Sioux Falls, South Dakota
August 23rd-24th
ice ice baby...
So apparently I can't even sleep right anymore!! I woke up Friday last week and my rotator in my shoulder was killing me. So I tried to stretch it out and get all the knots out in my shoulder and made sure so sleep on my other side the next night. It didn't matter because the next day i woke up with the same pain. I asked the chiropractor I was seeing in Wisconsin what was the matter and he did a small exercise that really didn't do anything for me. I did the shows Saturday and the one Sunday and we drove to South Dakota Monday. I relaxed the rest of the day Monday but my knee's both started hurting again and I still had limited movement in my shoulder rotator. I went to the chiropractor (which this week is in walking distance) and had to fill out ridiculous paper work. They told me i strained my shoulder UGGHH and think that its pretty weird that I don't even know how I did it. But they used this weird tool that they push onto your joints and on random places on your body that realigns your joints. I'm not too sure how i feel about this method because it doesn't seem to be working very well. I understand that its only been 2 days, but it just seems very strange to me.
August 25th
When the wands fly...
So i returned to that chiro again today and was only there for 5 minutes and all they did was that stupid adjuster thing again... after a convo with mike farrell, i will not be returning to that doctor. Mike is so awesome that he hooked me up with a better doctor in Rochester, MN where we will be heading tomorrow night! Thanks Mike!
After another run to Sonic today we had a blocking rehearsal and then I stretched for over an hour to make sure that my body was ready for our show tonight. My body did feel pretty good during the show except that for the whole first act Abbys head was all over the place and i could harldy see :(
Also my magic wand decided to fly across the stage during one of the most important parts for me to have it... wonderful.. :/
But act two went much better and the kids were really cute. Once girl, whos mouth was totally blue from a snow cone, yelled Abby you're my favorite!! Very cute :)
Tomorrow we have two shows and then we pack and head out to Minnesota for an over night drive.
Updates to come soon :)
<3 Babby
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Not at all the week I was expecting.
La Crosse, Wisconsin
August 15th-21st
What a pain in the knee...
So upon arrival in La Crosse I was experiencing a lot of knee pain and kept icing it with not a lot of improvement. I told my managers of the pain and was taking it easy at rehearsals. On our first day there "technically our day off" I went to a masseuse to see if they could help at all with the pain incase it was just some knotted muscle. She couldn't exactly tell me what was wrong but she told me a great chiropractor that I could go to. I made an appointment and the hotel shuttle driver drove me over to the doctors office. The drive took longer than it said it would on google maps but I just went with it. Once I got there i learned that there were several branches of the doctors office and the driver took me to the wrong one. It was such a nice doctors/trainer's office and he told me that it was possible that I could have a tear in my medial meniscus. He then hooked me up to an electrotherapy machine that made my knee wiggle and jiggle all over the place, and basically made it feel like my leg was falling asleep. They also did sonogram on my knee to break up some of the torn tissue and get blood flowing to the area for a speedy recovery. They gave me some exercises to do at home but they didn't really let on to the severity of what the injury could be. While I was laying there hooked up to the machine Dr Bronston's 5 year old daughter came in to say hello (I had told the receptionist and doctor what I was in La Crosse for). We got to talking with her and I told her that my best friend was Abby Cadabby. She was adorable and her face lit up :) And when she left I said I will let Abby know that you said hi and she skipped out of the room. The doctor told me I made her day :D
Leaving the office my knee felt much better, probably because of the biofreeze and I went to rehearsal. They had me sit out which was alright so I could rest it, and my understudy started to learn the show and run through it.
On Tuesday I went back to the chiropractor but since Dr. Bronstons office didn't have any open appointments for me I went to the one closer to my hotel in La Crosse. When I got there (at 7:45am) the receptionist was so excited that I was coming that she printed out an Abby Cadabby picture and asked me to sign it. When I came out after my treatment she had posted it up on the office bulletin board haha. Kind of crazy, but I thought it was funny. So the shuttle driver continued to give me rides to the doctors offices even though they are only supposed to go from the airport and back, which was so nice of him to do for me. That day at rehearsal they had 2 dress rehearsal runs and I sat our front and watched while taking notes for my understudy. While out in the audience I got to meet a lot of the management in the company including the guy who records all of the characters voices. So he started to tell me about the actual people which was a neat thing to learn. Also I found out that our production manager used to own popper joints and work carnivals... what a strange world we live in!
The next day at rehearsal my manager told me that they weren't comfortable with letting me perform or rehearse until they saw the results of an MRI. Within the next hour I was at another doctors office and they were telling me I was getting xrays and not an MRI... They told me they had no open appointments for MRI's and that I would have to try and go to another place. They called some of the other hospitals in the area and the next 2 hours were the biggest waste of my life waiting for one of the hospitals to fax over a form for me to fill out, they wouldn't even look at the appointment schedule until this form was filled out. So after all of that pointless waiting they tell me they have no open appointments. bugghhh. The only ones that were available were Thursday night at 8:30 which was during the opening night performance, or 5am the next morning. I really had no choice but to take the 5:00am appointment. I got back to rehearsal and when I told them the news they gave me some bad news. I wouldn't be performing opening night. The worst part about all of it was that the chiropractic treatment and therapy was helping big time and my knee felt so much better. Not awesome to any extreme but better than before. I was very upset and just hung around by myself for the rest of the day and the morning before the first show. I didn't want to bring anyone else down just because i was having a rough week.
Opening night was packed and there was a great audience. When Abby came out she got the biggest reaction and it was awesome!! I took lots of pictures and cheered on my friends while sitting with the choreographer Cheryl and some of my new friends. We went to the opening night party afterwards and had a good time. It was past midnight once we left the ballroom and a lot of people were going out to one of the bars in town afterwards. I had to wake up at 4:25am the next morning in order to get to the doctor by 5, I knew I shouldn't go out but it was Cheryls last night there with us so I went out and ended up not getting home until 2:30am! So it ended up really just being a long nap. I got up at 430 and was at the doctors office by 4:35... there was not a soul in site and I was literally just sitting in an empty hospital, totally creeped out! At 5 the receptionist got there and at 5:30 I was in the MRI machine. It took about a half hour and they gave me headphones which unfortunately was playing country music.. gross.
I got back to the hotel at 6:30 and my usual driver Scott let me up to the 7th vip floor for a free breakfast!! I took about 2 bites of my bagel and passed out in bed. It was only 45 minutes before me next alarm went off to go back to the orthopedic doctor that did my xrays. They gave me the fantastic news that there was no tear and that it was just a strain... which still isn't good, but a tear would have meant surgery and me going home from tour.
Right after that appointment I went straight to the chiropractor where we had start doing PT in the pool which was making my knee feel fantastic. I got to do the show that night and had a wonderful time. I had a few knee pains but nothing terrible.
Today was a 2 show day and my knee is feelin fine!! Hooray!
We have one more show tomorrow and then we are done with La Crosse and heading to Sioux Falls South Dakota.
Can't Wait!!!
I will update again soon!
<3 cadabby
August 15th-21st
What a pain in the knee...
So upon arrival in La Crosse I was experiencing a lot of knee pain and kept icing it with not a lot of improvement. I told my managers of the pain and was taking it easy at rehearsals. On our first day there "technically our day off" I went to a masseuse to see if they could help at all with the pain incase it was just some knotted muscle. She couldn't exactly tell me what was wrong but she told me a great chiropractor that I could go to. I made an appointment and the hotel shuttle driver drove me over to the doctors office. The drive took longer than it said it would on google maps but I just went with it. Once I got there i learned that there were several branches of the doctors office and the driver took me to the wrong one. It was such a nice doctors/trainer's office and he told me that it was possible that I could have a tear in my medial meniscus. He then hooked me up to an electrotherapy machine that made my knee wiggle and jiggle all over the place, and basically made it feel like my leg was falling asleep. They also did sonogram on my knee to break up some of the torn tissue and get blood flowing to the area for a speedy recovery. They gave me some exercises to do at home but they didn't really let on to the severity of what the injury could be. While I was laying there hooked up to the machine Dr Bronston's 5 year old daughter came in to say hello (I had told the receptionist and doctor what I was in La Crosse for). We got to talking with her and I told her that my best friend was Abby Cadabby. She was adorable and her face lit up :) And when she left I said I will let Abby know that you said hi and she skipped out of the room. The doctor told me I made her day :D
Leaving the office my knee felt much better, probably because of the biofreeze and I went to rehearsal. They had me sit out which was alright so I could rest it, and my understudy started to learn the show and run through it.
On Tuesday I went back to the chiropractor but since Dr. Bronstons office didn't have any open appointments for me I went to the one closer to my hotel in La Crosse. When I got there (at 7:45am) the receptionist was so excited that I was coming that she printed out an Abby Cadabby picture and asked me to sign it. When I came out after my treatment she had posted it up on the office bulletin board haha. Kind of crazy, but I thought it was funny. So the shuttle driver continued to give me rides to the doctors offices even though they are only supposed to go from the airport and back, which was so nice of him to do for me. That day at rehearsal they had 2 dress rehearsal runs and I sat our front and watched while taking notes for my understudy. While out in the audience I got to meet a lot of the management in the company including the guy who records all of the characters voices. So he started to tell me about the actual people which was a neat thing to learn. Also I found out that our production manager used to own popper joints and work carnivals... what a strange world we live in!
The next day at rehearsal my manager told me that they weren't comfortable with letting me perform or rehearse until they saw the results of an MRI. Within the next hour I was at another doctors office and they were telling me I was getting xrays and not an MRI... They told me they had no open appointments for MRI's and that I would have to try and go to another place. They called some of the other hospitals in the area and the next 2 hours were the biggest waste of my life waiting for one of the hospitals to fax over a form for me to fill out, they wouldn't even look at the appointment schedule until this form was filled out. So after all of that pointless waiting they tell me they have no open appointments. bugghhh. The only ones that were available were Thursday night at 8:30 which was during the opening night performance, or 5am the next morning. I really had no choice but to take the 5:00am appointment. I got back to rehearsal and when I told them the news they gave me some bad news. I wouldn't be performing opening night. The worst part about all of it was that the chiropractic treatment and therapy was helping big time and my knee felt so much better. Not awesome to any extreme but better than before. I was very upset and just hung around by myself for the rest of the day and the morning before the first show. I didn't want to bring anyone else down just because i was having a rough week.
Opening night was packed and there was a great audience. When Abby came out she got the biggest reaction and it was awesome!! I took lots of pictures and cheered on my friends while sitting with the choreographer Cheryl and some of my new friends. We went to the opening night party afterwards and had a good time. It was past midnight once we left the ballroom and a lot of people were going out to one of the bars in town afterwards. I had to wake up at 4:25am the next morning in order to get to the doctor by 5, I knew I shouldn't go out but it was Cheryls last night there with us so I went out and ended up not getting home until 2:30am! So it ended up really just being a long nap. I got up at 430 and was at the doctors office by 4:35... there was not a soul in site and I was literally just sitting in an empty hospital, totally creeped out! At 5 the receptionist got there and at 5:30 I was in the MRI machine. It took about a half hour and they gave me headphones which unfortunately was playing country music.. gross.
I got back to the hotel at 6:30 and my usual driver Scott let me up to the 7th vip floor for a free breakfast!! I took about 2 bites of my bagel and passed out in bed. It was only 45 minutes before me next alarm went off to go back to the orthopedic doctor that did my xrays. They gave me the fantastic news that there was no tear and that it was just a strain... which still isn't good, but a tear would have meant surgery and me going home from tour.
Right after that appointment I went straight to the chiropractor where we had start doing PT in the pool which was making my knee feel fantastic. I got to do the show that night and had a wonderful time. I had a few knee pains but nothing terrible.
Today was a 2 show day and my knee is feelin fine!! Hooray!
We have one more show tomorrow and then we are done with La Crosse and heading to Sioux Falls South Dakota.
Can't Wait!!!
I will update again soon!
<3 cadabby
Saturday, August 14, 2010
HI ABBY!!!
August 11th:
Miss Cadabby is ready for her close up...
So we had a photo shoot for the show program and since Abby is new to the show she had a lot of pictures to take!! They usually reuse pictures from old programs of shows they have done before, but they needed pictures of Abby with her special props in the show and with all the new backdrops! I was the first one there since I had to drive in with my manager and be ready to go and in costume at 9:15. Abby was on stage in the hot lights for over 3 hours without break and it was HOT!! We took a lunch break and ran the show afterwards. It was a long day, but nothing compared to 2 days later.
What is really neat though is that those are the first pictures of Glitter Girl, and i was there so now any pictures you see of Abby in her super hero outfit... well, you know that Bailey was in close proximity!
Cool Beans!
August 13th:
This is the day that never ennddsssss...
So yesterday was the longest day of my life... We were up at 8am and at work by 8:15.. we did a short warm up and had our first half hour call at 9. We ran the show once and then got notes and fixes and had to change some formations because an understudy is out. We had our lunch break and had another full run in full costume of the show. After our dinner break we had a lot of fixes to go over and were all turning into a bunch of looney tunes because we were so over tired. Things got interesting and instead of dinner we had Coldstone :) We continued to prep for the next day since we were going to have our first audience. They started to set up chairs and once we got back from dinner the whole place was full of chairs. I had the impression that there would maybe be 30-50 people there... nope over 400!! ahh! I really didnt get nervous about it, but it was just very unexpected. The ride home that night was verrrry interesting. Our normal driver was out of town and it was as if dad was gone and the kids were ready to party haha.
August 14th
Let the show begin!!
We left the hotel at 8am again but decided to go with some Grease and Disney to get the day off to a great start! Then finished it off with a Man in the Mirror dance party outside of the van in the parking lot. The crew enjoyed it :) We stretched got dressed and had our places call. It was neat to hear all of the little kids on the other side of the curtain getting excited, but when I stepped out on stage and heard ABBY!! I just about died! Every chance I got I was waving into the audience and saw so many little girls with huge smiles on their faces! It was adorable and I am so happy to be doing this! We got them to get up and dance and clap and sing along. It was very cool and I had a great time.
After the show we had our publicity seminar and learned how to answer questions when we have to do newspaper interviews or tv interviews. I already have 2 pubs scheduled for next week and they are both meet and greets. One is Elmo and Abby and the other is Abby and Cookie. I can't wait to make a little kids day when they meet Abby :D
But now I am all packed and we leave for Lacrosse Wi tomorrow at noon. I am going to try and find a diner in the morning because I could really go for some pancakes. Next week is full of more dress rehearsals and then our first performance and the opening night party!
Can't wait! I will keep you posted!
bk
Miss Cadabby is ready for her close up...
So we had a photo shoot for the show program and since Abby is new to the show she had a lot of pictures to take!! They usually reuse pictures from old programs of shows they have done before, but they needed pictures of Abby with her special props in the show and with all the new backdrops! I was the first one there since I had to drive in with my manager and be ready to go and in costume at 9:15. Abby was on stage in the hot lights for over 3 hours without break and it was HOT!! We took a lunch break and ran the show afterwards. It was a long day, but nothing compared to 2 days later.
What is really neat though is that those are the first pictures of Glitter Girl, and i was there so now any pictures you see of Abby in her super hero outfit... well, you know that Bailey was in close proximity!
Cool Beans!
August 13th:
This is the day that never ennddsssss...
So yesterday was the longest day of my life... We were up at 8am and at work by 8:15.. we did a short warm up and had our first half hour call at 9. We ran the show once and then got notes and fixes and had to change some formations because an understudy is out. We had our lunch break and had another full run in full costume of the show. After our dinner break we had a lot of fixes to go over and were all turning into a bunch of looney tunes because we were so over tired. Things got interesting and instead of dinner we had Coldstone :) We continued to prep for the next day since we were going to have our first audience. They started to set up chairs and once we got back from dinner the whole place was full of chairs. I had the impression that there would maybe be 30-50 people there... nope over 400!! ahh! I really didnt get nervous about it, but it was just very unexpected. The ride home that night was verrrry interesting. Our normal driver was out of town and it was as if dad was gone and the kids were ready to party haha.
August 14th
Let the show begin!!
We left the hotel at 8am again but decided to go with some Grease and Disney to get the day off to a great start! Then finished it off with a Man in the Mirror dance party outside of the van in the parking lot. The crew enjoyed it :) We stretched got dressed and had our places call. It was neat to hear all of the little kids on the other side of the curtain getting excited, but when I stepped out on stage and heard ABBY!! I just about died! Every chance I got I was waving into the audience and saw so many little girls with huge smiles on their faces! It was adorable and I am so happy to be doing this! We got them to get up and dance and clap and sing along. It was very cool and I had a great time.
After the show we had our publicity seminar and learned how to answer questions when we have to do newspaper interviews or tv interviews. I already have 2 pubs scheduled for next week and they are both meet and greets. One is Elmo and Abby and the other is Abby and Cookie. I can't wait to make a little kids day when they meet Abby :D
But now I am all packed and we leave for Lacrosse Wi tomorrow at noon. I am going to try and find a diner in the morning because I could really go for some pancakes. Next week is full of more dress rehearsals and then our first performance and the opening night party!
Can't wait! I will keep you posted!
bk
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Goin for the Gold!!
August 6th-7th
Finale...
We really just learned the rest of Act 2 and kept going over and cleaning what we learned over the weekend. We ran just the second act in heads and feet a few times and I was having a lot of problems with the head. It kept moving side to side and was sitting too far back and too high on my head so my eye level wasn't clear to see properly. It was pretty scary and painful since I had no control over it. After much fidgeting, sweating, and readjusting I was still not happy with how everything was fitting and was getting very frustrated with how things were going. I had a major headache all night and the helmet inside was digging into my forehead.. ugh. No fun.
But after work one night we all went out to get some food and relaxed a bit which was nice. Plus there was an adorable chocolate lab puppy outside at the table next to us that I got to play with for a few minutes :) I miss my Coby Brown : /
August 8th:
Lets do this shit!...
So today we ran the second act in heads and feet and I was still having major problems with keeping my head from going all over the place. My head was pounding but we went over act one and I finally learned my little solo that I get to do and everyone said it looked really cute. I get to thank Dana for kicking my ass in ballet every morning because its a little ballet routine haha.. hardly the petite allegro that Dana put us through though!!
So after our lunch break we had our 30 minute call to get ready for the full show run through. The day before they had told us that we would be running the full show in heads, feet, and pods (which give the character whatever body shape they have, abby has a bit of a butt). But all of the people that have done the show before were going with the full costume. So i just decided to go for it and figured the sooner I do it the faster I will get used to it.
So after lunch today we had our 30 minute call until places and it was time to get into our costume. There are about 5 layers to my costume, plus a heavy head and many props. Once I had my actual costume on and had the head attached to it I was already way more comfortable. The head felt so much better and wasn't out of control anymore. I had stuffed some foam into my head cap as well as the helmet to cushion my forehead and ears. So everything was feeling pretty good. I also had to put my scrim in to hide my face which made it a bit harder to see, and much harder to get fresh air and breath.
After running just the first few numbers in Act 1 I was gasping for breath. It was really hard to do and we were also in hot stage lights. I was glad to head that I wasn't the only one, but I have it the hardest in Act 1. She only leaves the stage one time in 45 minutes... yeah.
But act 2 is much more relaxing and I get to take a bit of a break, until the finale that is of course. Ironically the finale song is I Feel Good, and not one person on stage at that point feels anywhere near good. HA!
But I am so glad that I already did the run in my full costume and there should be no more surprises ahead!! After the run when we went back for notes on our performance the choreographer told us that Jim (the guy that watches each run and gives is opinion and tells her what needs to change and all that) he said that he was so impressed that we put this entire show together in 8 days and were already running it in full costume some of us. And he made a note to say especially new people, he was impressed that I jumped right into full costume and went for it. All of the show vets kept letting me know that it was pretty great that I just did it, which made me feel awesome. They told me my part looked great and they loved Twinkle Twinkle. So I am so happy and can't wait until I build up enough endurance so that I don't feel like I'm going to pass out after each number haha!
So thankfully I have tomorrow off so I can recover and recharge my batters ;)
Keep checking the ticket sales on the SesameStreetLive.com website to see what cities I will be coming to!
Miss you all!
<3 Bailey Cadabby
xxo
Finale...
We really just learned the rest of Act 2 and kept going over and cleaning what we learned over the weekend. We ran just the second act in heads and feet a few times and I was having a lot of problems with the head. It kept moving side to side and was sitting too far back and too high on my head so my eye level wasn't clear to see properly. It was pretty scary and painful since I had no control over it. After much fidgeting, sweating, and readjusting I was still not happy with how everything was fitting and was getting very frustrated with how things were going. I had a major headache all night and the helmet inside was digging into my forehead.. ugh. No fun.
But after work one night we all went out to get some food and relaxed a bit which was nice. Plus there was an adorable chocolate lab puppy outside at the table next to us that I got to play with for a few minutes :) I miss my Coby Brown : /
August 8th:
Lets do this shit!...
So today we ran the second act in heads and feet and I was still having major problems with keeping my head from going all over the place. My head was pounding but we went over act one and I finally learned my little solo that I get to do and everyone said it looked really cute. I get to thank Dana for kicking my ass in ballet every morning because its a little ballet routine haha.. hardly the petite allegro that Dana put us through though!!
So after our lunch break we had our 30 minute call to get ready for the full show run through. The day before they had told us that we would be running the full show in heads, feet, and pods (which give the character whatever body shape they have, abby has a bit of a butt). But all of the people that have done the show before were going with the full costume. So i just decided to go for it and figured the sooner I do it the faster I will get used to it.
So after lunch today we had our 30 minute call until places and it was time to get into our costume. There are about 5 layers to my costume, plus a heavy head and many props. Once I had my actual costume on and had the head attached to it I was already way more comfortable. The head felt so much better and wasn't out of control anymore. I had stuffed some foam into my head cap as well as the helmet to cushion my forehead and ears. So everything was feeling pretty good. I also had to put my scrim in to hide my face which made it a bit harder to see, and much harder to get fresh air and breath.
After running just the first few numbers in Act 1 I was gasping for breath. It was really hard to do and we were also in hot stage lights. I was glad to head that I wasn't the only one, but I have it the hardest in Act 1. She only leaves the stage one time in 45 minutes... yeah.
But act 2 is much more relaxing and I get to take a bit of a break, until the finale that is of course. Ironically the finale song is I Feel Good, and not one person on stage at that point feels anywhere near good. HA!
But I am so glad that I already did the run in my full costume and there should be no more surprises ahead!! After the run when we went back for notes on our performance the choreographer told us that Jim (the guy that watches each run and gives is opinion and tells her what needs to change and all that) he said that he was so impressed that we put this entire show together in 8 days and were already running it in full costume some of us. And he made a note to say especially new people, he was impressed that I jumped right into full costume and went for it. All of the show vets kept letting me know that it was pretty great that I just did it, which made me feel awesome. They told me my part looked great and they loved Twinkle Twinkle. So I am so happy and can't wait until I build up enough endurance so that I don't feel like I'm going to pass out after each number haha!
So thankfully I have tomorrow off so I can recover and recharge my batters ;)
Keep checking the ticket sales on the SesameStreetLive.com website to see what cities I will be coming to!
Miss you all!
<3 Bailey Cadabby
xxo
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Finally a day off
August 4th:
On the Town...
So all day Wednesday we continued learning Act II.. Cheryl, our choreographer, kept calling it hip hop Wednesday because her son was coming in to teach a few of the numbers which were hip hop. I was pretty bummed because I didn't think I was in any of those numbers until I got called in for one of the Fab 5 songs! It was great doing hip hop again and I got a lot of compliments (thank you nettie may)! It was great choreography and I really love what I learned.. I don't know how Abby is going to look doing stanky moves but I suppose we will find out!
So during one of the breaks someone asked Cheryl a question about her son and we got to talking. Apparently Kenny Ortega is Cheryl's mentor! She helped cast Michael Jacksons This is it!!!!! She was in part of the movie while they were picking the dancers! So amazing! She is also in the dance scene in the movie 500 Days of Summer and does so much in the industry, also her husband is the casting director for Universal! Amazing!! She has worked with Michael, was on Glee, and she worked with GENE KELLY! I almost passed out when she said that! WILD!! I love her, she is so nice and fantastic in every way, I want her life :)
So after that wonderful story time with Cheryl we sang happy birthday to Vince and had cupcakes and went back to work.
That night we went out on the town to celebrate. First stop was Cuzzi's. It's a bar/restaurant across the street from our hotel and it had some amazing chicken fingers/fries!! I will be going back frequently.. probably tomorrow in fact! Getting to know the people on the tour was great and I think we are all going to have a really good time together for the next 10 months :) They get pretty wild but I love it... one girl swiped her room key in the atm haha hilarious.. they party pretty hard. Then we went to a place called sex world... I will leave it at that. After that we walked to a gay bar called the Gay 90's. There was really nothing 90's about it other than a Whitney Houston drag queen singing Dance with somebody haha. But it was pretty dead in there and I got really tired. So my room mate and I headed back to the hotel and passed out.
August 5th:
Finally a day off...
Once I woke up I headed out to the pool and got some sun. Around 3 we headed to the Mall of America... yes it is as fantastic as it sounds! I didn't go too crazy, but I got some cool stuff. There's this new store called Gilly Hick's and it's run by Abercrombie, but isn't anywhere near as expensive. Plus there logo is a kuala bear... adorable. I reminisced in the American Girl store and was disappointed to find that they no longer carry the Samantha doll.. but I now have a collectors item haha. We did another grocery run and headed back to our temporary home. I am really having a fantastic time and am ready to get back to work tomorrow :) We do a full run of the show on Sunday! Holy Crap! Things are going to start getting verrrry tiring.
Oh well, need my rest.
Another post coming soon!
<3 AC
On the Town...
So all day Wednesday we continued learning Act II.. Cheryl, our choreographer, kept calling it hip hop Wednesday because her son was coming in to teach a few of the numbers which were hip hop. I was pretty bummed because I didn't think I was in any of those numbers until I got called in for one of the Fab 5 songs! It was great doing hip hop again and I got a lot of compliments (thank you nettie may)! It was great choreography and I really love what I learned.. I don't know how Abby is going to look doing stanky moves but I suppose we will find out!
So during one of the breaks someone asked Cheryl a question about her son and we got to talking. Apparently Kenny Ortega is Cheryl's mentor! She helped cast Michael Jacksons This is it!!!!! She was in part of the movie while they were picking the dancers! So amazing! She is also in the dance scene in the movie 500 Days of Summer and does so much in the industry, also her husband is the casting director for Universal! Amazing!! She has worked with Michael, was on Glee, and she worked with GENE KELLY! I almost passed out when she said that! WILD!! I love her, she is so nice and fantastic in every way, I want her life :)
So after that wonderful story time with Cheryl we sang happy birthday to Vince and had cupcakes and went back to work.
That night we went out on the town to celebrate. First stop was Cuzzi's. It's a bar/restaurant across the street from our hotel and it had some amazing chicken fingers/fries!! I will be going back frequently.. probably tomorrow in fact! Getting to know the people on the tour was great and I think we are all going to have a really good time together for the next 10 months :) They get pretty wild but I love it... one girl swiped her room key in the atm haha hilarious.. they party pretty hard. Then we went to a place called sex world... I will leave it at that. After that we walked to a gay bar called the Gay 90's. There was really nothing 90's about it other than a Whitney Houston drag queen singing Dance with somebody haha. But it was pretty dead in there and I got really tired. So my room mate and I headed back to the hotel and passed out.
August 5th:
Finally a day off...
Once I woke up I headed out to the pool and got some sun. Around 3 we headed to the Mall of America... yes it is as fantastic as it sounds! I didn't go too crazy, but I got some cool stuff. There's this new store called Gilly Hick's and it's run by Abercrombie, but isn't anywhere near as expensive. Plus there logo is a kuala bear... adorable. I reminisced in the American Girl store and was disappointed to find that they no longer carry the Samantha doll.. but I now have a collectors item haha. We did another grocery run and headed back to our temporary home. I am really having a fantastic time and am ready to get back to work tomorrow :) We do a full run of the show on Sunday! Holy Crap! Things are going to start getting verrrry tiring.
Oh well, need my rest.
Another post coming soon!
<3 AC
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Head to toe
Tuesday August 3rd:
Head to Toe...
So since the last time I updated much has happened! We finished act one and had just finished learning the dialog when we were told to run it in feet! I got to put on some very large fuzzy pink shoes and just jump right in and try to do it. At first it was pretty hard to move around in those feet but I got used to it fast. Jumping is extremely hard and it go pretty hot with all that pink fur! We learned the whole first act out of order and it was so confusing to try and piece it all together with curtain calls, random dialog, exits, and placement on the stage.. not to mention being in huge feet that I was trying to get used to. Also it was the first run not only for us, but crew too and they weren't as used to the show as we are so it got pretty rough with making sure the curtain was open, props, and all that good stuff. But the producer of the show said it looked better than some of the final dress rehearsals he has seen! So that was pretty exciting.
Once we were done with that we got notes from the choreographer and the stage manager and I hardly had anything to correct, which I was pretty excited about since I am in Act one the most! I only leave the stage during Grovers song and while I am putting my super hero outfit on which is less than a minute and I am still on stage, just behind the curtain while they are changing me. Very crazy, and extremely tiring.
Now today we started out by having our cast photo taken and ID pictures taken. Immediately after we had a few minutes to stretch and then got into heads and feet! Mine is so heavy and moves around a lot but I have special snaps to keep it in place. Most people have one or two of these snaps.. .I have 4!! She has the biggest head out of everyone and the heaviest. Once the head was on I completely forgot about the feet, and it already had become second nature to me which is a good thing. My snaps were attached to a vest which left a lovely sweat mark on my tshirt haha. Moving the mouth was not as hard as I thought it was going to be and I started to get characterizations down pretty well. This run through went a bit more smoothly and again I wasn't given hardly any notes regarding my performance.
Today they started learning act 2 but thankfully Abby has a big break and not many dance numbers
Tomorrow I need to start using the wand and getting used to having something in each hand. Also I use a ton of props and have to make sure that I can get my wand back for appropriate scenes.
I am really liking the people in the show and getting to know a lot of them much better.
Jason, our van driving, and Honker in the show, said to me today that my characterizations and moving the mouth were really impressive for a newby and he was surprised that I had never worked in a costume like that before. So that made me feel really great and like I was doing a good job.
We continue with act 2 for the next few days and we have Thursday off!! So I will be enjoying the pool and going to the Mall of America!! woohoo!! Can't wait!
I will post again soon!
We run the full show on Sunday!! Woah! This is going so fast!!
Miss you all!
<3 Bailby Kirdabby xox
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