See You in the Funny Papers…

Here’s me:

It’s 11am, I’m sucking down my third cup of coffee (which I am cutting back on… really, I am), my hair is still wet and I only managed minimal makeup this morning because I opted instead for an extra half hour of sleep, the balls and heals of my feet still ache, and BY GOD, I’m going to get out of this office in 5 hours, drive to the theater, get into hair, makeup and costume and just KILL our second dress rehearsal!!

That’s right, kids. It’s Tech Week on the set of Reefer Madness – 5 days when pets, boyfriends, exercise routines, dirty clothes and regular meals get largely neglected, and you spend 8 hours at work, 5 hours in the theater and sleep whenever you can. I got home last night from Axis a little after 11pm, scarfed some random stuff I found in the fridge and passed the eff out by midnight.

And why, you might ask, would anyone put themselves through this kind of schedule?

Well, because my castmates are an amazing group of teachers, professionals, music-lovers and students; because the show is a strange riot with a challenging and expansive score and witty libretto; because it’s cathartic as hell to put something like this together with a diverse group of your peers who are having as much fun as you are entertaining others.

Tonight we’ll be flying Jesus from the rafters to the stage for the first time (everyone keep your fingers crossed; I do NOT envy the actor we’re hooking up to cables and a harness in a theater where we’ve had every technical screw-up you can imagine so far). Tomorow – final dress.

In the meantime, check out the promotional video a couple of the actors whipped up when they were sick over the weekend (another wall we’ve been hitting as everyone pushes burnout). Myself, I’ve got cupcakes to pick up and deliver to J at work (someday, when he’s not so sensitive about it, I’ll relay his cupcake story, because it’s simultaneously heartbreaking and hysterical).

Because even during Tech Week you can’t neglect birthdays.

~a

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