The Morning Report: February (Accidental Theatre Edition)

Sometimes I think that I’ll post something during the hours that I should actually be awake.  And then I laugh at myself, go do something else, and come back to post at 12:30am.  But here we are anyways, so let’s get rolling.

Currently…

Drinking: WATER!  Or, at least trying to drink water.  I have learned fairly recently that water is kind of magical.  It clears up my skin, helps me lose weight, and can be drunk out of really cute vessels.  If there’s one thing I know about myself, it’s that I will not drink water if I don’t have something cute to drink it out of.  Lately, I’ve been drinking out of either a mason jar with a straw or this really cute water bottle that a friend gave me for Christmas (the sticker was a gift from a separate friend):

And, as my water bottle says, I am also Rehearsing: Poland! We just started dress rehearsals tonight for our stateside performances and we will be having shows this weekend.  I am also starting rehearsals for Seussical in exactly a week (next Monday), and I need to pick a song for my audition.  Speaking of which, I have been…

Singing: Sondheim.  My voice teacher made the decision to have a Sondheim focus for our spring recital, meaning that I will either be singing (most likely) On the Steps of the Palace or Moments in the Woods.  While you’re on that playlist, just listen to all of those songs if you haven’t already.  It’s well worth your time.  And for all who don’t know, Stephen Sondheim is a brilliant composer, known for such musicals as Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Sunday in the Park with George.

Wearing: Stage makeup, good gosh.  I realized as I was putting it all on, once again, for dress rehearsal, that I between Aladdin and Poland, I have spent more time this month with stage makeup applied than without.  Which, if I’m honest, is fine by me.  Anything involving the theatre is my happy place.

Swishing: Coconut oil.  I am a new convert to oil pulling.  I try to do it every night, along with a honey face mask.  Here are the benefits of each:

Oil Pulling:  Benefits: Draws out toxins in the mouth, freshens breath, whitens teeth, strengthens jaw.  Instructions: Deposit a fair amount of coconut oil into your mouth and swish for 20 minutes.  I use about a teaspoon, but I’ve heard of people using as much as a tablespoon.  Fair warning, it is a strange sensation to have oil in your mouth, and it took me a good couple of weeks to keep from gagging when I first started.  I’ve definitely seen a difference in the whiteness of my teeth, and I’ve noticed that mild mouth sores have healed much faster.

Honey Face Mask: Benefits: Cleans face, helps with acne, gives healthy glow.  Instructions: Cover face with organic honey, leave on for 15 minutes and then wash off.  At the very least, this gives me a very healthy glow and just makes my skin happy in general. I highly recommend.

Watching: Hairspray.  My sister’s college is putting on a big-scale production of Hairspray, so I thought I might as well watch the movie FINALLY.  I really did enjoy it.  My favorite part was (of course) the music and seeing Zac Efron just exist in the ’60’s was a real pleasure.  I’m also still watching Gilmore Girls and Downton Abbey with my mommy, of course.

Listening: To showtunes!  My #1 playlist right now consists of Into the Woods, Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, The Last Five Years, and Les Miserables and it is gorgeous.

Anticipating: Seeing Wicked (second time) in August and possibly seeing Phantom in May.  Also, we have officially bought tickets for another round of OSF in July!  This year’s plays: Much Ado About Nothing, Guys and Dolls, and The Count of Monte Cristo.  I KNOW.

I think that’s all for now.  Sleep is calling my name.  I hope (but no promises) that my next post won’t involve quite so much theatre geeking 🙂

TTFN,

-Gracie

The Morning Report: Happy Not-So-New Year!!

Once upon a time, I thought that I would sit down on January 1st, 2015, and write some kind of super inspirational post about the new year and purpose and all that jazz.  To that, I say “HA!”  So here I am, on January 10th, writing a semi-informative post about how life is going right now.  Here… we… go…

LOVING

-Rehearsal! As I’ve said before in my Morning Report posts, I am going to freaking Poland, and I am SO excited!  I am proud to announce that I am, in fact, fully funded, FINALLY, which means that, well, I can actually go on this trip.  I am especially enjoying getting to know the team that’s going with me, and I’m so excited to get to perform the skits that we’re doing to God’s glory.  I’m also rehearsing for Aladdin, so I’m really loving going home every weekend with Disney songs ringing through my head.  And both of my casts are the BEST.  In fact, Aladdin is opening in a couple weeks, and I think it’s going to be a great show.

-Christmas break.  I got an extra long break this year, because my sister’s home from college, and I adore having her here.  Mainly because she’ll stay up until 5 am watching Disney-Pixar movies with me.  What can I say? She’s my best friend.

WATCHING

-Gilmore Girls.

This my bonding show with my dearest mother.  We’re addicted.

-Agent Carter.

Since only one episode has aired, this is all I have watched, but I love how it’s looking so far.

-Downton Abbey.

Yay, new season!!!

-Into the Woods.

I am, in fact, a massive fan of this show onstage, and let it never be thought of me that I didn’t know of it until the movie came out.  I grew up reading it’s name in playbills and never knowing what it was. I did, however, have the privilege of seeing it in Ashland, and I do think the movie did it justice.  So I’ve watched it twice.  When I’m not watching the movie, I’m either listening to the original Broadway cast recording or watching the Chris Pine/Billy Magnussen “Agony” number over and over… and over… and over…….

READING

   -Harry Potter!!  I’m on the second book now, and I’ve seen the first movie and everything is gorgeous about it.  I’ll admit that I am very late in reading them, but I’m willing to overlook that, if you are, and enjoy them anyway.

-The Hunger Games.  I have yet to begin Catching Fire, but I really did enjoy The Hunger Games.  I specifically enjoyed getting inside Katniss’s head, the way you couldn’t in the movies.

I do think that’s all… and I can’t thank you enough for limping through this post with me.  New posts soon!

-Gracie

My Magical Wonderful Happy Place (a.k.a. OSF)

As promised, here I am with my post on the one… the only.. Oregon Shakespeare Festival!!!  Now, all of you, go back and read that sentence with the “20th Century Fox” fanfare in the background.  Done? Good. Thanks.

Now, let’s talk.  I know I linked this in my last post, but read it, if you haven’t.  If you have, read it again.  It’s important.  Anyways, for those of you who don’t know, “Oregon Shakespeare Festival” (OSF) is a festival of approximately 10-12 plays that run from February to November every year in Ashland.  Over the past 5 seasons, I’ve had the privilege of seeing such plays as Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, As You Like It, The Heart of Robin Hood, and many more.  This year, I got to see The Cocoanuts, The Tempest, Into the Woods, and A Wrinkle in Time.

So dang excite.

I loved ALL of them, as I always do, and I’m really not going to go into it now, but seriously, I had SUCH a great time on this trip.  I was able to take it with the lovely Emory as a carpool/elbowing buddy, and in addition to enjoying these plays with me, she also took the time to pleasure me in partying around Ashland, shopping, sitting, and even singing and dancing down the streets of Ashland, Oregon. (“Nothing suits me like a suit….”) She even obliged me in reading Chapter 1 of A Wrinkle in Time out loud in preparation for seeing the show, AND doing all the voices (I readily forgive Charles Wallace’s brief time as a 50-year-old man because Emory couldn’t quite voice a 5-year-old boy).  PLUS, she listened to and gave her much-valued opinion on a monologue I needed to practice for an upcoming audition.

Fun fact: Monologues and reading are much more enjoyable in a place like Lithia Park in Ashland.

We got to see all of those plays, we got to do all of that singing, and we got to have my favorite time in Ashland so far.  Sadly, however, it had to end sometime.

PLOT TWIST!!!  About a week after our return, my sister called my mother up with news of $10 rush tickets to OSF plays, and since she hadn’t gotten to go with us the first time around, she suggested we go back to see A Wrinkle in Time.  AND IT WAS MEANT TO BE.  So we returned to Ashland, and we were the first in line for those last few tickets.  We got tickets that would normally have been over $100 dollars for $10. This means I got to watch closing night for my favorite play this year with my favorite sister, after already watching it with one of my very favorite people.  This also means that I got to see my favorite OSF actor, Joe Wegner, play Calvin O’Keefe all over again.  AND THEN, we went to a Q+A afterwards, where we got to talk to Alejandra Escalante (Meg Murray), Sarah Bruner (Charles Wallace Murray), and Joe Wegner.  I had one of my less proud moments in my life during this Q+A… so, it is the story time equinox.  And I think we all know what that is.  It’s a made-up event, just to give me a valid excuse to tell a story!

I usually don’t ask questions during these things, but I made the decision to step out and ask if these three actors were returning to next season.  Sadly, Alejandra is not, but Sarah and Joe will be coming back!  In fact, and here’s where my moment comes in, Joe announced that he is going to be in Guys and Dolls.  Let me just take a moment to say that literally the one and only reason I asked that question was to find out if Joe is going to be in Guys and Dolls, so, the moment he said that, I… how do I put this… sqeaked. Loudly. If you have any doubt as to the volume of this squeak, a friend of mine, who was sitting in the back, told me afterwards that she “loved my sqeak.”  That’s how it went down.

Oh, and lookie here!

Walked away singing…

Let me just end this post by saying this: Please, for the love of all that is good and pure GO TO OSF NEXT YEAR.  The new season is released and stinking GUYS AND DOLLS, COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.  SO MUCH GOODNESS.

Lastly, a great big, ginormous, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH to Emory, her mother, and my mother and sister for making the trip the most wonderful Ashland experience so far.

Who wants to join us next year?