Grand Prize Costume Parade

We're doing a full dress rehearsal for Grand Prize Tuesday, and today, in preparation for that, we had, a costume parade. This was an incredible learning experience and stressor for me. We had one hour after lunch to do hair, makeup and dress. Everyone was very respectful, as usual, but I had no idea how many things I would have to okay or help with before the parade. In addition to helping with all of this, I was supposed to get myself ready. Eek. Somehow everything came together in just a little longer than the hour we had allotted. I can say it was really fun getting to sit in the back of the theater with the director and costume designer and whisper about the people onstage. I've never been on that side of the process before, so it was really interesting. In spite of the extra stress, today was incredibly productive. I got to see makeup under the stage lights here for the first time and get a handle on how long it will take everyone to get ready.
Also, WE GET TOMORROW MORNING OFF.

Somewhat Informative Entry

My day began seeing two penises. Sarah (the costume supervisor and quite possibly the only person who reads this blog) received the Superman costume she had ordered and it was just a little too short in the torso for both men who wear it. Each emerged from the dressing room with big grins and the male equivalent of camel toes. With a morning like that, I knew it would be a good day.
Now for the somewhat informative portion of this entry... I realized that I haven't really explained a typical day here at the Brownville Village Theatre. So here goes:
9:00 - The company reports to the theater to begin our morning shift. This may consist of working in our respective areas (makeup, costumes, set building, props, etc.) or rehearsing for a show. Currently we're involved with rehearsals for the second show to open, Grand Prize.
11:15 - Clean up. Sweep, take out trash, and Jeff vacuums.
11:30 - Lunch at the Lyceum (the local restaurant). Fun fact: the Lyceum used to be a brothel.
1:00 - Back to work on our tech stuff or rehearsals.
4:45 - Clean up. Again.
5:00 - Supper at the Lyceum.
7:00 - Back to work/rehearsal.
11:15 - Clean up. Again.
11:30 - Back to the residence. DONE.
Tomorrow's the town's famous flea market, which means the town will contain more than 200 people. Weird. People are already camping outside waiting for it to start. Also, weird. I'm going to check it out during our morning shift tomorrow and try to find costume stuff. If that doesn't work out (or even if it does) I hear the best cream soda and root beer can be found at this market. I will obtain some. I can only hope tomorrow morning's root beer can top this morning's penises.

I'm going to be tired in the morning.

Being around a new group of people, I'm learning from their respective cultures.
Thus far, I've designed the makeup for our second show to open, Grand Prize. I've pulled a ton of wigs for our last show to open, Playing Doctor, but I have to keep that on the back burner until we've taken care of the first couple shows.
The company is counting down the days to our first morning off, this Monday. We won't have to go to work until 1:00pm, which may prove to be entirely too much free time to handle.

Settling In

I feel like the more I settle in here, the more boring my blog entries will get.

Moustache Day

Spell check says "moustache" is wrong. It says it should be "mustache," but I know spellcheck is wrong and moustache is far classier. Anyway, as this entry's title suggests, my day involved an obscene amount of moustaches. Having cleaned and inventoried the theater yesterday and today, we were finally able to begin work in our respective areas. I began assembling a shopping list for our upcoming trip to Omaha and furthering my concept image collection for hair and makeup. In my search for images, I found my concept for Jeff White's character in "The Burning Man." I'm getting tired, so I'll just end this for tonight with that concept image...

Day One

It was an interesting morning. I spent last night in Omaha visiting a friend of mine. I woke up to discover her roommate had claimed the bathroom for the morning, so a shower was out of the question. After some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and coffee, I was off. Needing to get gas, I stopped at the second bp I saw (the first one was a bit shady for my taste). At this bp, I was confronted by a gentleman collecting cans from the trash. He was kind enough to offer me some words of wisdom. First, all you need to make money is perseverance. He makes $1000 a month collecting cans; that's $600 more than I'll be making at Brownville so I'll keep that option in mind. Also, you need three things to succeed in life: brains, people skills, and the third I didn't catch because he began shuffling loudly with the trash can.
With a tank full of glass and a brain full of new wisdom, I began my quest for the interstate. Google Maps didn't fail me. While on the road questions filled my head. Will they like me? Will I like them? Will they know I've already violated my contract by not taking my daily shower? Before I knew it, I was in Brownville and all my fears subsided. I met the company, who all seem very nice, and took a quick tour of the theatre and residence, which brings me to where I am now. Sitting in the living room watching Paris Hilton search for a new BFF with the rest of the company. So far, the summer looks good.

Preparations Have Begun

Hello all,

This is the first entry of many(?) this summer. I will be working at the Brownville Village Theatre in Brownville, NE.
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I'll be acting in three shows, working with costumes, and designing makeup for all five shows.

As of today, I've read through most of the plays and am making some decisions about makeup designs. I'm anticipating a lot of changes to what I have in mind once I meet the other actors and see what their costumes look like. Regardless, I've never done any sort of design for a show, so I'm excited to have this opportunity.

That's probably about it, until I move to Brownville, but here's the link to the theater's website again if you'd like to check out the season and plan a road trip to see a show or two! ::wink wink::