Sarah's Choice: A Tale of Hurricane Sandy

She had to have it. Two days of being stuck in the house. The plate of muffins was only half eaten, but they no longer fulfilled her. Nor did the bags of frozen vegetables, the Greek yogurt, or the bizzare varieties of cheeses sitting and waiting in the forbiddingly black fridge. What she wanted was a thin crispy crust of delight. Covered in oozy cheese and just waiting to be folded in half and devoured. Screw the hurricane. Her destiny was pizza. Trying to get thru the shoddy phone lines, she cannot reach Dominos. The internet tells her nothing. Crawling over her room mates half packed suitcase, she gazes out the window. Is the mob up and running the pizza joint across the street? Jumping over the suitcases, she grabs her phone and dails the elusive number on the awning. Once again, the phone fails her. It looks open, but is it? Dare she brave the lack of winds, rain, and cold for just the possibility of the cheesy god across the street? The debate with herself gets intense. Pizza or the promise she made to her fiance to stay inside? Who is really her true love? The panic moves back to the kitchen. The big black doors open and close again. Then to the pantry with a fury. She irritatedly grabs a bag of popcorn and throws it into the microwave. The cheese she will place on it won't replace her cheesey and delicious true love. It is merely a second choice. The true tragedy of the hurricane blinks from across the street. It declares "Pizza." A taunt or a challenge? Or possibly just an expired dream.

Waiting For Godot Sandy Style

Due to the hurrican, I ended up canceling my DC audition plans. All transit is shut down, so no work. Lot of movies, Irish coffee, and muffins (the roommate and I both ent on a pre-hurricane baking binge). Staving off boredom and trying to stay safe and sane. Currently watching "Scoop." Which means bits of "Swan Lake" will be stuck in my head. Hopefully we don't loose power and I can fight it off with something else! My calves just start to hurt when I hear this music. Dance Olympus days of old. When you're an assistant you get to do it over and over and over again. But pretending to be real Trina was half the fun!

She Works Hard For The Money

I have hit the ground running upon returning to NY. I temped for a day, then did 7 straight days of promo work. Which is nuts. So tom will be just for me! Starting with a buddy from Houston grabbing lunch and then hitting a bakery, and a later jaunt with my the ladies from Broward. Yes. We are going to Panera. While doing my legwork tonight, I treated myself to a fabulous cocoa face mask and a hot toddy. I'm getting closer to being back at work in the best way possible. Things are looking up! I tapped to this as a kid. We didn't get the variety of occupations (why is one a lion tamer?) But we rocked a similar hip wiggle with our trays. Sassy little ladies!

Fingers Crossed And Feet Bare

I'm going to jump the gun. I haven't ironed out details and contracts, but today work was so lousey I have to pretend like it's all a go. And eat cookies (though eating cookies isn't as a very unusual occurence. I listened to Cookie Monster's wisdom as a child and have heeded it as an adult.) This way my mantra of "18 days" was not a lie. Fingers crossed that it was reality (and that I will manage to stop singing "You're never fully dressed without your pants.") Here is a link to Emotion Dance Ensemble's website. Check it out. http://emotiondanceensemble.com/cash/ Or you could eat cookies. Either will help improve my day. This is an old promo video for the project I'll be working on. Starting the country music before I hit Texas. Back to barefoot concert work and no granny boots at all. Maybe I can sneak them in. Or wear my kicker boots!q

19 With Plenty Of Bengay

So in between my rock and my hard place, I have found myself working promo an insane number of days this week. Auditions are slow/for shows I am unavailable for, so I have taken lot of sickees shifts. Take the work when I can get it. Making the perpetual Bengay feet better was a message on my answering machine. I'm off hold for "Cash." Contracts and details still have to be worked out, butI have high (and hopefully realistic) hopes. Thank heaven. (For little girls. I can't help it. That phrase always becomes a "Gigi" moment.) So now I can work as much as possible with a very clear end in site. I just need to figure out getting my car back to Houston for "Showboat."19 days til I'm back to working my favorite way!

(I'm skipping my original comment about vanishing scent Bengay being no fun. Much funnier spellcheck doesn't believe in Bengay and keeps adjusting it to Be gay.)

Epiphanies in Space: David Bowie Optional

Being back in New York after my trip to Chicago has been a series of strange epihpanies. I've been in and out of New York for about a year and a half now. At first I felt ashamed of being another actor in New York City. I told people who asked that I was a grad student, like my lovely room mate. I was ashamed. And I shouldn't have been. In Chicago, I caught a preview of a new stage adaption of "Trainspotting" that one of my old college friends had worked on. He did a beautiful job as the assistant director. It was masterfully done. From the staging, to the actors, and the design elements. Even the script was better than many plays you run across in NY. In it's own way, it was even oddly Hipster commercial. But the entire company (except the director) was nonunion. Which means the pay scale was lousy. Which is absurd. There was a skill set and some hardcore balls (literally in quite a few cases) being shared and unearthed with the small but appreciative audience.

(The cast of "Trainspotting: USA") Today, after temping at the New York Historical Society and answering a number of questions about my profession to my very sweet and energetic superior, I went to see Jersey Boys. I'm promo-ing it in Times Square for the next few weeks. The producers are picky about their baby, and they should be. It's pretty decent for a big Broadway jukebox show. But it's just as decent as the dedicated cast and crew in Chicago giving their all to "Trainspotting: USA." Only the talents are more valued and paid for in NY. Which brings me back around to my New York epiphany. Here, my skill sets our valued. I can and will make a living. It won't always be the best. I'll be a gypsy on a regular basis. But I will be in a community that values and supports what I do. That pays me for what I do. Which is awesome. And now I step off my soap box preaching. Some silliness to take away from my soapbox.

New York State Of Mind

I stuck out like a sore thumb yesterday. My look, style, and energy didn't blend in at all with the tall slender concert dance locals. So I expected the cut. I was happy with how I danced. What else can you do? I got to see some lovely friends from college days and take a slight break from NY. It did make me grateful that I moved to NY instead of Chicago. I'm not the only variation on me in a room in NY. Which means I can compete for jobs cause they fill full choruses with mes! Even walking up and down the street, I fit in more in NY. These midwesterners are so friendly and working class. Where is snotty and weird? :-) Back to my east coast home I go!