Oh Sally boy...

What a weekend! What could have been just another busy show weekend transformed into a lot of responsibility and a lot of fun.

Let me start from the beginning. Whenever someone leaves the company, we have a little party for them before their last show. We eat their favorite foods, and there are usually cards signed by everyone for them. We also like to put on a little skit. The skit is usually the highlight of the goodbye, filled with inside jokes, imitations, and lots of silliness. Since I've been here I've seen two, and they've both been awesome. For Katie's goodbye (the girl I replaced) there was a video that had been edited to make her answer questions with funny answers. For Kate's goodbye there was a man in a tutu and a serenade by the Phantom. And that's just the beginning! I've heard tons of stories about fantastic and funny goodbyes, and i know there's more that I can't even imagine.

So, since Sal, one of my favorite cast members, was leaving... a goodbye was in order. Carli, one of our ballerinas, has organized tons of goodbyes over the years. She recruited me to help, and we started brainstorming. All last week we would say... "oh, we really should work on Sal's goodbye", and then we'd go back to doing the show. We would occasionally think of something that should be added, and then later couldn't remember it. We were not making much progress, and the goodbye was getting closer and closer. Finally on Friday we had our first good ideas, and after about five minutes of planning were a bit closer to our goal. Sal has a fierce pop voice, and has auditioned for American Idol in the past (he got to sing for Simon, Paula, and Randy, but Simon told him that his cheeks puffed out too much when he sang). He also is the inventor of the idea (with Katie) of Ghetto Phantom. Ghetto Phantom is the concept of doing Phantom in a ghetto style, with booty dancing, strippers, and Crystal Diamonds (Christine Daae) as a drug addict. Because of all this, Carli and I decided to rock out with a skit centering on these ideas.

Since we had been brainstorming for a few days, we figured we could crank out the script in an hour or so, and since we were so busy during the week, it got pushed back to Saturday between shows. So after our first show on Saturday, Carli, Sean, Emily, and I went to dinner to write the script. We sat down and gabbed and came up with a million great ideas. Unfortunately we realized that since the show was the next day, we were running out of time! After two hours of eating and talking, we finally had an outline and some serious ideas. We planned a rehearsal for after the second show, and cast the show with people who we wanted to play the roles.

Carli and I had eventually decided on on a skit that was the premier episode of a TV show called "Ghetto Phantom". It was the search for the stars of the new Broadway musical 'Ghetto Phantom', featuring as judges our director, choreographer, and music director. It involved a lot of choreographed dancing, bad auditioning, and spanking of asses. It was also in horrible shape after our shoddy rehearsal on Saturday night. Not everyone showed up, and jokes didn't land as well as they should have. Carli and I were pretty nervous, but figured there wasn't a lot we could do. That night we were freaking out a bit, but on the two show days there's not a lot of time to figure things out, so we thought we would just fly by the seat of our pants and figure it out as we went.

On Sunday between shows, I had a goodbye dinner with Sal where he reminisced about all his time with the tour, and what he'll miss the most. Then I ran back to the theatre and we all got to work. We banged out another quick rehearsal, and things went much better. We tweaked the skit some more and added some specifically Sal jokes. We added costumes and attitude, and we were on our way. Suddenly things happened very fast, and before we knew it, it was time to perform! I had run out of time, but I quickly changed into my outfit (heels, booty shorts, a hat, earrings, bra, and cropped jacket) and we got the party started. And even with all the drama that happened putting the show together, it went very smoothly. Everyone performed amazingly, and the audience loved it! Sal and his boyfriend Adam were front and center, and they laughed so hard that they cried. Overall it was the perfect goodbye for Sal... funny, inappropriate, goofy, and pretty fierce.

I'm attaching a picture but don't look at it too long or your eyes may fall out of your head.

Week two in canada, and I'm full!

After my crazy Ottawa Monday, I was done being productive for a while. I've settled in nicely! The rest of the week was full of cleaning, grocery shopping, and other mundane things.

Triana and I have been shopping together frequently, hitting up the wonderful huge Hartman's grocery, as well as our favorite 24-hour convenience store. Unfortunately in my first few days here, my friend Sarah and I discovered these tiny carrot cakes at the convenience store. They looked funny, and claimed to contain "real carrots", so I knew I had to get them. Unfortunately they also happen to be delicious, which sucks. Now I want to eat them all the time! Of course the store's open 24-hours, and it's right next to McDonald's, so the carrot cakes always look like the healthier decision. Reeeally healthy, right?

This is another problem with Ottawa. Too many late-night eating options. I never thought I'd complain about that, since usually I'm desperately hungry post-show. Here though, within one block of my hotel are a MickeyD's, Wendy's, Pizza Pizza, the convenience store, Mayflower Pub, and Dunn's (the 24-hour deli/diner). They are all open when I walk home at night! Luckily when i walk home with someone else I can usually resist, although you know that as soon as you've locked your door someone texts that they're hungry and you meet for food. In a normal city like DC, where things are closed at night, I do much better. I eat popcorn, or some fruit, or occasionally some grilled cheese or mac'n'cheese. Here, the options are endless, from bacon cheeseburgers to milkshakes to waffles to pizza. Damn! You can really feel it when your costumes get too tight!

They were also tight for a day or two also thanks to an amazing meal I had with my friend Michael. We went to The Ritz (the restaurant, not the hotel) on Elgin, a block or two from the hotel. In honor of this being my first production contract, he treated, and we went all out! I had an amazing spinach salad with goat cheese, figs, and pine nuts, and then a homemade pasta with prosciutto and mushrooms. For dessert I had a chocolate sabayon that was to die for! A lot of people on the road become addicted to good meals, and I can see how it can happen. Especially in Canada, where we try not to shop because of the horrible exchange rate and slew of taxes. There's not much to do daily except enjoy a stellar meal! This one was amahhhhzing.


On Wednesday night we had a company event, the pre-going-away party of cast member Sal. Sal's been in the show for a year and a half now, and he's ready to move on. He was a friend of my friend Matt's when I joined the show, and was super sweet to me from the get-go. We've become good friends in the few months I've known him and his boyfriend Adam, and they will be very much missed! So on Wednesday after the show a while bunch of us headed to Friday's to party. Friday's is not TGI Friday's (although I wouldn't have been too upset) but is actually a famous roast beef house in an adorable historic French house. The top floor is also an old fashioned piano bar! When we first arrived there were about ten reeeally old people (we're talking 70s and 80s) sitting around the piano while the funny Asian pianist sang quietly. We rolled our eyes and all swore we'd stay for "just one drink".

A few minutes later we were all chatting and having fun, and moving on to drink number two. Then Sarah took the lead and sang! After that it was an avalanche of us taking over the mic. Sal sang an unbelievable 'Unchained Melody' that even Simon Cowell would have loved. The accompanist actually stood up to shake his hand! I brought the house down in my own way with 'Bewitched, bothered and Bewildered", and everyone was sufficiently surprised by my voice. It's funny to think that most of the cast thought I could only sing like an opera singer - and it's very nice to surprise them with some mixing and belting! We all sang and eventually our assistant conductor David even took over the piano. A few hours later we were all sung out, but it was a fabulous time!

On Friday our head honcho Peter was coming out to check up on some new Phantom possibilities, so for the rest of the weekdays we were on our best behavior. Our regular Phantom, John, is going on vacation for the rest of Ottawa, so we've got a revolving door of guys filling in. Greg, who plays Raoul, is going on for the first time this weekend, so Peter's probably here to mainly see him. Tewks, another understudy, has done the role before and is Awesome, so that will be fun to see too. David G, yet another old understudy, has done the role on the B'way, so I am excited to see him too. Although our review was wary of our understudies, I think this company is always totally prepared. The understudies keep the show fresh, and it's great to see all the small choices that an actor can make to make a character different. I like it, and I know all these guys will rock this weekend!

The end of DC

Since I always get caught up in the end of a city, travel days, and beginning the next one, I neglected to finish out the end of my DC stay. Here goes!

On my last Thursday in DC I met Kyle, Joelle, Triana, and Joelle's friend Shane at Cafe Mozu in the Mandarin Oriental, for yet another restaurant week meal. Shane is a childhood friend of Joelle's who now hosts an HGTV show called 'Designed to Sell'. It was great to have someone new around to spice up our talk and keep us from obsessing about the show. Cafe Mozu specialized in Japanese-American fusion, so we all had some amahhhhzing sushi, along with some Asian ribs, tuna soup, bread, and tempura lychees to end. Yummy!

After lunch I needed to finally hit up my long awaited museum, the Holocaust Museum. I spent three and a half hours there, and could have stayed longer. To anyone who's visiting DC, I highly recommend it. It's fantastically done in a way that makes it both shocking and resonating, accessible and educational. I was very moved, and will definitely go back the next time I'm in town. Unfortunately I eventually ran out of time because I had to head to the theatre. Thursday's show was a hit, and as soon as it was over I had a great treat waiting for me at the stage door - my bestie Marti! Marti is an old best friend from high school, who took the train in to hang out.


After the show coincidentally people were heading back to my old favorite, Old Ebbitt, so Marti and I headed along so she could meet people. With a table for 13 we were eating a feast of seafood and drinking vino for a few hours before we finally headed home. Marti and I caught up on all our gossip, and eventually hit the sheets. Then on Friday she and I hung out all day, until the two of us met our friend Mark (also from high school) for dinner! The three of us have been friends practically forever... we met and were friends in sixth or seventh grade, which puts it at about 13 or so years. That's ridiculous! I don't have many friends who have been around longer, so they're very special to me. We ate and gabbed and they of course made fun of me, which completed the scenes that we always share. Eventually I had a job to go to, but they got to hang out all night. No fair!


On Saturday I had two shows, so I left Marti on her own to hang out with Mark and have dinner with a good friend of hers from college. The shows went well, and I actually squeezed YET ANOTHER restaurant week dinner into my day. Kyle, Jen, Carli, Triana, and I headed to Notti Bianche, a fantastic restaurant just a block from the Kennedy Center. We'd walked past is several times, but it wasn't until our perusing the food reviews that we realized what a find it was. Of course when we called for reservations they claimed to be booked, but when Kyle stopped by and dropped the P-word (we Phantom-ites don't like to do it, but occasionally...) we were in! We ate the most amazing meal ever, with some fantastic bonuses.


From the start the manager was sending us tastings, which was a great sign. We thanked him profusely, and enjoyed the food the the best possible extent. Then it got even better. When we asked for the check, the manager told us that the bill was on him! We protested for a bit, but he told us that is was the least that he could do. Phantom had brought him a lot of business, and it was one way of showing his appreciation. We were stoked! It was definitely one of the greatest meals, and it was FREE!


After the second show Marti and I hung out, and made plans for her upcoming wedding. I'm so excited for her - she has a fantastic fiancee, and I love it when people I love marry other people I love. Perfect! We stayed up late, and then on Sunday she headed out with me to head home. It was such a fun visit. Sunday's shows went well, and on Sunday between shows I had another unexpected treat! Sarah Ford, Emily and I randomly decided to have dinner, and then we all decided to hit up Ethiopian! I've never eaten Ethiopian food before, and the first Ethiopian restaurant in the US was actually in DC. The Ethiopian there is supposedly great, and the whole time I'd wanted to try it out. It worked out perfectly. We headed to Zeke's, which also coincidentally had a... Restaurant Week Menu. I had some yummy peppered beef called something like Beef Zulikuli, and it was great. The spongy Ethiopian bread, plus a potato salad (not what you're thinking), and a chocolate caramel pyramid left me very satisfied.


I did the last show on Sunday and said goodbye to my dressers, and was on my way. It really was a great way to say goodbye to DC.... if you don't count what happened afterwards. Oh well!

I love you, Ottawa

Thursday was another two show day, with some yummy seafood on my dinner break with Kyle and Janice, and then it was Friday, our official opening! It went pretty well, and then afterwards we had a party at the Metropolitan, a restaurant nearby. Tons of free flowing food and liquor made for a very happy cast, and spirits were high. Cool weather, lots of parties, good hotels... these things combined to put everyone in a very good mood.



Then on Saturday our review came out. Not that it was bad, it actually complemented everyone heavily, especially the Phantom. That was the problem. The columnist also noticed the fine print in the program saying that John, our Phantom, was going on vacation after a week. Then she wrote the whole review about how the show was good now, but who knew what would happen when we had a Phantom understudy on. She said that people should have been warned, and basically accused the show of being smarmy. It stirred up a whole lot of drama, especially since the same columnist had interviewed John earlier in the week for a press-release and had criticized him then for being "too careful" with his words, and not giving up any good gossip. DUH! We can get fired for gossiping in the press! Anyway, the whole thing made the company a little wary, since now we were hearing rumors that people were trying to return tickets, and we were wondering if quieter audiences were just part of Ottawa or if they hated us.



Luckily we shook it off pretty quickly, thanks to some city lovin' that seems to be contagious. Saturday and Sunday's shows went well, with great groups of us heading to the fantastic ByWard Market area (ten minute walk from the theatre). It's a whole area filled with restaurants, shops, and a great outdoor market that's fun and kind of hippie-ish. It's the perfect place to kill time between shows. With the amazing weather we all just walk and talk and eat outside, and it's wonderful how it keeps your spirits up. The only real additional drama was when one of the pyro effects didn't work during Saturday's matinee, but if that's the worst that happens, we're ok. I ended the week exhausted, but optimistic. Then on Monday, I clinched it!



My friends Emily, Jen, and Triana and I decided to do something uniquely Ottawa, so we met up in the early morning (11:30 am - can you believe they made me get up that early?!) and rented bikes! Ottawa has a giant canal, called the Rideau Canal, that runs down the middle of the city, which I believe was originally built to transport military equipment, aid in defense, and then later to move goods, without having to involve the US. There's a fantastic 8km bike trail starting near the Parliament building and heading South past some of the famous locks that are still in use today. The weather when we arrived at Parliament was unbelievable, so we headed down to rent bikes.



Emily works for company management, Jen is our concertmaster (first violinist), and Triana is a ballerina. Jen is also about 4'11, and hadn't ridden a bike in about 15 years. When we first arrived, I pointed out a kid's bike to Jen, and suggested that she try it out. I was quickly shot down by an actual little girl who said, "it's MY bike!" Luckily there were more bikes, and soon we were all outfitted, including a helmet for the trepidatious Jen. We took off at a pretty slow pace, and the ride was great. Riding along the Eastern side of the canal we could see adorable apartment buildings and houses, with the cutest architecture. There were neat bridges, and lots of greenery. BUT - about fifteen minutes in Jen took a tumble. Luckily we were at a section of the bike path where there was a railing between us and the canal, and she fell into that instead of the water. However, as she's a violinist, we were a little nervous about her bumped elbow and shin. But she was such a trooper that after a break we continued on.



We rode for two and a half hours, covering the 8km trail down the East side and back up the West side of the canal. We ran into one of our crew guys, Dean, along the way, and we took a few short breaks. I rode almost the whole second half standing up, since my butt was majorly sore. The views were great, the flowers were bright and stunning, and we even got some fun photos out of the day. As we slowly pedaled back to return the bikes, we had big smiles on our faces. Just as we were almost there, we ran into our Raoul, Greg. He had just come back from the gym and was on his way to lunch. We were about to eat our hands, so we made plans to meet at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier and get some eating done.



The FCL is a gorgeous hotel that looks like a Disney castle. It's right across from Parliament, and it's very fancy. After we returned our bikes (and got a great discount because the guy "was so glad that we had a good time" - can you believe the niceness of Canadians?) we met up at the Fairmont's outdoor restaurant and had a delicious meal while we overlooked Parliament and the Canal. Originally the day had possibly included facials, but when we called and they were booked, we made new plans. After lunch we headed to Rue Sparks (rue being French for street), a great pedestrian mall with junky shops, restaurants, and eventually a mall. The five of us walked and laughed and stopped to rest our aching feet in Starbucks and wait for our second wind. It came in the idea of hitting up the hot tub at the Extended Stay (my hotel), so we all booked to grab bathing suits, and met up there.



Dean joined us, and we ran into Edgar and Scarlett, two more crew members who had the same idea. It was great on our sore muscles, and after an hour of hot water we were laughed out, tired, and hungry again. We all showered and met back in the lobby around 8:30, before setting out to get some dinner. Jen, Emily, Triana, Greg, Dean and I enjoyed some great pub food before setting out on yet another adventure. This time, we caught a ten o'clock screening of the show on the side of Parliament. It's a laser light show, that basically puts giant projections on the front side of the building. It plays music and tells the story of Canada. It was a little funny, but very educational. Jen and Triana and I were freezing, so we stood in the back and danced around and had a generally great time.



As we walked home, we decided to make it a full 12 hours of hang-out time, so we all stopped at Dunn's, the 24-hour deli between hotels, where we dined on desserts and hot chocolate. Then I stumbled home, full and exhausted, and loooooving this great city!

Am I In Canada? Read On!

A few hours after I wrote my last blog, a plan was in place. At 7 am I was on the phone with my mom, who LUCKILY had my birth certificate locked up in the family safe. By nine she had taken it to FedEx and it was on its way to me in DC. By nine I had reserved a rental car and finally calmed down, so I decided to finally go to bed for the night. I set my alarm for 1pm, so I could clean and pack some more, and then tucked in to sleep.

At 4pm my mom called, waking me out of my deep sleep. DAMN! Of course I had to then take a super-fast shower, run some errands, and then hop on public transportation (metro and then a bus) to get out to the airport to pick up my car. I missed my first bus, but by 7:30pm I had a white Buick Lacrosse under my butt, and I was heading back to my apartment. The rest of my Monday was spent cleaning, packing, and trying to be as ready as possible, so that on Tuesday morning at 10 I could walk downstairs, grab my FedEx package, and be on the road. By 2am I was in bed, with an alarm for 8am set.

On Tuesday at 10am, my mom called. I WAS ASLEEP AGAIN! I jumped out of bed, and immediately had to start a load of laundry so that I could wash the sheets I had slept on. This is the problem when you're living in someone else's apartment. As the laundry churned, I packed up every last piece of anything, and vacuumed, leaving absolutely no trace that I had even ever lived in the apartment. I went to grab the car and parked it downstairs, and then slowly wheeled my enormous suitcases downstairs. When everything was shiny and clean, I locked up and prepared to hit the road. With a fruit smoothie in hand, I headed out to face the wilds on my way to Canada.

From DC starting around noon, I drove due North, passing through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and eventually Canada. The sights were generally very pretty... lots of hills, trees, and green pastures. I had packed some of my favorite long-distance snacks, including carrot sticks, goldfish, and diet coke, and so I didn't stop until dinner time. After gas and a McDonald's drive-thru, I was back on the road. I spent most of the time listening to the radio, or to the three CDs I had randomly on hand (Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon, Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion, and a mix that my bestie Flann had made me) which was awesome. I sang as loud as I could and made friends with other drivers as we took turns following each other. By about 8:30 I had just crossed over the 1000 Islands, and was heading into Canada.

Driving into Canada, the first thing you encounter is a man in a booth, who looks harmless, but immediately starts firing questions at you. I must have hesitated, because after he asked me questions like, "where do you live, where are you coming from, what are you doing here, how long are you staying, is this your car?" He commented that I spent time in lots of metropolitan areas, and then told me to pull over and go into the customs building. YUCK. Of course I did, and as I walked in I knew this was going to be an adventure. There were about two people really working, and five other customs officers just wandering around doing who-knows-what. There were six people sitting on chairs at the side of the room, and ten in line in front of me. As I waited I listened to their stories.

On the chair to my left was a woman with two children, who was a Mexican illegal immigrant into the States. She was trying to get into Canada, but since she was already illegally in the States, they wouldn't let her in. Directly in front of me was a British man who was coming to Canada for business. Apparently he worked for some architecture company that was coming to give a proposal, that would hopefully get him work. This was also not cool with Canada. Another couple was from Iran, and they were trying to come into Canada only to take a flight to go to Belgium. But, they didn't have passports. The agent tried to explain that they couldn't fly without passports, and that they couldn't come in only to fly, because then when they tried to fly back into Canada the country would have to spend money deporting them.

My favorite people were the three men from Georgia. They had the thickest Southern accents I've ever heard, and one kept on taking off his shoes. They were being held because all of them had serious felonies on their records, including one of them having a conviction for murder! He kept saying, "I ain't tryin' to come in an' murder nobody! I jes' wanna work." This was not really working for the sweet lady customs officer. She replied, "I'm sorry, we just don't need any more convicted felons in our country who are looking for work." Sassy!

Eventually it was time for me to get to the front of the line, where I spoke to her. I gave her my driver's license and birth certificate (all the ID I had, mind you) and a letter that we all carry when traveling. It explains that we are working for an American company, and on the back it has a letter from the theatrical producers that we partner with in Canada, explaining that we were working jointly with them. Basically, that we weren't stealing jobs from Canadians, or selling something they hadn't already bought. After reading it and asking about a bijillion questions (including what I did in the show -- and when I told her, saying that she didn't remember my part) she took my paperwork and went in the back. Forty-five minutes later she was back.

The ordeal dragged on and on, with more questions and then a hasty search of my person for firearms. WHAT? If I even had a gun, wouldn't I have left it in the car? About an hour and a half after I 'd arrived, I was finally on my way, still having not much idea about why I was considered such a threat. As I crossed into Canada, I whooped joyfully and began the math to constantly convert km/hr into miles/hr. Otherwise I would have been speeding for days!

By 11pm I was at the National Car Rental counter returning a car, and catching a cab to my fabulous Extended Stay Deluxe. At midnight I finally checked in, dragged all my stuff upstairs, and unpacked for an hour before crashing. I HAD FINALLY MADE IT!!! Of course I never got my down time, because on Wednesday I had to wake up early and head to our first day rehearsal. On my ten minute walk to the theatre I got to see a little bit of Ottawa, and I love it! My hotel, and the theatre, are right by an adorable little canal that runs right through the middle of the city. A lot of the architecture is french, and Parliament even looks like a castle! There are tons of restaurants in the area, and a cute little park. I haven't gotten to see it all though, because we had rehearsal all Wednesday, and then our first preview Wednesday night!

Wednesday's preview went really well (although audiences are a little quieter here) and it was also a really special night. It was the night of the 6000th show of the tour!! This is a really big deal, since most shows never even dream of making 1000. This is 15 years of touring. WOW. We celebrated with hors d'oeuvres and a champagne toast, which led to some late night cast bonding that I won't go into. Regardless, I'm SO excited to be here, in this beautiful city with the amazing weather, and I am just glad that I finally made it.

I am a total douche.

I am a total douche. I'm not usually down on myself, but right now I deserve it.

After two shows on Sunday night, I pack up my makeup table and head out into the night, saying my goodbyes to DC. I'm looking forward to the cool Canadian weather! I ride the metro home, and slowly begin the packing process. I do two loads of laundry, while watching episodes of CSI, some stupid movie about cheerleaders, and that matchmaking show on A&E. I take all my clothes out of their drawers and off their hangars, and make big piles out of them. I bring all my shoes into the middle of my living room and stuff them with underwear. I organize piles of paper, and I fill ziplock bags. I love stuff, and no more is this apparent than when I'm packing. Stacks and stacks of books accumulate by bags full of toiletries, and I'm slowly but surely packing.

Somehow 11pm (when I arrived home) has slowly become 3am, and I'm getting into the good packing vibe. I work best under pressure, so the first few hours were lackadaisical. At 3 I decide that I need to be in bed by 4 to get the required three hours of sleep and wake up at 7. The juice is on, and I'm 80% done! I have been putting things into piles, and one is the pile that goes into my carry-on. I'm deciding which bag should be my carry-on when suddenly my heart stops. I think, "What are the most important things for this trip? The things that should go in the outside pocket of my bag so they are accessible at all times?" The answer? Money and my passport. And you see, this is why my heart stops. My passport.

This is when I realize that I've pulled the ultimate dumbass move. My passport is in a locked box on a truck traveling to Canada. DAMN! I immediately stop and turn off the tv so I can think. On Thursday night I packed my trunk, which the company travels from city to city for me. They come pick it up on Friday, and then drop it off at our next apartment on Wednesday. I put everything heavy in it, including a blow up bed. It's got wine, detergent, clothes, shoes, and any random thing I decided I could live without for a week. It's also got my important file with my PASSPORT.

Now I know from traveling that you cannot. CANNOT. get into Canada by plane without a passport. So it's 3am, but I decide to call my stage manager, Amy. After the show closed tonight, a huge crew started packing it up. They work all night, and then they send the trucks on to Canada, where we meet them after luxuriously flying. I am thinking at 3:30am that there's a possibility that my passport, in my trunk, is sitting on a truck in the parking lot of the Kennedy Center. I call Amy, but of course she's asleep. She wakes up and is PISSED at me, but when I explain, she understands. She tells me to call Walter, who's in charge of load-out, and wishes me luck. Of course I call and he doesn't answer, so I decide that I need to Go to the Kennedy Center and find my passport.

I get dressed and run down the block looking for a taxi. Eventually I wake some poor man up and convince him to drive me to the (closed) Kennedy Center. He thinks I'm insane. We arrive, I jump the fence, and find Randy, one of the big crew bosses. Unfortunately the truck is already halfway to Canada, so I'm screwed. I sit on the steps of the Kennedy Center wanting to cry. Instead, I pick up the phone and start texting. While I'm waiting to see if anyone is awake, I call Air Canada, who says that they really REALLY REALLY will not let me on the plane without my passport, which should be arriving in Canada on Tuesday afternoon. Did I mention that we open in previews on Wednesday? Luckily my friend Emily, who happens to be our assistant company manager, answers my text and we start brainstorming.

We talk as I walk around DC looking for a cab to get back to Arlington. Unfortunately, I can't get in without a passport, and my passport won't be accessible until Tuesday afternoon. Then my the time it's mailed back to me in the US, and I receive it and jump on a plane, I would miss the show. Emily and I decided I should drive. Sure! We brainstorm about who in the company has a car and might give me a lift. We make a list of four people that I'll call at 8am, and then I mention that I only have my wallet. OF COURSE we then look online (actually only Emily does, because luckily by now I'm in a cab going home) and find out that I need a birth certificate to get into Canada. And - not a copy, but the REAL THING.

So now we know I'm doubly screwed. Even if I did find some poor person who pitied me enough to give me a ride, there's no way they'd wait a day for me to get my birth certificate sent from Ohio (not even mentioning the fact that hopefully it's there, and hopefully my parents can send it to me ASAP) if it means that then they'll have to do a ten hour drive the night before we open with two shows. Aaaaaaghhhh!!! So now I'm home, and I plop down in the business center, with my cellphone charging because it's low from all the use. We decide that maybe I can rent a car from DC to Ottawa, and drive it up the night before we open. We call Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Enterprise, Dollar, Budget, and Thrifty. And they are ALL SOLD OUT. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? EVERYONE IN DC MUST BE RENTING A CAR ON TUESDAY!

I freak out for a while, and then decide to work my charms over the phone to someone in India with Expedia. Thank goodness I did, because after another half an hour on the phone, I have a car reserved with good old National Car Rental. These people will be my gods if this actually pulls through. So now it's 6:45am, and I've literally been up all night. I'm waiting for the strike of 7am to call my parents and wake them up to search for my birth certificate. Hopefully they can priority overnight it to me, and then I can get in the car and drive ten hours to make this happen. My fingers are SO CROSSED right now, I can't even tell you.

DC is treatin' me right

The week continued with a fun Saturday night. I said before that I've been watching the old tv show 'Freaks & Geeks', and on Saturday I watched some more. I went to my friend's Emily and Anne's apartment (lovingly nicknamed "the frathouse" because it's a dump) with my other friend Sarah, and we had a great girl's night. Chips and dip, snacks, pop, and homemade brownies added to our new fave tv show made for some fun. It also made for a tired Sunday morning.

By Sunday night we were all beat, but luckily MORE drama came to keep us going! As Kirk (another castmember) and I were poised and ready to head onto the stage for the beginning of the show, something strange happened. The lights are up onstage, and then when they go black, we walk into place. This time the lights went black, and as we were about to step onstage, they went bright, and then faded into black. We didn't know what had happened, but we went out and took our places and the show began. The opening scene is mostly in the dark, so we didn't notice anything until the chandelier is supposed to wake up and the scene starts changing into the opening for our opera within the show, Hannibal. The lights came on too bright, with a strange spotlight on early. We all watched from the wings as the light board suddenly CRASHED - leaving us in total darkness. As Carlotta made her entrance they pointed one of the spotlights at her, and away we went. Unfortunately, NONE of the lights were working, except for the two spotlights! We did most of Hannibal in the dark! The spotlights were on the leads, or hopefully on whomever was talking, but it was pretty funny. I loved it when Carlotta got the light, and I had to crawl INTO the spotlight to fix her hem. BIG LAUGH. Luckily, ten minutes later as the scene was ending, the stage was suddenly FLOODED with light. We all blinked and went on with our business, but we secretly LOVED the drama.


After such craziness, I spent most of Monday sleeping. Seriously, I think I woke up at one, read for half an hour, and then went back to sleep until THREE. What can I say - I must have needed the rest! My friend Emily and I were supposed to meet for dinner, but instead we texted each other every few hours, putting it off until we finally confessed that we both didn't want to shower or leave the house. I finally did around eight, to do a bit of shopping and errand running, but I was back at home doing my tenth load of laundry before the night was over. It was actually great to have a day to get organized at home, since I'm leaving in six days!!!

Then on Tuesday, I woke up early to catch a fancy lunch with some friends. Washington is luckily in that wonderful time of the year called "Restaurant Week", where three-course lunches at the best places in town cost $20.07! Brilliant! Kyle, Joelle, Carli and I had reservations at Kinkead's, which might be pronounced kin-kayds, or maybe kink-heads. Regardless, I had an amazing lunch, with mushroom ravioli, amazing crusted salmon, and a bittersweet molten chocolate cake. It was no wonder my costumes felt a bit tight tonight! After lunch I headed out for more errands, shopping till I dropped in honor of another great and seemily coincidental week, "No-Tax Week". How come I'm loving DC just when it's almost time to leave!!??!!

Drama ensues!

On Saturday night I had more special guests at the show. My Grandpa Kirkpatrick had come all the way from Michigan with his wife Gretchen to see the show, and brought with them my Aunt Judy and Uncle Mark McKinney (once removed). I gave them a great tour of the theatre afterwards, and we headed to Georgetown for a bite to eat. It was so fun to see them, and they asked great questions about the show, how it worked, etc. We had a great meal and all caught up before they were headed to Williamsburg the next day. What a treat!

By Sunday I was tired, but my day off had greatly improved me. On Sunday night the restaurant 600 at the Watergate was staying open late for us, so a bunch of the cast headed over for food and drinks. Jen (our concert mistress), Sarah, Dara, and I feasted and chatted, and we got to meet our friend Kyle's whole family. Luckily by midnight I was on the train headed for home. On Monday I decided to take it easy, and I caught up on some TV and laundry. Then I met Jen, Sal, and Adam for more crab cakes at the Old Ebbit Grill. I love it there! It's got such a great DC feel. We had an amazing seafoody meal (my fave) before heading to the Hotel Washington to check out the views! This is one more of the uniquely Washington things people are supposed to do while they're here. You can see the White House, and the Washington Monument in great detail! It was a beautiful sight, and we sat and relaxed as our assistant conductor David joined us for drinks. I called it a night before midnight and was home sleeping relatively early. What a good Monday!

Of course on Tuesday the routine started up again, and knowing that time was running out, I was torn! I've realized that it's really hard for me to push myself to sight see during the day here, because when I do, I'm BEAT by the end of the weekend! So, I've narrowed down what I still want to see, and I'm taking it easy bit by bit. Tuesday I took it slow and ran errands and got my life back in order. I watched almost the whole first season of 'Freaks and Geeks', a brilliant but canceled show from a few years back that Anne has gotten me interested in, and I read Harry Potter (THE BEST EVER). This can really make for an awesome week.

By Friday's rehearsal I was not too tired, and ready to give it my all. This was another huge rehearsal, because our Raoul, Greg, is going to become a Phantom cover. Also, our vacation swing Sarah Ford is going to be a Christine cover. Add to that Sean learning his Andre cover, and we've got a whole new show of leads. Whenever there's a big put-in rehearsal, Peter, the bigshot from NY, comes in to supervise. It's fun, but it also puts the pressure on. It's when we know we've got to do well, because if you do really well, you could be promoted. If you do badly... well everyone still talks about "The Dayton Six". Apparently one year when the tour was in Dayton, Peter came to see a put-in and thought it was so bad that he fired six people on the spot. Let's just say we don't want to see that happening again. Rehearsal went smoothly, except for the Phantom's secret disappearing chair, which totally malfunctioned and continued to malfunction for Friday night's show. Oh well, we still make it magical, even if the Phantom doesn't really "disappear". Of course on Friday night, while bigshot Peter was watching, I had the biggest screw up ever!

If you remember my track, you know that I am featured at the end of Act One when the chandelier falls. There are six of us onstage bowing after Il Muto, and I'm wearing full face and chest white makeup, along with a complicated costume and wig. As soon as the chandelier falls I run off stage and continue running. I drop my wig at the wig table, then run and drop off my jewelry and shoes as my dresser unhooks me. She helps me take off my costume, and I throw on my robe and slippers and run downstairs. I frantically wash my whole face and try to get the white makeup and drawn-on-heart off my chest. Then I run to my spot in the dressing room where I have to RE-APPLY all the stage makeup that I had to put on for the beginning of the show. Moisturizer, foundation, blush, four shades of eyeshadow, liquid liner, pencil liner, eyebrow pencil, lip liner, two lipsticks, mascara, and I'm done. Usually I'm done just as they're calling places, so I run back upstairs, where my dresser does up my dress while I put on my jewelry, then run to the hair table, get my wig put on while I put on my gloves, then I run through the pitch black backstage, onstage and up to the top of the masquerade stairs just as the entr'acte is ending and, out of breath, I freeze like a statue to start Act Two.

As you can imagine, all this running is not fun. Plus, this all combines to form a delicate balance where every step depends on the previous one. If something takes too long, I know I'm screwed, so I immediately start trying to go faster, which could make me mess up and throw me off even more. The other problem is that I can't skip any steps. I can't leave my body makeup on because I wear two more cleavage-bearing tops later in the show. And I can't leave any makeup on my face unfinished because I don't have time to come back to the dressing room again until the show is over. Every night I run run run and every night I barely make it. I like to try to be leaving the hair table after getting my wig on by the time the entr'acte starts, but that only happens on the lucky days. Most of the time I'm getting my wig on when the music starts, and occasionally I'm getting my costume on.

Of course on Friday night, with Peter watching, everything went wrong. I sneezed, and drew with mascara all across my face, which I then had to remove and re-apply some foundation and blush. Then in my hurry, knowing I was late, I poked myself in the eye with the mascara, and my eye proceeded to water so much that I had to take a second and soak it up, or it was going to wash away my eyeliner. I ran upstairs, and just as I was pulling up my dress, the music started. My stomach sank, but I kept my hope up. My dresser Catherine was doing her best, but my Masquerade costume is almost 20 years old, and a little temperamental. She zipped and I ran to the hair table, but I was nervous. Then at the hair table, Jane, our usual wig person, was missing. Instead, Tony the temp started jabbing me with pins to keep my foot-tall wig on. I asked politely that he move as fast as possible, but by the time I was running from backstage and about to start climbing, everyone on the stairs yelled, "NO!", and I ran back offstage just as the lights came up. DAMN! It sucked, having to sing offstage and knowing that I should be there. Luckily, when there was a break I walked on as if I were fashionably late for the party.

It was tough, but hopefully it will be the last time it happens. I didn't get in trouble, and only my castmates gave me a hard time, asking if I was going to show up to later scenes. Lucky for me I don't think Peter noticed my absence, even though I almost ran him over in the hall on the way to the stage. And now I have two dressers and two hair people helping me make the change for the rest of the time in DC! I guess the squeaky wheel gets the grease! And the "18th century lady" (my costume's name) gets to make her entrance on time.

It's time to sightsee, DC

On Monday after my crazy Sunday night, I had to get up early to get to a tour at the Capitol! Of course I was running late, but I showed up and barely joined the tour that one of our company members had set up for us. There were nine of us, and we were led around by an intern from one of the Senator's offices. It was a great tour, and the Capitol was just as beautiful as I remembered. We actually got to watch part of Congress in session, and it was fascinating. A woman was proposing a bill to give harsher punishments for hate crimes, and she was so passionate! After spending a few hours in this amazing building, watching government at work, I was so impressed! It really made me have faith in the country, especially looking back at the work of the people who had to put in so much effort to get our system of government started. Fascinating!

Afterwards, Janice and Carli and I headed across the mall to have lunch in the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery. We walked and walked and walked in the heat, past some of the amazing museums, and ended up in the wrong Sculpture Garden at first. By the time we trekked through the National Gallery and finally saw the oasis around a beautiful fountain, we were dying of hunger and thirst. We had a delicious lunch and then went our separate ways. I headed to the Archives to check out some of the most amazing documents in our country, and then home to get a nap in!


A few hours later Sean picked me up, and he and Emily and I had dinner at... The Cheesecake Factory! Sometimes you're just craving it, and we were. We stuffed ourselves silly and had a yummy time, until I had to head back and meet my besty Flann! Flann is my best friend from college, and he was coming into town to visit for a few days! I picked him up at the subway, and we spent the night eating leftover cheesecake, catching up, and chilling out. The only bad thing about having him visit is that he's an early riser - the opposite of me! On Tuesday he woke up early to go running, and I got my requisite 8 hours of sleep. Eventually I had to get up, because I had more friends coming to visit! My besties Matt and Sarah (also from college) had hopped on a bus for the day! They met us off the subway to drop off their stuff at my place, and then we all hit the town to do a bit of sightseeing.

We started off the subway and saw a bunch of the sights, including the Albert Einstein monument. A photo shoot ensued of us on his knee, and then we moved on to the biggies. We saw the Lincoln Monument, and then headed off around the reflecting pool to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the WWII Memorial. We got caught in a flash thunderstorm, but we stuck it out and giggled through it all. Eventually we made our way to the Washington Monument, and I impressed everybody with my knowledge. We kept walking towards the mall, by by this time we were beat! We crashed on some picnic benches and tried to battle the humidity. It was also time for me to head to the theatre, so I went to get ready for the show. The three of them saw the sow on Tuesday night, and they were the best audience ever! It's lovely to have your theatrical peers in the audience (Flann's an opera singer, Matt's an actor, and Sarah plays the oboe) because they know just what to say. They gushed appropriately, and then we headed to Georgetown for some French cuisine that's open late.

Unfortunately Sarah and Matt had to head home Wednesday morning, but we made sure to stay up late Tuesday night giggling and having fun. On Wednesday I woke up to say goodbye, send them out the door and then go back to sleep. But it was so much fun to see them! After I woke up a few hours later, Flann and I met up to do some more sightseeing. That was the plan, but he used to live in DC and has seen everything, and I need some low-key days in my week, so instead we saw a movie! Everything we wanted to see was not playing or sold out, so we ended up at A Mighty Heart. The movie is very well done, but also very sad. Angelina Jolie does an excellent job, but left me a little cold. We decided to warm up by getting ice cream and sitting in Lafayette Square and people watching. It was tons of fun. The time came where I ditched him to go to the show, but we met up afterwards!

We decided to hit up Old Ebbitt Grill, a famous restaurant near the White House. We had the best crab cakes ever, and when Flann bragged to the waiter that I was in Phantom, we got free desserts! It was amazing. On Thursday Flann was leaving, so we decided to pick one last thing to do, so we hit up the National Cathedral. It is such a beautiful sight! It was lovely to just be able to walk around and take in the grandeur of the place. We rode the elevator to the top and found an amazing view of all of DC, from my apartment in Arlington to the Kennedy Center and beyond. It left us very much at peace. Unfortunately, then it was time for Flann to catch his train. We caught Johnny Rockets at the train station, and then said goodbye. Tired, I went to do Thursday's show, and found my voice sounding pretty yuck.

I don't get sick often, but occasionally I'm plagued by the once or twice yearly sinus infections. After Flann left I could see how tired I was, and I knew that I was going to get sick. So on Friday I called in sick to the show, and spent the day on the couch, drinking liquids and overdosing on vitamin C. It payed off, because by Saturday's show I was feeling a lot better. More to come!