Phase 1: Complete

I am now packed and in Nekoosa, waiting for the next phase of moving. Kinda sad, packing all my belongings into rubbermaids for storage or moving. But, I am now packed, ready to go, and in Nekoosa waiting to load the U-haul in a few days and head out to grand ol' NYC!! It's really happening, folks!! We've been accepted for an apartment and all that needs to happen now is to get the lease signed and move out.

Lots of love to all!!!!

Sick...

Just a quick update:

I don't know if I forgot to mention it or what, but I realized that I've not mentioned the most important news in my life at this moment: I'm moving to NYC!! Claude, Humphrey and I are moving out there, probably within a couple of weeks. We're looking in Queens and Brooklyn, and actually finding some nice possibilites! So, it's onto the Big Apple, toting my portfolio and headshots, seeing where I can get work. And hopefully getting a LOT more training so I can get back to acting. Not that I don't love being a bi-techtual, but I'd really like to get back to acting. It's funny, people used to ask me what my degree was in, I'd say "Theatre" and they'd ask me where I was going after I graduated. I would tell them "I don't know" and they'd look at me like I should have a plan. Now, I tell them I have a degree in theatre and I'm going to New York, and they're all surprised that I would leave. Sigh...

And this Labor day weekend was fun, I went down to my sister Isabel's house in Downer's Grove and got to see her and her husband and kids...including Randy who was home from college for the weekend (I feel so OLD!!). But it was a lot of fun. I really liked being in a city where they don't look at you funny for having a nose piercing and spiky hair. Chippewa is better, but in Mount Carroll, people look at you strangely.


But I am also now fighting off a nasty cold-ish sickness...my nose is stuffy and I'm tired...but I'm sure after spending a night on the couch, I'll be good as new. And the season premiere of "House" is tonight!! YEA!!!!

That's all for now, I think... Love to all!!

So many titles to choose from....

So I have many titles in the running for today's post:
"My DVD player is telling me to "PS OFF"....I'm wondering what I did to make it angry!"
"Boning is hard work... no, I'm talking about putting plastic boning in my bodice... gosh that sounds bad too............ it's a sewing thing!!!"
"Captain's Handbook, Complete with Pop-Up Sextant"

So anyway...

Life is pretty good here. I'm mostly just hanging around, not doing much. It sucks, I need a job in order to earn money, but I'm moving out so soon that no one wants to hire me for 3 weeks.... So I have to figure out something. So I'm pretty bored right now. I'm caught between thinking that's a good thing and a bad thing. It's good because I've been running so hard all summer that I barely had a chance to breathe, let alone sit and read or do things. But at the same time, I've gotten so used to always having something to do it's kinda driving me crazy to know that I don't have anything to do for a deadline. And it's weird... I see all these back to school sales and people talking about going back to school...and for the first time in 17 years, I'm not joining them. It's pretty crazy.

That's about all that's new from me. My mom is throwing a belated graduation/early moving out party for my family on Saturday. So that should be interesting...lots of relatives! And if any of my blog readers happen to be in the Eau Claire/Chippewa Falls area on Sat (not likely, I know) let me know! I will give you times/directions/etc.

That's all for now!

Love to all

PLEASE vote!!!!!

Hey everyone,
My friend Karen Marie is a finalist for the "I Wanna Be a Veejay" contest for MTV's VMAs. So....I would like everyone to vote for her... Please?!

The link is:

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2006/insider/?source=TLD_jcpenney.mtv.com#/ontv/vma/2006/insider/index.jhtml?insideCategoryId=mtv2

And please vote for Karen!

Thanks to all!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh....sleep

Well, I just got back to Wisconsin last night...and it was really really nice because I got to bed about 1am and then slept until 10. It was great to be able to sleep and then be lazy when I got up. I am in Chippewa for another month or 2 now, so I'll be looking for a job for a month... Ah well. I'll get a little time off now, at least. Wizard of Oz went better and better as the run went on, and was very well received. Ain't Misbehavin opened really well...the cast is amazing and the show is awesome!!! It involved a couple of all-nighters in the costume shop, but it looked great. And then the leaving... The actors left the day after Wizard closed, so that was a hard day. And then most of the tech staff and I left yesterday...so that was a really hard day. It's odd... I know I'll see everyone again, but I know that it won't be all together in the same group again. It's sad... But on to a new chapter in my life. I've done that a lot lately, I've had 3 chapters of my life close within 4 months: College, study abroad and my first professional gig. But I'm looking forward to whatever comes next!

Love to all!!

Kansas she says is the name of the car...

So the show is open...it was not one of the most fun times in my life in terms of amount of time put in, but it turned out well :) Except today...everyone seemed to be off. We had a few people completely break onstage, and as per the title of this entry, some lyric mess ups as well. So yeah...trying to relax tonight and get focused for the next show. Which will be nice... "Ain't Misbehavin' "; it's a musical review. The girls get 2 dresses each and the men get suits :)

Anyway, here are some "Urinetown" pics...

The ending pose


"Tell Her I Love Her"


Yes, we spoofed the Fiddler bottle dance


"Run Freedom Run"


The dream ballet spoof in "Follow Your Heart"...the dream ballet dancers were Ben (6'2") and Erin (4'11")


"There's a heart in the sky, there just is, don't ask why, it's the sky!"


"Priveledge to Pee"


The Act I finale


"Mr. Cladwell"-Bob, the one with the green vest, was one of my favorite costumes in the show. Also, I was proud of the Cladwell costumes because all the chorus members in that scene came on with colorful costumes on and then they ripped away to reveal their matching chorus outfits. I don't have a pic of the colorful outfits yet, but I will soon.


"The Cop Song"-Quite possibly my favorite song of the show

Love to all!

The quote of the summer:

"You just don't understand how busy we are...well, maybe you do. But you really don't understand how busy we are."
Me: "That's all right. Thanks anyway."

The story behind the quote:
I called a theatre to rent a costume. Online, they say that they rent costumes out to other theatres. When I called, the costumer said that they were in tech week, with first dress in 3 days, and so they couldn't rent to me. Ok, I can understand that. I told the costumer that I understood. But when they said, "You just don't understand how busy we are" I had to use all my tongue biting skills to stay polite. Which I did. But seriously... I understand that you are busy, and a full build show with 45 people (which is what they were doing) is a LOT of work. But I am also a costumer. Doing summer stock. I am trying to help put together a 45 person show in 2 WEEKS. Not 2 months. ARGH.

Look at her there, all bound up, gagged and tied, with her head full of hair and her heart full of pride.

Haven't posted for a while, so I should at least give an update. Urinetown opened and closed well, the audiences raved about it. The performers are amazing, really, and it was an awesome show. We opened "Tom, Dick and Harry", a new farce from London, and the audiences love that too. It's hilarious, and the main guys are all brilliant. Next up is "Wizard of Oz"...that'll be interesting. We've got 33 locals coming in, plus the 13 in the resident company. That includes 13 children under 5" tall!! It's amusing, our Dorothy is 4'11" without heels, so we're putting her in 2" heels for the show... and if you've ever tried to find 2" heels in a size 3-3.5, let me tell you, it's not easy!! But I think we found some, so yay!! And we'll be flying most of the residents at one point or another, which will be GREAT!

Not much in terms of other news. I know, my blog is turning into a theatre review!! But things are starting to go smoothly again... for those of you who didn't know, my Grandma was in the hospital, going back and forth between being fine and in critical care for about 2 weeks (about 3-4 weeks ago now, I think), and then my dad went to the hospital for a few days. But everyone is better now and on the road to recovery, so YAY!!!! Andy and I are still doing well :):) I've got the day off on Monday (YEA!!!!!) and he's coming down to see me :) Other than that, it's just theatre! I'm starting to get used to the country, which is good in some ways, but bad in others... But I know I'll get used to it again: Katie and I rented some costumes from Batavia and then went into Naperville afterwards to go fabric shopping....OMG, it was soooooooooooooo nice to be in civilization again!! Where you had a choice of stores to go to, all in the same place, instead of driving 40 min to go to Clinton to have a 3 store choice. Yay for decent sized cities!!!!!

But this "short post" is turning into a babble!! That is my update, so hopefully you all are doing well out there in Blogopolis.

Love to all!!!

Me in 26 letters

[A is for age]: 22
[B is for beer of choice]: No beer, thanks, cider for me :)
[C is for career]: Theatre, of course...performance or costumes
[D is for your dog's name]: Quincey (tho technically she is my parents' dog)
[E is for your essential daily item]: Lotion...dry skin sucks, ya know.
[F is for favorite song at the moment]: "Cop Song" and "Snuff that Girl" from Urinetown
[G is for favorite games]: Video games and "find the seam ripper" in the costume shop
[H is for Hometown]: Chippewa Falls, WI
[I is for the instrument you play]: Piano, singing, used to play the clarinet
[J is for favorite flavor of juice]: Pineapple Orange
[K is for kids]: Awesome if you can give them back to their parents when they get fussy
[L is for last hug?]: Either Chris or Andy, I can't remember
[M is for marriage]: If it's to the right person...
[N is for name of your crush]: Probably my boy...Andy
[O is for overnight hospital stays]: When I was born, and I think once or twice more
[P is for phobias]: Dark, bugs (nice to be in the middle of the country, huh?)
[Q is for quote]: "You've got to find the one string...the one string to rule them all!" (the costume shop motto) and "Jesus, tree people!" (said in an Irish accent)
[R is for biggest regret]: Not being a kid when I was a kid.
[S is for status]:Costumer...Taken...In Nowhere, IL...
[T is for time you wake up]: 9:15-9:30 (call is at 10...)
[U is for underwear]: Yes
[V is for vegetable you love]: Peas, carrots
[W is for worst habit]: Saying the "uh-huh" that Susan calls my non-commital
[X is for x-rays you've had]: Sinuses, teeth, chest, left leg, and multiple ones of my torso
[Y is for yummy food you make]: Cookies (chocolate chip), mac and cheese....I don't really cook.
[Z is for zodiac]: Libra, the scales

So that's me!!

Random quotes from Urinetown

Yes, Urinetown has been fun, both on and offstage. Running a show is great...

Erin (in re: her skirt): "Did you guys wash this or something?!?! It doesn't fit!!!"
Me: "Um, it's on upside down."

Me: "Amee, where's your skirt?!"

During the LAST scene of the show:
Audience member: "Lockstock and Barrel...hahahahahaha."

Sean (while onstage: "It works best in situations of extreme unbalanced...ness."

And of course, we can't forget "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe":

After a night of heavy partying:
Jim: "Yeah, we just rehearsed 'The Lion, the Witch and the Hangover.'"

Courtney (Peter)to Aslan: "You'll be at the battle?"
Me (in the shop): "No, because I'm going to die...then be resurrected, because I am Jesus...or at least a thinly veiled allegory of him."

Hannah (Centaur): "We must pray dilligently for the return of the king."
Katie: "Followed shortly after by 'The Two Towers'?"

Love to all!!

OPENING NIGHT!!!!

All right first of all, Urinetown opened tonight!!! And so ends my first design. It was pretty stressful, but looking back it was fun too. I just wish that I would have had more time to put it together, but such is summer stock. But the director ended up really liking all of the stuff that I did... So yea for that :):) I'll be posting pics at some point for the show... I'm pretty pleased with it as well :D

And the pics of Sarah and the wedding dress:


Yes, as all of you guessed, I did cut my hair. And it hasn't been this short since 4th grade... But I think it fits. It's also a bit shorter than what I wanted, but after about 20 minutes with it, I loved it. I've noticed with the nose ring and the haircut and when out buying clothes that my style is starting to mesh with my personality (finally!!) But here are some pics of that:

The front (tho it looks shorter than it is because it's pulled into the headband)


The back... I've got Amanda Baker hair now!!

And we had a drag night the other night, and Katie (another costumer) and I dressed in matching tuxes and lip synced (sp?) "Luck Be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra...it was so much fun!!!! I've got an album on Facebook, but here's a couple pics:



Victor/Victoria anyone?


Katie and I, the 2 Frankies.


Yes, we went all out and bound our chests!!

So it's been just Urinetown lately, lots of distressing clothes and such...so much fun!! And my first design, I can say, was a sucess, at least in my book. Hope everyone is doing well and love to all!!

What is this????

Humphrey, no fair guessing.

OMG, I am probably about the happiest person in the world today

So, I'm designing "Urinetown" here at Timber Lake. And it's going really really well so far, knock on wood. As of right now, I stand to be done with my fittings by Tuesday at the latest...except for the stuff I'm ordering. Which scares me, because I KNOW that there should be more to do than this... Ah well. But today I went shopping for my show... and I found almost everything on my list!! I got a pair of pants for $3, shoes for 50 cents, a $250 suit for $100 :) and the exact fabric I need for one of my vests, and 2 lab coats. Also, I rented 5 pairs of tux pants for $14.50 each...they really like our business around here!!! And I ordered dresses for the women. Tho I may take the suit back and buy a white tux coat on eBay...I'll have to check with the director, see what he thinks. But it's going really well, the director's really liked everything I've shown him so far, which is good :) I'm liking this designing thing...tho I still prefer stitching because then other people get to make the decisions.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHRIS!!!!!!! Hope you're having a great day today and that you get entirely plastered tonight :)

Soon I will have pics up of the wedding dress I made for "The Philedelphia Story"; the dress is beautiful (sorry to brag) in and of itself... but Sarah is GORGEOUS in it!! The running joke of the costume shop is that we don't have to measure anything; if it's remotely close to Sarah's size, it will fit her. Her body proportions are such that she will fit into anything we try on her, and everything that we've tried so far has looked phenomenal. So we love her and hate her for it at the same time.

Anyway, I've babbled enough, love to all and have a great day!!!!!

Posting rules....

Hey folks, I don't mean to sound like a dictator, but if you comment on my blog, please no profanity!! I have young cousins and parents reading this, so I don't want to offend anyone....thanks bunches!!!

Love to all :)

Fly down, sing sparrow, give me fat boy's famous arrow

Well, Millie opened well...we got a lot of good reviews, including the not-so-nice one by Ruby Nancy (Sarah and Sam know who I'm talking about). But it's been really really well recieved by the audience. And...we're doing a fundraiser for the rental of the fly system to make the monkeys and Wicked Witch etc. fly for "Wizard of Oz." To do that we're giving people a free t-shirt with every $20 donation. Last night, one audience member donated $500.00!!!! Plus she had already gotten a t-shirt. So that was amazing... she got 2 t-shirts for $520.

On my day off, I went to Sterling with about 12 other people and we did a double feature: "Da Vinci Code" and "X-3". Both were good movies. Da Vinci Code could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse. It was worth the money, though. There were only a couple things I had problems with, but most of them I could justify by "it makes the movie move faster/smoother". And the scenes inside the Louvre and around Paris and London were fun, becuase I was there... it was nice, but now I miss Europe again. X-3 was good too. Lots of fun fight sequences and some good humor. But I agree with Sam: DEFINATLY stay until the end of the credits...totally worth it.

But, here's some pics of Millie...what kept me up late for many nights.



The whole cast- we made all of the colorful dresses with fringe on them (6 total).


This is our Millie... she's 4'11", but wow, what a set of pipes!!


Kevin, Meredith and Chas in "Muquin" ("Mammy"). Sooooooo funny!!


The end of "Forget About the Boy"-a really great tap number.


The speak-easy...it starts as a mural of the woman and the man, and the door is the woman's skirt-Amanda's great design.


Mrs. Meers and the jacket that I built. I took a pattern from a plain jacket with a center opening and no trim and made the pattern for that jacket....I'm so proud of it! I'm ending up doing a lot of the building projects, which is really cool. It's funny, because I end up sitting in the shop building while Katie and Rob are running around doing everything else, like fittings and alterations and such stuff as that.

But those are my pics from the first show, stay tuned for more!!

Love to all... :)

The TLP Tango

Yea!! We opened our first show of the season on Wed!!! It's "Thoroughly Modern Millie", and it's the first summer stock production of that show in the country... which is neat to put on a resume :) But I now have some extra time after the crazy busy days of last week, days where most of the tech staff was up to see the sun rise. I was luckier than most, I got about 5-6 hours of sleep per night.

And I am GRADUATED!!!! I walked a couple weeks ago, and that was fun. I got to see some people and it was a nice short ceremony, only 2 hours! And my sister Libby and niece Mady, my Uncle David, my parents and Andy came up for the ceremony, which was awesome.

But it's been really fun here so far; everyone is great so far. The shop is a lot of fun, the other 2 costumers are geeks, just like me :) So we can have Harry Potter and Star Trek and Star Wars and etc conversations. It's soooooo good to be around theatre people again.

But, I guess I haven't mentioned this in my blog, but I'm no longer designing "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"... no, I am designing "Urinetown"...one of the MAINSTAGE musicals!!! So I am so pumped about that!!!

On a sad note, I was watching Harry Potter the other day, and the accents sound foreign again....I miss London.....wanna go back....

But on a happy note, Sarah and Travis came!!!!!!!!! They came to the opening night of Millie, so that was awesome to see them again. They left the next morning, but we got a chance to sit and visit a bit.

But we must have pics, obviously. Here's a few fun ones, and I'll put up some production ones later...including one of the Asian jacket I made the pattern for :)


Libby, Mady and I at graduation.


Uncle David and I.


Andy and I...awww....feel free to groan here.


My Mom and Dad and I.


Now for TLP pics:

The first burn pile fire of the season...it was really huge because there were some old desks and such in there, but it put out quite a blaze and the embers were still glowing the next morning.


We found a plastic suit of armour in the shop...so Kyle decided he needed to put it on.


The shop boys found a trash can in the props loft the first night we were here, and so we started the tradition of having trash can fires most nights of the week.

More pics to come soon, and love to all!!!!

Finally...the last of the Europe pics!!!!

So I'm in my second week at TLP... And it seems like I've been here forever. I'm getting into a routine, work, eat, work, eat, work, sit by the trash can fire. Which is nice. The people here are great, they're all a blast to work with. And right now it's really late, but I want to post pics from here, which means posting Europe pics! So, when I'm coherant (read: when Thoroughly Modern Millie opens...on Wed...YIKES!!!!) And first dress on Monday. Wow. It's all going so fast...

But anyway, pics:

This is the hallway at "The Bunker" at Dachau. It was the place where the "special" prisoners (like political figures and such) were kept.


I just found this pic interesting. It was a bright sunny day when we went to Dachau, not a cloud in the sky. And I've read a story about sending light into the darkest places, and that's what this pic reminds me of.


The gate going into Dachau: "Work will make you free"

I actually have a lot more pics of Dachau, but I'm not going to post them, as some of them are really disturbing; not graphic, but just....well, disturbing if you know what went on there. But if you'd like to see them, let me know, I'll put up an album on Yahoo or something.


The Glockenspiel at Marienplatz. The little dancers in it actually move 2 times daily.


We went to the Spring festival... these people were "juggling" fire...very cool.


Me, Courtney, Genna, Ashley and Camielle with our fair treats: Cotton candy and chocolate covered strawberries on a stick.


Me, Camielle, Laura, Jenny, Genna, Jenna, Ashley and Katie out for ice cream on Katie's birthday.


The cathedral (the Devil's Step church) in Munich.


Deiter (spelling?), Verena O, me, Verena B, Louisa, Mirjam, Andy and Katrin. Verena O and Verena B were foreign exchage students to my family while I was in school-my German sisters :) Andy is Verena B's husband, and Mirjam (oldest), Katrin and Louisa (youngest) are their children. Deiter is Katrin's godfather. I spent the day with them, and we went to a park to play.

Well, that finishes up my trip to Europe pics... Only a month after I came home. But when it is not so late I will update everyone on all the randomness that is a summer stock theatre.

Love to all!!!!!

Many adventures of Nowhere, Illinois

Hello to all!

My first full day at Timber Lake...ahh... It will be an interesting summer. Busy, yes, but so much fun. The people here are great-it's sooooo nice to be around theatre people again. Finally, people I get and who get me :) I mean, everyone in Europe was awesome, but there's just something about theatre people. We took a trip to Walmart today...and considering it's 45 minutes away (in Sterling), it was interesting. We thought for a second we had crossed into Iowa :) But considering that we went in the opposite direction of Iowa, that's probably pretty difficult. One of the fun things was that Katie's legs were really sore, so she got one of those motorised carts at Walmart :) And also, we were exploring and looking for a Joanne's Fabrics (there's not one in Sterling, fyi... believe me, we looked!) and we found Avenue C. And then Avenue D.......but only up to Avenue L, or you would all be looking at a picture of Avenue Q from Sterling, IL! But it's been fun here, really, my department (me and two others) are great, it's gonna be really fun working with them. And everyone else on staff is also great, a bunch of theatre people stuck in the woods. It'll be crazy! And it's fun hearing about Point people who have been here.

Anyway, I need to finally finish posting pics from Europe...so here's a bit of Austria:


The Mozart statue in Mozart Square


St. Peter's Cemetery (inspiration for "The Sound of Music"'s cemetery scene as they're fleeing the Nazis.


The bike path outside the city of Salzburg


The view from the path...gorgeous!!


One of the houses where they filmed "The Sound of Music" with the Old Salzburg fortress in the background...the fortress is where we had our hillside concert :)


Ok, so there was this fiberglass cow up in the old Salzburg fortress...and knowing Jenny and I, we HAD to take some odd pics!!!

Love to everyone...I have a new cell #, so if you want that (or my TLP address), just drop me a line and I'll let you know!

V For Vendetta and Italy Pics

My Dad and I went to see "V For Vendetta" yesterday afternoon....wow. That's really all I can say. First of all, seeing places like Picadilly Circus, a Tube station, and Trafalgar Square was really neat, because...well, hey I was there!! And the rest of the movie was great, a lot of social commentary, allusions to political events in contemporary and 20th century history, and some great director (and AMAZING actor) choices. Definatly a movie to see, not just for comic geeks!

And pics from Italy:

This is in Verona, it's an old Roman amphitheatre that they still use for operas in the summer months.


"Juliet's Balcony" in Verona


One of the oldest Italian Universities-The University of the Ox in Padua


A bridge over the moat in the Square in the middle of Padua-the Square is bigger than Red Square in Moscow!


The Bridge of Sighs and gondolas in Venice


Me in St. Mark's Square in Venice


The Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal in Venice