Hello people! I have disappeared off the face of the earth.

I’m sorry. All of my brain cells have been saturated with this show–blocking, scene changes, costume changes, lines, singing, etc. So. Wow. Wait. I’m blogging now. Okay. Allow me to switch gears and catch up a little bit!

Obviously, I’ve decided to keep blogging! Your comments inspired me and have reassured me that maybe this silly little hobby is not ready to be closed down just yet. And so, I shall press on! (The funniest comment award goes to Beau Regarde, for kidding around that Tom AKA The Palest Boy In The History of Pale might actually be TAN. HAAA. FUNNY.)

As far as the show goes, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

I’m trying to enjoy some time off after a rather hectic rehearsal period. The show was put on its feet really quickly and for the most part, the rehearsal process was incredibly fulfilling, if a little overwhelming. This show has been done numerous times before so the direction was really more of a recreation. I think it was a really important lesson to learn as an actor, even though I hit a few rough patches. It’s hard to step into a role that other people have done before, especially when you haven’t seen the production and aren’t quite sure where you’re meant to take it.

Despite being given very specific notes on how the character was supposed to be, I was still allowed to bring a lot of myself into it, which I was really grateful for. And when I did get frustrated, it wasn’t in a dramatic “OHHH YOU ARE IMPEDING MY CREATIVE IMPULSE!” actory bullshit kind of way, but more like a feeling of personal failure, that I couldn’t give the director what he wanted because I simply didn’t know how he wanted it done. At its core, any feelings of ” I CAN’T DO THIS. HELP!” were due to my own insecurity, which was brought to light under the intense scrutiny of a director who didn’t let me half-ass my way through the process.

There! I’m so glad you asked for some dramatic actory schpiel on how rehearsals went! TA DA! The End.

In other news, my cast is FABULOUS!!! We seem to be a pretty compatible group, despite some vast differences. I think it’ll make for some interesting conversations and hopefully not too many confrontations. We got over all the awkward stuff at the beginning including the fact that for about two days, DeMond thought I was a lesbian. I flirted with the idea of continuing the misconception just for kicks, but quickly opted not to and decided to set the record straight.

STRAIGHT. HAAAAAAAA. GET IT?

We leave bright and early on Tuesday morning, heading down to West Virginia for a night before driving on to Kentucky for our opening show. I have the itinerary for only the first four weeks and being that it’s children’s theatre, the venues are extremely varied. For example, we are playing at both Myrtle Beach High School and the Grand Ole Opry. WOOO! I’m like Dolly Parton y’all!!!!!

I hope to blog as much as I can while on the road and share some fun stories from the upcoming experience my brother has unofficially dubbed “The Red State Tour ‘06″. Hooray for mullets and George W. Bush! Rah Rah!

In all honesty, I’m battling a lot of anxiety and exhaustion. The rehearsal process was grueling and numerous people were scheduling evenings to hang out with me and after eight hours of rehearsing, the social stuff really zapped me and some nights I just wanted to go home and crash. THIS IS THE CONUNDRUM OF BEING POPULAR AND AMAZING, PEOPLE!!!! Life is hard. So hard.

I was able to go home to see my family yesterday and this provided tons of amusement, especially when my father busted out his forty-year old guitar and began to sing songs. These songs are songs you have never heard of. You probably don’t want to hear them. They are songs that deserve to lay in the grave that has been dug for them. They are about the titanic sinking to the bottom of the sea, soldiers dying in battle and someone named Barbara Ellen who has about 15 verses written about her. Now that I’m older, I don’t take my father’s songs seriously as I once did. It also didn’t help that earlier in the day, he pretended to drink coffee out of my mother’s new planter.

The best part about hearing country-folk songs from a long forgotten era is when you hear them sung in heavy Brooklyn-accented English. If it can’t get more absurd, just add that to the fact that my father’s idea of singing is just belting it out loud and clear, occasionally hitting the right note but mostly doing a real smooth slide up the scale until he finds the right pitch. And you know? One could argue that this isn’t a half-bad approach, especially when one considers that my father learned to sing/play guitar from a television program taught by Laura Weber.

Who could go wrong with this lady?

You just can’t. She looks GENIUS.

Anyway, I really must get ready to spend tomorrow running around like a crazy girl–packing, suspending my gym membership, packing, getting a pedicure, packing and then crying because oh my God I haven’t even STARTED PACKING.

Farewell faithful readers and thanks again for the comments! Next time I write to you, it might very well be from a faraway land where people drink beer for breakfast and think Red Lobster is a fancy place to take your wife on her anniversary!

I AM SO EXCITED I CAN BARELY BREATHE!!!!!

I leave you with a family photo that we took while I was at home. I think it’s pretty cute, despite the fact that my older brother still looks kind of adopted. Look closely, and you might be able to spot the Persian Jewish sister-in-law, but I’m talking CLOSELY because really, she totally blends in, no?