Sunday, March 28, 2010

McLeod Summer Playhouse

I have finally gotten my first paid theater job! I will be working this summer at the McLeod Summer Playhouse in Carbondale, IL at SIUC. I will be stage managing Unnecessary Farce and assistant stage manager for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Drowsy Chaperone, and the high school production of The Wizard of Oz. I am very excited and nervous about this job. It will be more challenging than any stage managing job that I have had to this point. I have already had to make five sets of copies of all the scripts for this summer and mail off one set to the other stage manager. I had the main office at the theater department do the work of copying  and mailing off the one set, but I have this task done and if I can stay on top of everything like this, I will be just fine.
The schedule for this summer will be brutal. My contract begins on June 2 and the first two shows (Yes, that is not a typo and you heard me right) go up on the weekend of June 17th on alternating days. Then we immediately go into rehearsal for The Drowsy Chaperone and The Wizard of Oz. So not many, if any, days off for two months. How exciting! I will miss most of my kids softball and T-ball games and hardly ever get to see my boyfriend or girlfriend. And, for all this effort, I will receive $2000. WooHoo! I have two months before this madness starts so lets enjoy it while we can.

Second Day of Trip to Chicago

Well, we arrived will no trouble at the train station in Homewood, IL. Jody picked us up and we drove to his house where the kids rushed to the porch to meet each other. We settled in and had a very relaxing day/evening watching the third season of Big Bang Theory and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in which Summer Glau kicks ass. Today we spent the morning watching a dvd of the Blue Man Group while Elisabeth and Ben made everyone cinnamon rolls, which were very tasty. After everyone had woken up, showered and dressed. Jody, the kids and I trekked to IKEA and I have discovered that IKEA is really awesome. The merchandise is good quality with Wal-Martish prices. It also has a play area for the kids where you can drop them off and staff members will watch them for an hour while you shop and there are play areas spread throughout the store. There is also a restaraunt where they serve decent and cheap lunch items. In the restaurant area they have a kids eating table and a movie that is played while they eat, along with some games that they can play with. They also had a bottle warming station in the restaurant area. It was really great to see this furnishing store to be so family oriented. Ananda didn't want to leave. I, of coa urse, bought me two candles. I just couldn't resist.
I then was treated to a Thai/Sushi dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was amazing. We, Amy, Olive, Amy and Jody's international student, and I, ordered several dishes which we ate family style, along with sushi and miso soup as a starter. It was a heavenly meal and we have plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.
The plan for tomorrow is an inside water park. I, in keeping with tradition, forgot to bring swimsuits for us but we have suits that we can borrow so we are okay this time. We have not told the kids yet, just so they don't drive us crazy with yells about the water park and this way it will be a wonderful surprise for them.
Amy has recently, today, introduced me to the show "Slings and Arrows". It is about the characters in this theater company and the trials and tribulations that they go through. I can so relate. It is hilarious! Especially with the stage manager character, Maria. How many times have felt the way she feels. I so get it. I love it!
That pretty much sums up the trip so far. It's been a lot of fun and looks to be even more fun tomorrow. 'Til later.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

First Train Trip

Well, this morning has gone far smoother than i had imagined. The kids got up at six am after having two long nights, one watching Oliver! and then just getting to bed late on Friday. But they got up wiith no complaining and much excitement. The thing that Tristan had been talking about alll week had finally come to pass; we were finally going to ride the train. We piled into the car with, I'm sure, more stuff than we needed and drove to the train station. Getting the tickets was a breeze since they were bought online and all I had to do was scan my confirmation into the ticket kiosk and it just printed the tickets with no fuss. It was so simple and easy! Jim was nice enough to help us carry our flight bag onto the train and lifted into the luggage rack for me, although I am a little worried about how I'm going to get it down. Ananda was very sad when Jim got off the train, but brightened up when the train started moving and we went back to the snack bar for some light snacks, I
highly recommend traveling by traun, but you definitely need to remember to bring plenty of cash to buy snacks if you don't bring your own (which you are allowed to do). A small box of donut holes, a coffee, a breakfast sandwich, a sprite, a millk, and a muffin cost fourteen dollars. But one of the great things about riding the traun is that you are allowed to bring your own snacks. They get you there, a little faster than a car does, and all you have to do is watch the kids and the scenery. Tristan was fascinated for the first couple of hours but now he has immersed himself in Earthworm Jim on the gameboy. So far, a very nice, and even rwlaxing, trip.
we are on a train ride!