Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

That's the sound of me riding about 30 rollercoasters! Monday was yet another day off, and I spent it with six friends at Canada's Wonderland. When I told a friend that, she said, "Niagara falls?", but in actuality, it's the name of a Paramount amusement park about a half an hour outside of Toronto.

At 9:10am I met Anne, Emily, Greg, Sal, Adam, and Jason at some huge train station downtown where we rented two tiny cars that were some make of Toyota that I've never heard of. We got to the park a little after it opened, at ten, and the day started with a bang. The park is beautiful when you walk in, with a huge pond with a mountain at the far end of it. This is "International Street", which is basically a street full of Dairy Queens, Funnel Cakes, Pizza Pizzas, and shops. Love it. Apparently when the park was built a while ago, it was pretty lame. But, over the years they've added so many attractions that I've never seen anything like it! There were seriously more rides than in all of Disney World. We started on TopGun, then went to the TombRaider, then on to the Mighty Canadian Minebuster (the longest wooden rollercoaster in Canada). Immediately we jumped on the Italian Job Stunt Track, and then to the Skyrider. By this time I was going to puke, so we stopped for burgers and shakes.

After food I was still dying (but having fun), so I started taking the rollercoasters every other. We did the Vortex, Thunder Run, Wild Beast, Dragon Fire, Silver Streak, and the Ghoster Coaster. The last was my favorite, because it was in the kid's land and we were the only ones on it. We rode one to a car and had the best time ever! We also did Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion, The Bat, the Launch Pad, and many more. I've seriously never seen so many rides in my whole life!!! Luckily, the park was pretty empty, since we were early in the season, and we jumped right on to everything! The longest we waited for any ride was probably ten minutes!

The weather was perfect, sunny but breezy, and everyone was a blast to hang out with. We ended the day with Funnel Cakes and some chitchat, before we headed home and I discovered my burned forehead and wrists. Since then I've had to cover my watch tan with blush every night so I don't get in trouble - it's in my contract that I can't tan!!

Makeup Face

Here's what I have to put on and take off during the show every day. Is it any wonder I am starting to never want to wear makeup again? OK that's a lie. I'll always wear mascara.

Regular Life

Now that I've done a traitional show week of 8 shows, this feels like a regular life. It's funny how quickly you get used to a life of lazy days and busy nights, with the occasional rehearsal in between. It's true though, I'm used to it already, and in some ways it feels like I've been doing this for years.

This week has really been a good time for me to get truly used to the show. Although anytime you're working in live theatre, there's always the chance that something new will happen to make it exciting. Just when I think I've got my track down pat, strange things start creeping up. For example, in the opening musical number, where we're rehearsing the opera Hannibal, there's an important part where Carlotta storms off and I have to pick up the scarf that she's thrown. Sounds simple, right? Instead, that scarf has already become the bane of my existence.

One night, it caught on the end of her wigged ponytail, and as she walked offstage I had to grab it off her back. Another night, the tenor Piangi walked over it as he walked offstage. It got caught in his costume and I had to run after him and stomp on the end of it to stop it from going offstage with him. One night, one of the men walked over it and it got caught in a draft and wafted almost offstage. Even if everyone in the show gave the same exact performance every night, the scarf would never be the same! It definitely helps keep me on my toes.

The other cast members also do a great job of keeping everybody else ready for anything. I can't even tell you the hilarious things that are constantly said on stage. Everyone has their own special style of onstage chatter, whether it's talking about real life, continuing a conversation from earlier in the day, speaking in the voice of their character, or speaking the same nonsense every time. I already have some spots where I look forward to meeting people on stage every night just to see what they're going to do.

On an unrelated note, I am on a crazy tour. As I've said before, there are very few tours that go out these days that are really A-Level tours, the Expensive tours. I found out this week that just one of Carlotta's costumes can cost about $25,000. For real! Before coming on the tour, I was fitted for my two pairs of custom shoes. When I got here, my boots were made incorrectly. Instead of being mid-calf height, they're knee high. Because of this, they're not really wide enough around my meaty calves, and the tongue doesn't cover my shin. Apparently the company that makes them said that they had made them correctly, so the costume people here had to prove that they were made wrong so that I could get correct ones. So today I got my calves cast. Seriously, there are casts of my calves being sent with the boots to some company somewhere so I can get a new pair of boots. And in the meantime, I wear some other new shoes. This is all ridiculous. The Phantom people who have been involved since the beginning are probably rolling in dough, because the show apparently takes in about a million a week with all the companies running.

So I'm just a cog in the great Phantom wheel, but it's not a bad gig. The more I perform in the show, the more I'm getting a chance to really bite in to my part, and do some character experimentation. The curtain call still feels a bit surreal, but I'm very proud of the work I'm doing. Today a Canadian friend of mine who happens to live in Toronto came to see the show. It was great fun to hang out with people after the show (since of course it's such a small world that Shane knows a bunch of people in our cast) and have supportive feedback. Knowing that someone who I respect as a performer complimented me tells me that I'm on my way. This is what it's like to live a regular life. In a very irregular career.

It's nice to have time off.

After a few weeks of rehearsal, and then a weekend of shows, I was REALLY ready for some time off. My brain and body were exhausted, so I decided it was time to take it easy.

Monday in Canada happened to be Victoria Day, which someone tried to explain to me, but I'm not sure I got it. Apparently Victoria Day is celebrated on a Monday before Victoria's birthday (May 24). Victoria was the queen of England, and apparently Canada. I don't really get this. Anyway, it's still celebrated to honor the reigning monarch. In Toronto, slang for the holiday includes "the long weekend" and "may two-four". The second is apparently because a case of beer in Canada is 24 beers, commonly called a "two-four", and a lot of people use this holiday to get drunk! Nothing is open on Monday, and there are usually fireworks on Sunday and Monday nights.

On Sunday after the show, one of my cast members and his boyfriend threw a fireworks-watching party! Of course I got lost walking around Toronto at night, but I eventually found their fantastic apartment, and a big group of us watched the fireworks from the roof. Not to be prejudiced, but American fireworks are way better. Although they did have a lot of those melty sparkly ones I like. We could also see other smaller fireworks shows, and our Carlotta proceeded to argue with some locals we met on the roof about where the ones we were seeing were coming from. Great fun! Afterwards we all went inside to get warm, and ate and drank and chatted. I'm getting to know people better, and that's always fun. Eventually I had to leave, since on Monday I had to get up early!

I woke around 9 for a ten-thirty drive to Stratford, Ontario. A few months ago one of our wardrobe ladies had organized a trip to the Stratford Festival, and I got lucky and took the ticket of someone who could no longer go. I rode with Anne, our ASM, and our PM's adorable dog, Lucky. It took about two hours to get there, whereupon we had some lunch and let Lucky run around an adorable park. Stratford was so picturesque, with a little river running by and lots of trees. The Stratford Festival itself is a huge Shakespeare festival that apparently runs for almost ten months a year. A lot of famous Canadian actors come work there, and they now do a lot of Shakespeare, along with some other cool plays and occasionally a musical. We had tickets to 'The Merchant of Venice' starring Graham Greene.

The name didn't sound familiar to me, but you'd recognize him if you saw him. He's native American (or Native Canadian as they say here), and has been in tons of movies. Most recently TransAmerica, but he's an Oscar winner for Dances with Wolves. He was playing Shylock, which was some interesting casting, although I'd have to say in the future Graham should probably stick to film. Overall though, the show was great, with some FANTASTIC performances. A bit too conceptualized for my taste (masks, etc.), but very good.

After the show we walked Lucky, and then Anne and I drove back to Toronto. She grew up here, so it was great to have her drive around and point out some of the sights. I still say Toronto reminds me of Chicago, but it does have it's own adorable personality. Did you know there's a wooded ravine that cuts through the center of the city? The city just built around it! There's also a great range of architecture, since the city has been built with no plan, just spreading out all over the place. Downtown you'll find shopping and office buildings, and then a random neighborhood of old houses that were probably originally built on the outskirts of town. I can't wait to go check out some of the sights we drove by, like the Saint Laurence market, and the CN tower, and the castle right in the middle of downtown. We saw so much that I didn't get home until almost 9 pm.

I spent Monday night in, with the sounds of people downing "two-fours" outside my window. And most of Tuesday, I spent asleep! It's been a long couple of weeks just getting ready for the show. Luckily that rest and sightseeing was the perfect amount of just what I needed, and tonight's show was great!

Success! I am IN!

In 2003, I was a senior in college. One day Dominic Missimi called me and told me that I had an audition for Phantom, along with Katie Drago, Beau Davidson, and Dave Ruffin. We headed downtown, and even though I had bronchitis (there are bugs on her dugs - cough, cough) I sang. Katie and I got callbacks for the Wardrobe Mistress/Confidante, and then she booked the job. In the spring of 2006, I saw that Phantom was having an Equity chorus call, and I made time to go. At that audition the casting director stopped me after I'd only sung two bars, and asked if I had auditioned for him a few years earlier in Chicago. We chatted, and he told me he'd call me back. He did, over the summer of 2006, for a swing role on the national tour. I ended up not getting it, because my agent was told that I was too young. In November of 2006 the casting director called me in again, this time for an immediate replacement on Broadway. I gave a great audition, and then was told that they were promoting from within. They said that they still loved me, and that I was on "the short list", and they'd be calling when there was an opening. About a month ago, I got the call, and now, I've officially opened!!!

It was crazy, and fast, and now I've been officially open for three shows. The put-in on Friday was the beginning, and it went remarkably well. There were, of course, a few issues... but those were to be expected.

Since so many of my costumes are custom-made for me, they fit like a second skin. Meaning that I could barely move, and they take 10 minutes to zip up the first few times. They all have about a million zippers, belts, hooks, and other fun closures, and every minute counts when I'm running around like crazy. Although I haven't missed any entrances yet, I've come very close. My costume for Don Juan (the phantom's second opera) has a petticoat that's about TEN FEET around, and I have to have assistance walking around with it. During my opening show, I almost started crying when it took four people to do up the sticky zipper in the back, and I thought I was going to miss the whole scene. I ran all the way up, and out on stage, making it just in time. This happened with another costume during tonight's show, and since my gloves haven't stretched out yet, I was yanking them on as I walked on stage. A lot of my costumes were altered a bit after the put-in, since some of them nearly killed me.

My main wardrobe mistress costume, which I wear the most, caused the biggest problem during the put-in. There's one time where I have to do an onstage costume change for Christine, and then I gesture to her and back up offstage. I did the change perfectly, which was what I was nervous about, then proceeded to back up and FALL ON MY ASS. It was a ridiculous head over heels, tangled in my dress fall, and the show had to keep going as I was basically dragged offstage into the wings and then righted. Needless to say that dress has been shortened a bit, and I also now kind of walk sideways offstage.

There have been a few little mishaps that weren't my fault, like when a prop was missing, or when my dresser told me I wasn't supposed to wear my gloves in a certain scene. And there have been a few close calls, like when I put on my wig before my mask right before Masquerade, and then had to rip them off, switch them, and then run up twelve stairs just in time to freeze in place as the curtain opened.

Overall it's a crazy show for me, since I show up an hour before the show to do my makeup, pincurls, and prep, and then have no breaks until the show ends. Seriously, every free second is taken up, switching costumes, switching makeup, traveling from one place to another, offstage singing, and the like. But - it's a ton of fun. I'm already addicted to the change that happens... one second you're backstage in the dark hanging out and joking with cast and crew, then you step out onstage and you're transformed! You're performing, singing and taking on a whole new persona. It's amazing. It hasn't hurt either that I've only played to sold-out houses where the people go crazy. We've gotten a standing ovation every night!

All this combines to make me exhausted, but happy. My body hurts in strange and terrible ways, from the weight of 50-pound costumes (my Masquerade costume is about 15 years old and is affectionately known as "the couch"), high heels, pin curls and tight wigs, and who knows what else. My butt even hurts from having to do strange leg lifts nightly to step in and out of my costumes, which are laid out on the ground for me, but sometimes require a four-foot lift of my legs just to put them on. It's a great workout! Luckily I've got one show tomorrow, and then a day off. I can't wait to rest and let this all sink in!!

Yippieee!

I'm so excited! (and no, i'm not scared - jessie spanow) Yippieee! Tomorrow is my Phantom debut!! Even thought it's only been about a week and a half, I've been getting closer and closer to going on, and it seems to be taking forever. Today we had a rehearsal where we went through the whole first half of the show, and I aced it. Seriously, no script, no problems. And now, I'm dying to go on!

Instead of trailing or note taking tonight, I just sat back and watched. The whole company met early, at 7, to say goodbye to Katie, who I'm replacing. It was a great time. Rob, our Bouquet, had interviewed Katie on tape, and then spliced it to make it hilarious. She got some great gifts, and a few people stood up and talked about how much they'll miss her. I definitely have some big shoes to fill (even though Katie's 6 inches shorter than me) because she is very popular. She's super sweet to everyone, and is always going out of her way to make the show easier for people. Because of all that, she's well-loved, so it was a cute tear-fest. I didn't want to steal her thunder, so I spent most of the night out of the way.

I snuck into the balcony and watched, just like I did a week and a day ago. And it was great! Maybe it's the fact that I'm about to be a part of the show, but I really enjoyed it again, even after watching for a week. I also took a few more notes about my track, and then still had time to cry at the end. Watching again made me realize how excited I am to get started!!! The house was PACKED, and people were eating it up. I can't deny it... I love to ham it up onstage and have a huge audience applaud for me. There's something amazing about the energy that comes for the house! Ah! So basically, I'm dying for tomorrow to come.

It's going to be a really long day... I have to be in costume/makeup/etc. at noon ready to go for my put-in, and then I have a my debut show at night. But I'm soooo excited! I love my job! And I can't wait!!! Yippieeee!!!!

One Week and Counting...

Today I realized that I've been in Toronto for one week! I can hardly believe it, it seems to have flown so quickly. Although now that I'm looking back at it, the amount that I've learned in a week is staggering.

I spent the rest of the weekend trailing the show, and then on Sunday I got to learn my makeup! I think I'm probably unique in this aspect, but I love makeup. OK, it's pretty girly, and at times I have known to be girly (although Sloan would argue that my superhuman strength is not very girly), but I think that I love makeup more than your average girl. It's one of the things in a show that really helps me get into character, and feel like I'm stepping out of my real life. This show is going to be especially fun, considering I have some crazy makeup.

One of my tracks in the show is the "Confidante". If you're familiar with the plot of Phantom at all, you'll know that at the end of the first act, the Phantom writes a show for Christine. She is supposed to play the lead, and Carlotta (the opera diva) is supposed to be the mute. Instead, the Opera directors give Christine the role of the mute, and Carlotta the lead. This angers the Phantom, who causes Carlotta to start croaking like a frog during the middle of the opera. My big scene happens during this "opera" within the musical, when I play Carlotta's "confidante". This is when I get my solo! Since it's a period piece, it's also super-stylized, and my makeup is crazy. I promise to post pictures as soon as I take them. Anyway, it's going to be fun to experiment with the makeup for the next few days, although I'm sure that once I get started and I have to change my makeup three times during the show... I'll be sick of it real fast.

On Sunday night one of the cast members had a birthday, so everyone threw a surprise party at a bar nearby the theatre. I'm so used to being on a tour where we were forced to hang out together (it wasn't like we could go make friends with people who didn't speak English), that I've been kind of confused about the fact that no one here seems to hang out in big groups. It makes sense, considering that I'm one of the only people under 30, and a lot of people here are in relationships (usually married to someone else possibly in the cast), but it's so different than what I'm used to. Here after the show, most people go home or hang out in small groups. Because of that, it was nice for me to see everyone hanging out together - and it gave me another chance to practice learning names. I can't stress how hard it is when I have a conversation with someone backstage while they're wearing a costume, stage makeup, and possibly facial hair... and then I have no idea who they are in street clothes!

After the party I headed out to dinner with two cast members, Kyle and Michael, who both happen to be friends of friends. It's such a small theatre world! They were really helpful, filling me in on some important tour advice, and some even more important tour gossip. Let me just tell you that from what I've heard, this is a strangely incestuous group.

Today was finally my first day off. I slept in, then woke up and actually used the gym in my fantastic building. Later I ventured out to walk around Toronto. In general, it really reminds me of Chicago. It's a downtown right on the water, and there's even a Lake Shore Drive. I walked toward central downtown, and since there was some kind of hockey game today - I ran into all sorts of crazed fans. They really take their hockey seriously here! Aside from the hockey, and the slightly strange accents (sorry, eh, hockey - I can't even describe how those words are said up here), this could totally be the states. It's pretty funny to be in a different country that feels so similar. One of the neat things that I discovered about downtown is that since it's usually so cold here, a lot of the fun part of the city is underground! There are whole malls and restaurants down there, so in the winter you don't have to brave the cold!! I really think Chicago could take a tip from this, since I always thought that Old Orchard Mall was ridiculous for making you go outside between stores, even when it was snowing.

So, tomorrow's back to the routine. I did some studying, so hopefully all the memorization has sunk in. Repetition is my best friend, so it's just going to take some time. Luckily, I don't have my put in till Friday, and then I start Friday night - so I've got plenty of time. But, I should probably go through Masquerade one more time. Ugh!

This is hard work.

This last week has been a whirlwind! I'm pretty much physically and mentally exhausted from learning the show, which has turned out to be a bigger task than I expected, although totally do-able.

It started Tuesdsay with my daily rehearsals, noon-5pm. Every day since then I've rehearsed, going over and over the music, learning choreography, learning blocking, learning my prop and wardrobe handoffs, etc. I also find time to every once in a while make it to the costume or wig rooms to try on costume pieces that have arrived, one of my 3 wigs, or one of my two pairs of custom-made shoes! On Tuesday night I got to see the show for the first time, and I was pleasantly surprised. I was worried that a tour that's been out for a bizillion years (seriously, I found out that there are people on this tour who have been here since 1992!!!) might be tired and kind of gross. Instead, I found that the show was in good shape (better than B'way, which I saw a few months ago). The dancing isn't sloppy, the singing sounds great, and all the principles are strong. I shouldn't say too much in case people that I'm working with eventually read this, but I was also really impressed with our Phantom, John Cudia, who's fantastic! I know no one will be surprised, but I proceeded to cry buckets at the end, when I was sad for the poor lonely Phantom.

On Wednesday I watched the show from the downstage wings, which was great because I was right up by the action. I also walked around backstage and started meeting people. On Thursday I watched from the wings, and occasionally from backstage, paying more attention specifically to what my character was doing. And since Friday, I've been trailing Katie! Katie Banks is the person who I'm temporarily replacing, while she goes to the Broadway production. I couldn't be luckier, because she's been soooo nice to me, and I'm sure it gets annoying with me following on her heels all the time. Since Friday I basically spend the whole show following her, and taking notes on everything she does... where she takes off her wig, what jewelry she wears, when she changes her makeup, if she gets a break (nope), etc. The more I do of this the smoother the transition should be for everyone else when I go in on FRIDAY!

All of this basically adds up to a tired me. I'm doing my best to memorize everything (although I don't really want to break to the Stage Manager who's teaching me that I used to have a reputation for forgetting my words, and that in high school and college I almost always found a way to sneak script pages on stage for some extra help), but Masquerade is rediculous with all the slightly different words, millions of verses, and rediculous choreography. I'm also trying to meet and memorize the names of all my cast and crew members! I've never been great with names - through the years I've definitly called my friends by the wrong names, not to mention strangers, so this is really hard for me. On Friday I had a rehearsal with 8 other people, so they could practice the tracks they understudy or swing, and at one point a guy leaned over to me and said, "don't worry - there's another guy on your other side." and I said, "oh yeah, larry?" and he goes, "no, I'm larry." OOPS! That just tells you how good I am. Not only do I have to memorize who everyone is, I'm also trying to figure out who's single, who's crazy, who's married to each other, who's fun, and who to watch out for. It makes for a busy me.

Becuase of all this, I haven't had time to see Toronto at all, although I can see the awesome CN Tower (is that what it's called?) from my apartment, and the area around the theatre is adorable. I learn makeup tomorrow, rehearse all next week, and then have my put-in rehearsal Friday day, and my first show Friday night! Overall though, I'm really lucky. I'll have had almost two weeks by then, as opposed to our new male swing who gets here on Tuesday and also has is put-in on Friday! Whenever I think about complaining, someone reminds me that they did it in "three days". I know I'll be fine. Wish me luck anyway!

I'm going on tour again!

OK, so here I am, on tour again. It's amazing how quickly life can change. A few weeks ago I was working a bizillion jobs, struggling to make ends meet, and wondering if I'd ever get to perform again. Then, without even auditioning (seriously, the creative team hadn't seen me in 5 months!!) I booked a job. AND -- the best part is, it's a good job.

All theatre jobs are fun. OK, maybe that's a lie. They can be stressful, or you can make crappy money. Sometimes you work with talentless people, or you have to travel to a different city every night. Some shows take place in theatres with ten audience members, and sometimes sets fall from the sky and crush actors. But you perservere, because you're an actor and this is what you love to do. And you perservere because you hope that every step you take gets you a little closer to your ultimate goal, be that what it may. I've never been shy about the fact that I want to rule the world and be internationally famous. It helps my roommates win games where they have to know everything about me. I want to be a star, and so every time I get a job, I hope that it gets me a little closer to that goal. And overall, that's the part that I'm looking forward to the most. This is one of those jobs!

This is a job that is going to look fantastic on my resume, and hopefully give me that boost that I need to get cast in the really big leagues. Plus, now I'll have worked with some big people, and been cast by one of the three biggest casting agencies in NYC. It's a great experience, and it's a part that will stretch me a little without being stressful. Also, call me shallow, but this job pays. And as someone who's been working 8 days a week for the past few months, never seeing my friends, never shopping (which hurts me!), and working working working just to get by... well it's amazing to know that now I get to do what I want and make money.

So, off I go into the wild blue yonder for 8 months. This time I take off without a second thought. I might have trouble making friends, or singing 9 shows a week, but I doubt it. I bet that I'll have a good time, and make some cash, and come back a little happier and in a better place. Just arriving in Toronto made me feel like I was in a better place. Oh wait, I am! I'm living in a one-bedroom apartment by myself that is nicer than anywhere I'll probably live for the next 10 years. I can't wait to do laundry - IN MY APARTMENT! Yeah, I said it. And I know you're jealous.