What's The Haps

My apologies for being out of the loop for the past week! So much is happening in the world!

This week I want you to watch Mythbusters, go see lots of theater, and recycle your old yoga mats.

MYTHBUSTERS

Len Anderson IV, a new family member of The Hothouse, gets to be on Mythbusters this week! As he posted on his Facebook account, " Mythbusters Fans - I am low and supersonic in an F-18 on the episode "Curving Bullets" Wed. night. 9 pm. Does flying a sonic boom really break glass?" This is pretty friggin' cool if you ask me. Len is an awesome improviser as well as an awesome pilot! Woo hoo!

THEATER GOODNESS,

Opening this week! At the Ark Theatre Company - Hedda Gabler, by good ol' Ibsen. My friends at Ark are very excited about this performance. As I've never read or seen Hedda, I'm very excited for what will unfold on stage. Buy your online tix here

Also this Friday, it's time for another round of improv at The Hothouse. Meet the cast!


Over at Sacred Fools Theater Company, my wonderful friend Michael Holmes is performing in Madness in Valencia. It looks to be like a fantastic show, it's been given a 'Go" from the LA Weekly. That's huge. For more info: http://www.sacredfools.org/

And last but certainly not least, my lovely and talented friend, Susan Lee is hosting a night of 24 hour theater as a fundraiser for her fall production Gross Indecency at The Eclectic Theatre Company. Here's the blurb:

What happens when writers have no time to write and directors and actors have no time to rehearse? Why, 24 hour theater is what happens!
Friday night, June 12, the writers get assigned a line of dialog and draw a cast out of a hat. They then scurry off to their local coffee house and tap away at their keyboards until early morning.
Saturday, June 13, the directors and actors arrive early in the morning, get together and go off and rehearse.
At 8 PM and 10 PM that night, the show goes on, ready or not. It's a fine line between train wreck and brilliance.
Admission - $10
TWO, COUNT 'EM, TWO SHOWS AT 8 PM AND 10PM.
C'mon, you know you want to see how it all turns out!
This event is a fundraiser for "Gross Indecency, the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde", which opens September 4th at Eclectic Company Theatre.


As for me - I find I'm in a post-show funk. I have free time, but do I really, really want to do anything? Really, I don't have any choice. In two weeks, I'm driving up home for about two months to work for Freshi Films. I get to teach filmmaking camps to bunches of little kiddies all over the Bay! On top of that, I need to pack for moving The Princess Palace, since that's happening while I'm gone. And on top of that? Getting the car smogged and registered. All within the next two weeks. Let's not get into the numerous meetings, auditions, and appointments that are happening as well. Needless to say, I feel a bit like a chicken with my head cut off. But who cares? There's lots of good things happening in the world! Go out and be part of it all!

Go Out & See Some Theater! -and-The Princess Palace is Relocating

Get out of the house, you Los Angelinos!

Here's some theater you need to see:

The Country Wife - my show is closing this week! Sadness! Saturday's our last night. It's,"a sexual creampuff of delight!" For ticket info, look up Ark Theatre, Goldstar, LA Stage Alliance, or Stubdog.

The Heretic Mysteries -a show that features my friend Dee Amero Sudik, put on by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble. I'm excited because I get to see this show next Thursday! Whoopee! I believe you can look up half-price tix at the same websites, but don't quote me on that.

Project 22 - A night of improv at The Hothouse! You know this is close to my heart. $10 at the door, free booze, 3 sets of brilliant improvisers, one live band to throw it all together. So. Goshdarn.Fun.

This Sunday, the Academy of Theatrical Combat is hosting another Intro Class from 12 to 2. $50, tell Jan and Dan I say hi. SO FUN!!!!

In other news, The Housing Gods have seen to bless the current residents of The Princess Palace. Namely, myself Trina, and Jessi. We're going to move mid-July and live in a brand new home. Three of us are very excited, there's a backyard for the doggies and excellent parking, among other fabulous, fabulous accroutement. (Did I spell that right?) Oh, primarily we're excited just because we're not living under the rule of the crazy, drunk-sounding landlady. Hallelujah.

The closing of Country Wife will be sad. But, after a 7 week run, I'm definitely looking forward to a little more free time. One of the joys at being part of a theater company is that I don't have to say goodbye to the friends that I've made. And while some are all ready to get started on the next show, they are not far, far away.

The Artist's Way challenge of no reading/normal distraction of Facebook is still challenging. The good thing is, I've spent more time on this blog. The bad, it has cut off my major communication to the world. Unfortunately, time is seeming to escape me and it has left me feeling strangely restless and easily grouchy. Yet I am determined to keep the best foot forward. C'mon, World, bring me the good stuff!!!!

I hope you all have a lovely day, and for crying out loud, go out and see some live theater!!!

The Country Wife Gets Reviewed! -or- Chatty Patty Goes Insane!

This past Saturday, we were lucky enough to have a reviewer from LA Weekly come see the show. No, I'm not mentioned, I'm just a lowly maid - but who cares, we got a great review! Read on, pass it on, so on and so forth. We only have a week left!

NEW REVIEW GO THE COUNTRY WIFE Adapted and directed by Richard Tatum,
William Wycherley's 1675 bawdy satire is a sexual creampuff of delight. In
cahoots with Dr. Quack (Jim Hanna), Harry Horner (Darin Toonder) passes
himself off as a eunuch to polite society--all with the mind to be trusted
alone with the wives of gentlemen. His impotency is the focus of much
conversation, until the wives find out the truth and start lining up for his
services. One who doesn't trust him with his wife--or with any man for that
matter--is Jack Pinchwife (Antony Ferguson) who keeps his wife Margery
(Caroline Sharp) under lock and key. When he finally relents after her
constant pleading to see London, he dresses her as a boy, but the duplicity
doesn't fool Horner. She responds to Horner's kisses and a mix up of letters
ensues. There's a subplot involving Pinchwife's sister Althea (Tracy Eliott)
who loves the sober minded Frank Harcourt (Kenn Johnson) but has been
promised in marriage to the foolish Mr. Sparkish (Peter Ross Stephens), an
ignorant fop who yelps for wit yet can say nothing witty himself. Stephens
turns in an eye-catching performance as the foppish dullard and very nearly
steals the show. Tatum handles the ribald humor with flair, and costume
designer Denise Nakamura adds hilarity with the outrageousness of the
gentlemen's wigs. Hayworth Theatre, 2511 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.; Thurs.-Sat.,
8 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.; thru May 30. (323) 969-1707. An Ark Theatre Company
produciton. (Sandra Ross)

As for me, it's been a hectic couple of days. Where in the F did the time go? The Artist's Way has challenged me this week to not read. Reading is the perfect filler of time, and quite the distraction. You know what I read a lot? Facebook! Argh! So addicted. So no books, no blogs, no Facebooking, magazines, no idle time fillers. Why, you may ask? So as not to get distracted from your artistic creative side. This is good, as it will allow me to work on figuring out how to format this blog and all that I want to do. Soon enough, I might ask for some tech support as my brain starts to shut down. But that's a bridge I have yet to cross.

On top of it all, I left my nifty new phone at the theater on Sunday night. Just figured it out as I got to the car, and upon arriving back at the theater, (it had been 5, maybe 10 minutes at the most, and there were several people there as I left), it was dark, the lights were off and no one was home. I can't even get back to the theater until tonight! Facebook has been a major source of communication as well as distraction. Chatty Patty is going insane without a cell phone and without Facebook. My dad sent me an email this morning wondering what the heck I was doing. I'm asking myself the same question, I tell you. But look at me! I'm working on this epic project, I'm beginning to plot out the month ahead of time, and getting shit done. Woo. Amazingly enough, even keeping up with email correspondence can be a huge time suck. Not to mention, working! I find myself longing for the indepenance that unemployment gave me. But that's another topic.

As Jennifer Warren says, "Onwards and Sideways!" I feel a keen kinship to this phrase....

What the F Have I Been Up To?

Life has gotten pretty busy lately, I must say. Between two jobs, and two shows in the works, keeping on my life has taken a back burner. I find that really, the only time to play on the computer and blog is now down to happening at work. Of course, I've been holding that off for quite sometime, because who wants to blog at work, especially since I don't have a cubicle and I'm all exposed.....

The two jobs are working for Actors Access answering phones and providing technical support to those who have no clue. Working for Freshi is endearingly fun, as I get to play with elementary school kids and teach them how to make films. Funnily enough, those kids know more than I do on how to use the equipment and are teaching me.

The two shows are my first improv show at The Hothouse - Project 22. I've been taking improv classes since last summer, and at this point, it's like graduation. Of course, we're all still learning what it's like to perform, which is really the point of the whole show. And boy oh boy, is it fun and scary all at the same time. It's definitely something to get used to and learn about.That's the poster for our show. Mom doesn't like that you can't see me as well. So here's another fun one:

The other show I'm involved with is The Country Wife with the Ark Theatre Company. It's a restoration comedy, and since last year our production of The London Cuckolds went over so well, we figured we'd do it again. As in last year's show, I get to play the saucy maid. We're just two weeks into rehearsals, and it's gonna be pretty damn fun. Luckily enough, we have a lot of the same fun people from last year and some wonderful new additions. Gonna be lots of fun with lots of costumes. Whoopee!!

I've also been trying to get back on track with working out. I'm struggling to alternate yoga and jogging every other day. Some weeks are good, some not so much. My running has taken a downward turn. Sad, isn't it? Just a couple of weeks ago I ran 3 miles for the first time ever. And it's been hell trying to get back to that. Luckily enough, Genie and I are so strapped for cash we haven't signed up for any marathons, so there are no impending dates. I guess the point is to just keep training and when we're ready to sign up, training to get up tot 26 miles won't be as difficult. Unfortch, I've been eating lots and lots of crappy food lately. And I felt like I had no will power. So Genie and I have gone back on the Kirsch Diet we did last fall. No carbs, lots of veggies and good protein from turkey, chicken, or fish. And since I don't like fish, it's just chicken and turkey for me! Right now we're on the 5th day out of 14. It's not as bad this time around. Still tricky, yes, but this time not as torturous. We'll see how I feel around day 9.

Money is still tricky. I still get by on the grace and generousity of friends by trading massage or they actually pay me for massage. I am still planning on taking the CBEST, my friend Anna helped pay for the test, and I owe her. Of course, just because I take the test, it doesn't mean that I'll be a substitute teacher overnight. So in the meantime, I'm ignoring the debt collectors and making sure that I can pay my rent, buy food and take care of my phone. I also have people to pay back since they loaned me money. I'm more worried about being in debt to friends than to businesses. Lord knows my friends need it more than those other guys.

Life is good though. I'm surrounded by good people, I have a roof over my head, and I get furry friends to amuse me. So, I'm not rolling in the dough (yet), I'm grateful for what I have, and I know I'm on the right road for more abundance in my life.