FO Friday: Bachelorette

Posted on August 9, 2013 by atangledyarn84

This is a different sort of FO today! I am now officially done with my latest show, Bachelorette. We wrapped up our performances last weekend. It was an amazing and exhausting show. A very powerful piece about how some of my generation failed to grow up and the awful ways we sometimes treat the ones we love. It was even made into a movie in 2012, While the movie does incorporate almost everything in the play, it does it a much different order. And there is a happy ending. The play does NOT have a happy ending, lol.

This show stretched me in every way possible from the content, to singing out loud in front of people, and finally to playing a villain of sorts. I got to curse, drink, and scream on stage. I found it quite liberating!!

I was also blessed with an amazing cast! I have done a lot of shows in my life and this one was truly special. My cast mates were incredibly invested in the process, amazingly talented, showed up every day ready to work, and we just great all around people! No drama, no whining, and lots of encouragement and cooperation.

I want to share some of my favorite photos we took along the way!

And here are few just for laughs. We had to take “selfies” for promos and advertising for the show. I’m terrible at these and required some coaching, lol!

Happy Friday!!!

And Tech Week Begins!

Posted on July 30, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Tech week for Bachelorette is upon us!

We’ve moved into our performance space and had two good rehearsals. We have added liquids, costumes, and all our props! It’s exhausting and exciting at the same time! So we decided to let our hair down a little…

We may be tired but we are mighty! A beer or two goes also goes a long way to soothe frazzled nerves! Here’s hoping we break a few legs this week!

Happy Tuesday!

Comfort Zone: In or Out?

Posted on July 16, 2013 by atangledyarn84

As a person I tend to stay in my comfort zone in my most things. I eat at mostly at the same restaurants, shop the same store, cook the same recipes, and hang out with the same friends. It’s not that I am afraid of new or different things but I tend to fall into routines. There a few places where I step out of this safe box: knitting and acting.

My current show, Bachelorette, is really outside my comfort zone. This play explores the lives of four women who have been stuck in the same roles since high school. Regan is the bitch on wheels who ALWAYS has to be in control. She uses manipulation at every turn to get what she wants and needs. Katie is party girl who is a little light in the head. She wants nothing more than to be accepted and loved. Gena is a coke addicted party girl who is never quite good enough to be queen bee. She wants to be Regan but doesn’t have the guts and mostly spends her time taking care of Katie. And finally there is Becky, the bride. She has openly ridiculed by her friends for her size, choice of husband, attitude, and she’s not going to take it anymore!

This play has more cursing than a Navy frigate, depicts rampant drinking and drug use, adult content, and is downright mean. I am very mild mannered in real life and so pushing into this kind of story really stretches my acting skills. The director has been awesome and really helps us explore our characters and what is happening.

I play Gena the drug addicted second in command. I start the top of the show in full on party girl mode with my best girl pal Katie. Even with the best of intentions my friends and I completely trash the hotel suite, the wedding dress, and basically everything the night before Becky’s wedding. Gena has been so perfect for so long she has no idea how to be real. She really only cares about one thing, her friend Katie. And when Katie gets in real trouble, it’s Gena to the rescue!

While the subject and content is uncomfortable and down right mean, I come away from rehearsal exhilarated every time. Stretching my comfort zone has really spurred my creative juices. It has me looking at the relationships in my life and really seeing new things and evaluating them. My fellow actors are beyond talented and we are really creating something special. T-minus three weeks to opening!!!

Are you a “in” or “out” kind of person when it comes to art?

P.S. Check out some of the dresses I am “auditioning” for Gena…

Adventures in Acting, Again!!

Posted on July 2, 2013 by atangledyarn84

So excited!!! I was cast in a new show with Ad Astra Theater Company‘s Bachelorette! This play is by by Lesyle Headland and is a very dark comedy:

“Ten years out of high school, Regan, Gena and Katie convene in the luxurious bridal suite of their old friend, Becky, the night before her wedding in New York City. Fueled by jealousy and resentment, the girls embark on a night of debauchery that goes from playfully wasted to devastatingly destructive. A wicked black comedy about female friendship and growing up in an age of excess.”

This play is INTENSE and represents a huge stretch for my acting skills. Not to give any spoilers but I pretty much play a cocaine addicted party girl that ends up having to try to clean up after my friends. Very not my usual meek knitting self. This show is definitely adult content with provocative situations, adult language, and drug themes while all the while being outrageously hilarious. I need to bring out my A+ game for this show.

I have worked with this director before and the cast he picked is amazing! We started rehearsals this week and it is going to be an exhausting and exhilarating experience. I’ll try to keep you posted….but this is going to be large part of my life for the next month!!

Here’s hoping I break a leg or two!

A Perfect Wedding…or at least a play about one

Posted on May 21, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I finally got around to downloading some photos from my show, A Perfect Wedding. These photos were snapped by a very talented photographer, Bill Blankenship, from the Topeka Capital Journal. He has a knack for capturing the wackiest facial expressions and goofy postures as he takes lives snaps as we perform. So please enjoy some goofy pics from our show!!

This show was a truly wild ride full of dropped lines, directors who quit, creepy backstage antics, lots of flue germs, and a whole lot of chaos. It was definitely one of my most interesting plays I have ever done. But still with all the crazy I wouldn’t give it up for the world. Where else can you be a complete weird-o and people think it’s awesome? I think I may be addicted….

Survival….sort of

Posted on May 6, 2013 by atangledyarn84

All theater performances are done, moving is complete (still have all the boxes to put away), and I have successfully caught some sort of sinus infection.

I feel like dog doody. I did the last two performances with a probable fever and a definite runny nose. I had to call sick into work this morning and I’m currently stationed in my bed with toilet paper for Kleenex and some OJ.

My posts might be a bit sparse this week. But I made it, sort of…

Thanks for all the support last week 🙂

Memory Test

Posted on April 11, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Soooo many lines….

Let me rephrase, soooo many one word lines!

This week marks our first week “off book” at A Perfect Wedding. Eeek, we are bad thus far with memory. This show has a lot of slapstick comedy and one word zingers. Pace and delivery are really important. Right now we don’t have it.

One of my cast mates struggles with memory and hasn’t been able to study as much as he needs. We are trying to help but he tells a lot of the “story”, especially in act one. So as characters we can’t do that for him. And once we lose that pace or drop cue lines, the rest of us struggle as well. I have faith that we will get there and we are going to help each other. But gosh it’s like slogging through mud right now.

On Monday and Tuesday we labored through act one. Last night and tonight we is the same for act two. A bit of meditation may be in order….

On the knitting front all this rehearsal time and frustration coupled with some long boring seminars at work have let me make incredible progress on my cardigan! It’s not complete but I hope to post a promising update tomorrow!

Right now I need to find a few quiet minutes with my script. I need all the help I can get!

A Perfect Wedding Update

Posted on March 26, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I’m trying to work on memorizing act one. I spend a large amount of time on stage but not actually in the scene during the first act. Great time for memorizing and snapping pics!

Happy Tuesday!

Rehearsal: A Perfect Wedding!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I’m pleased to report that I got cast in Auburn Community Theater’s A Perfect Wedding!

(Photo from ACT website)

I play Rachel, a bride marrying her high school sweetheart, who gets caught up in a love quadrangle on the day of her wedding. This farcical comedy is hilarious!!! My fiancé sleeps with his best friends girlfriend, who then pretends to be a maid, while the maid pretends to be the girlfriend, and the best man is actually in love with the bride! At one point or another we all get to yell and hit someone else with a toilet brush, lol. Trust me its beyond funny.

I cannot wait to get this show on its feet! Rehearsals started this week so my schedule is packed. I hope to be able to keep you all updated on my theater adventures AND my knitting along the way!!

Holy Cow!!!!

Posted on March 18, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Well it was an exciting weekend in household. The hubs and I found a house!!!!!! Literally on our first swing. We looked at 6 homes on Saturday and put an offer on one we fell in love with on Sunday. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, fenced backyard, and a two car garage. And it was a short sale by the owner so we got a great deal.

I can’t wait to show you how beautiful this house is! It has the space and storage we desperately need. And I will finally get a craft space of my own 🙂

On top of this my play, A Perfect Wedding, had started rehearsals. So in the next 45 days I have to learn an entire show, pack all my worldly goods, and get set up in our first home! I am still going to try to keep up my knitting. I have some very exciting WIPs!!

I just hope I come out on the other side with my sanity!!!

My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures

Ramblings from an obsessed knitter

Category Archives: Theater