First rehearsal

Tonight, tonight...It's first rehearsal tonight...now the real work begins. Mike has emailed us with the news that the changes are done and we will get them tonight. I feel really good about the lines. I have been going through them every day and they are flowing more naturally. I think I could even do the show as is! My confidence level is rising. Unfortunately, I can feel myself getting sick. I'm not surprised--during the read through I had two guys on either side of me who were both sniffing and coughing. Then yesterday at church the choir was coughing as well. Ah, the joys of being sick. I've managed to avoid it since the last few weeks of Bremen Town. I hope I don't lose my voice again. That was so frustrating. Not being able to talk when talking is so instrumental to what I do--it's crazy. Drove me crazy.

Watched Adam's Rib today. It really gave me some good ideas as to how to work in a courtroom. I'm interested to find out how Mike will block the show. How much will he let us do on our own? I imagine he will give us the basic skeleton at least. I hope we do more than blocking. I hope we get into character work as well. I really liked how Ann delved into the characters before we did any blocking. But most directors don't do that. This is Mike's first time directing, so we'll see how it goes.

Working with Dami again tomorrow. We are doing reading comprehension. She will probably need help with stuff we did last week. I have seven lessons planned, one for each day of the week. I can't give her any more. We don't have time to go through it in the hour. I want her to understand what I'm asking of her, so I don't just give it to her in a lump. Maybe that's what her mom wants me to do, but that's not good for Dami. I wish her mom had picked out a more appropriate book--this one is for gifted 6th graders. She is a non-native English speaker in fifth grade. She should have no more than a regular fifth-grade book.

Okay, it's time to feed the cat and go to MY FIRST REHEARSAL!!! C ya..

Hanging up now....

A victory and a challenge

When I weighed in at the gym today, the scale read 150. That's right, I've made it to my Easter weight loss goal. I have also lost 1 % body fat since last week. That's really quite a lot! I am down to 36%, almost within healthy range. 25-35% is healthy. I'd like to get down to 30%.

We had our first read-through last night. It went pretty well, considering. It's well cast. I was off on some people and picked the right people for other roles. It took us about 2:45 to read through the whole thing, though. That's WAY too long. I think it should be 2 hrs. at the most. So Oralya is cutting. Her Facebook status says "Tonight=gin and a big red pen." Cutting is so hard. I've never really had the problem of cutting. My plays are usually pretty short. Don't have any idea how long Checking Out is...it's about 80 pages in Times New Roman 12 point font. No skipped lines. That could be pretty long.

I really hope she abridges a lot of my speeches. There are just so many lines! I'm usually not obsessed with learning lines--it comes pretty naturally to me. But there are just a huge amount of lines and speeches. Mom and Mike both have complete faith in me. Now I just have to have faith in myself.

Well, I should get to work on those lines! Hanging up now....

Uncommonly Good Sheffield!

I GOT IT! Auditions went great. After the second night the director (Mike) asked me to stay after. He handed me the script and said, simply, "Sheffield." (This is the name of the female character.) I'm floored and so excited! This is the third time in a row I will be originating a character. I've already started on my lines. I NEED to learn them quickly. There are so many! It's literally monologue after monologue, and then lines during questioning that are even harder in a way, and then the closing argument at the end. I think I'll probably collapse at the end of the show every night! We have our first read through tomorrow and I am interested in seeing who else got cast. There were many good people trying out. I always like to think of who I would cast in each role and then see how close I get. I'll know tomorrow!

Worked with Dami today. I am breaking up the lessons so she doesn't have as much to do each time. I don't have time to teach all that her mom wants, anyway. I would like to meet with her three times a week, and I will ask her mom about that. It would make things easier. That would mean I would be making another $20. If that's too steep for her, I could go down to $15. That would be $55 total.

My book is really good. I don't know how much time I'm going to have to spend on it now that I'm in the show. The characters go through so much. I'd like to hope there's a happy ending, but I don't know if that will happen. It's beautifully written though. It's written in the first person present--a favorite style of mine but one that's very difficult to pull off. Bret Easton Ellis pulls it off in "American Psycho" pretty well.

I'm sleepy and ready for bed, so I'll say...

Hanging up now....

Uncommonly Goodly

I have great news! I stepped on the scale Stephanie and I are using and it said 151! I asked her about the 4 lb. weight loss and she said she has clients who plateau for a while and then go down that much in a week. I am very excited because it means I will most probably reach my goal of 150 by Easter. At 149, I will have won the contest between my dad and myself. He's only lost a few pounds--I wish he could lose at least ten. I don't know what he's eating. I've been eating less and healthier. This week was funny though--I had a lot of slip-ups and Stephanie had to say, "Well, I can't be hard on you because you did lose weight." Ha! I only have six pounds to go to reach my goal weight of 145. Then I'm going to continue to eat well. I hope I can keep working with Stephanie. It really helps to have her pushing me and helping me monitor what I eat.

Found out why I couldn't find "Uncommon Good" online when I Googled it--it's a new play. Original script by a local author. I've read it a couple of times and I think it's very good. The part I would be going for has easily half the lines in the script. It's intimidating! I've been reading the five-page monologue at the end and trying to look up to connect with my "audience." I've also read through the play aloud, speaking "my" part of the dialogue. A friend really wanted a role once so he memorized it before auditions. I probly can't do that, but I'm going to try to get some of it down. If I get this part, the more I can do now the better. I'll have my work cut out for me and will be working on it morning, noon, and night.

Time for kareoke, so for now I'll say--

Hanging up now....

Merry March

Wow, I think spring is on its way! This is what I heard on my way to my car to head out for church: "Drip-drip" "Chirp-chirp." We have not had any more snow and the chill in the air is gone. Several sunny days in a row. The snow is still on the ground but it's definitely looking like it's going away soon.

Lost a pound, down to 154. On my way. I'm thinking of buying a cute bikini when I reach 150. That's when, not if!

Doing pretty well with the no-self-pity thing. I'm too busy for that. Too many other things to occupy my mind. Like working with Dami. It can be frustrating because her mom wants me to grade during the lesson. I would rather do this at home, so it's not new to me. I have answer keys but I usually don't use them, because I don't need them. I needed one today, though, and I didn't have it. So I will have to bring the key next week.

She is really liking the book we are reading. She says it was "lame" when we first started but it's "exciting" now. I am excited for her, as she discovers the wonder of reading. I told her books are like secrets, and each book has things about it that are fun to discover. I know how the book ends and that the prediction she made is true. It's great to see her learning.

I have also recharged my passion for reading...after Hannibal Rising I wasn't able to get into any books. I went to Barnes and Noble and picked out a book by its cover (ignoring the don't judge a book by its cover rule.) It was The Postmistress, and it's a wonderful book. I'm finished with it now, and I won't talk about it much except to recommend it. It's especially good if you like stories that are told from more than one point of view. The story is set both in the States and in Europe,in the early forties, before the U.S. got into the war.

There's a possible show on the horizon. LCP is having auditions for a play called "Uncommon Good." I don't know the play at all and couldn't find it when I googled it. Maybe it's "Common Good", I'm not sure. But apparently there's a good part for a woman. The person who announced it on Facebook didn't say what age she was supposed to be. I could play anything in the 30s and *maybe* late twenties. I'm getting to the age when that is pretty far away. I'm going to be 40 this year and am amazed by that. I certainly don't feel middle-aged. I think 40 is younger than it used to be. Women are still having kids in their 40s and we are healthier and younger-looking. I am in better shape now than I was 10 years ago, and I intend to be in even better shape before I turn 40. Most people think I am closer to 30 than
40; one woman thought I was in my late 20s. She's my new best friend :)

Went and had sushi tonight at Sansu. I highly recommend it. My little sushi place by my gym was closed tonight. I'm worried about them. There is hardly anyone in there when I go in. I have been plugging it on Facebook but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. Sushi Blue, off I-96 in South Lansing!

Going to see Stephanie tomorrow, so I think I'll stop for now. Hanging up now....