Only in Olean

I've been in Olean, NY for almost a week now, rehearsing for the first two out of three shows I'm doing for Twin Tiers Theater Festival. We go into tech for AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN on Monday, and will finish blocking BOEING-BOEING early next week. The casts are fantastic, my directors are grand, and I think we're gonna have a couple of great shows. I had my BEES costume fitting yesterday, and I think I'm going to buy a couple of the dresses off them when I'm done. The play takes place in '97, and some of these costumes are hysterical. My favorite is the outfit I wear as Rhinestone, one of the backup singers in a punk band from London. I'll post photos when I have them - for now, I'll entice you by saying it involves ripped up gray zebra print, a bright red wig, and yards upon yards of tulle.

BOEING is also just a freaking blast - I've wanted to play Gretchen since I saw it on Broadway a couple of years ago. I went three times. Basically, my director told me I could go as far as I wanted to, and I've taken him at his word. We are throwing ourselves around that stage and burlesquing dialects with a ridiculous abandon. I am milking this German accent for every iota of potential laughter. MILKING IT, PEOPLE, MILKING IT LIKE A FRIGGIN MILK COW.

Speaking of which, I hear that Milky White (in INTO THE WOODS) is going to be played by an actual, honest to goodness moo-cow.

On that note, I'm going to work on my lines, read some of the mystery novel I found in a stack of rehearsal props, and maybe watch NOTORIOUS before going to bed. No alarm set for tomorrow - thank you, national holidays! Enjoy the random assortment of photos from the past week! Most of my time has been spent in rehearsal, but we have managed to head to Applebees for karaoke (oh, you read that correctly, all right), play a rather intense game of Jenga, and become regulars at Perkins.