It's too late for me to be writing this blog, but a promise is a promise

Well holy cow. Here we are again, I have fallen behind. Apologies, friends. But really, I need to get better at this so I can look back and remember stuff I did on a more day-to-day basis. Anyway - none of you care about this. I'll get to the good stuff, I promise, but first I have to send a great big hug and kiss to my perfect nephew, Jacob. I got a text from his mom today followed by this photo: "Jacob drew a picture of you!"

This truly made my day. But yeah, theatre stuff, go! SEGUE...

At The Table is in FULL SWING!!!!! We have a brand new Scene 4 to Act II, and this really feels like "it" to a lot of us. It's a really exciting time and it's been so cool to be partcipating in this process. In addition to the rewrite, we are also in an awesome/nerve-wracking/exhausting time of the week before tech! Well - week before tech with actors I guess. Everyone at Fault Line is working amazingly hard together to get this baby up and running and it is SO awesome to see. And I get to help! Which is also awesome!

So a few updates on this past week for you. Rehearsal has been going really well. Again, I can't say enough about this cast. They're so smart and so talented, I just - UGH I can't keep going on about this or it'll take up the whole post. I have actually really had a great opportunity to get to know them a lot better this week! On Thursday, the cast, Mikey, and myself all went on a "research retreat" up to Mikey's parents' house in the Berkshires! It was such a great time! Since a lot of the play takes place in a similar setting, it was really cool to practice some of the scenes up there and to discuss what the characters are going through while actually going through it ourselves. Plus it was GOREGOUS there. Big big thanks to the Perlman family for having us.

Lake Garfield - Berkshires, MA

The Berkshires are about three hours out of the city in Massachusetts. The car rides there and back were adventures in themselves. On the way up there I sat between Aaron and Craig - that was a special kind of treat - and we were rocking out to some Phantom of the Opera and "Bohemian Rhapsody". It was so fun! It was so nice to listen to silence for a little bit and see some grass again! It really is jarring when you leave/re-enter the entirely different universe that is New York City. We went on a few boat rides and made some memories that I'm going to hold onto for awhile. It will definitely go down as one of my favorite experiences from my time with Fault Line. I have a few pictures to share of course, so enjoy those! Funny story - a few of the boat pictures were taken just before everyone accidentally moved to one end of the boat at the same time the engine was pitching forward and we took on a little bit of water. There was a lot of shrieking and scrambling to re-distribute the weight. It was hilarious! On our way home, our cars were a little switched around since some of us were going into different parts of the city. Jimmy suggested we play a game where we assign TV characters to people in the cars based on who we think everyone is most like. I got Sofia and Rose from Golden Girls, and Chandler from Friends. Great road trip game that I highly recommend. We also had a ladybug friend in our car, who Claire very carefully released back into the "wild" of Riverside Park.

The lovely Claire Karpen taking in the view

Sunset in the Birkshires

Once we were back in the city, I discovered the miracle of FreshDirect.com (per Craig's suggestion). It's an online grocery service that does all the shopping for you and delivers it right to your door! This seems silly, but in New York it's pretty common and it's a very nice option since a lot of people don't drive. It's a great option for me because it's also a lot cheaper than some of the grocery stores in my area. Well today I got my food (they deliver at a time that you schedule with them) and it was great! I got some really beautiful strawberries, and all of the frozen stuff (I have a lot, since I only have a fridge and a microwave in my room) stayed cold! I also ordered milk and yogurt (which I was a bit nervous about) but those were cold too! It was a huge relief to know that this is just another part of living here that is getting easier with time. The only complaint I have here lifestyle wise so far is that I had to have my laundry sent out due to some false advertising from my building - ahem, ahem, not very pleased, but anyway - and that was supposed to arrive today but it didn't? I'm pretty annoyed and very nervous about this, but I will keep you updated.

Now to the REALLY exciting stuff - this week is BUILD AND LOAD-IN WEEK! I LIVE FOR THIS STUFF. Being Shop Head at Xavier Theatre and studying Stage Management, I have the awesome opportunity to learn about a lot of different skills and have a lot of cool experiences in the realm of technical theatre. Ew that was a weird sentence but I don't know how to make it better right now so I'm just going to keep going. This week I get to jump right back into building and helping with lights, as well as coordinating some stuff with Elizabeth to make our move from the rehearsal spaces @ 520 to our new home (where the show will run) at the HERE Arts Center!

Today I got to assist on the first day of build. It was SO much fun. It felt really good to be in a place that was familiar to me (despite never having been in this particular shop before). I was a little surprised that Jen, our Technical Director (TD), let me jump right in. After I signed a waiver saying I wouldn't sue anyone if I cut my hand off, I got right to cutting and measuring. It was so great to get back in the swing of things. It makes me think about how much I'm going to miss building and working in a shop when I graduate from Xavier! Today we didn't do a ton of putting actual set pieces together, we mostly assembled things that will become part of the whole much later on when we move into the space and really get started putting everything together Wednesday morning. I did a lot of measuring today. I also got to help put together some beams and use the table saw and a staple gun. It was HEAVEN being reunited with power tools.

We will be building in a place called The Sandbox in Long Island City near Queens. A quick note about Queens - they have VERY clean Subway stations. Just sayin'. Since I live on the Upper West Side, I took the 2 express train into Times Square and grabbed some breakfast before I headed into Queens (7 train). Let me tell you, it never fails to amaze me. Each time I turn a corner or come up the subway steps onto 42nd St. I have to pinch myself. Today was the day after the Tony's, so a lot of theaters actually had crews changing their signage based on how well they did last night! It was a pretty cool thing to see. I'm very very lucky to be here in New York. Anyway, there was an AMAZING view from...well...the bathroom window across from the shop, so I thought I'd share it. I also have some photos from build today and from Times Square.

Sunset over the Queensborough Bridge

The view from The Sandbox

Times Square - 9:17 AM (That large hand coming out of the building is Madame Touseau's

One of our dedicated communications staffers grabbing a video of TD Jen cutting some Lumber.

Jen and Tristan, our brilliant set designer cutting away

Last but certainly not least, we have a quote of the day! It's a long one, it's actually a poem, but please enjoy! More exciting updates to come tomorrow! In the meantime, also check out the latest rehearsal update from my friend Rachel!

And now...I sleep.

Quote of the Day: "To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." - Ralph Waldo Emerson