Theater without a net

Among the myriad things I've been doing with my life since jumping off the deep end, one of the things I really never thought I'd come back to, if we're being honest, is Stage Management.  I busted my ass in school to even be recognized as capable of Stage Managing, I worked quite successfully in the theater my first few years in Chicago, but the cost of trying to balance running a show with working a full-time day job was just too much for me.  I walked away from it for about a year, and then, somehow, managed to allow myself to be talked into doing *just one more* show. 

Now that I'm not working a full-time day job, I find I'm able to be a much more effective stage manager. 

The show I'm working on at present is Love and Understanding and is part of Redtwist Theatre's More Red series.  You can find information about it at Redtwist's website.

Etsy!

...Apparently, one word titles with an exclamation point have become a thing. :P

No, I am just here to let you all know that my Etsy store is up and running! You can find me at:

The Raven's Nest

Right now, my shop is a little bit empty, since I've had about two seconds to do anything the last few weeks. But I did make myself a new fascinator, as a prototype for a new design I'd like to implement. And I also got to test out some new, improved construction techniques. So, a partial yay all around.

The other big news is that I'm leaving my current day-job to be the full time box office manager at a theatre I've been working with for the past year. It's nice to get to keep building relationships with people. It is a fairly large pay cut for me, but I think I'm going to be a little happier being with theatre people all the time.

To help ease that financial burden, I also brought my bike up from Michigan. Cycling is free, it's healthy, zillions of people in Chicago commute by bicycle... and it will allow me to decompress before I get home. I'm looking forward to hopping on that bike and zipping along the lakeshore.

Alrighty. Time to get this party started.

An Update

Hello, hello.
Um. Not much has been going on here. I closed one show on Valentines' Day, and was settling into a life comprised of getting up late, scouring Craigslist for job postings, and elbowing my way into as many Burlesque gigs as I could fit into my indefinite break.

Well. It is my pleasure to tell you that, as of today, though still *technically* unemployed, I have gotten myself another show. An Equity production. Yes, I've managed to secure myself a position working alongside the coveted Actors' Equity Association. A foothold toward becoming a union stage manager. A foothold toward working in places like, oh, BROADWAY.

I won't get there for a long, long time, if ever. But this is a strong and definite step in the right direction.

Thinking out loud

In the glow of having a zOMG NEW BLOG, (and having never had one before) I've been spending a fair bit of time cruising around, checking out other people's blogs, looking at the things other people do, the goals they have, and what they write about. And I've discovered a few things.

1) the idea of having babies is completely foreign to me, and runs contrary to my instincts.
This has nothing to do with my main point, but, it's still valid. I just don't understand the need to have babies. (Ok, I understand the need to have babies. But... there are seven or eight billion people on this planet, humanity will get along just fine without my particular offspring.)

2) My goals are starting to solidify.
I don't really know how I stumbled to the conclusion that I wanted what I want. I was just horribly depressed and suddenly chickens sounded like a good idea. They don't require a fabulous amount of space, they provide you with fresh eggs, and they're fun to watch. But at the same time, I have a career I've worked toward. Stage Management is fulfilling for me. That misplaced mother instinct (as evidenced by numero eins up there) rests on my actors instead. I want nothing more than to care for my company, and serve them well during whatever production I might be working on. Lastly, I have one very rewarding hobby, and I'm working at developing a few more. Burlesque is rewarding to me. There's nothing like spending the evening in the company of women who are beautiful simply because they believe they're beautiful. I'm cultivating a stamina for knitting, I'd like to do the same for sewing. I'd like to be able to make good quality things for myself and for others, someday.

And I don't think that I should have to pick and choose my dreams. I don't understand why I can't get up in the morning, feed my chickens, work during the day at making things for others, then spend my nights alternately keeping the stage or taking my clothes off. I don't understand why living in a city means I have to be content with what the Jewel offers me to eat. Why can't I sustain myself? It's becoming more of a question of sustaining myself, nourishing myself, not only with good, fresh foods, but also with stimulating activity, things that interest me and energize me.

So my goals are becoming clearer. Now I get to start the research. I'm a city girl, living in Chicago, but a Detroit expat. I know nothing about crop rotation, or what I could even put in the space I'll likely have. I will need to learn how to be creative with space. I'll need to learn to use what I have, instead of ignoring it in the name of "whatever I feel like." I need to learn to depend on myself.