First spring day in Chicago!! I hate to even be inside for one moment on a day like today. It’s Thursday, March 5, and it is 62 degrees today (according to my iPhone)–it is GLORIOUS (according to me)! After being here for a couple months now, I finally feel like I’ve settled in to a bit of a pace; today I got up and headed to the Bikram yoga studio here (which I LOVE), and then enjoyed a leisurely walk to Trader Joe’s for some provisions before heading home to write this, and of course, before heading to the theatre to skate the night away with glitter and feathered hair.
I’ve had a few moments lately where I look around at all of us backstage and just laugh. I laugh at how ridiculous our costumes are (in a fabulous-accurately-80’s way); I laugh that night after night I pet a fake pony and then ride it into the sky; I laugh that Max has a dozen of the same muscle shirts hanging on his costume rack; I laugh at the glow-stick that is being used as a door-stop back stage; I laugh at the conversations about “Shena” (my wig) that sound as though she is actually alive…these are the small details that make me love my job all the more. It is rare that a group of people, a group of co-workers love each other so much, and have so much fun together. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed as much as I have with this company. In these tough times, I am really grateful to have a job that I love, with people that I love, and that requires me to wear so much glitter! (Last weekend I was home visiting my parents who live 4 hours downstate. After finishing my laundry, I was cleaning the lint filter from the dryer—and even that was sparkling with glitter!)
Living the gypsy life is not always easy, yet I must confess to loving the variation it brings to life! Before I began Xanadu I was playing Eliza Doolittle at theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah–on our days off we went hiking and climbing in gorgeous Zion national park. The Xanadu tour began by the sea in lovely and mellow La Jolla, California, and now we’ve weathered the winter, feeling like true city-folk walking the streets of Chicago’s famous Magnificent Mile daily. Being “on tour” is literally a journey, and I feel fairly certain that I can speak for all of us when I say that we love this stop of our journey. It’s been wonderful to be in a city that has a thriving theatrical community…and amazing food. We are all anxious for our next stop: Tokyo!!!!!! We’ve had a couple of press junkets with journalists and press from Japan, and each time I get more and more excited about experiencing life there! And each time I feel the need more and more to buy the Rosetta stone for Japanese! I never dreamt that my work would take me to Japan–again, I am filled with gratitude. I can only imagine what I’ll be writing after my time there is complete…
Thank you for supporting the arts! May you radiate from within! Peace!
