of them. The scary part is that the director has the right to change casting up until Sunday evening. I'm gonna be mighty pissed if I end up in Aspen doing NOTHING!