I looked it up online. You can't technically "throw" your back "out", but I think I did what is commonly referred to as "throwing your back out". I also did something to my neck about a week ago... I think I need to stop whistling in the wings (it's bad luck in theatre...)

If you haven't seen on my twitter or facebook fan page yet, I am now the blonde in the cast! It's going to take some getting used to, but I don't think I would have ever done it otherwise so I'm enjoying it. As Gabe said, the cast is slowly but surely transforming into misfits. The guyliner and hair dye has done a lot to progress that transformation.

Anyhow. We were fortunate to have two previews in Utica this week before our mini holiday break. None of us were really sure how many people were going to make it out to the show, but we were all pleasantly surprised by the large houses filled with tons of awesome and supportive fans. That took our adrenaline levels up immensely, and I think that's maybe why I hurt my back. With all that excitement it's hard not to want to go full throttle the whole show. I hate to say it but with a show like this I'm gonna guess we'll get quite a bit of stuff like this. It's about an hour and a half of non-stop sweating and singing and kicking theatrical ass. After our first "show" we had a party in the hotel lobby with pizza and an open bar provided by our production company. We also did a secret santa thing, and I got the most amazing back/neck massager from Larkin! I have a feeling that is going to come in handy a lot.

Our second show was great! It gets pretty crazy back stage, but everything sounded and looked awesome and my personal show went very well. I had given some comp tickets away to one of my twitter followers  because I didn't know anyone in the area and she gave me a thank you card after the show! That was pretty sweet. These idiot fans are the best.

Now it's time to head back to Los Angeles for a quick Christmas. I'm planning on swapping out clothes for warm stuff, eating delicious food, and staying in bed as much as possible. We have a big week next week, with press events, more previews, opening night, and a performance on Canadian television on NYE. Not to mention shopping :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday! xo

The lovely and talented Johanna McKeon and Lorin Lotarro

Techcersize

Ok kids, we are deep deep into tech rehearsals. We've been at it since the 15th and it looks like we'll finish the show before dinner tomorrow! Tech is always a tedious process, but every second is filled with something important. Being on the set now, we have to make sure all of our spacing works, tweak some staging, set the lights and sound, and of course practice flying. About that...

Yesterday was the first time we did Extraordinary Girl since way back in Charleston a month ago. I got to practice upside down girl on the first day but I really wasn't in the harness for that long. Yesterday on the other hand, I was in it for a while before dinner and for about 5 hours after dinner. I'd say I'm generally pretty tough but it got to the point where I almost wanted to cry. We had to practice taking the gurneys out for lobotomy and then run through the quickest change of my life all time into Extraordinary Girl. So here's the deal - I have to go from my army fatigues into my I-Dream-Of-Jeannie-esque costume (plus harness and burqa) and be ready to descend from the top of center stage in less than one minute. Luckily I have a team of dressers waiting in the wings to help me.

Remember those abs I wanted? They're getting there!

The actual sequence is going great though. Seems most if not all of our muscle memory has been retained. It really does feel awesome to be up there - somehow once the flying starts, I forget all about the pain I'm in. And fortunately we'll only have to be doing that once or twice a day for the shows. We started with the flying again today and we'll have a fly call every day for shows, but the hardest stuff is over. If we're lucky, we'll get a full run through in by the end of the day tomorrow!

It our very little bit of down time we've been discovering what Utica has to offer. Which is to say, we've been to Rite Aid a few times, and have made friends with the bartender at the hotel. There's a really great restaurant next to the gorgeous theater we're teching in, and that's about it! But we've been making our own fun. Tonight it was our music directors birthday so the company manager drove 25 miles to get vegan cupcakes and the cast and crew hung out in the hotel lobby. The bar and restaurant were closed but some people brought drinks and others brought more food. There was gambling (by way of a $3 buy-in dice game), eating, drinking, even some cross dressing, and tons of laughs. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be spending my time with while away from home.

It's way past my bed time. I'll leave you with this cryptic bit of information: There are no blonde girls in the cast. Yet.