Spelling Bee

So almost 3 weeks into Playhouse, and here we are with another day off under our belts (1 every 14 days!) ready to face another week of Spelling Bee performances! The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a hilarious musical that will make you think, laugh, and possibly shed a tear or two as we follow these quirky kids through their spelling bee. Starring 9 fabulous actors and actresses, two of whom are actually students/recent graduates at Saint Michael's College, Spelling Bee opens our eyes to a lot of things that kids have to deal with in this day and age. Performances are 8pm Tuesday-Saturday this week, with a Saturday matinee at 2pm as well. The last week of shows went very well! It is nice for those of us who have the whole thing memorized to get a little variety every day with some new audience faces and reactions.

After Saturday's last show, we will start changeover into our next play: Around the World in 80 Days, a play based on the book by Jules Verne. In 68 hours before NEXT tuesday's opening for that play, we will have struck the Spelling Bee set entirely and assembled the 80 Days set, lights, sound, and had at least 15 hours of rehearsal with actors onstage. It is a crazy, fabulous time.

As for me, I will not actually be on the run crew for 80 Days. Having a wedding to be in in early July, it would be hard to train me backstage and then need someone to take my jobs over for two performances. So I will be off in the evenings for the two-week run of 80 Days (June 29th-July 10th) and then be back on board for the rest of the season, perhaps allowing another intern a break for one of the final two plays this summer. Right now I'm working in the scene shop, which is a nice change from photocopying and being on book in rehearsal all day : ) Having just gone through a break-up, I find myself relishing the summer stock schedule, as there is no time to think and be confused or upset; the show must go on and I'm learning that that is going to be a way of life that I have chosen, at least for a while before I ever think about settling down with a family.

Speaking of which...time to get back to work. Another update (maybe someday I'll get those pictures in...) to come.