Highlights from week 2

What a week it has been up here in Door County. As one of our interns put it, 'I need a day off to recover from my day off'. Over the weekend, we celebrated Christmas in July complete with Secret Santas and shenanigans. The theme of the evening-Color and Light- matched the show I am currently rehearsing, Sunday in the Park with George. The show is about Georges Suerat, a French Post-Impressionist painter, and the creation of his most famous work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Grand Jatte. Rather than blend colors to make different shades, he painted with dots of color.

Being the creative types that actors are, our decoration committee came up with the idea to put colored dots in the form of paper, theatre light gels, balloons, buttons, skittles, etc all around our lodge. It was beautiful! I didn't get a picture of the whole room, but the decorations on the table were also hanging in strands throughout the entire lodge in addition to what is pictured below.

Luminaries lighting the path to the lodge; Table decor; Christmas tree

The evening consisted of light snacks provided by the inner-chef members of the Pen Player company, an intern skit written by one of our resident actor/playwrights spoofing on A Christmas Carol, the opening of Christmas gifts and revealing of Secret Santas, the singing of the Peninsula Players anthem and finally dancing!

The wine rack my Secret Santa made for me by hand,

complete with the Pen Players double tree logo and

wood from the set of the first show this season

The next day, after sleeping in a tad, my roommate, one of the interns and I went down to the closest and cheapest laundromat around, about 40 minutes away. It was a day full of errands, maximizing shopping time while laundry was drying and finally Boxing Day with the company. We grilled out, swam at Nicolet Bay beach which is a part of Peninsula State Park and ended the evening with a very serious company volleyball game. I played in the last round and hit the ball approximately twice when I served. Go team!

One of the things we had to do Monday was pick up our projects from a local art studio called Hands On. You can paint ceramics, make glass tiles and artwork, make jewelry and do metal works, including learning the basics of welding. There's also a farm attached to this little property and we actually got to meet Henry the Rooster up close. He wanted to paint his own ceramics.

A few of us from the company went there last Friday on Adult Night. It means what it says. We brought some wine to sip and browsed the projects until we came up with what we all wanted to do: paint ceramics! I made a guac, salsa and cheese dip tray and a vase. 

The bursts of color on the vase, in the guac portion of the dip bowl as well as the outside of the entire dip bowl happened because I used a special kind of paint with glass crystals in it. When the ceramic is fired in the kiln, the glass explodes with color leaving what you see in the pictures. I can't wait to use both the vase and dip bowl AND to go back next Friday for Adult Night to do glass works. 

Oh and I'm rehearsing a play. :-) The show is coming along nicely. The entire thing is staged, so our rehearsals from here out will be focused on shaping and fine tuning and memorizing and fixing the brain farts. We start tech rehearsals next Monday, which means we add lights, costumes, sound and get to be on stage. While tech is the time we all dread going through, it is one of the most magical parts of the process.

On closing this post, I'll leave you with a recent and YUMMY discovery. I cheat with dairy as a lot of you know, but this actually tastes like the real deal without my stomach being angry with me. Until next time!

IT'S TIME TO (write about) PACK(ing)

TWO WEEKS and counting ladies and gentlemen. That's right. Two weeks, 14 sleeps, 196ish waking hours, 20 voice lessons, three work shifts, three friends shows, two Arbonne parties, one church gig, a mud run, an un-4th-of-July BBQ and finally 258 miles northbound to the great Wisconsin Peninsula. Phew, I'm tired just typing that.

I'm getting excited now that I can see the start to the trip even if I am seriously overlooking the packing to do list. My family friends always make fun of me for bringing too much stuff with me wherever I go. That sixth grade band trip, my suitcases were heavier than me. Yes there were two suitcases and a backpack and the trip day count was exactly the number of bags I brought. Two week family vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's in Florida over the holidays? I'm not ashamed to admit I have bought a duffel bag or two to bring everything home in addition to the suitcases I've already loaded to the brim. Then there was that summer I studied abroad in Italy. Luckily I knew I would be living with a host family so I didn't have to bring as many clothes, but my suitcase could have had it's own row in the airplane. Thank goodness I traveled before weight restrictions on suitcases were made.

9 weeks. I can pack for that. I've done longer. I'll be driving my car up north, so I will have all the room I need to put various bags and shoes and miscellaneous items and my bike. But, the one thing I'm freaked out to pack for is a show. Do you know how many things this diva needs to get ready? We're talking makeup and primer and hairspray and curlers and brushes and underthings and character shoes and false eyelashes and... you get the picture. Not to mention the hiking shoes, the running shoes, the flip flop shower shoes, the cute wedge shoes, the water shoes, the sporty wear, the I-don't-care-if-I-ruin-these-clothes wear, the opening night summer dress, the closing night dress, the yoga pants, the biking pants, a couple swimsuits, rehearsal clothing and toiletries. Toiletries for miles. I'll just put my bathroom sink on the roof of my car. That's doable, right? And bug spray. Lots of bug spray.

But, let's not forget the most important part:

The scripts and libretto for Sondheim's score and libretto for Sunday in the Park with George and Ken Ludwig's The Game's Afoot. Now those three items make all those other things I need to pack seem insignificant. The work we actors are privileged to do by such gifted composers and writers is worth it. Every audition we do, every mile we travel, every rejection we face head on pays off in moments like these. I am so lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with Peninsula Players this summer. 

Hopefully the next time you hear from me will be from the land of cheese. Cheers and Happy early 4th of July!