Theatre Every Day, Everywhere

I know it's been a long time since I last posted. Getting internet in the various places I have been has been scarce. But I'm finally sitting in a nice coffee shop with internet checking the e-mails and facebook notifications. Let me fill you in on the craziness and absolute awesome times Missoula Children's Theatre has brought me.

First, the company paired me with Melody Waters. She is a wonderful friend and fabulous tour partner. I can't believe we just met two months ago because it feels like we have known each other for years (courtesy of our first day driving that lasted 17 hours). We work well together and we know what each other needs. Its great. I just took her to Chicago last weekend because we had an unbooked week. It was her first time there and we had a blast. We were able to see a show at the Steppenwolf Theatre and Second City. It was absolutely amazing. We also took a tour of the Steppenwolf with one of my dad's friends. We even got to go to the roof and see the city skyline. I'm going to live there some day. It's official.

But anyway, let me talk about the tour! We have been all over the Midwest.  It's interesting to be in my part of the country but not anywhere near where I've been before. It's so beautiful. Seeing the country is more amazing than I imagined. Seriously. Pictures of our beautiful country don't do it justice. Go west and see the mountains. Do it. You won't regret it.

The weeks with the kids fly by. Each group has a new set of talent and challenges. I love seeing what each group has to offer. For example, last week we had a lot of girls who were dancers and it totally changed our ballet number and made it wonderful. This week we have girls who are into gymnastics. The ballet is totally different but equally as wonderful as last week. That's my favorite part, I think. It's never the same show. Ever. The lines are the same but each child brings his or her soul into it and the characters take a new life. I love adapting to them and figuring out how to teach them.

Some weeks we have more younger cast members, which is definitely a challenge but it is so amazing and rewarding to see that nine year old memorize a major part and take the stage. I love how driven they are. This week is a younger cast but all of them are working so hard and have such great ideas, that I forget sometimes they are ten or eleven.

We also have workshops each week before or after rehearsals. Today, for example, we had a make-up workshop. The kids love this one. We make them old, bruised, a mime, a princess, the joker, and so much more. We also make it a teaching moment. Melody and I laughed so hard today. One little girl asked if we had mascara. My mother always taught me that sharing mascara was bad because eye disease could be passed that way, so that's what I told her. We don't use mascara for safety reasons. At the end of the workshop, we asked, "So what did you learn today?" A little boy raised his hand and said, "I learned that you can pass eye diseases".... It was everything I could do to keep it together. It was so touching but so not what we wanted them to get out of the workshop. At least now those kids will not share eye makeup.

That's all for today. I will update later. Have a stellar day!