Honest Abelicious

Wow! I can't believe it's been almost two and a half weeks since I blogged - what can I say? I've been busy!

What started as another week or two ago (I'm really into a routine here) got a bit crazier and more fun as it went along, leaving me at another weekend Exhausted! It started like this...

On Sunday night we are always really worn out. We've been doing shows non-stop, and the weekend is where they just keep coming. It's like we live at the theatre! Because of this, Sunday's shows are usually filled with some tired voices and a little bit of sloppiness. We do our best though, to keep it fresh and energetic. On this particular Sunday it was easier to get our energy up, because Condelezza Rice was in the audience! Even though most of the cast was making death threats under their breath (hardcore democrats in the theatre) we all stepped it up and gave 100%. And when the night was over, I of course got my second "midnight wind" and wasn't tired anymore! So, some friends and I headed out to see the new Harry Potter movie. Now I love movies, and I LOVE the HP books, so this movie could only be fantastic. I loved every second of it, and was quite impressed with how some of those teenage boys are growing up! Hee hee.

Monday I jumped back into my routine of sleeping late and running errands. Laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, a trip to the back... it's amazing how long it takes you to do simple errands when you don't have a car! I think my walk to the bank and then the grocery store was only a few miles, but it took me hours in the heat and humidity! But I need my rest, so it worked out well when I recover by sleeping for hours the next day. By Wednesday night though, some friends and I decided to have an adventure. Janice, Kyle, Dara, Sal and I headed out after the show to go to the Lincoln Memorial! We had to hike for about 20 minutes around highways and over one big hill, but eventually we got there! It was gorgeous at night, totally lit up with the hills dark all around it. You could see all the way across the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument, and we immediately started taking pictures. We climbed the pristine white steps and ooohd and aaaahd at the grandeur of Lincoln. I've always felt a special connection with Honest Abe, since we're birthday buddies! I totally recommend the monuments at night, because they're so peaceful and really just... monumental. It makes me want to be a good American.

On Thursday night for the show I dressed like a slob, totally forgetting that we were having a huge party with benefactors! Rich people who give money to the Kennedy Center love to tell their friends that they hung out with the cast, even if we don't really socialize that much at these things. I was wearing a stained tank top from 9th grade, so I challenged some of the ballerinas (who do NOTHING during the second act except watch tv and eat snacks) to make me an outfit out of found items in the dressing room. Jesse told me to wear my long black skirt as a tube dress, and make me a fantastic belt out of toe tape and toilet paper! It looked fantastic, and I got tons of compliments on my outfit. Project Runway here we come! The party was great, with fantastic food and fun drinks. We chatted a few people up, but mostly socialized amongst ourselves. Free food and drinks can always get our cast to bond.

Eventually the weekend was almost here, which is when we get reeeeally tired. On Friday or Saturday (it all blends together) I went to see Hairspray after the show with Sal, Adam, Janice, and Pamela. The movie was so much fun, I spent the whole time dancing in my seat. Then after the show, I was too excited to go home, so Janice and Pamela and I decided to hit up some bars in Georgetown! We went to Mr. Smiths, a great colleg-y piano bar, and stayed until it closed. Then we walked around and did some research on where to go on Sunday night. After the two shows on Sunday our old conductor Jonathan, who conducts the show in Vegas, was coming to visit, and we needed to go out.

So once again on Sunday night, exhausted out of our minds, we headed out. We ended up at a bar called Saloun, with a live Jazz band. Our group took up the whole back of the place, drinking beer and ordering pizzas. It was great to see everyone! By the end of the night, the "one drink" I was going to stay for had turned into more, and Jonathan, Sarah Lewis, Sarah Ford, Anne, Emily, Dara, and Sean and I were closing down the bar. Over the few hours we had met a celebrity (Shane Tallant, who hosts HGTV's Sell This House), I had gotten asked out by a limo driver named Saheed, and we had made friends with a woman named Linda who was too drunk to get out of the bathroom. The night ended with me getting Linda a chair, then coffee, and then helping the bartenders get her into a cab. Ridiculous! It was an amazing time, but I had to be up early the next day, so I headed home late and crashed! WHAT A WEEK!

Just Another Week...

After my busy weekend, I decided it was time to have a low-key day off. Ballerina Joelle was crashing again Sunday night, so on Monday I just slept in. I got some errands done in the afternoon, and then I had a dinner date!

One of my best friends from high school, Mark, is living in DC. He's been here for a few months, and I was pretty sure that he was a "buyer for the Navy". Of course since I've been in town our schedules couldn't have been more opposite, and every time we've made plans it hasn't worked out... until Monday! I took my subway line (oops - metro) out to the last stop, Vienna/Fairfax, and Mark picked me up. He took me on a little tour of the area of Fairfax where he lives, and I got to see his fabulous apartment. Mark is another one of my friends who is very grown-up. After college he moved all the way to Hawaii, then back to Ohio, and now he's got this fabulous job in DC, a city where he basically knows no one. It's so brave! He has a HUGE 1-bedroom apartment in the cutest little complex. He's got all the amenities in his apartment that I dream about, and it's all very put-together. It was very impressive to see a straight man with matching furniture, framed pictures, and a full set of pots and pans.

When Mark drove me around to see the area, he also drove by his office. Much to my surprise it was the National Reconnaissance Office. Who knew? Mark explained that his job was basically, "when someone needs boots, they call me. I find out what kind of boots they need, and then I find the best people to buy the boots from and I make a deal." I had imagined it more like there was a catalogue of submarines and Mark got to browse through it and then buy some, but I guess that's not quite right. Although I understand a little more about his job now, I still don't get it all. But, I think that's good. Since he's so top-secret, he can go to jail if tells me too much! It was all very exciting and Alias-like. He claims he's at a desk all day, but I know he's really playing dress-up and jumping out of planes carrying guns. YES. Anyway, we had a great dinner and he saw my apartment, which is smaller than his. No fair.

On Tuesday I ran more errands, and then got another show done. Wednesday was a two-show day, so at least we're part of the way there. Thursday was another show, and some apartment cleaning, laundry and groceries, and then Friday I went shopping and then did another show. This is pretty much a regular week! Saturday was two MORE shows, and we still have even TWO MORE tomorrow! That's a lot of shows.

Exciting things that happened this week:
Exciting yummy: I discovered that 600, the restaurant at the Watergate, has a great pre-show burger special. Hallelujah! I loooove burgers.
Exciting bad: One of our cast members, Kirk, was mugged on Thursday night! He went out after the show to the Logan Circle area of town, and was beat up on his way home! Apparently he was "punched in the face a few times" and we haven't seen him, so fingers are crossed that he's looking OK. I've heard rumors about the dangers of DC, but this definitely puts it in perspective.
Exciting amazing: At the beginning of the week our Raoul, Greg, stepped off a curb and was told that he fractured his ankle. Bad - it was going to be six weeks of a cast plus physical therapy! But, he went to a sports medicine guy who popped it back into place and it's good as new!
Exciting boring: I got new jewelry for my scene in Il Muto. It's very sparkly!
Exciting challenging: At Wednesday's matinee, the boat that Christine and the Phantom ride on didn't work! They had to walk through the "lake" but they did a very good job covering. The only people who noticed where the hardcore Phans, who proceeded to blog about it.
Exciting scary: During Masquerade, the Phantom appears at the top of the stairs to scare everyone. This is secret, but basically he goes up in a little elevator through a trap door that drops out of the stairs. Tonight during the show a swing was on, and he was accidentally standing on the trap door in the stairs. When it dropped down to let the Phantom's elevator come up, the swing almost fell through the trap door! One leg fell, and he screamed, but we all had to keep going! Then the Phantom couldn't come up in the elevator, so he had to run around and appear at the bottom of the stairs. It was the first time I've ever been actually scared during the Masquerade scare!
Exciting cool: Tonight, my sorority sister, Condelezza Rice was at the show! How cool is that?!?! Several dems in the cast suggested that we drop the chandelier towards the audience, but I'm sure they were joking... right?

What a Weekend!

So after my extremely exciting "weekend", I had to jump back into my real world, where regular people's weekend is my "hell". Waking on Thursday I had a total of about 5 hours of sleep, which was mostly broken up into naps. But, I had a two-show day, and my having been on vacation was no excuse to be tired. Through a fantastic combo of street meat, in the form of a hot dog, and some serious coffee, I made it through the first show. The second was a little harder, but I survived. It also helped that apparently between shows Emily Skinner (famous b'way actress for those of you who don't know) had been in the building rehearsing for something. As she was standing near our sign-in sheet in the theatre, THREE separate people all went up to her and said, "hi Beth!". Hilarious! Apparently when my friend Michael McCoy(first to go up to her) introduced himself, he said, "I'm so sorry, I thought you were Beth Kirkpatrick!", and she said, "Actually, I've gotten that before!". WHAT??? HILARIOUS!!

On Thursday night I had a surprise guest! My cast mate Joelle (ballerina) has had THE WORST time ever finding housing. Even worse than me. She and her roommate Carli have been hotel hopping for almost three weeks now, while they tried to work something out. Carli was really on vacation, so on Thursday Joelle and I had a sleepover! Luckily it was a great test for the air mattress that I got for Katherine, and we had tons of fun. Top Chef rules.

On Friday I finally got to sleep in a little, but I knew the weekend was going to be tough. On Friday night Kath arrived! I did the show, and then met up with her and her fantastic college roommate, Liz, at Lauriol Plaza, a bar near DuPont Circle. They were having a late dinner with friends, which I broke up. Liz, Kath, Liz's friend Kate and I (two Elizabeths and two Katherines) then all headed to Katherine's boyfriend (Frank)'s best friend's house. Is this confusing enough for you? There we met Frank's sister, Frank's best friend, and some of the best friend's friends. We boozed it up for a while, and I got to know Frank a little bit. Yes, Katherine, he seems smart, cute, and funny. Are you happy? I promise not to seduce him in a sarong, but that's a story for another day. After an hour, Kath, Liz, Kate, and I headed to Georgetown.

Georgetown is adorable by day, and pretty funny by night. All the dudes are wearing a uniform consisting of polo shirts, cargo shorts, and flip flops. It's like a bunch of ex-frat boys playing dress up in the slightly grown up world. As my cousin-once-removed Brad said, "DC is run by 25-year-olds." If that's true, Georgetown is where they hang out. We had a great time drinking, talking, dancing, and having guys try to impress us, until I had to head home. Two shows on Saturday means I really need my beauty rest!!!

Saturday's first show was fueled by chicken salad, coffee, and the knowledge that I had friends in the Audience. Katherine, Liz, Frank, Frank's sister Nora, and Brad were all there. It was also a fun show because exciting things happened! Just as we were all going to enter for the first big number, Hannibal, we were watching across stage. One of our swings, Tewks, had just started to enter when we saw him get pulled backward. As we entered he was missing, and halfway through the scene another swing entered, having just quick-changed into Tewks' costume! Apparently so many people called out of the Broadway production of Phantom (calling out is what you do when you're sick, on vacation, or can't come for some reason) that they were short. At the nighttime performance there was no one to play the opera divo, Piangi. New York had called, and Tewks was going to be put on a plane immediately to fly to be in the evening show! How exciting! Of course an hour later when things were firmed up, Tewks wasn't needed. Apparently they had found someone in NYC who had played the part years ago. But, it was very exciting for us backstage!!

After the show I gave the group a quick tour, and they all seemed suitably impressed, although I secretly wonder if they fell asleep. Frank and Nora had to take off, so the rest of us headed down by the water for some seafood and sunburn. This weekend just got hotter and hotter! It was great fun to see Brad, who I haven't spoken to since he was about 11 years old at a Kirkpatrick family reunion in Turkey Run, IN. He's definitely grown up since then! I also tried to talk Brad and Liz into getting me tickets to some of DC's finest sights, since they work in politics. Eventually I had to head back to the theatre to get ready for the nighttime show.

On Saturday night I was pretty tired, but I had more friends at the show! My old college roomie Jill was there cheering me on, along with our friends Ilana and Debra. It was great to see them, and after the show we all headed to Brickskeller for some pizza and beer. It might have been some of the best pizza of my life. It's making me hungry just thinking about it! Afterwards Kath and I headed out to Ballston to sleep in my fabulous apartment. TV is the devil, because it makes me never want to sleep. On Sunday we headed back for two more shows, and I was more tired than ever. Kath hung out with friends while I groaned through the first show (more coffee, please) and then we met for dinner afterwards. Then she had to take off! I only had one more show to suffer through, and luckily that was enough to keep my going. More coffee made it happen, and now finally I get a day off.

Not that next week will be any better! We only had seven shows this week, as opposed to our usual eight, so next week we have NINE to make up the difference! I feel tired just thinking about it!! Send me your coffee-filled thoughts!

Vacation!!

After a truly exhausting weekend of show after show (they all blended together into one caffeine-fueled blur) I was really ready for a break. Luckily we had Monday, Tuesday, AND Wednesday off this week, in honor of the fantastic Fourth of July! Since I only have one friend in DC (Mark) and we haven't even hung out yet... the idea of a few days alone in DC seemed a little boring. Soooo... I decided to hit the train and party it up in NYC!!

I left Monday morning and rode my first long-distance train. The Chinatown bus is cheaper, but I've got a real job now, and I figured I could splurge. The train ride was actually pretty fun. I got a yummy microwave burger and took a nap and got some reading in. Loved it! When I arrived in New York I went straight out to Kew Gardens to visit my old bestie Marti in her fabulous apartment.

Marti and her adorable fiancee Joel are the most grown up of all my friends that are around my age. They are getting married this fall and they're totally adults. They own their own apartment that is gorgeous and so pulled-together. They make their own dinners and Marti crochets baby clothes and Joel builds furniture and it's all very lovely. I love hanging out with them because they're also very laid-back. We spent the afternoon and evening just laying around and watching TV and doing crafts and living in their gorgeous apartment. We even made plans to hit up a movie and dinner and then canceled them to order Chinese and watch The Wonder Years. It was a perfect evening.

When I woke up on Tuesday, I had to say goodbye and head back into my true home, Manhattan. I was meeting four besties (Matt, Tiffany, Jess, and Kenneth) for a lunch date! Unfortunately we were meeting near Matt's workplace... Rockefeller Center-ish... and it was a nightmare. I forgot how much sidewalk rage I get walking around New York. Note to non-New Yorkers: Do not stop in the middle of the street. Do not walk slowly. Pull over to look at a map. Do not piss me off. Luckily it didn't take me long, and we all met and hugged and headed to a brasserie for lunch. We ate and caught up, and the afternoon sped by, until it was time to head "home".

When I think about my home in New York, it's definitely my UWS apartment, on 95th and Columbus. I have lived there a total of 16 months (minus a few out-of-town engagements) and that's a record for me. It's also the apartment that contains my fabulous roomies, Kenneth and Sloan. We may have had our ups and downs... differing degrees of cleanliness included... but we have the best time ever. It was great to see them. I lounged around with Kenneth for a while, playing with our pet-sitting project Lola, until it was time to get ready for a night out!

It's true that every time I go in or out of New York, I have a party. I'll find any excuse, from a birthday to a job to unemployment. So, on Tuesday I called and texted a bunch of my friends, and we all met up at a bar in Hell's Kitchen, called Vintage. It was a perfect night. It ended up being a group that combined people from college, high school, sound of music, and various other places. Everyone got along swimmingly, and I got to catch up with all my besties! We ate and drank and chatted, and it made me realize even more how much I miss them, and how lucky I am to have such a fantastic group of friends. At the end of the night we considered bar-hopping, but instead headed home to bond. I was SOOOO exhausted from the busy and stressful week that I crashed as Sloan was popping in a movie!

The next day was the 4th of July! I woke up lazily, to the sound of a barking Lola, and immediately made plans to meet up with my super bestie Flann. I hopped in the shower and met him and his cousin and cousin-in-law at Gabriella's, the FANTASTIC Mexican restaurant a block from my apartment. It was great fun catching up, and a perfect way to start a lazy holiday. Afterwards a bunch of friends came over, and we hung out on our roof deck. The day was overcast, but it was nice and cool (MUCH better than DC's humidity). We drank beers and ate chips, and it felt very American. Eventually we moved to our back patio, and then when it started to pour, inside. By this time there was a group of about ten of us, so we decided to start some game time!

I LOVE GAMES! I especially love to WIN games, so I like to play Celebrity, because I'm pretty good at it. I ended up on a team with Sloan and Tiffany, and I knew we were looking good. Chris, Miles, and Leisy put up a good fight, and Henry, Naclerio, and Kenneth tried their best, but after a few million rounds, we narrowly cam out on top, kicking butt amidst boos and questions of cheating. Although I'll have you know that Sloan NEVER cheats, although I do whenever I'm the banker. After gaming, time was running out for patriotic things, so we decided to find some fireworks. Finding a good place to watch fireworks in New York is like finding a straight single man there, basically impossible. You might find a little view, but it's obviously crowded, or covered by trees, or smelly, or something. All three 4th's I've had in the city involved severe pushing or obstructed views. We decided to try something different, so we headed out to Long Island City, Queens.

It wasn't far on the subway, and our jovial mood took us all the way. When we arrived we were right by the famous Coca-Cola sign, on the water, across from a beautiful view of Manhattan. We were a little nervous because it was raining off and on, but Naclerio and I just just got soaked and worked our drowned rat look. When the fireworks actually started, they were fantastic! Kenneth took video, and Chris ran up front to get the best view. Leisy made fun of Asian people, and Tiffany and Miles cuddled. I don't think I've ever been as close to fireworks, and it was perfect. It stopped raining long enough for us to enjoy them perfectly, and they were spectacular. When they were over we all cheered, and then headed out on a pier to take pictures.

We ended the night back at V*ynl, a restaurant with some of my favorite yummy food. We ate until we thought we'd burst, and then it was time to head home. I got to chill with my three adorable roomies (I've been so easily replaced by my adorable subletter Dave) for a few hours before it was time to say goodbye! I was on the 3am train out of Penn Station, and I was back in my bed asleep in DC by 8. Today was a long exhausted (caffeine-filled) day, but it was totally worth it. I love New York, and I LOVE MY FRIENDS!

TJ's Please

On Thursday I my dad was coming into town for business, so I woke up early and took advantage of his car. We drove around, hitting up Costco and Linens and Things, in preparation for my expectation of having lots of house guests. Yes? My sister’s coming next weekend, so I had to be prepared. Luckily after shopping with dad, there is now a gorgeous double blow-up bed with fresh sheets ready and waiting under the tree in the corner of my living room. It makes it feel like Christmas! Dad and I also had lunch, and then I dragged him to Trader Joe’s – my fave!

Last winter I was living in Cleveland for a few months doing a dinky little show with a total of five cast members (including myself). The city was pretty yucky, with cold weather and a closed art museum. Every day my friend Jaron and I would only have a few choices of what to do. Sit at home, go to the mall, or go to Trader Joe’s. We weren’t making enough money to hit the mall daily, so we became TJ’s addicts.

In case you’ve never been, TJ’s is kind of a fancy, healthyish, grocery store, with a laid back, friendly vibe. I believe it started out in California in the mid-nineties, and has slowly spread across the country. It’s famous to my generation for being the number one purveyor of Two-Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw wine that costs around $2 and stands up in taste tests). It also carries really yummy produce, and the best frozen meals and desserts around. Another great thing is that the people who work there are fantastic. They’re kind and sweet and helpful, and they’ll always go out of their way to give you recommendations and assistance. In Cleveland we made friends with a bunch of the salespeople, who from then on were constantly opening things up and giving us samples so we could decide what we liked enough to buy! That was enough to get me hooked for life.

Dad and I were on a time crunch, since he had a flight to catch, and due to the unpredictable and usually shitty traffic DC can be a nightmare. We raced into TJs and shopped at a record pace, but it was totally worth it. By the time we had driven home, unloaded all my new loot, and Dad was on the road again, I was staring at a freezer full of goodies. Now the challenge is to eat them all before I leave, but luckily I’ve got a month and a half to go. Wish me luck!

Let's Give Em Something to Sing About

I’m now officially into a regular schedule here in DC. That means that we’ve begun to stray from regular life and spice things up a bit. On Wednesday one of ballerinas, Carli, had a birthday! She used it as an opportunity to throw a crazy karaoke party for the company.

Little did I know that people around here are serious about their karaoke. For the day and show before the party, everyone was going around claiming songs and talking about the last time they all went. Who sang what, the craziness that ensued, etc. When I’ve karaoke’d with my besties in NYC, of course people have their favorite songs. And of course since we’re musical theatre people, these songs are usually ones that we sang in class in college. No one would ever really officially “claim” one, but there’s no way I’d touch some songs, knowing that so-and-so would be pissed. Apparently the same goes here, but to a more official extent. There were bizarre stories about people singing their signature, and I was going in blind. But if you know me, you know that once gently prodded, I freak over karaoke (SOMA kids will tell you about the times that they had to pry mics out of my hand), so I knew this was gonna be good.

Post-show I cleaned up and walked over with Sal and Adam, all the way to adorable Dupont Circle. Supposedly this is the gay area of DC, but I haven’t seen evidence of this yet. The bar we headed to, ‘Japone’ was decked out with a huge sushi bar, but all we needed were drinks to get started. There were about 25 or 30 of us, and we filled almost the whole place, aside from a table of six people who were about to become our friends. Carli got things started by singing, and from then on chaos ensued. Some people were hesitant, but luckily it was the kind of place where you put in your request and get to sing two minutes later. There’s nothing worse than trying to karaoke only to leave four hours later still waiting for your song to be called. Because it was so fast, it was easy to put in requests and then bully people into singing by shoving the mic into their hands.

I was a little nervous, because everyone was doing a great job of making this competition-free karaoke. One of the dangers of going karaoke-ing with performers is that people will get up and try to out-sing each other. It’s easy to get caught up in that, but it’s not as fun. Everyone here had mastered the art of picking fun and crazy songs and then acting like a fool. Even the strangers at the next table had it down. After a drunken announcement that one of the guys was “the most decorated marine in the war against terror”, they sang the karaoke hit “I Wanna Fuck You Like An Animal”. Classy. With their hardcore hick Southern accents it was perfect. Our favorite was the girl who then tried to rap, and eventually finished off with Patrick Swayze’s “She’s Like the Wind”. I can’t type it in a Southern accent, but just thinking about it makes me crack up.

All this song-selection perfection made me doubt my standard (It’s Raining Men – it won me the title of Dance Marathon Idol 2003 at NU) because I knew it could be pretty hardcore. Instead, someone suggested the classic ‘Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About’. It’s a great song, but it’s got some history with my classmates at Northwestern… a long story involving a fight between friends, where the final blow was the appropriation of the song by the winner. I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole at home, but here… why not! And of course by the time I was goaded into singing we’d been drinking for quite some time. I got one of the dancers, Janice, to come up as my back-up singer, and somehow in the middle of the song felt the need to demonstrate my super-human strength by lifting her with one arm. I must say that the whole performance turned out to be a big hit. We all sang a billion more times until the lights on the bar were suddenly on, and Janice and I were staggering out, escaping from the decorated marines who said that we sang like angels. I love DC!