Ok Fine, Here I Am

(Yeah, that's me there in the middle)

I really have no idea how Evan has blogged every.single.day. for the past I don't know how many years. Like they say... it's not hard to remember, it's just so easy to forget.

I can assure you that there are many valid reasons for my absence! Valid and time consuming and exciting reasons! First of all, I got called back for Roxy and Ensemble in Chicago, and was cast as Liz! She's the one that says "Pop" in Cell Block Tango. I surprised myself in the dancing portion of the audition! Though I was sorry for about a week and a half afterword, because my muscles obviously weren't used to moving like that. We've been in rehearsal for a few weeks now, and as long as I stretch and warm up beforehand, it's really not so bad. My recovery time has been just a day or two after each dance rehearsal, and pretty soon I'm sure I'll be just fine! We open in about 3 1/2 weeks, and there are only 4 performances - March 9, 16, and 23 at 7:30, as well as a 2:00 matinee on the 23rd. These are all Wednesdays, and considering it's a 40 minute drive from LA without traffic, I understand if you can't make it. But if you can, then great! It's exciting to be working with all new people on this show, and I think we're all going to put something together that's very enjoyable.

Another thing that has been keeping my busy is getting ready for pilot season. First and foremost I finally got some new of my new headshots printed, though I think I'm going to be in the market for some more soon. 'Tis the nature of the biz. I also had an audition a few couple weeks ago for an exciting new pilot, produced by Brian Grazer. My manager referred me to an acting coach another client of hers goes to, Stan Kirsch, so I had a session with him a few days before the audition. It was really great - I may try out a few other coaches, but I really liked him. I liked that I walked out of there so much more confident about my performance. I also just put another audition on tape to send to Telsey & Co. They cast all the big Broadway musicals, and they're also casting a new pilot about Broadway musicals! This one is being produced by Spielberg. Huge. My manager and I agree they're probably going to go the route of some big b'way star for the role, but it's fantastic to be able to put my face in front of these people.

I mentioned last time that I had a meeting with another commercial agent. This is an agency I've heard about since moving to Los Angeles, just like my theatrical agency, so I was very excited for the opportunity. The meeting went well, and a few weeks later I was asked to come in again to meet with the agent's partner. Now, in my experience thus far, meetings have been about 15-20 minutes. Somehow this one ended up being about an hour, and I left having no idea how it went. I mean, we talked about RENT. Cause eeeevveryyyyyyythiiiing iiiisssss reeeeennnnnt! Apparently in my life, it is. Anyway - I guess it worked this time because I now have a commercial agent! I am insanely excited, I've wanted this for years. Now all I have to do is get a commercial so I can pay to take improv classes and get new headshots so I can get booked for commercials.... it's an endless cycle.

On top of all this, I'm now the manager at my work. Seems we've had an almost steady flow of receptionists getting hired and then soon getting other opportunities elsewhere for at least the past 6 months, and our previous manager decided it was time to move on. So on top of my extra managerial duties, I'm training several girls and my boss is consulting me on who to hire. None of this is bad. I'm so lucky that this job is as flexible as it is, my boss is great, and my co-workers are great.

And another thing, I like to finish my taxes as soon as possible and I had a lot of info to gather this year. I've been a busy bee.

So to everyone not immediately around me (roommates, Evan, co-workers), it probably seems like I've disappeared. If I'm not at rehearsal or work or an audition, I'm researching things that have to do with rehearsal or work or auditions. I can't remember the last time I've been so involved in my own life, and I love it. The next step is to try and reincorporate other people into it, but for now I'm enthusiastic about the possibilities I'm creating.

Third Time Is Maybe Not The Charm

A dream come true twice over is plenty. I keep joking to people that I'll be doing RENT for the rest of my life, but as fun as that would be I'd miss many other opportunities. This will be my first pilot season with my manager and agent working for me, which hopefully will yield lots and lots of auditions and - with any luck - a job or two! My manager is also setting up a meeting with another commercial agent and that is going to be good, I just know it.

Wow... so in typical Nicci fashion of late, I had let myself dwell on RENT. The callback was on a Saturday, and we were told that they'd probably be finishing casting by the end of the weekend. When a few friends told me they got calls and were offered roles on Monday, I still held out hope that maybe there was more to be done. Christmas came and went and I still let myself think about it. I even sent the production office an email letting them know how much fun I had at the callback, and that I'd love to be a part of the show in any capacity.

The hardest thing was not knowing if I should be expecting something or not. Sure, no one in this industry is going to give everyone that didn't make the cut a courtesy call. But they had been posting most everything online up to that point so the fact that I never saw a final cast list made me think that maybe they were still in the process. I finally got word from two of my friends that were cast in the show that an email was sent out to the cast. My immediate reaction was to be a little sad. A) It's RENT! and B) I'd love to work with those friends again, I know they're going to be fantastic.

And then... a wave of relief came over me. I'd let a lot of anxiety build up by not letting this particular audition go, and as soon as I know I wasn't waiting for anything anymore I felt like a normal person again. Yet another example of why actors have to forget about the audition as soon as they leave the room. You can cause yourself a lot of frustration otherwise! I am very excited to see my beautiful friends in this show. Ben, my Angel from both RENTs I did, is again one of the Angels, and My darling friend Josie is a Maureen. They're going to be spectacular :)

I had an audition for a reading of a new musical today at the Pasadena Playhouse that I feel good about. Any audition where get to sing Pat Benatar and use a Russian accent is bound to be a fun one. The people behind the camera seemed to like what I did and laughed in all the right places. And now, though I feel good about it, I've let it go. If it happens it happens.

There are also a couple exciting auditions coming up, the first of which being Chicago. I submit myself for the role of Roxie (Velma has already been cast), and got a message from one of the casting people saying that we had a lot of mutual friends, and she was actually planning on finding me on facebook and asking that I come in for the audition. That could be a good sign! If my last dance audition is any indicator, I think I'll do fine tomorrow. I'm not a dancer, but I can dance. And if my body doesn't want to listen to me tomorrow, they're also casting The Last 5 Years which requires no dancing. A different song choice and I think I may have a fighting chance for that too.

Aannnnddddd lastly - I have another meeting with a commercial agent next week. I am so so thrilled. This could be the one, folks.

Happy Almost New Year!

A few years ago, Evan was inspired by the Day Zero project to create a 101/1001 list. That is, a list of 101 things to accomplish in 1001 days, or a little under 3 years. I've decided to create one for the upcoming year... one of my goals is to actually finish thinking of 101 things to do! But another one is to blog more. Since it's only a day away from being 2011, I'll start off with a little treat I threw together last night. Enjoy!


Clips from the rehearsals for RENT in Rancho Cucamonga

A big thanks to Ms. Erika Jenko for sending me the clips! I'm no pro at cutting videos, but I wanted to whip something together to let you all know I'm still alive. I'll leave my reel to the pros.

Happy new year everyone, with any luck you'll be hearing from me much more on this site!


*I just found out that the Day Zero Project is down or has been removed. This is unfortunate since I had about 60 goals saved on there. Booo, back to the drawing board.*

Thinking About Seeing RENT At The Hollywood Bowl? Read This Instead

I really wanted them to do well. I was so willing to like them - if they were good. As it turns out, I was surprised by most of them, in both good and bad ways.

Lets start with the most obvious character that I would critique: Vanessa Hudgens as Mimi. When I first heard the news that she was cast, I was disappointed. It was obviously a choice based on celebrity and hype. That aside, I found it in myself to give this Disney pop-princess a chance. Maybe the innocent High School Musical thing wasn't her strong point (though I'm sure hordes of juveniles would disagree) and she would surprise us all as the crazy/sexy/lovable Mimi. She sure looks the part, right? Well that's where the similarities ended. She looked great in those blue pants (they looked EXACTLY like the ones I wore in Alabama, I wonder if they were rented from the same company) but no amount of abs and legs could make up for her performance. From the first few notes she sang I was embarrassed for her. Her lack of skill was so painfully evident without the help of auto tune, she was just singing notes and playing a part, instead of being fully invested in the character. It was apparent when she was specifically directed to do something and when she was not. She had no power or confidence in stillness, because she was constantly flailing her arms about trying to look natural, or visually anticipating her next direction.

Although the role may seem easy - sexy drug addict with nothing to lose - it can be very hard to make her as likable as she needs to be. The audience need to know why Roger falls in love with her, they need to understand her conviction about life and why she has it, and they need to actually care that (spoiler) she very nearly dies. I didn't get any of that. Seeing her try to act and sing was too distracting for me to be able to love the character. I just loathed Vanessa the whole time. I've been reading a lot of responses from people in last night's audience, and many applaud her for taking on such an iconic and racy role, but the guts she may have for giving it a shot are no excuse for a lousy, grade school level performance. Perhaps it was a personal best for her but I am confident that it was an all time low for the history of RENT.

Don't worry, the worst is over! I didn't hate everyone that much. Some people actually surprised me for the better. Namely Nicole Scherzinger, known for being the lead singer for the Pussycat Dolls and a judge/host on numerous reality television shows. My biggest problem with her was that I couldn't see her (as Maureen) having dated Skylar Astin (playing Mark). Other than that, she pretty much knocked my socks off. She brought a new kind of sexiness to the character, and was just as crazy and goofy, if not more so, than you'd expect of a Maureen. Her rendition of "Over The Moon", though different than any I've seen, was one of the best I've experienced. As Entertainment Weekly put it, she displayed "not a lick of fame-induced self-consciousness" throughout the whole show.

I had high hopes for Skylar, as I'm a fan of Spring Awakening and thought he was wonderful in the original cast, but right from the get go his portrayal of Mark fell flat in my eyes. His job in the beginning of the show is to introduce us to what's going on with the level of energy we're to expect for the entire show. What we got was a bit lack luster and drawn out. It seemed as if he was playing for the more emotionally intense second act right from the beginning instead of bringing the joy and sarcasm to Mark that is expected. Though the acting wasn't on point, his voice did sound great and blended well with Roger.

On that note, and much to my surprise, Aaron Tveit played a great Roger. Having first seen him as a young congressman on Gossip Girl, I didn't believe he had the grit to portray an convincing Roger. I was very glad that I made the wrong assumption. He had a very natural melancholy about his character, which made the moments that he was actually happy that much more exciting. Aside from looks, I cannot imagine a more ill-fitted pair of him against Vanessa Hudgens. He definitely has the acting chops needed for the role and played it very well.

Evan's biggest worry was in the casting of Wayne Brady as Collins. I personally thought he would have made a much better Benny, but his Collins was fine. I would have hoped for a little more connection to his most emotional song, "I'll Cover You (Reprise)", and he made it very apparent when switching between a bass and baritone register, but the acting was there and in the end so was the voice. Telly Leung (Angel) was fine as well. Having recently found out that one of my current Chess cast mates was originally hand picked to be Angel in this production, I was a little disappointed in Telly's caliber. Both this cast mate of mine and my darling Benjamin Alicea (who played my Angel in the two productions of RENT I did) would have presented a more dynamic character. Alas, Telly was cast and and he wasn't bad.

Tracie Toms stood out as one of the people that felt most comfortable, and really commanded the stage. Her voice as well as acting and connection to the story and other characters was admirable. At least there was one person in the cast I was sure wouldn't let me down, and she was it. I had no expectations for Collins Pennie as Benny, as I'd never heard of him before. He was, to quote the show like a super geek, "less than brilliant". His voice was fine, his acting was ok, but he just didn't exude the Benny spirit. He seemed too juvenile, and at no point did I see the connection between Benny and Mimi. That's an often overlooked but very integral plot line.

I was unsure of what they were going to do with an extra 10 ensemble members. The show is traditionally done with a cast of 15 people, maybe 16 people, but since the venue is so large I understand the desire to fill the stage more. It is, after all, supposed to be set in the busy streets of New York. The ensemble truly did support the entire show so well. David Burtka had the great honor of being the "Will I" soloist and made every renthead proud. The rest of the song didn't go as well, with only 2 rounds of voices going at any time rather than 4 as it's written. The end result, as said by my former director, is supposed to be a wall of sound. I'd call this more of a picket fence of sound. It could have been better.

When I did the show in Rancho Cucamonga earlier this year, it was an honor to have Gwen Stewart come to see it and praise it. She revived her role as the "Seasons Of Love" soloist beautifully, and the added soloists didn't bother me much at all. That's one of the songs that, while the original cast recording is well known, it's not set in stone. The soloists have the freedom to make it their own, and it ended up pretty darn cool.

Overall, I'd give the production a C. Some people were really incredible, others were embarrassing, and still others were nearly forgettable. If you believe my opinion is biased because I've performed in the show before, I'd advise you to check out my boyfriend's review at www.swanfungus.com

If you've never seen RENT before, I wouldn't recommend this as your first go around. It's not much better than the movie, but poor miss Hudgens literally ruins the whole thing. There, I said it.

Breathe!!

Literally... I need to learn how to breathe again. I went through a few of my songs with the Greg the musical director yesterday afternoon, and do you have any idea how much Florence sings in Chess? Well, it's a lot. Greg said it's pretty much the Florence show, and it's not only a lot of singing but a lot of serious powerhouse songs. I am thrilled to be a part of this production and the challenge doesn't scare me, but it is a challenge. I just need to remember to do the important things - like breathing.

When I was in Alabama doing RENT Casey, Ben and I would get on a treadmill or bike and sing "Today For You" and boy oh boy did it help with the breath control. So I did it again today. this morning I went to the gym and quietly sang "Today For You" a few times on the treadmill. I'd take a couple minutes in between and I could feel that it got easier each time. I even went through some of my Chess songs to see if I remembered all the lyrics, and it seems they're sticking in my head better than I could have hoped after one day. Now I just have to do that 3 or 4 times a week and I'll have those songs completely memorized and singing them like a pro in no time.

Tonight we have our first rehearsal where we will get to meet the rest of the cast and people involved, get more music, and rehearse all together! I took a look at the cast list and was surprised to find that I didn't know anyone in the cast. But I did hear a lot of amazing voices at the auditions, so I can't wait so see which ones they decided to put together. Since I've been out here there hasn't been anyone I've done a show with that I really didn't like. There have been people that had their quirks that took some getting used to, but in all each cast I've been a part of have become a sort of family. At least for the time being. So I'm ready to meet my brand new Chess family tonight.

I got some great news today, in a roundabout sort of way. I got a voicemail from a casting director about auditioning for a brand new musical. It would involve recording the music late this month and doing a reading possibly in September. And this casting director? He's the one I thought I had burnt a bridge with by turning down the job in Colorado. So I feel much better now knowing that all things are well on that front. He's a really nice man and I'm glad he'd like to work with me again.

And one more thing. I realized that I actually enjoy blogging now. In the beginning it was a bit of a chore sometimes, but lately I've been eager to blog when something exciting happens. It could be because I kept a journal for at least 11 years and have tapered off from writing in that, and it could also be because I get so many people telling me they really enjoy what I write, and look forward to the next entry. Thanks everyone, I like you too!

Hello Again

By now I'm positive no one reads this anymore. I haven't posted anything since, what, December? Over 4 months. During that time my dear friend Lauren has put her blog back up, and taken it down, and put it back up again. I really love what she has to say, even if it's just a silly story about her grandmother or her friends I've never met. She's a great writer, and whatever the content it's always captivating. I'm more judgmental than I let on too, so it's nice to know I have truly talented people in my life.

I'm admittedly not the best writer. I don't even like writing very much at all. Have I said that before? Probably. I've probably also mentioned that in high school I avoided writing papers whenever possible, and even sometimes when not writing one wasn't an option. But - have kept journals since the third grade. It's always felt good just to write about things happening in my life. I used to imagine my nieces or grandchildren reading about all the things that happened to me. I also used to imagine being really old, and I would only remember things because of these journals. In the past few years the journal entries have dwindled. The last time I wrote an entry was probably sometime last year. The thing is, things are still happening in my life, I'd say more so now than when then majority of the entries were written. So since I'm at work, and it's a relatively slow day, I'll try for a recap of the past few months...


RENT - I was once again cast as Mimi and we had a successful and wonderful run of RENT in Rancho Cucamonga. The theater was beautiful, with 500 something seats, and a real backstage this time! It was a great experience doing the show with a cast nearly entirely new to me (save for Ben, Casey, and Dylan). Last time I was very familiar with the show, but going into this production knowing the script like the back of my hand, I got a lot deeper with character development and making my personal show more fluid. I couldn't have been more proud of what we all put up on that stage, and for two weekends this cast made some serious magic.

There is going to be a production of RENT at the Hollywood Bowl late this summer, and of course many of my castmates went out to audition for that. I unfortunately wasn't able to stay and be seen on the day of the singing call, but once my boss heard that she offered to take half my shift the next day so I could dance. I've never considered myself a fantastic dancer, but I really impressed myself and didn't screw up once. I didn't get called back, but I wasn't really expecting to be. I was a little bummed, but as soon as I found out they're casting the likes of Vanessa Hudgens and possibly Justin Timberlake, I was a little less hard on myself. None of us had a chance, and although it may not be fair, it's ok.

*A little tangent - I'm usually very good about going to an audition, doing my thing, and then just leaving and forgetting about it. That really is the best way to deal with being in this business. No one ever lets you know if you don't get something, so if you hang onto every audition, you're in for a world of depression. But since finishing RENT, it's been hard to live up to my philosophy of letting go. My brain wants to analyze everything I did for a few days after the fact, and when no call or email comes to interrupt those pesky thoughts, it's easy to get frustrated with yourself.*

I also auditioned for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in the OC. I've been having trouble relaying the correct tempo of my songs to pianists, and so when I started singing my song it was almost in cut time, which did not at all lend itself to a good audition on my behalf. I suppose I could have stopped, clarified, and started over but.... ok fine, it was Jason Robert Brown and apparently his music isn't easy to play. But I could have sworn this song was! I mean, even I could probably play it and I'm hardly a pianist. Anyway, for whatever reason, I continued to sing my uptempo as a ballad and did not get called back. If only I had a better audition, I think I would be perfect for this show. So I couldn't get that off my mind for a few days. (I later found out that the girl who got the part I was aiming for is married to someone involved with the production. Great.)

Our music director David from RENT held auditions for a production of Godspell which he's directing/music directing, and again many members of my RENT cast showed up. I sang Janis Joplin and was called back for the next day. Due to getting out of work late, I showed up to the callback an hour late, missing the dance portion, with just enough time to sing a little before we moved on to monologues. I don't know why, but I felt really terrible about it. I told my friends and roommates as soon as I got home that I sucked and was sure I didn't get cast. A little melodramatic, I know. Much to my surprise, I got a voicemail when I left my house the next morning (because I rarely receive calls at my house, due to the awful service in Echo Park), it was David calling late the night before, saying he was excited to work on another show with me.

That was a big sigh of relief for me... I remember going out to a late lunch with Ben and Loren (Angel and Collins from the Rancho RENT) right after the Putnam audition and telling then how very much I needed to be in another show. It's so hard to close a show and not having something lined up. Luckily I do have my day job at the waxing studio, which I love very very much, but of course that doesn't engage me like being on stage. I never knew how much I like being busy until I got back into acting.

The touring company of Mamma Mia held auditions last weekend. I sang the National Anthem at the Rose Bowl for Walk MS, and headed over to the studio. I got there around 10:30, and I believe I was seen at close to 5:30. Luckily I knew a few of the people there so I didn't just have to read or play sudoku the whole time. But there was also another guy there, and it was pretty apparent he didn't belong. That sounds harsh, but you have to understand.... everyone else at the audition, as with every other audition I've been to out here, has studied in some way, and put forth a lot of effort to be the best we can at what we're trying to do. Then along comes someone like this guy who probably didn't even realize the stage production came before the movie. He didn't know what a hardcopy was (headshot), and when I asked if he was a fan of ABBA he didn't know what I was talking about. With as many people as there were there, it makes me a little angry that people like this will show up and take a time slot from someone more qualified and deserving.

Well now we're all caught up to the present. Two days ago I got a call from a casting director that I know who has cast me before and and asked me to come in and audition for various things. There's a project I submitted myself a long time ago that he's casting for, and although I wasn't sure that I was really right for the role I studied up and went in for it anyway. The thing about this show is that it's in Colorado, and the commitment would be all summer long. I realized there were conflicts with Godspell, but I figured that in the slim chance that I was actually cast, I'd figure it out from there.

I went in yesterday for the audition. I got the offer today.

I guess I shouldn't have auditioned if I knew there would be many conflicts with the show I'm currently in. My justification for that is this: I've been so used to not getting cast or called back for things I've auditioned for in the past few weeks, I figured I'd go in to at least get my face in front of another director, see a lovely casting director friend, have some fun and then walk away. It was a nice change to leave feeling ok, rather than immediately thinking I did awful and pouting for a day and a half.

So here's what is on my brain right now: Turn down or drop out? Money? Prior commitment? Summerlong "job security"? Loyalty? Responsibility? Opportunity? And to top it all off, my day job that I do love so much. I don't want to screw anyone over there probably most of all. I'm very lucky that it's so flexible and I really do enjoy what I do there.

I've talked to my mom, my co-workers, my boss, and briefly to Evan, but in the end it's down to me. I don't want to be the girl who always drops out of things for something better (like I did for RENT the first time around), and I don't want Raul, the casting director, to get the impression that I come in for auditions on a lark and can't follow through (like I did earlier this year when he called me back for a role and I decided it wasn't for me).

My co-worker Jill said that if this is the worst of my problems, it really ain't so bad. True, yes. I wish I could do both, but unfortunately it won't work out that way. It's the old "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

Well I guess that's you get for being so very talented. *Sigh* Oh the life of Nicci Claspell....

Let The Sun Shine In

Goodness, a month since I last posted! I guess I really have been keeping myself busy.

So where did I leave off... Thanksgiving was a success! All of the residents of my house plus Evan, and our friends Ken and Katie who had just moved to town from New Jersey, went to the house of Quiggs (Sarah Quiqqley) and Sebastian. We all had certain dishes assigned to make, and we ended up with a lot of amazing food! There were drinks and boardgames and seasonal movies... it was great.

I've gone on a few auditions here and there in the past few weeks, none that I think went particularly well. One comes to mind - it was for a children's show that travels in the San Diego area. The casting director was Michael Donovan. I've always wanted to work with him, he does a lot of stuff out here, namely musicals. I showed up to the audition space to find a few dozen young girls in ballet attire. Thinking I had gone to the wrong studio, I went to my car to check my information. When I realized I hadn't brought it, I just sat in the car wondering if I should a) go to the other studio nearby and see if the auditions were being held there, b)go back inside and search for signs that i was in the right place, or c) just go home. As I was about to start my car, I got a call from an unknown number, It was someone from Michael Donovan casting, wondering if I was still coming. I said I was on my way, I had "hit a little traffic", and I made sure I was at the right place (which I was). At that point I was a little flustered and it affected my audition. I sang the wrong cut of one of my songs, I stood stiff as a board while singing, and I stumbled over the lines even though I had the paper in my hand. They were very nice and thanked me for coming in, but I'm not surprised that I didn't hear back about it. Oh well, you can't win them all.

A few days ago I checked out the casting call section on the webpage for the stage actors union. I saw there was an audition for the replacements of the Broadway cast of Hair, being held today. I prepared and got the sheet music for a song I already knew from around the era, Me And Bobby McGee. When I showed up a little after 9 this morning there was already a line formed outside. The actual audition process didn't start until 10, but they let us in around 9:20 to sign in and get comfortable. My position in line was #75, so I had some time to read and relax and convince my nerves I'd be ok without them. One of the casting directors spoke to all of us before they started seeing people. She let us know that the current Broadway cast will be going to England to continue performing, so they will be casting the whole show. She also let us know that about a third of those people were cast from a non-union open call, like this one. That's great news to hear. of course there's the non-equity people in New York too, but it gave us all a feeling that there was a better chance of actually being cast in the show.

I saw a few people there that I had worked with or gone to school with. One of them told me that a mutual friend of ours had auditioned the day before and gotten a callback for Saturday. It's nice to know that they're doing the callbacks so soon after the initial audition. In face, it's nice to know when the callbacks are at all! In many cases, you're in and out and that's that. You keep on moving, and if you hear something back - great. Hopefully I'll hear something back... My song went well. There was one point where my voice cracked a tiny bit, but other than that I think I was pretty strong. I should know by tonight whether or not I'm what they're looking for.

I also saw one of my former RENT castmates. We chatted for a bit after I was finished. He told me that he met up with Ron, the director of RENT, not too long ago. Among other things they talked about the upcoming production of RENT that Ron will be directing. He said initially the production company was all for bringing in the entire Alabama cast, but for possible legal reasons the have to cast some locals. But that means the producers liked what they saw, and if Ron's still on our side I think the chances are pretty good that many of us who are still interested in doing this production will be cast.

Here's A Picture Of My House. Come Visit Me.

Here I am, my first day back at work. I thought I had to work yesterday, but I guess I was looking at next week's schedule. It's good to be back, I really do love my job and all the ladies I work with. Not too mention the free waxing services! Love it.

Early yesterday morning I dropped Evan off at the airport. He's going to be on the East coast working at the WFMU record fair and visiting with family and friends for 10 days. Cruel fate, we could only hang out for like a day and a half before he had to leave. I spent the rest of the day sorting through the 300+ pictures I took in 'bama, color correcting them and making albums on facebook. It was so nice to see all of them full size. Find me on facebook and check them out, there are some pretty fantastic ones.

Last night I met up with one of my best friends, Katrina, at Fiesta Cantina. I don't think we'd been there in over 2 years... we used to frequent the place. We would be there every Wednesday for karaoke and 2 for 1 margaritas. It was decidedly a bit more mellow than we remembered, though we did get there on the early side so we could be sure to put in our songs early. I'm such a nerd... I sang Out Tonight. I couldn't help it!! Where else can you pull off singing musical theatre at karaoke but at a gay bar in weho? They loved it too, and that's what matters. Everything still comes back to rent. Someone in a commercial on the radio today said "now you're talking" and my mind immediately went to "well, I'm thwarted by a metaphysic puzzle". I don't know if this will ever end, but I think I'm ok with that. I hope I get little "thinking of you" texts from my cast mates forever!

A girl just walked into my work with the most amazing mustard yellow pants. I do miss the vibe of the LA people. It's good to be back. I even enjoyed the traffic for a hot minute today. Last night when I dropped Kat off at her apartment, her phone fell out into my car so I dropped it of at her work today. The aggressive drivers just feel like home. As I drove around I had the urge to hang out with Lauren and show her all the fun and fancy things in Beverly Hills, and then I wanted everyone to be there so we could go to the beach or I could take them to my favorite restaurants. LA is wonderful, I really did miss it, and I hope I get to share my city with them someday.

Viva La Vie Boheme!!!

Well, I made it. Back in LA, safe and sound. The sunny warm weather is helping to distract from the sadness of RENT being over and me missing everyone like crazy. I really do... nearly every show that I've done, the cast and crew had become a sort of new family, but this one was like nothing else.

When we got to the theatre I handed out personalized notes that I had written for everyone. Ben was practicing "Today For You" on stage so the rest of us ended up in the girls' dressing room dancing and singing. It was wonderful. Definitely bittersweet to have that explosion of joy all together, to put on the costumes and make up for the last time, to take pictures backstage before it was time for places. The show went really really well. I think all of us used the emotions we were feeling appropriately during the show. When the second act started I was all smiles. It was like all of us up on that stage had our own mini season of love..

From that point on though it got more difficult. I felt like the performances were fantastic, though there were definitely more tears than normal. I really started feeling it in "Without You", and was nearly crying by the end of the song. As soon as I started saying Angel's eulogy that's when I could no longer hold it together. And for me, the hardest part was, by far, trying to sing "I can't believe this is... goodbye". I don't think it was easy for any of us. When we were singing the Finale B, I don't think there was a dry eye on stage. Probably in the audience too.

After a lot of hugs and a few more pictures, we all made our way over to the J.Clyde for dinner and drinks. It was really great to have that time together, to wind down after the show and say our final goodbyes. We even sang Finale B for our waiters, though it was a good two or three steps too high. My fault, I take the blame. We sounded great though. After a few hours we all started to disperse... it was so so sad. The amazing Lauren even gave me her favorite scarf, which I had been begging to buy off her earlier in the day. I will cherish it forever and think of you every time I wear it L!

Ben, Dylan and his friends Kurt and Stephen, DaWonye, Stephanie and myself went over to the hotel and hung out at Ben's place for a while. I realized I still had to pack and gas up the car, so I made a fairly early night of it and headed over to the car. While driving to the gas station I realized I totally forgot to pay my bill at the restaurant so I went back. William, one of our waiters for the night, had worked some kind of magic on the computer and took some items off so it apparently ended up being like $5. I stayed there talking to him and Mae, our other waiter, for a while. Such nice people in Birmingham.

When I got back I packed most of the rest of my things and tried to get to sleep. I failed. I didn't get a wink of sleep for hours. I think I finally started dozing around 500 am, but I had to get up in order to shower and finish packing. Earlier on Sunday I had spoken with Susan, the woman who had picked me up from the airport when I arrived, and she said she was dropping me off as well. When the time came to meet her downstairs, I text'd her to let her know I was almost ready and I'd be down in a few minutes. I got a call from her immediately after that saying she had spoken to Kim and was told I was dropping the rental car off so I didn't need a ride. Luckily that was the original plan so it still worked out fine.

Even though I sent a 10 pound package home, I had bough a few other things and I had to put 5 pounds of things into my carry-on so as not to have to pay for the extra weight in my suitcase. I had a basically direct flight from B'ham to LA, but we stopped in St. Louis and Salt Lake City on the way. I arrived at 1:20 and was greeted by Evan. He drove me home so I could take a much needed nap, and then we went to dinner at Aroma Cafe in Studio City, one of my very favorite places ever. My neighbor Shaun had a screening of the first episode of his web series, Project Hollywood, at the Bungalow Club. I've always wanted to go there so it was nice to be able to check it out. My dear friend Sari also showed up which was a pleasant surprise.

I've got all day today to relax before I get back to work tomorrow. I'm already itching to do another show... Hopefully that will happen soon. Maybe I'll even audition for Disneyland so I can work with Ben! I'm going to have to plan something with the LA RENT people soon.

That's it for my RENT journey. I plan on keeping up with this blog and writing mainly about projects I'm doing. In the meantime... check out www.laurenab.wordpress.com. She always has fun things to say.

xoxo

I Can't Believe This Is... Goodbye

Sunny? Yes.
Warm? Well, maybe later. The weather looks promising. There's not a cloud in the sky for the very first time since I've arrived. Going to the pool still ain't happening though, it's still too cold and I have to start on my hair by 11:30.

Our show last night went really well. A few lines were flubbed, a couple light cues were off, and a few notes were wrong, but nothing that totally messed us up. And the audience was FANTASTIC. Right off the bat they were laughing at everything. There were never any awkward moments when they weren't sure weather or not to applaud, they just did it. By far, the most responsive audience we've had yet.

After the show we headed over to Dylan/Lauren's place(s) to have this previously mentioned "hall party". It was more of a "apartment migration" party, but moving from one apartment to the other did require us to utilize the hall, if even just for a few seconds. I think the majority of it was spent in Lauren's, even though she just moved in and doesn't have much furniture. We started off by spreading out her comforter on the floor and having a fast food picnic. There was also wine, beer, and chips. Pretty classy, I know. The majority of the cast was there, plus Kevin, Chase from the band, Kim and her hubby Josh, and some peoples friends. It was really nice. And we didn't even stay our till four! I think I was back at the hotel and under the covers by 2:30. Make that 2:40 - I had to brush out my hair. Only one more time though....

Ben and I decided it would be a good idea to take advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel one last time. He text'd me at 9:10 to remind me. I was going to just grab it and go back to my room like he did, but I realized I certainly can't not blog today, and as long as I'm down by the lobby... here I am, blogging.

This is it. My dream come true is coming to an end. Talking to kevin last night, we agree that this process has gone by so fast, but at the same time it hasn't. I guess anything you love doing seems like it's gone by fast once it's over, but remembering the process it seems like it's lasted a long time. I believe the plan for after the show is that we're going to the J.Clyde one last time to have dinner all together. I know a lot of people are going to be a total mess. This has really been a journey, and it's really special that we've all gotten the opportunity to take it together. The past couple performances have been more emotional than ever, especially the second act. Everyone is really using their feelings about this show ending and putting that in their performances. I really don't know what I'll be like tongiht, but I'm pretty sure I won't want to leave the stage after the curtain call.

Ten Down, Two More To Go

Our show on Thursday ended up going really well. There were times where my voice wasn't working the way I would have liked it too but I feel like my acting made up for it. I felt great about the show. The audience was fantastic too. It's always a good feeling when they sand up before we even finish the last song and start the bows.

RMTC does film each production for archival purposes, though the performers never get to see it. Boo. Anyway, they filmed last night. The girls felt that we were really on, but the boys had an interesting night. A few lines were skipped or forgotten, that's never happened before. I don't think it was nerves from knowing the cameras were out there, it was probably just a brain fart. Hopefully they'll film tonight too.... if not, they were just little slip ups so oh well.

We had a packed house again and they seemed to like it fine, but we hadn't expected what happened when we came out from backstage. People were there waiting, with programs and cameras in hand, for us to give autographs and take pictures. They cheered and gushed about how much they loved the show. It was pretty crazy, I've never had an experience like that. I've gotta admit, it was kinda cool.

When we managed to get out of the theatre, a group of 12 of us went to the haunted house. it was about 20 minutes away, and we made a stop along the way to get snacks because, as we found out, the wait to actually get in was 2 hours. The weird thing was we paid $2 to get in, and then we had to pay $15 for tickets (tokens, actually). They had a movie playing for anyone that wanted to pass the time. I think it was Candy Man. We opted to go back to the cars and hang out where it was warmer.

Some time after 1:00 we finally got to enter. I was anticipating being terrified so I clung to whoever was closest to me throughout the maze of a pathway. Fortunately I was hardly startled and more entertained by my friends in front of me who were close to peeing their pants. I even took a picture with one of the clowns that popped out and tried to scare us. I think it took 15 or 20 minutes to get through and it was actually really fun. They had one of those rooms that spin while you're walking down a pathway... it's making me dizzy now just thinking about it. I don't know why those are always in haunted houses. They aren't scary, just really weird.

When we exited, the warehouse that had earlier been packed with waiting patrons was completely empty. We were the last group to go through. After that experience we weren't tired so we headed over to Dylan's place to hang out some more. His lady friend Brook came over too which was a pleasant surprise. We didn't realize how late it got until Ben got a text from Lauren, who's bedroom apparently shares a wall with Dylan's living room area. At that point it was after 4, later than any of us had planned on staying out. *I didn't call Evan because it was so late but I should have, and I am very very sorry that I didn't.*


It's freezing outside. It was yesterday too. I had hoped that we could get in the pool before we had to leave but I don't foresee that happening. The hall party was rescheduled to tonight so that's what we'll be doing after the show. Hopefully I won't be out until 4 again tonight, especially since the matinee that is tomorrow afternoon is the last show we'll all do together. Probably ever. I turned in my script yesterday... it took me probably 10 minutes to erase all of my notes from it. I also sent myself a package so my suitcase won't be so heavy. Hopefully those 10 lbs of stuff will be enough to keep the suitcase under 50 lbs this time. I don't know what we'll be doing after the show tomorrow but we'll all be together, I'm certain of that.

The Final Countdown

Happy Thursday everyone! Yesteryday marked our last full day off of this trip. We didn't really do much of anything... we looked for a mongolian bbq place but it was closed so instead I tagged along with Ben and Casey to Chipotle, and we ended the night watching tv. Big day. Michael's back now though so it was nice to chill with him too.

On Tuesday Ben, Casey, Stephanie, DaWonye and myself went to see Dylan in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe at the Childrens Theatre. He was fantastic! That kid is so talented. After that I took a nap, and then we went to Walmart to get supplies for a cook out thing. I made a really good salad, Stephanie make this awesome cornbread thing, we also had baked beans, hot dogs and burgers, chips, cookies, ice cream... mmm, it was good. It was the five of us who went to see the play earlier in the day, plus Cecil and Dylan. Food was eaten, pictures were taken, conversation was made. It was lovely.

Lauren is moving into an apartment across the hall from Dylan, so tonight after the show we're going over to their place to have a "hall party". Tomorrow night we have plans to go to a haunted house called Atrox... I'm pretty frightened already. I've made everyone promise to keep me surrounded so the people that work there won't get too close to me. I'm pretty sure I'll survive as long as there aren't little people grabbing at me with white-gloved hands. Talk about creepy.

I'll write later, hopefully today's show will go better than last Thursday...

Weekend Number Two

And just like that, our second weekend is over!

After I picked Sarah up from the airport we went to Sonic for her first experience. Mmm, delicious. I think she's hooked now. As am I... I'm not looking forward to having to drive an hour to go to one. Oh well, at least I'll have In 'n' Out back. How I've missed it. We started our Saturday morning by meeting up with my mom and John. Sarah heard there was a bacon waffle at The Original Pancake House so we went there to find it. The wait was a little long (even beside the fact that they skipped our name on the list at least 3 times) and the service could have been much better, but man oh man was that bacon waffle good. I got that and Sarah got the pecan pancakes, which were nearly as delicious.

After our meal we found our way over to the Botanical Gardens. It sprinkled a bit on and off but nothing too bad. The gardens were beautiful, and so big! I think we were there for at least 40 minutes and probably didn't get to see half of it. At one point along the trail, an orange tabby cat ran up to us, as though he were late and catching up. He liked us so much that he walked along with us through most of the gardens we visited. The plants and flowers were incredible and serene, but that cat was my favorite part. I miss him already. After a while I started feeling a little off, me ear was doing that weird thing again and I was probably in a bacon-waffle-induced-semi-coma, so I went back to the hotel for a quick nap before I had to start doing my hair for the show.

That night we had our best audience yet. Every last seat was filled, and they even brought in extra chairs to accommodate more people. They laughed and cried and cheered as much as we could have ever wanted. The performance itself was also fantastic. I can only say that from a performers point of view of course, but the show felt so good. It helped that I could actually hear myself and hit all my notes with confidence too. It's right that we gave such a good show for such a deserving audience of family, friends, and other enthusiasts. And from the amount of dewy eyes we say when we came from backstage, I'm positive we did a good job. I took the family to The J.Clyde for a couple beers and one of the best blt's I've ever had. I love me a good blt, but with fried green tomatoes? Come on! Wow. I also enjoyed a Good People Coffee Oatmeal Stout (brewed at the Good People Brewery in B'ham) and Sarah had some mild wings. Delish.

After a quick IHOP breakfast this morning, I bid my family farewell and got to my preparation for the show. Today was our first real matinee since last week's was delayed until 5:30 in order to allow us to sing after the AIDS walk. The audience was pretty much what you'd expect from a matinee audience. Not terrible, though definitely a chance from what we've been getting. But hey, what can you expect from a southern audience who just saw RENT on a Sunday afternoon? We played the show for us and we had fun. Afterword the majority of the cast plus Kim and Josh went out to get some dinner at Sabor Latino, a decent Mexican restaurant neat our hotel. Definitely better than the place Evan and I ate at Five Points so I was happy. By the way Birmingham people - or those in the know - is it proper to say AT five points or IN five points? Just Curious.


It seems like everything goes this way, but it feels as though we've been here forever and not long enough at the same time. It's hard to believe that just weeks ago we arrived and met everyone for the first time. Ron's been gone for over a week now and it seems like forever since we've seen him. I can tell it will be a sad sad day next Sunday when we have to say goodbye. We've all been blessed to have done this project together. Ugh. I don't wanna think about it. I'll just enjoy these next few days off, hopefully cramming them with last minute cast hang out time. Ben and I are already making plans to do and see things together when we get back. That makes me feel a bit better. Plus, there's always Rancho Cucamonga... (fingers crossed!)

Back In The Game

Yesterday, while recovering from my unwise decision to mix alcohol with several prescribed medicines the night before (btw, the cut below my lip came from me falling out of bed and hitting the night stand. Oh, Nicci...), I had my first pang of homesickness. With all the hard work we've put into this show, and even with the days off that have been completely void of any set plans or things to do, I've been keeping myself happily occupied. Not that the fun of this new adventure is wearing off, but I'm remembering what it's like to sleep in my own bed and hang out with my roommates. I even miss work and all the girls there! I'm not aching to get home just yet, but i can tell it'll be nice to be back when I get there.

Tonight was our first show back after Mon-Weds off. And wow, what an interesting show. I'm so thankful that I got to the doctor when I did so I can be as well as I am right now. Still, my personal performance tonight could have been much better. With only 3 days of recovery under my belt, I still have a bit of a lingering cough. I hadn't realized it much until I had to sing, because that takes a greater amount of breath support than every day talking or singing along with the radio. And no matter how much cough syrup I down, I can still feel some crap in my lungs. As for that, I guess there's not much I can do but wait till it's gone. I also had a hard time hearing myself... kind of. Maybe I was subconsciously being extremely careful not to push my limits too far, but at the same time I felt like I didn't have enough control over what was coming out of my mouth. On top of this, my left ear has been doing some weird thing every now and again since I arrived in Alabama and that makes it hard to focus on how I'm hearing my voice.

Blah blah blah, complain complain complain. I don't think my voice cracked, at least not too much, and I didn't fall on my face, so what more can I ask for after feeling like I was deteriorating on Monday. I'm certain tomorrow will be a better show. There are a few other people that are sick now but they pulled through great tonight. The band was also a little in and out at some points but it just seems like we all needed tonight to get our bearings again.

My mom and her boyfriend arrive tomorrow afternoon, and I'll be picking up Sarah from the airport after out show. Michael will be driving to Georgia tomorrow morning to pick up his fiance Desi, who is on tour with Junie B. Jones (a childrens book made into a musical). His family is also arriving on Saturday, and I believe Casey's mom and perhaps some more of his family/friends will be seeing the show Saturday as well. I'm sure none of us will run out of things to do this weekend.

Bed time. I mean it this time...

Maybe I Should Have Gotten A Flu Shot After All...

I woke up yesterday with a tight feeling in the right side of my throat. It only worried me a little - about a week and a half into this trip I felt something weird with my throat but let it work itself out. Luckily it did. I think the majority of the cast participated in the AIDS Walk, which took about two hours. I opted out of it, primarily because I had to do my hair (really! it takes an hour!), but I'm glad I did because it was pouring rain and I'm sure that wouldn't help my voice. Once everyone from the walk arrived we packed all 15 cast members onto a 4x9 section of stage that was protected from the rain and sang Seasons Of Love. Our audience showed probably as much enthusiasm as they could muster while soaking wet in cold weather.

Casey's mom, who drove Casey Michael and myself to the park, also drove us back to the theatre where we had about an hour and a half until show time. Most people used this time to warm up and get into dry clothes, and I used the time to try to convince myself I'd do great. It didn't help that after the first number, someone in the girls' dressing room said "I think I saw Daphne Rubin Vega in the audience". Whoever this was wasn't the only one to notice either. I personally refused to even look at that side of the stage until my song Out Tonight was over. I don't want a surprise visit from the original Mimi on a night where I'm afraid my voice will go out at any second! As a matter of face though, I think I performed that song the best I have yet since opening, at least vocally, probably because I was being so careful not to push anything. Daphne or not, I felt good by the end of the number. When I got a chance to look over there later, I was certain that it was in fact not Daphne at all. Just an old lady with vaguely Daphne-esque features. She and the two other older women she was with did not return for the second act. That's the first I've noticed anyone had left before we were through. Well, good riddance.

To celebrate the completion of out first weekend of shows, we hotel people took ourselves to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Our waiter was fantastic, so friendly and helpful. I suggested we let the manager know how good he was before we left, but the boys shot down that idea. I don't think they wanted to wait around much, we were expected at Dylan's place. He lives in a great place very close to Five Points, a populous and collage-y area. Us and a few other members of the cast and Dylan's friends relaxed with some wine and passed the guitar around. It's difficult not to have at least a little of singing with so many musical theatre people in one room. We only got in trouble with D's neighbors twice, the we were actually pretty mellow.

I had a tough time falling asleep last night because of the dry burning on the right side of my throat and the coughing that came along with it, but managed to catch at least a few hours. When I woke up I was sure that whatever this is wasn't going to pass quickly if I just decided to ride it out. The pain was now in my entire throat, I had a bad headache, mild body aches, and my lungs felt slightly constricted. I waited about an hour to see if any of this lessened as my body woke up, but any dissipation was so minimal that I took myself over to the clinic that's conveniently just down the street from the hotel. When Casey had to go during the first week I'm pretty sure he waited 3 hours before he was seen so I was prepared to wait. It only took me an hour and a half in the waiting room, and another 40 minutes in my own room to get seen my an actual doctor. He said it probably wasn't anything more than a virus, but when I told him I'm a professional actor and I needed to be better asap he prescribed me 3 medicines and I got a steroid shot. In me bum. I haven't gotten a shot in the ass since my family went to Mexico when I was in second grade. Ouch. Those hurt.

For some reason I don't have my health insurance card with me, which worries me because I don't know where else it would be besides my wallet. I took my g-status hobble and my prescriptions over to the super Walmart. I was told it would take a half an hour to get the meds so I got a few things over on the market side of the store. I returned exactly 30 minutes later, only to have to wait another hour and ten minutes. I'm pretty sure they forgot about me. I was lucky (or unlucky?) enough to have a man with two little girls wait for a prescription at the same time. The girls, 3 and 5 years old, kept me company by asking which dog food container I thought was prettiest and asking me what happened to all the other people waiting. Adorable. I just hope I didn't get them sick.

After five hours or trying to get a goal accomplished, I arrived back at the hotel with a z-pack, prescription strength cough syrup, more steroid pills, and a bunch of soup. It's already easier for me to breathe, and the z-pack has never done me wrong so I'm sure I'll be at least 50% better by tomorrow. And only $200 for all this fun! Next step, find out what happened to my insurance card...

We Have Arrived

Sorry it's been a couple days. As I'm sure you can imagine, we'd been pretty busy preparing for opening night. So since Monday... Evan arrived in time to see the second half of our rehearsal on Tuesday night. Before we started we had a mini question and answer session with a select group of people who were there to get a kind of behind the scenes look at what the theatre does. I believe these were potential supporters of the theatre, or volunteers, or something along those lines. Aside from those from that group that chose to stay and watch the "performance", we had a pseudo audience - we were told we could invite a friend or two, and some kids from the RMTC children's program were there. We only had to stop once for a quick fix, and besides that it ran smoothly.

Wednesday Evan and I went to check out the Civil rights institute. It's located directly across the street from one of the churches that was bombed in the 60's. It was pretty incredible learning about what struggles black people went through for equality. I think it was equally inspiring and depressing. I'm so glad I live now instead of then. We are a pretty lucky generation.

That night was Media Night, the preview night I spoke of before. It was a pretty big house and the show went great. That made it feel like opening night, so on Thursday, our actual opening, some of the pre-show nerves were gone. Aside from me forgetting a part of my costume at one point, I had a pretty good show. Even with the abundance of older people in the audience, not a single person walked out or left at intermission (at least as far as I could tell). We've all had our fears about how this show would be received, but so far it's been great. We even have a review of our opening night that gave us 5 out of 5 stars. Read It Here!

Thursday afternoon before our show, we - as in me plus the 3 other boys at the hotel (and Evan) - took Ron out to lunch and Jim N' Nick's. It's a fantastic barbecue place. It was so nice to do something for him and just hang out outside the theatre. He is such an incredible man, and we all agree he's one of the most fantastic directors we've worked with. He's putting up another production in Rancho Cucamonga next year that we would love to do, and he told us he had been meaning to talk to us about that - he definitely wants the producer to see us. I don't know if this particular theatre would fly people out to be in the show, but we have so many gems in this particular cast, I think it would be worth their while.

The cast party was held at Rogue Tavern, a few short blocks away from the theatre. It had a pretty nice atmosphere and reasonably priced food and drinks, so everyone enjoyed themselves. We also presented a gift from the cast to Ron. It was Kas's idea and it was perfect - a big RENT book, all about the show and the lives surrounding it, signed throughout by the entire cast. I still have to find a way to upload pictures, there are some really great ones from that night.

I never know how to end these. I wish I was as good at coming around full circle as Lauren is in her blog. Check it out, it's http://www.laurenab.wordpress.com/
Oh, and duh - Evan reviewed the show too http://www.swanfungus.com/2009/10/birmingham-alabama-day-3.html

T minus 3 days

Ahhh, to sleep in. I slept until 11 today. Well, I made myself stay in bed until 11 today. The past two days we've had 10 out of 12's, which means we rehearsed 10 hours out of a 12 hour stretch. Saturday was all cue to cue (lighting cue to lighting cue) so it was a lot of hurry up and wait. It always is with cue to cue. All the actors are required to do is be in the places they're supposed to be while those in charge decide what the lighting should be. It's definitely necessary so I'm not at all complaining. The lights look fantastic. It just made the day seem really long.

Yesterday we had our first full dress rehearsal. That's always a magical day; it's incredible how much lights and costumes and make up can do to help transform the show into something real. Believe me, it's so much easier to get into character wearing the Mimi costumes. I had a few chances when I wasn't on stage to see how everything else looked and it was fantastic. Especially watching the second part of La Vie Boheme - that number is so fun and has so much life. All in all the run through went relatively smoothly. A couple of things weren't pre set and a few things were forgotten, we stopped once in a while to fix the lighting, but we got through it and I'm pretty sure we all felt good about it.

Today we're back to a 5:00 rehearsal, although it could potentially to until midnight. That wouldn't be a huge problem except for the fact that we're called to the theatre at 5:45 tomorrow morning to do some spots for FOX News. We usually leave the hotel about 20 mins to a half an hour before we have to be there, and my hair takes, oh, maybe 50 minutes to do. Kim, the production manager, said we're going to do our best to get out before 12. In any case, it's going to be fun for do Rent (the song) at 6:15 am, especially for Dylan and Casey. Luckily, after we're done at around 9, we won't have to be back again until 5, so there's some serious nap time.

Wednesday night we'll have our first audience, although it will be considered a "preview". It's supposed to be our final dress rehearsal, but the people and businesses that have helped to support the show or theatre or promote RENT are invited. Something like that. Our official opening night will be Thursday, with a party to follow. I'm so excited - it seems like I've been here for so long, but at the same time I feel like we've gotten everything together in a short amount of time. I'm really proud of what we've got, it's going to be quite an experience for the people of Birmingham.

what should i title this one...?

Oof. Casey just put me and Ben through his ab work out routine. I'm happy to say that I completed all but one of the exercises. That's some pretty intense stuff. Standing doesn't feel right... I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow but it'll be worth it.

Yesterday we had a full and nearly non-stop run through of the show. Unfortunately two of the principals are on vocal rest so the energy wasn't at the level it should have been. We definitely all tried to give it the life it deserves, but it was admittedly more difficult when we had to think of the lines that were silent in order to time everything else out right. Hopefully within the next few days everyone will be back up to full steam.

I think this Sunday we're going to get the full band. I know all of us can't wait - it'll add so much of the needed energy into the show. Don't get me wrong, Kevin Finn is a fantastic pianist and musical director. It's just so exciting when we're getting new components of the show together. I worked with a few costume pieces last night... that was interesting. I have full confidence that my first act costumes will me fantastic. Second act... well, I remember Courtney (the choreographer) saying I'm taller than a lot of the Mimi's (or maybe she thought I'm 5'9" too), but that pink dress is pretty darn short. I guess we'll make it work, somehow.

Notes didn't go so well. It seems like although we've made a lot of great choices and done some really good work, some of us are taking a few steps backwards. Ron assured us that we have a great product, but there's also a lot of things we need to focus on. Keith (Cromwell, exec. director of the theatre co.) said it in an interesting way. He said we were all acting like it was the Church of Rent, like we had to tip toe through it and not shake things up. I know there's a few of us that have fallen into doing what we've been so used to over the years, listening to the OBC recording, or trying to replicate what we've seen from the last performance filmed live on B'way. I'm an offender too. But I realize when I am and I'm up to the challenge of making it work in the space we're in, and also personalizing it and making it my own. It's a great learning experience, and I think by the end of this I will have grown a lot as an actor.


After rehearsal last night a group of us went to The J.Clyde. It's a really good restaurant near Five Points with an abundance of college kids and a huge beer list. Some people had the chicken wings and they were very well received. I got their house made hummus and it was fantastic. Pictures were taken, conversations were shared, good times were had by all. Michael Wright (my roommate) even stayed out the whole time!! It was much appreciated, since his favorite pastimes is talking to his fiance for hours and hours. She's actually going to be on tour soon and he's going to drive to South Carolina or something like that to pick her up so she can see the show, and then he's going to drive her to the next city of her tour. We all can't wait to meet her.

After we got back I did have a bit of a tumultuous night. I love travelling and what I'm doing and I don't ever want to stop, but that may be causing big problems. I think that's all I want to say about that.

No rehearsal till 5 today, but thankfully there's been other things to do than just sit around watching Wife Swap. Actually, we watched Wife Swap while doing abs this morning. It was a mildly helpful distraction. Anyway... I've got birthday cookies to eat and groceries to buy. Have a wonderful day. I'll write again when I can.

It's m'Birthday!!

I've been anticipating this for weeks now - no not my birthday... getting the costumes for the show!! I've felt like I've been 24 for at least, oh, 8 months now I suppose. Actually being 24 doesn't feel any different than yesterday. What do you bet I start telling everyone I'm 23 now, like I should have been for the past however many months.

Ok! So, costumes!! They're so great - mine are just like the Broadway show. I got to see Ben in some of his Angel costumes too, they're fantastic. We're lucky though, there are some people who's costumes don't work at all. Amy, the costumer, was really frustrated yesterday. They had us send in size charts so they could order the correct stuff, but for some of the pieces it seems like the size chart wasn't considered at all. Like Casey, I think there's only one or two shirts that work for him. Everything else is too big or small or short... etc. I'm sure it'll come together though. I mean, it better - we open in a week!

Rehearsals themselves are going really well I think. We've got the whole show in place, now we're making sure the whole thing flows nicely. It seems like Ron is paying special attention to the transitions right now. Like he said, there's nothing that takes you out of a show like a bad transition. They can be so distracting if not done properly.

Word on the street is we're all going out somewhere tonight but I have no idea where yet. All I really want is to have a fun time with people who want to have a fun time with me. If it's just cupcakes and a few bottles of wine I'm good with that. But I'll let you know what's decided.

Alright, off to the gym once again. Do you have any idea what I'm wearing in the show?? Yes, off to the gym...

525,600

We looked it up yesterday. 1 in 15 people have HIV. Now we know it is true.

Rehearsal last night was like none I've ever experienced before. We finished blocking act II and then Ron had us all sit down and just talk about ourselves. It was truly incredible to hear everyone's stories. And these are just small parts of their lives. To hear about child abuse, dramatic weight loss, coming out to parents and friends, journeys to and through the acting world, blessed lives, tormented lives... and all of this to have brought each one of in this cast to this point in our lives... I'm not even sure what to say. I'm sure all of us definitely have a better understanding of each other now, and a greater love of this show because we all now have personal connections to it.

I'm not sure many of us really knew that we had these connections either. As we told our stories, Ron would interject with comments or questions that would help reveal how parallel our lives were to the show. Who knew our Dylan had so many similarities to Mark, the character he's playing, or that Ben basically got cast right when he walked into the room because of the joy he radiated, just like Angel. What are the odds that someone in our cast just came out to his mother a few weeks ago, or that one of the cast members was recently diagnosed with HIV. Everyone here has something to offer.

It's becoming more and more clear that the joy we find in living is the only thing that matters. Ron, on the first day, said that his vision of the show is that of unconditional love. There are so many people who only know of RENT because of Team America... aids aids aids blah blah blah. Sure it has aids and drugs and homosexuality, but I think Ron has the right idea. When it comes down to it, it really is just about unconditional love. Some of us are kind of weary about how this Birmingham audience will take it, but if we can let that love shine through I think they'll be able to appreciate it.


Tonight we began to clean up act I. I should say today actually, we got there at 10 this morning. It was a long day but a good one. We've begun to work out the kinks and fix transitions, the small but important things. I've got one pair of boots so far for the show so I got to work in them today. We've seen that a good amount of the costumes are in already but haven't been able to try anything on yet. I'm pretty sure it's because the costumer, Amy, is out of town until Wednesday. Hopefully when we do get to test everything out it'll fit. I'm still waiting on those blue pants...

After rehearsal nearly every person in the cast went out to dinner. I was afraid at some point it would turn into La Vie Boheme and we would all embarrass ourselves, but luckily the references to the show were kept to a minimum and we just enjoyed each others company. We went to the Mellow Mushroom, btw, and it was pretty good. From what I hear the pizza was good. I had a soup so I wouldn't know, but I trust it was.

Tomorrow we've got another 8 hour rehearsal day, 11-7. We'll be running the second act much like we did today, and then trying to run the whole show. Things are coming along nicely, I'm sure it helped that almost everyone knew the whole show by the time we walked in on the first day.

I never know what to write anymore. Busy days make a tired Nicci, and Nicci doesn't write much anyway, so tired Nicci feels even sillier writing. And - now I know it's time to stop when I start referring to myself in third person. Goodnight.