Like my new background? I'm still trying to learn about how to decorate around here. I keep finding cute backgrounds and then I apply them to my blog and it seems like most of the background gets cut off and the space for the text isn't transparent so you can't see what's behind it. I fiddled with the width of the text area to show off as much as I could of this new background. I'll figure it out eventually.

Meanwhile, it has been one busy, busy week! We began previews for "In Transit" last week and we've been working hard during daytime rehearsals to make the show even better. Scenes and music have been re-written, songs have been cut down (or cut completely!) and we've really been trying to center in on every little detail to make sure it all works for the good of the piece. It can be nit-picky, but when it all starts coming together it's worth the effort!

An interesting aspect of this show and my personal process within it has been all about perspective. With most shows, an actor is in some scenes and not in others. The moments offstage can provide me with just as much information as the moments onstage. The style of the piece, the look of it, the sound of it, the mood, the space, the overall "vision." During tech rehearsals, especially, I can take the time during offstage moments to go out into the house and see the world that is being created in the show. I can watch other actors work scenes and music, I can see what the lights look like from the house, I can hear what the songs or the dialogue sound like from the audience's perspective. All of that information gets compiled in my brain and helps me have a better overall understanding of how we're going to share the piece with the audience.

So here's how this experience has been so different from many others: a cappella music = everyone singing all songs at all times = everyone in the show is onstage or just offstage for every moment. Any time in-between is spent quickly changing clothes and turning right around, grabbing that pitch pipe and hitting that stage deck once again! It can be nerve-wracking. It can be thrilling.

What I've learned (over the last week, especially) is that in my attempt to tackle the task at hand I haven't really seen any other perspective of the show but my own. My views while onstage. How my melodies and harmonies sound as I sing them, or what my lines of dialogue sound like as I say them. I only know my personal journey through each performance from curtain up to final bow from my personal perspective. I don't necessarily know how we sound in the house. I don't necessarily know how we look to the audience. I don't necessarily know if what I am doing is communicating the music and the words in the best and clearest way possible. I can be having one thought about how things are going but have no idea about how they're actually coming across to the audience. It can feel uncertain.

So how have I decided to cope with that uncertainty? That lack of a rounded "perspective?"

Trust.

Trust my castmates. Trust my director. Trust the people who have come to see our 1st week of previews. When I feel a harmony may have gone a little wonky on my end and yet the music director says it was fine - I must trust them. If I feel like I took too long for a costume change but an audience member didn't even know I was gone - I must trust them.

We've compared putting this show together to climbing a mountain. As an individual climber, all I can see is my one foot in front of the other. I may not be able to see if I'm headed in the right direction or how far up the mountain I am. But I have a director and music director who can tell me what trail to take. I have castmates who will throw me a rope if I get off course or start to fall. And I have a ton of crazy talented designers, dressers, sound mixers and PAs who help me look (and sound) good doing it.

We've all worked hard. We've all helped each other along the way. It is an honor to be a part of this show *and* this experience.

We're getting there!






Happies for the day:

*glass half full mentality

*skim milk chai tea latte

*the bus was on time!

*just enough clean pairs of underwear left to last until I get back to my own apartment. Laundry in building, cheaper price per load.

*booked my flight to Orlando so I can work the 1st 2 days of my new contract. And Amy T. is coming back to NYC with me for a few days!

*these shoes. I could be sad that I can't afford them. Instead I'm happy they exist:






Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.
-- Harold B. Melchart




In life, and sometimes in death, Mount Everest has had a lasting effect on all of those who have challenged its heights. It can vanquish those who disrespect it, and mercilessly test those who honor it. Yet Everest is indifferent to your presence. Climb it and you will receive a lifetime dose of humility and exhilaration.