As a teacher, I still get to enjoy the lovely construct of Spring Break. I am now in Day 4 of blissful, student-free decompression and relaxation. Yesterday, in a rare vacation moment of productivity, I started getting my ducks in a row for the coming months of work between school and stage management. I happened upon some old posts from last spring's "THE REGULARS" over at my old blog. After having a good laugh and some nostalgic smiles, I decided that a new blog was in order.
So what's been happening in the year since The Regz closed? A whole lot! Most notably, I worked on Oracle's production of BLOOD WEDDING by Lorca. It was their first venture into Public Access theatre, and it was a blast! Ben Fuchsen, the director, was fantastic to work with and we had a stellar cast. In fact, I had so much fun, that I'll be returning to the Oracle tech booth to stage manage their new interpretation of The Bacchae, THE HOUSE OF BACCHUS, written by company member Jamie Bragg and directed by Mr. Fuchsen.
After BLOOD WEDDING closed, I started my first directing work since college (oy). The school district I work for has an initiative called "Children for Peace" and every year they have a musical extravaganza in the spring to celebrate the year. Directors of this in the past have been my English teacher from middle school, and my 2nd and 3rd grade teachers. I received a phone call offering me the job last summer, and jumped at the opportunity. Since January I've been wrangling 58 students ranging from Pre-K to 8th grade. It's been fun, but more exhausting than I could possible imagine. When we return to rehearsal next week, we'll be three weeks from opening the show! Wish me luck and lots of Diet Coke to see me through to April 19th.
Lastly (for now), I will also be returning to Hobo Junction, those of HORRIBLE and REGULARS fame to stage manage their 10 minute play festival, HOBO ROBO 3. Three nights of 10 minute sci-fi plays? Written, directed, and acted by some of the funniest people in Chicago? Yes, please! Look for more information here in the coming weeks.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to return to my sweats to continue my Spring Break "Supernatural" marathon.
