what I've been up to as of late

Whew! This has been a busy, busy couple of weeks.

I started off volunteering for the Orlando Fringe Festival where I put in an excess of thirty hours in three days. Then I began rehearsals for Dream Along With Mickey, the show in front of Cinderella’s Castle at the Magic Kingdom. And those 8:30 am rehearsals are early for someone used to working late and then sleeping in on a cruise ship.


After a few days of throwing my leg up over my head, I had a three-day break to go and see some Fringe shows. I saw as many as I possibly could although I regret to say, I still wasn’t able to see everything.

To all my friends whose show I wasn’t able to make it to: please know that I really tried to fit everything in, but due to my limited availability and the reality of the Fringe schedule, I could only do so much.

In no particular order, I was able to see:

TJ Dawe’s Totem Figures
Gemma Wilcox’s Shadows in Bloom
Almost Walking a Straight Line
New Rochelle
The UnNaturals
Bathhouse: The Musical
When Pigs Fly
Skip Peril and the Players of the Lost Trunk
The Screw You Revue: Deja Vu
Here Be Dragons
Queer Book Yearbook
Dysfunctional Fables

Everything was excellent! I was particularly happy to finally be able to see Gemma Wilcox after her triumphant Orlando arrival last year. She was everything I had heard she would be.

I could go into greater detail about each show, but at this point, who really cares? The Fringe is over.

Then it was right back to Disney rehearsals.

I flew up to Chicago last Friday night for my sister’s wedding, and then came right back on Sunday for what? More rehearsal. On Tuesday night we began the dreaded overnights: 11:00 pm to 8:00 am. And let me just point out to you dear blog reader ... dancing your heart out at 4:30 in the morning is not an easy endeavor!

Tonight is our final night: Approvals! We’ve done the choreography, we’ve done the blocking, we’ve done the costumes. Now we just need the a-ok from casting and the directors, and we’re all into shows. Sweet!

Saturday night will be our final overnight (beginning at 1:30 am!!!) for contingency rehearsals and then I’ll hopefully be able to revert back to a semi-normal sleeping pattern.

Last night I whacked my hand on one of the columns on the set, and my thumb is still throbbing today. I must have bruised it pretty badly. But whenever something like that happens, I always think about the stories (myths?) I’ve heard regarding performing legends like Chita Rivera who supposedly continued to dance as her ballet shoes filled with blood from all the cuts and blisters on her feet. Ewww gross! I guess a bruised thumb isn’t so bad after all.

Wish me luck tonight!