{Woah...being a lady is hard!}

So clearly I already failed at my attempt to update you once a week on this adventure. But, now I guess I just have way more to post about!

So the week we arrived we actually did not start rehearsals until 6 days after we had moved into our apartments and met the whole company. At first it was nice to have some time to just relax, chill by the pool in the beautiful Tampa weather, and get to know our cast mates, however, very soon we all became stir crazy to start working on the show that we have been anxiously awaiting for the last few months.

We started by learning all of the music in the first three days. Then we did a table read of the show and began staging. That was....last Monday, I think it was. Now here a week and a half later we have finished learning the entire show and are doing our first full run-thru tomorrow. eeeekkkk!!!

Its been a total whirlwind thus far. I thought I knew what to expect after getting the chance to do this show this past summer, but this is a whole different beast. With this version, we are doing all the original staging, choreography, costumes, set, etc. and with that comes the challenge of learning a preexisting "track" of a person that has played your roles previously and in this show every single cast member is busy, NON STOP!

It has been so humbling to wake up every morning and go to work and be surrounded by all of these unbelievably talented individuals that are already putting their own unique and beautiful stamp on these roles and this touching story that has come to mean so much to me in the last year.

I can not wait to get on the ship in two weeks time and start an adventure unlike anything I have ever done before. I CAN'T WAIT!

Sidenote: MY FEET ARE KILLING ME!... WOAH! Like, being a woman is not easy. #respect for all of the women in my life!

In the show I spend about 75% of my time in heels and drag. Lets just say that I am thinking of investing stocks in the Epsom salt company.

The show is conditioning my body and prepping my stamina in a way that nothing ever has before. I also have found myself quietly thanking my education, long rehearsal nights in undergrad, and desire to be involved in everything under the sun for getting me ready for this beast of a show.

Any day when I find myself tired or frustrated that I can't get a step right or something of that trivial nature, I have to remind myself that this is my job and how special and lucky I am to be able to get paid to tell stories and make others smile. Its a wonderful gift that I often take for granted and these three weeks have already shown me that a life in the theatre is exactly where I want to be.

I have included some pictures from our costume parade that we had last night. Its also still so odd to be told that we are going to have a "Costume Parade" in full make-up and wigs as a 22 year old man. Those are the moments where I have to pinch myself and laugh a bit that I get to play dress-up for a living.

-A