Disdain with Victor and Back In Blonde

And time flies by! Victor/Victoria was amazing. It's one of my favorite shows and everyone involved was beyond amazing. The show is way bigger than I realized, especially with the old (and dusty) Broadway sets and costumes. One of my cast mates (in addition to being absurdly funny) was also a fabulous photographer, so I have some great pictures. John B. Williford is a rockstar!

 Disdain In Lace

 

Gangster's molls attack Ron. He liked it.

(These costumes were the most complicated thing I've ever worn)

Lady Mary who?

Gaily French

 Le Jazz Hot. Boom Kat!

 Life has been a lot slower since we closed. Which feels weird after the last four manic months. The show I was supposed to choreograph didn't end up happening (budget issues), so it's just teaching and J & D fun right now. Here are some awesome pics from the job I did Monday with J & D. Two more to go this week.

Driving a Ford Edsel with Elvis riding shotgun. 

(We really just needed a DD between the two of us)

 Mole in black and white

All in all, not too shabby. Especially on a gorgeous day like today!

Fine And Dandy

 

So life rolls on even though I stopped blogging for a while.  I've not succeeded so far in finding a more traditional 9 to 5 job (though I did choreograph 9 to 5), but I've changed my direction. I'm not done with theatre and dance. I'm in the middle what has been more than a quarter of a year of continual full time employment in the arts in Houston, and I love it. I've been teaching with Main Street and the dance studio I grew up at, choreographing for several productions, and performing with Theatre Under the Stars. I did the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with them out at the park and will be doing Victor/Victoria with them in a few weeks. I'm not sure what is after that, but I'm working on it!

(Texas has a whorehouse and shag carpeting in it!)

In college we were all taught (by people who had never worked in either) that there was New York and L.A. and no in between. That's it for performers. It shouldn't be that way and it isn't. There are smaller communities where it is easier to find and keep steady jobs in addition to professional performance gigs. I'm never going to have a production contract, but a WCLO contract is fine by me! (I will admit, it's nice to have a little asterisk by your name. Union benefits!)
There are times when I regret leaving New York but they are fewer and fewer as time rolls on. I feel healthy and happy again. I dropped my grieving weight (I got chubby during the terminal illness and death fest. I was just drained emotionally and physically from it all). For the first time, I dated someone just to date someone. After such a rough time with my personal life, it was just nice to have someone. I never thought I would be that girl, but in an odd way, the end of it helped me get back to life and ditch that broken feeling. I went up for a NY audition for a choreographer I've worked for before and completely blew it. I knew it and she knew it. I don't miss being one girl in three thousand auditioning for three spots. I went into Whorehouse nervous about being "good enough" and that I would be that weird local that just got the contract cause they were local. I don't have those worries anymore and there are some fierce folks in Houston that I love working with them. And I'll get to do it again.
I feel good about where I'm at. I'm not on a traditional path- either with my life or my career, but I'm on the path that suits me. I'm excited about the possibilities again.
I'm not sure what this blog should be titled anymore. I only wore my granny boots for one scene in Whorehouse! And my Arikas have replaced my Laducas. Solid, flattering, and Gorgeous! What's not to love?

 

 

Aren't they pretty?

 

Minnie's opinion of all of this

 

 

 

And now some of the most fun J& D pics from the last few months...

Bad to the Bone Gala with CAPS 

 Saloon girls at a tech convention party

 Tigers at a Porsche roll out party

Flaming cupcake table at an over the top birthday party

One of many Gatsby Galas- this one was for OPAS in College Station

 Store opening complete with boa and mole

More Gatsby fun- This time in River Oaks!
 



How to scare high school students at a prom- flirting table

Home For The Holidays

Life continues. I'm working at LUSH for the holidays and hoping to score a job in grant land with my aunt at Metro. Job shopping has been difficult. I don't want to take a job just to have a job right now. I'm in a comfortable place where I can search for a good fit and taking advantage of it. (Though I've also put up a ton of Christmas decorations for my parents. Can I add elf to my resume?)

It's weird to talk to fellow actor friends, especially ones out of New York. Being "home for the holidays" has really made it clear I made the right decision. I was here through the latest wave of surgeries (back surgery for my dad and skin cancer removal for my grandad. Grandad now has a Mike Tyson style bite out of his ear.) I got to decorate my 90 year old grandfather's apartment for Christmas (he slept through it and then asked for more white bread to dip in his milk, but I got a few smiles out of him). I was able to eat Thanksgiving with my family complete with slight hangover from wine and monopoly the night before and committ to the Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners. My family is important to me and it took  losing a good chunk of it for me to realize it.
Lots of my friends in New York still ask me when I'm coming back. I don't think I am.
If my family was close, sure I would think hard about it and probably would. But when my uncle and godfather was dying, I had  6 hour plane ride and then more the 5 hours in a car to go visit him. It was two days there to spend an afternoon with him and then two days back. I missed his funeral cause I couldn't take a week off for it.
Besides my family, there are def some pluses to living out of New York. I love my dog. There is so much more space. Tamales and margaritas. And Mardi Gras!
If I was married to someone who made good money, I could sporadically teach, dance with a company, work with local theaters without having a real 9 to 5. I've worked lots of women and men who do in both NY and Houston. But I'm not and I want to be able to support myself. Just me, myself, and I. And in a grander style than living paycheck to paycheck. (Though I'm not buying Minnie fancy Blue Buffalo dog food again no matter how much I make. Those farts were deadly!)

Going on a blind date this week, thanks to one of my mom's friends. Nice Catholic boy in a stable job. my mother is ecstatic. My mom and her friends all seem to want to set me up with their sons,their friends, or their coworkers siblings, or anyone else they can find. 

Mickey Gilley, Minnie Mouse, and Knitting!

So I'm back at the beginning. Just as as I was debating giving notice, the teacher I replaced wanted to come back, so I am unemployed once more! Still kicking it, ribbon twirling, showgirling, and whatever the client wants while trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up! (Trophy wife is not an acceptable answer Though it is a tempting one, it requires dating. Which drives me batty!)

Pic from a J and D gig last week at House of Blues. (I am ashamed at how much I love that outfit) And Yes. That is elderly Mickey Gilley crooning away behind us. We were in good company as party entertainers!  I've been engaging in a lot of knitting and puppy therapy in the last week as I battled a rough cold. Results: a sweater and slippers! Now to add a career to my results. Hmmmm.....

New sweater and headband!

Minnie and Bandit tried to help with picture taking!

Cookie monster slippers!

Minnie in her Minnie Mouse Halloween costume! (Also a knitting project)

Taking it day by day and trying to figure it out. If life were easy, it wouldn't be this much fun!

Rolling Along

Life continues to be a little crazy. My grandfather into nursing rehab and then hopefully he will be in assisted living soon. So now its back to trying to figure my life out! Baby Bandit is settling in. From a puppy mill gone way wrong (they are wrong to begin with but absolutely awful when way out of whack), he spent the first eight months of his life being criminally neglected and has not been socialized with people at all prior to coming home with us. Every day he gets a little less afraid, a bit more confident, and fluffier! He loves to play and loves Miss Minnie. Minnie is getting accustomed to the idea of him. She does want to be the alpha (she fits right I with the women in our family) but is slowly coming around. She is just a great loving little girl who doesn't know how to play. Hopefully she and Bandit will continue rub off on each other. They already are! The job hunt is also moving along. I have some part time work and an interview at a charter Jr high tom that is still looking for a dance teacher. As was explained to me, recent in laws in Texas have made it impossible for schools to hire a non certified or qualified teacher. To be qualified, you have to pay the state and pass their subject tests (which if they are anything like the state arts tests I took in high school, are an absolute joke. Fingers crossed!) If the teacher is not certified, Texas schools have to send letters home to parents. Needless to say, one of the schools that wouldn't even give me an interview cut the program rather than hire a non Texas certified teacher. So now I'm playing by the rules and starting my alternitive certification. Hopefully it will work out with the dance teaching job! Theatre wise, I've had some response off all my emailing and mailings, but Houston theatres are still cliquey and very tight. I have an offer to choreograph 9 to 5 this summer. It's at a community theatre where they hire professional directors and designers. I loved the last time I worked with this director and am excited to work with him again!

"No. You're a Comedienne."

Life simply refuses to settle down. Working on rolling with the river and not against it, but sometimes you just want to fight it! I haven't ended up with a teaching job, so I am starting to look at how to get my certificate and flexible jobs. Already have a job hooked up through J and D. They do most of the events in Houston. They are super sweet, treat their people well, and pay better than the company I did similar work with in New York. Starting to look for more part time teaching jobs and temping and subbing to fill the checkbook when the events are slim. Then I can take a show with TUTS or whoever if I can book it! The big monkey wrench right now was caused by my grandad. My grandad is 90 years old and still lives by himself with some help coming by to clean and get him his meals. My uncle who was taking care of him passed away in May, so after he had a rough fall the other day, the question is what next? I'm up in College Station at his place with my dad as we all try to sort it out. Life is on hold in it's own way until that is figured out. So Minnie and are here for comedic relief.

(Safety first with Minnie!) On the puppy front, sweet little blue eyed Brewski fought through Parvo, but was then beaten by distemper. It was a damned shame that such a sweet dog was not only dumped at a a shelter, but he was also never vaccinated. Get your dogs vaccinated! So we have been on the hunt for another friend to be for Minnie. She is so sweet and snuggly (and amazingly obedient), but she doesn't quite know how to play. So we're hoping to get one to play with her from a now defunct rescue in Abilene (the head of the rescue's dad has cancer, and she has shut it down in order to take care of him). There are three boys left there. We're going up to visit soon and get Minnie a four legged friend. Bandit is our favorite via photos, but we're open to which ever boy Minnie likes!

(The beautiful and probably troubleful Bandit! And he has a tail!) For now, just waiting on Dr.s, nurses, insurance, and the powers that be and watching tv with Grandad. Currently watching the '36 rendition of Slowboat. I haven't seen it in a long time and it's amazing how close the Zambello version is to it! (Though we didn't have a cowbell or a moo in the melodrama!)

Cause life just keeps rolling along! (I refuse to Oscar Hammerstein phonetically spell that out!)

Update with B's: Blogging, Boots, Boating, Borders, and a Blue Eyed Brew

I debated stopping my blog with leaving New York, but I'm hoping I can still find interesting things to write about. I'm back in Texas. Finished off Oliver! the last weekend in July and hit the road. It was a good run with a great group of people. Some young company hiccups, but I have faith in Harbor Lights to pick it up as they grow!

(Me moonlighting as Miss Kitty. I mean, being a bawd in Oliver!) We visited family in Mechanicsville, VA and Salem, SC along the way. It was great to see them all (especially when it included a day of boating with homemade peach daiquiris)! The last day of the drive, we dropped by the Twisted Branch Aussie Ranch a great little rescue operation in east Texas. My dad had said he didn't want a new dog when the inevitable day of our 15 year old Australian Shepherd's death came along. He changed his tune when it became a reality, but my mom had already concocted a scheme for a new dog way back in June. I would get a dog that would leave with me. Now it is two dogs! (One will still leave with me) We've been able to bring Minnie home (she is currently sitting on the floor only a few feet away from me, periodically fixing me with a stare to encourage petting), but Brewski has had some health problems

(Minnie's pet me face.) A purebred mini aussie, Brewski was dumped at a shelter by his previous owners. Somewhere between the breeder and previous owners, he was never vaccinated and came down with parvo. Karen who runs the rescue nursed him through it but he has been slow to get back to good health. She is afraid that his cough could be distemper (which be the end for the poor little thing. And it is entirely preventable with a vaccination!)

(Brewski is a beautiful little guy and so horribly sweet!) Hopefully we will soon get good news for our boy. Otherwise, it's just dropping resumes and cover letters and hoofing to try and get employed. A nearby school district is last minute looking for four junior high school theatre teachers and auditions for some local theatre companies. Fingers crossed!