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