life is like gum : Four Shows

Again, if you followed my adventures on my old blog, you would know that my job revolves around theatre and dance. The month of February has been particularly bananas as I took on four different projects at once.

This might have been over ambitious of me. Maybe just a little.

But exhaustion, and my house looking like a disaster zone aside, I love this stuff! So, I thought it would be fun to share a glimpse of each of the four shows.

Back Alley Productions asked me to join the cast of The Vagina Monologues for a second year and I had the pleasure of participating in V-Day celebrations in two cities.

Extra fun, one of those cities was my home town, Rochester, NH. Above is a view of the beautiful Rochester Opera House stage from the balcony. The audiences in Rochester were amazingly receptive and warm to us.

I performed "The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy" again, and received a nice mention in a local paper.

The cast and the performances were joyous, but the most rewarding part of being involved in V-Day is knowing that my time onstage is contributing to fundraising efforts that help organizations in my community fight violence against women. I'm already looking forward to next year!

At school, our musical this season was "Little Women." Pictured above is the set, in progress. Isn't it just lovely?! My role in this show was that of choreographer. I created dances for a waltz scene, a skating scene and for Marmie and the beloved March sisters.

Following close at the heels of "Little Women" was our winter dance concert. My director, and best friend, Allison and I decided to set Act II of "Giselle" on our students. This was a mildly insane choice...

And we both went mildly insane while setting it! The corps de ballet of women are supposed to portray ghosts of betrayed women. Think zombie man killing brides, (who says ballet isn't fun?). Anyways, in a moment of frustration, I may have shouted at my students "IF YOU SMILE, I WILL COME FOR YOU!" Ahem. Insane.

You see, the choreography and acting for this ballet is particularly challenging. However, our students rose to the challenge and pulled it off beautifully.

Lastly, March 1-24th. I'm appearing as "Tricia," one of the cut dancers, in the opening number in Seacoast Repertory Theatre's production of "A Chorus Line." In addition to my ten minutes of fame onstage, I'm the female swing for the show. For those unfamiliar with the term, that means that I understudy the female leads, all eight of them. The choreography, music and book are so complicated for this show, it's been a real mental challenge to undertake, but I'm so grateful to have a tiny part within this phenomenal ensemble.

Also, this is the first time I've appeared onstage in nothing but a leotard and tights in a VERY LONG TIME. Hell hath officially frozen over people.