Sunday, Sundae, Sundais

Sundays have always been a dichotomy of delight and disappointment for me. Church, groceries, gym...I love those things every Sunday, but it's also the eve of a new week of work and rehearsals and sleep deprivation. Not in Novi! Sunday is now my Friday, making it the most perfect day possible. We have one show tonight and an improv set. Normally we'd be off tomorrow, but we are travelling to Mt. Pleasant to do a show instead. No complaints. Riding in a van with this cast should be a good time. Speaking of...

Quintin is here in spirit. That gentleman to my left is Bryan, our fake Kevin for this weekend. He's no Kevin. But he sure is Bryan. He's been great.

Marke: Happy Sweetest Day!

Me: Sweetest Day isn't real.

Marke: (pause) Well. You'll wish you hadn't said that.

Marke is the BEST. He got us all Sweetest Day chocolates, marking the first (and possibly last) time I'll ever receive a gift for this Midwestern version of Valentine's Day.

Things of note in Novi:

• Holy Family Church. Right around the corner from the theatre, very friendly, conveniently timed 5pm Saturday vigil mass.
• Sunflour Bakery. Oh man...vegan chocolate chip cookies...
• Busch's Grocery. I've been seduced by their pumpkins since I got here.
• Halloween Superstores on every corner. I've seriously seen at least 4 of these in the 3 miles between my apt and the theatre. Why so many??
• Astarte Yoga. Thanks, audience member, for free class!

Happy Sunday!

Homes

Finally some pictures from the last two weeks, which have felt more like a month...We're on the marquis!! This was my last night with my show.
Fun poster, sad face.

But we had a great show. Happy face!Anthony "Smoky Eyes" LeBlanc and his lovely wife. Check out that new headshot back there! I got to see a little of the mainstage set before going to have a post-show drink with these guys.
My Novi room! Come on...how will I go home after this?
Not to mention this. Pies and soups, here I come...
SC Novi lobby. Huge face! Part of me wants to stand in front of my headshot after the show. But most of me won't do it.
Nancy and I clutching the running order before our opening show. We actually rememebered it all!
My make-up mirror on the girl/Marke side of the backstage area. Flowers courtesy of SC Chicago.

Back at home for two days, my Mon-Tues weekend...I got to visit Meredith's office and see her do some real lawyering. She's super professional. She has a lamp budget! And a lot of shelf space. Her plan to fill it with Archie comics is the best idea she's had since she applied to Northwestern Law. I'm proud of my BFF.

My two days in Chicago were a whirlwind. Lunch with Tyler and Sarah, hanging out with Meredith, gym, tons of walking...it was nice to be home in a completely different way than it's nice to be here. I got introduced to an awesome new place downtown. I strongly recommend that you go get dinner/drinks/dessert at Graham Elliot on Huron and Franklin. Vinnie took me to see a bartender he used to work with and it turns out my friend Alice also works there. The chef sent out a sample of all the desserts on the menu, and I also got to try foie gras for the first time...on a stick, lined with Pop Rocks. It was ridiculous. My drink was called Smashing Pumpkins. Go. Seriously.

So many things to report on being here, but nothing would appropriately capture it. It's like living inside a cloud here. Vinnie called it a comedy paradise, and it's not far off. I get to sleep and cook and talk and work out and watch TV and then go and do a fun show with great people and play at improv afterwards. This week I plan to read and write and play some guitar. Oh yeah, and see W. I'm intrigued.

I hope the debate replays soon...

Ten Days Later

Even though I dropped the ball on bringing my camera cord with me, I still have a camera phone! Not the best, but it's something...
Andiamo, the restaurant attached to SC, is amazing. Marke took Rob and I out the night before our show opened and I was amused at how classy show-plugs can look.
Opening night! Beth took us out after the show. This is The Library, a pub right by the theatre. Kevin and Jason are clearly in a life-changing discussion. Rob is pensive.
Chuck E. Cheese! Jason, Rob, Vinnie, Jen, Bella and I had a magical (the official word of CEC) afternoon of games, tickets, pizza and animatronic rats. This is Bella in the kid habit-trail (Rob is just behind her up there).
My first visitor! Vinnie came up to see the shows and the wonder of Farmington/Novi. He braved 3 whole shows and was one of our guests in last night's set. Thanks to Vinnie, I finally went dancing in the Dirty Martini (another addendum to the SC theatre space) and found a church for Saturday mass. We had a lot of fun. Novi is fun...do you hear that, Chicago friends? You can totally visit me....

Last night I got caught up in a "I can't believe I get paid for this" moment. Our second show was sold out and we hit a lot of home runs. That launched us into a really fun set with Vinnie and two understudies. There was a pile-on scene in a strip club where all the guys were dancing and it ended in Quintin semi-pantsless on Marke. It took us a few minutes to recompose and continue the set, which eventually ended in a callback to the strippers at a Bar Mitzvah. Genius. This cast is so smart (even in pantsless moments) and supportive. Siiiiiigh. Love.

Tomorrow I go back to Chicago for a couple days. I'm excited to see friends while I'm home, but it's actually a little hard to leave this cocoon.

Deface!

We're open! Again, took some great pics, and they will be up when I finally get my camera cord from home Monday. In the meantime, this poster is in our lobby...

We had a good time last night. Made it through the show with little incident, played a fun set and then got taken out by our benevolent producer. It's sad to have Andy leaving us...we're on our own! But the run will be great. I really love this cast. I've had incredible luck with casts this year between the Spirit, Maine and here. Everyone has been so amazing onstage and off. Makes me nervous about when I'll eventually get cast with a bunch of jerks. Well, with that attitude...

Some of my favorite things about here so far:

• The way Isabella calls warm milk "coffee milk"
• Rob's obsession with money and the imagery that goes along with it
• Jason's small smile when we hit the right harmonies on our closing song
• Watching Jen ruefully sew a Klan hood...only to have the blackout cut (aw!)
• Jen's cooking
• Rob's cooking
• Malls...Williams & Sonoma made me weep with joy
• TV. Jeopardy is coming on momentarily!
• Nancy: You, your face, your mom!
• Nancy: I've never seen a pink bear. Kevin: I have!
• Quintin's newcaster voices
• Marke...just Marke

Today, back to the gym and some more shopping. Work, work, work...

FALLing in Love with Novi (puns are back!!)

Today couldn't have been better. I spent most of it in a mall in Novi going to Starbucks, Williams & Sonoma, buying a ridiculous amount of fall home fragrance from B&BW. It was the first day off we've had since I got in on Friday, so it's nice to be lazy and domestic. Especially when I have what I can pretend is a real home.

I'm really happy with the show and the cast. We saw the outgoing show on Saturday night and got to play in the set after. It was really fun to play and great to see Katy! Last night Rob and Jen made dinner for everyone. I'm looking forward to baking again while I'm here, so I hope to be able to supply some pies for future dinners.

It is delightfully quiet here.

Re-burb

Hello friends. I'm sitting in my lovely suburban apartment, my home for the next 7 weeks (thank you, Second City). The day started at 6am when I finished packing, put it all in a rental car and picked up my new friend Rob to make the drive to Novi. Straight to the theatre, straight to rehearsal, happy to see people I know and some brand new ones. I'm excited about the show and the people in it. Also, SC Detroit and the attached club and restaurant are TOO fancy.

So why aren't I posting any pictures....well, I left my apartment without my stupid cable for my camera. Really dumb. But I'll be back in Chi next Monday and I'll remedy that. Trust me, I'll have great pictures.

Rewind: last night's final Hopelessly Devoted (with me...go see Lori!) went really well. Huge thanks to our clutch players, Brian and Kyle for jumping in and being pros. After the show I got to see Anthony following his mainstage show. Go see this guy...he's great. And he's got new headshots. But watch out. I'm still wandering around in his eyes.

I like it here.

Again, again

Today is my last day at the office, one more time. Of course it's not the LAST last. I'll come back, whether its full time or through the conference, or for projects. As this is my third "last day" here, I know I'll be back around. I've said many times to many people how lucky I am to have this place I come every day for (give or take) eight hours and never feel like it is a chore. How many actors love their day jobs? Yes, I'm blessed.

I spent the last couple of weeks feeling a bit nervous about the trip and the show and the overall change, and now I've entered a state of complacency. Not apathy, just a steady calm of, "Learn the show, make the drive, everything will be fine." I think there's a point in a transition where you have to switch to autopilot and trust everything will work. I have a go-to statement I heard soon after I returned from the ship and it goes like this: It doesn't make any sense to fear something you want. It's a waste of energy. I repeat that to myself often.

Pictures will return to my blog soon...I promise.