It's time to raise some HELL!!!!!

Okay, now I'm mad!

I was watching Hardball with Chris Matthews just now, live in Colorado at the DNC and there was this woman he interviewed, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, mind you, and she said there was a report that Barack Obama had gone to a Muslim school in Indonesia. When Chris asked where this report came from, she was all, "I'm not going to tell you that."

WTF?!?!?!?!

Okay, lady! First of all, if you're going to go on national television and make allegations like you just did, then you better be pretty damn sure you're ready to back it up!!! I'm sorry, but if you say something like that on National TV in front of God and everyone within earshot and then say you're not going to tell us where you got the information, that just doesn't sit well with me!

My next gripe, there were some McCain supporters there protesting, which is their right, I know. If only they knew the person they're supporting is another Bush puppet... Oh well, we can bring them to water, but we can't make them drink.

Oh, I'm all fired up now!!!! I'm going to start volunteering more down at our local Dem HQ. I want to do everything I can to get Obama elected as our President, and get Nathan Reichert re-elected to the Iowa House, and every other Democrat running I can think of.

Slan go foill...

Now that the musical is over...

Now that the musical is over, I'm going to be throwing myself into politics. I volunteer at Muscatine County Democrats making phone calls for Representative Nathan Reichert's re-election campaign. I'll probably take it even further by helping out with the Obama campaign. All I know is that we can't have another Repub as president. If that happens, bye-bye-bye America! Hello Canada!

It's recently come to light that John Edwards had an affair with a videographer. But I also heard that John McCain had an affair on his wife years ago and ended up leaving her for his mistress. However, no one's tsking at him for it. When a Republican has an affair, it's no big deal; but when a Democrat has an affair, everyone's up in arms!

WTF?!?!?!

I think there's a major double standard going on here, and I don't like it. If they're going to air Edwards' dirty laundry, then they should air McCain's as well. Just MHO, mind you.

Slan go foill...

Stephen's Green and Michael Phelps; what an interesting combination...

That's what happens when the Olympics are going on at the same time as the monthly pilgrimage to Pat McGuire's. There was supposed to be a Cubs game last night as well; Cubs vs the Atlanta Braves, but the manager of Pat McGuire's came up to Mom and me before the band took the stage and let us know it had been rained out. It was okay; there was always the Olympics. =)

First set was without the distraction of the Olympics, at least for the most part. And for some reason, Andy and Martin played all our family's requests in the first set. I had requested "German Clock Winder", "Carrick Fergus", "Boston Rose", "A Rainy Night in Soho", "Danny Boy" (for my dad), and "Wild Colonial Boy" (for Mom).

Coverage for the Olympics started at seven p.m., near the end of Andy and Martin's first set. I soon found myself listening to the band with my ears and watching the Olympics at the same time. Yet another feeble attempt made by Yours Truly to multitask. Sadly, I can't do it very well. And when the coverage started, I moved over to the "Cascade" table so I could see better. Katie McGuire didn't mind.

Ann was there this time and she arrived sometime during the second set. Since she hadn't been there last month, I was very happy to see her! She's one of my best friends outside of the church, and she and I have had a few conversations about my faith. She understands my limitations and doesn't tease me about them.

During the second set, I was listening to the band again, watching the Olympics, and eating my dinner. They played the usual stuff during the second set, like "Finnegan's Wake", "Charlie and the MTA", and "The Unicorn". For "Finnegan's Wake", when we screamed "LUNCH" during the third verse Martin, anticipating some edible ammo, opened an umbrella! I regret not being able to get a picture of that to put up here because it was HILARIOUS! And I was able to tear my attention away from the Olympic coverage long enough to be a "Unicornette" and dance to "The Unicorn". It was Ann, me, Katie, Emily (from Clinton), Eve (her sister), Em's daughter, Megan (Barney Barnhill's granddaughter), and some of the other Cascade gals. The stage was packed, but it was fun!

During the third set was when I was the most distracted. And that was because that was when Michael Phelps was swimming in the 200m Butterfly to get his tenth gold medal in his entire career. So the race was going on, and I can't even remember what song was being played, but when he hit the wall first, everyone cheered in the middle of the song. Martin just looked at us, and at the end of the song, Andy asked, "Did Michael Phelps win the gold medal?" The answer was a resounding "YES!" accompanied by cheers. =)

Of course, they ended with their usual Irish patriotic songs "The One Road", "A Nation Once Again", and "Amhrain na bhFiann", the Ireland National Anthem (I think) and that is sung in Gaelic. Martin emailed me the Gaelic lyrics a long time ago and I use them on occasion, but the Gaelic is getting easier for me to pronounce. Now if I could just learn Spanish with the same greatest of ease, I'd be happy. =)

I'm really looking forward to next month once again. And maybe I'll have something to celebrate then too. =)

Slan go foill...

The matinee finale...sad it's over...

Because Hwy 6 going to Atalissa finally opened up, I was able to get to Iowa City for choir practice and sacrament meeting at least, so I decided to go ahead and do it. I was able to get out in time to get back to Muscatine for the matinee performance yesterday. And when I walked into our "dressing room", I was greeted by Guns and Roses singing "Sweet Child of Mine" on YouTube. Quite a jarring contrast to the nice spirit I was feeling as I came back from church, that's for sure.

There were only a couple glitches this time around, the first one being that Courtney's gun didn't go off when she tried to shoot "the dead guy", aka James at the beginning. We just shrugged and went on with it. The second glitch was actually my fault. I had the wrong shoes on for the club scene. Hopefully no one noticed. ;)

Afterward the cast stayed to strike set, but I couldn't stay. I was still wearing my Sunday clothes and I had wanted my mom to help me take all the clothes I had brought for the production home (although I probably should've just donated them to the drama costume shed since I really can't wear them anymore).

All in all, I enjoyed working on the musical. I had a very cool experience playing four different characters onstage and I made some new friends. Now what am I going to do with my spare time besides look for a job? I could start exercising more and get my body back in shape since I do have to donate blood in a week. I could work on getting my 72 hour kit together. I got started on it while my parents were in Kansas.

Oh the possibilities! =D

Slan go foill...

Second night slump...NOT!!!

Usually we have to deal with second night slump, but last night was definitely not the case. I was really pumped up and ready to kick it, but that was because Melissa and Jeremy came to the performance, and they brought Seth and Alta with them. It was cool to see them again.

There were no glitches in Act 1 and my scenes went smoothly, as did the costume changes. I was a little worried about Kari because she was dizzy before the performance, but she was okay. Act 2 went smoothly as well, and afterward I met up with Seth, Alta, Melissa, and Jeremy. They gave me a card and a plant. It's the first time I've received flowers after a drama performance, ever, so I was pretty stoked.

After changing back into my street clothes, I went with Melissa and Jeremy to Tee's where they treated me to a shake and then the three of us shared Jeremy's banana split (which was awesome, btw!). We stayed there for about thirty minutes, and Melissa prompted me to tell Jeremy that I was thinking about going out for the Nauvoo Pageant next year. The incidents during rehearsal just drove home the fact that I need to do a drama production with others like me for once, good Mormon people.

I kinda felt bad that I ditched my castmates, but Brooke understood why I was leaving with my friends last night. I only see Jeremy once a week, plus I haven't seen him at all this summer, and I'm lucky if I get to see Melissa more than once in a while since she's no longer going to our branch.

Today's our last performance and it's a matinee. Mom's coming to this one, so I'm pumped up once again. I'm going to kick it one more time, after going to branch choir practice and sacrament meeting in Iowa City of course. :)

Slan go foill...

Opening night hijinks

Well, our opening night didn't have a dull moment; that's for sure.

Brooke and I got to there around six and it didn't take me long to get into costume. Keeny did my makeup and I was ready to go by six-forty. Six-fifty, we were all in the theatre doing our warm-ups, and by seven, the doors were opened and we were interacting with some audience members in character. Since I started out as the spinster, I was wearing my frumpy dress and chatting up some ladies with an English accent. It was cute, at least I thought so.

We took the stage and during our opening number the lights went off and for the a couple measures, we were singing in the dark! Turns out the light box is duct taped on the floor of the light booth so Steve kept kicking it every time he moved and the lights went off. Another glitch was there weren't any chairs for me to grab for the train scene, so I did that scene standing up the entire time! We figured out a way to make that work. And then James (our dead guy) lost his sunglasses, so he had to keep his hat on over his eyes. Tyler covered and made it work, but it was frustrating.

There were a couple musical glitches as well. When Keeny did her solo number "Speaking French", our accompanist messed up slightly, but Keeny covered it pretty well. :) And then Courtney's solo was done in the wrong key and that threw her off, and us too, since we sing backups for her right behind the stage!

And all that was Act One!

Act Two went more smoothly than Act One (thank goodness!!!). No major glitches or drama, and afterward, we all went to McDonald's for a late dinner or dessert, and then the riverfront to walk the path. We finally ended up at James's apartment, just hanging out and talking and I didn't get home until after midnight, with my eyes barely able to stay open.

And that, my friends, is the story of our opening night hijinks. I'm hoping tonight goes better, especially since Melissa and Jeremy are coming. And they are going to be in for a surprise. :)

Slan go foill...

Tonight's the night!

This is it! Tonight and the rest of this weekend will show if all our hard work has paid off! I'm actually more excited than I am nervous.

Last night's rehearsal went smoothly, except for the fact that Brooke O wasn't there again. I'm really hoping she'll be there tonight, even though I'm becoming quite accustomed to talking to empty air. *lol* I remembered all my entrances and lines. I just need to not break fourth wall. I'm getting better at that. It's just been so long since I've done a musical like this. During MTM, everyone broke fourth wall at one time or another and it was no big deal.

So today I'm just going to do some things around the house so I can work off some of this nervous and excited energy. Then I'll watch the Cubs vs. Cardinals game this afternoon. And then, it's off to the theatre to kick it on stage tonight!

And hopefully, the day won't include a trip to the emergency room, either for myself or anyone else in the cast. We actually have two diabetics in the cast, so the possibility is there for one of them to wind up in the ER today, even though it's slim since they're good at managing their respective diabetes.

Slan go foill...

Just one more day until opening night and counting...WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We almost had everyone at rehearsal last night. Kari was there, but Brooke O had youth group meeting for her church so she wasn't able to make it. But we made do with what we had. :)

And we had a bit of an audience. Marie Press (who I had worked with in MTM) was there and she watched us and took notes on what we needed to work on (she's in the Pearl City Players as well and I think she might be a board member, I can't remember).

On a more serious note, I did talk to Scuba about what Dane had said to me Tuesday night, and he did talk to Dane about it. While we were waiting to go on for a scene, Dane did apologize to me. Everything's cool now. :)

Oh my holy fudge! I can't believe we're opening in just one day!!!!!! YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A troubling incident at last night's rehearsal...

I didn't bring this up in the last post, because I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that it actually happened. I'm now caught between a rock and a hard place, and I don't know what I should do.

It started when Brooke and I were running late to rehearsal. We finally got there around 7, and I started getting into my first costume. We have a coed dressing room, which is the lecture room in Strahan Hall, so the first thing I had to toss out the window was my modesty, because with several costume changes there's just no time for it. While we were getting ready, other cast members were messing around on the computer in the lecture room and had put on a video clip of Avenue Q, via YouTube. I finally said something about that not being very appropriate to watch, and Dane retorted with, "You need to open your mind, and open your legs!"

What the flip?!?!?! Did he just say what I thought he said?

Of course, I pushed it to back of my mind because we had rehearsal and I needed to keep my mind on that. But now that I'm left to my own devices, it's been really bothering me and I don't know what I should do. I don't want to rock the boat and make trouble. I try to be the peacekeeper in the cast, but I am offended by what he said to me. I just don't know what to do. Should I tell Scuba about the incident? Should I let it slide and hope we don't have any repeat performances?

I have some serious thinking to do...

Two days until opening night and counting...

Last night's rehearsal went smoothly, even though Kari wasn't there (because she'd gone to a Cubs game that day) and I had slipped on the stairs during a scene change and am now sporting a bruise on my arm.

Something hilarious happened when we rehearsed the nightmare scene in Act 2. Brooke O decided to don her croupier's outfit and wear some facepaint to look like the Joker from The Dark Knight (and she's usually playing the landlady in that scene). Steve was left in stitches and I finally lost it when I heard Tyler say from the bed, "Why so serious?" It turns out that Steve's girlfriend had asked Brooke to do this and that she'd be there to see it. It was great. I even got a picture of her with all her Joker makeup on.

It's really coming together! Slan go foill...

Three days until opening night and counting...

It was a hot and steamy evening for rehearsal last night, and almost everyone was there. We even had our stiff, but Kari was gone because of a death in the family.

Because Steve was able to be there, things went along a lot more smoothly. I was even able to get some pictures of some scenes that I wasn't in. I hope we get some people to watch rehearsals so we'll have audience to practice playing off of. I was even talking with one of my friends about him coming down to be our audience for a rehearsal, and if he can I'm going to see if I can bribe him to take some pics of scenes that I'm in sometime this week.

We actually got out of there around ten last night, so when I got home I was able to just chill out and listen to music and read until I could barely keep my eyes open. And I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but on the Lucky Stiff recording the woman who's playing Rita really sounds like she's whiny! No wonder the Atlantic City croupier left her! Sheesh! And thankfully, Courtney is not portraying her like that in our production.

Three more days to go, and I'm getting excited! Slan go foill...

Song lyrics that describe me, well sort of...

I was surfing the web this morning and listening to my music player on Facebook as I sometimes like to do, and I found myself drawn to a song performed by Bethany Joy Galeotti (who plays Haley James Scott on One Tree Hill). This song is called "Halo". I don't know who wrote it, but whoever did must have been inspired because as I listened to the song, I realized these lyrics describe me pretty well. Read and decide for yourselves.

"Halo" as performed by Bethany Joy Galeotti, composers unknown.

Verse 1
I never promised you a ray of light,
I never promised there'd be sunshine every day.
I'll give you everything I have;
The good, the bad.
Why do you put me on a pedestal?
I'm so up high that I can't see the ground below.
So help me down; you've got it wrong.
I don't belong there.

Chorus:
One thing is clear
I wear a halo, I wear a halo when you look at me
But standing from here
You wouldn't say so; you wouldn't say so if you were me
And I, I just want to love you.
Oh, oh I, I just want to love you.

Verse 2
I always said that I would make mistakes,
I'm only human; and that's my saving grace.
I fall as hard as I try,
So don't be blinded.
See me as I really am.
I have flaws and sometimes I even sin.
So pull me from that pedestal.
I don't belong there!

Chorus
One thing is clear,
I wear a halo; I wear a halo when you look at me.
But standing from here,
You wouldn't say so; you wouldn't say so if you were me.
And I, I just want to love you.
Oh, oh I, I just want to love you.

Bridge
Why you think that you know me,
But in your eyes.
I am something above you
That's only in your mind,
Only in your mind.
I wear
I wear
I wear a halo

Chorus
One thing is clear,
I wear a halo; I wear a halo when you look at me.
But standing from here,
You wouldn't say so; you wouldn't say so if you were me.
And I, I just want to love you.
Oh, oh I, I just want to love you.

Four days to opening night and counting...

It's been said that laughter is the best medicine. After last night, I think I'm inclined to believe it.

I had come home from Iowa City after having hung out with Melissa and Jeremy for a bit and was in better spirits, but cautious about how rehearsal would go. I didn't really need to worry.

It started out tense. Scuba had to work so Anita was in charge, again. She was upset that not everyone was ready or there. I tried to defend Tyler because he'd been out of town at All State camp for the weekend and probably didn't get the emails letting us know the change in rehearsal times, but all I succeeded in doing was having Anita snap at me too.

And then, something happened during the nightclub scene that led to laughter. I think when we froze for Brooke's solo, some people did really weird poses, and that set Brooke and the rest of us off. We all just started laughing. In fact, Dane and I were laughing so hard that tears were squeezing out of our eyes. I tried to settle down and get back into character by taking deep breaths, but all that accomplished was some lightheadedness, so that really didn't help. We eventually got it together for Brooke's solo. But the laughter just killed the tension from the past few days and it was exactly what we'd needed.

Tonight Brooke and I are going early to practice so we can get into the habit of getting into makeup and costumes in time for curtain. Hopefully the tension won't be as thick with Scuba there, keeping things under control.

Slan go foill...

I interrupt this countdown to bring some awesome news...my best buddy's HOME!!!

Yep, one of my dear friends in the branch is home from music camp, and that means chances are pretty good he'll be able to come to Lucky Stiff!

He got home yesterday and ended up going to the Nauvoo Pageant last night (and with the way last night's rehearsal went, I suddenly wished I'd been there with him!). And this morning when I got to church, especially with the way I was stressed out over the play, seeing him for the first time since he'd left in June was almost like a Balm of Gilead to my sanity.

But I'm okay now. I got a priesthood blessing to help me deal with the stress of the coming week. Plus, I had my own problems during rehearsal last night, which was what prompted me to get a blessing today. I had missed an entrance during a number and I got so mad at myself that I let loose with a couple of expletives because I was so frustrated. I'm okay now, and I think if I keep what was said in the blessing in my mind somewhere, I'll be fine. :)

With that, I must away. I should be getting ready for tonight's rehearsal. Slan go foill...

Five days until opening night and counting...

Tensions are rising, as was shown at last night's rehearsal. I don't know what's going on, but now Courtney, Dane, and a few other cast members are mad at Anita, the music director. They think she's overstepping her bounds. Steve wasn't there; he had to work, so I guess he left Anita in charge. I don't know, but I'm just trying to stay out of it. Maybe Steve will be able to talk to Anita about her overstepping her bounds. She's been doing this for about a week now, and I guess it finally came to a head. It must have because I saw Dane totally mutilate a cardboard box in anger.

I will be glad when opening night comes and hopefully all of our efforts will pay off.

Six days until opening night and counting...

We had another minor setback yesterday in the form of a not very productive rehearsal. Courtney had to work; Keeny was sick; Tyler went to All State camp; and Kari and Chase had to leave early for work, so all we could do was run through a couple of the chorus numbers. But we worked on the set some afterward, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Right before practice, I called my friend Melissa and let her know about the complimentary ticket I had for her. It's actually for two, but she and I are both hoping another friend will be back from teaching at music camp in time for the play, so he could use it as well.

There are some friends that I guess I could consider my BFF's if I wanted to use high school terminology. Melissa is more than that. I would consider her kind of like a sister (and in a way we are, sisters in the gospel). We first met last summer when she was coming to the branch on and off. We exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers. We kept in touch off and on. And this year, because of struggles we're both dealing with, we've become closer. We even took the road trip down to Nauvoo together for the pageant right before rehearsals for Lucky Stiff picked up.

All in all, it's because of that I'm glad that she's planning to be there at the play, either on opening night or Saturday night. :)

1 week until opening night...

Last night's rehearsal was a little frustrating. Steve was showing it, because he thought he had some guys who would do lights for us. But they never showed. *sigh*

I can't believe it. We're going to be opening in a week. Hopefully I won't end up in the emergency room. ;)

Eight years ago in 2000, I was in a musical revue for the Muscatine Masquers; I was singing in the choir, and I had a solo number. However, the day we opened, I was feeling kind of sick and almost passed out in the mall while I was waiting for my ride. I had been experiencing abdominal pains off and on that day and was running low-grade fever. Needless to say I was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they ran some tests to rule out infection. Thankfully all I had to deal with was dehydration. After they released me two hours later, Mom took me home; I took the quickest shower in the history of showers; and then we went to the Muscatine Performing Arts Center, making it in record time. And then I went on to totally kick it with my solo number and the choral numbers. Not bad for a chick who ended up in the ER just hours before. :) The performer in me was all "The show must go on!"

It was a little scary, but it's a joke now. I sometimes tell my friends the day of opening night for shows, "I haven't ended up in the ER yet, but the day's still young." However, I hope I don't have a repeat performance of that incident anytime soon.

*keeping my fingers crossed*