The end of the end

I know I've been MIA for about a week now, but I was not at all prepared for the explosion that was the last week in Monmouth.

Let's start with my birthday: Thursday, August 15th

It was also Write On day, and I spent from 2 pm until around 7 pm running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Seriously, I spent the hour of Velveteen Rabbit working, then helped change over, then spent until 3 working furiously. From 3 to 5:30 we teched all the shows which meant that I was running back and forth between the booth and the stage, making notes, talking to directors, and performing. At 5:30 I ran to the dining hall to shove food down my throat before high tailing it back to Toad to work furiously from 6 until about 6:45 when I ran over to the theater to put the finishing touches on all the shows plus preshow and intermission music before the house opened at 7. From 7 until 7:30, Hannah did my hair and makeup.

Birthday selfie with Bethy!

Despite (or maybe because of) the crazy day, the show actually ended up great! There was one mishap sound-wise, but everyone was really great about what happened, and I was really impressed with myself. In previous similar situations, I would've been a raving bitch, and while I was frazzled as all get out, there was no bitch to be seen. I'm (finally) learning to handle stress!

Then we went back to Toad and celebrated my birthday for real. You guys. There was so much alcohol. We made what we lovingly called "theatre juice" (see around 4:33 for the inspiration) and it was ridiculous. I've never been so drunk.

Friday and Saturday were normal two-show days, and I spent any down time recovering and/or packing for my trip home. Sunday Amadi, Beth, and I went to Slates for the last time and had a lovely brunch before coming back to do our last Shrew ever.

Afterwards was strike and cleaning for everyone. I stowed most of the sound equipment, restored the old board, took some stuff back to HMH, and then tidied the booth. Monday I helped electrics haul equipment and take apart instruments for parts. The best part was getting to throw old instruments off the fire escape into the parking lot. Destroying stuff is fun.

I had my exit interview at 4 and said goodbye to a lot of people. Then the rest of us sat on the porch and watched cars go by.

The Leftovers

This group (minus Luke because he'd already left) went out to dinner at Margaritas, and then came back and cleaned the hell out of Toad. Our kitchen was disgusting.

Yesterday morning I woke up, put up the fall index page for the website (after AD helped me break into the office because it was locked and Dawn had a meeting) and then got on my way. I'm back in Baltimore now.

I'm going to try to keep putting up personal posts, but those might be few and far between until I get back to Monmouth in early September. I'm not sure how much I'll have going on here. But never fear! There are a lot of beauty posts ready to be written. Next up is my birthday haul, so be ready for that! (I promise it'll actually happen this time.) I enjoyed this summer a lot, but I'm glad to be home and relaxing for a little while, and I'm excited to start doing the marketing thing when I get back!

The beginning of the end

What good is a schedule if I don't stick to it!?

It has been so crazy here. With the end of the season rapidly approaching, there's been a ton of drama and work, and I don't know where it all came from!

So, I'll give you the headlines since ain't nobody got time for everything I have to say.

• Write On - It's this Thursday (also my birthday) and I feel totally overwhelmed. Designing one show at a time is hard enough, but 9 different shows with sound effects and music has just been ridiculous.
• My mom and Doug - they visited this past weekend! They got to explore Portland some, and they came and saw Shrew on Saturday night. We went to Fast Eddies beforehand, and on Sunday morning they took me, Beka, Beth, and Amadi to brunch at Slates. 
• Sound - running the shows has been good except that the monitors have started to cut out during the shows. I think I've identified the problem, but I had to rig the cable and the monitor microphone today. Hopefully I did a good enough job to keep it the way it needs to be
• Marketing - I officially performed my first marketing duty! Dawn gave me the content, but I put together an eBlast and sent it out to the education list we have.
• My birthday! - As I said, it's coming up on Thursday - it doesn't feel like it's time for me to have another birthday yet. I just keep getting older and older!
• Alissa's wedding - My first roommate at PSU is getting married at the beginning of September, and now that I'm staying here, I can go! Now I just have to book a hotel room, buy a gift, and find a dress in three weeks. Whee!
• Date - I went on a date yesterday. Technically Beth, Beka, and I went on a date, but he was there for me. We walked around Brunswick and the Bowdoin campus and got ice cream. It was really fun, and he seems like a really cool, genuine guy. It might be nice to have someone I know once everyone leaves.

I think that's everything! It's been a hell of a couple of weeks. I keep waiting for things to settle down, and they never do! On Thursday I'll be posting the first half of my birthday haul if I don't get super bogged down in Write On stuff. The best birthday present is that it will be over!

Everybody here is feeling Write On!

I'm so punny.

My life is getting busy, y'all.

In addition to running shows, I'm designing 10 staged readings for a middle/high school competition called Write On! It's a lot to do in such a short time (did I mention it's a little over a week away?) especially when certain directors won't email me back.

Hopefully it doesn't become as frustrating and stressful as I have a feeling it will.

I'm also about to put on a marketing hat. Dawn and I had a really awesome meeting on Tuesday about my schedule and the types of things I'll be doing as I take over the digital content. Some of it starts before I'm technically the marketing intern, so I will be doing sound and marketing stuff at the same time.

It's going to be a busy last two weeks. I'm definitely ready for a change, though. I've enjoyed my time here and the people here, but I'm excited about it calming down. And having my own room (!!!)

I took some me time on Monday and wandered around TJMaxx, Target, and Walmart. It was nice to be alone, even if just for a little bit. I found out that the TJMaxx in Augusta sells Juicy Couture fragrance for SUPER cheap, and I'm really excited about that. I think they even have the new one that I liked in Ulta. I'll have to go back to be sure.

My birthday is next week and my mom and her boyfriend are coming to visit on Saturday, so there are a bunch of exciting things happening at once! The end of the summer is going to be busy!

It's 11 o'clock in Grovers Corners..

Well, we've opened our second to last show.

Things are about to change. Many people are about to leave (including Rew) because their contract is up, and we're about to get into only rep. No more rehearsals, no more tech, just shows, shows, shows.

We had an intern meeting yesterday, and it went really well. I'm planning to have another meeting with Dawn to discuss career things and my crisis about career things next week. I truth is, I'm thinking sound might not be what I want to do. I need theatre; I know that. But I've been doing some thinking lately, and there are things in my life that make me wonder if it's the best fit. It has nothing to do with passion or me not thinking I can do it. But I'm looking ahead, and I think this might be a good move for me.

We also had a A Year of Magical Thinking production meeting, and then a special events meeting. Since Rew is leaving, I get to do those by myself, and I get to design a little for the kids writing festival, so I'm looking forward to that.

We've now opened Our Town, and that went really well. We're starting the whole rep process. Velveteen this afternoon, Pestle tonight, then a switch to Our Town tomorrow and Shrew tomorrow night. Then into Magical tech! Whoo!

The nice thing is, we have an awesome outing planned on Monday to the Maine Mall and to see a movie. Everyone else is going to see Pacific Rim in IMAX 3D, but since I'm not the most interested in it and I can't handle 3D (and sometimes IMAX) I'm probably going to see Monsters University by myself. Everyone else saw it without me. =/

Then we have a "Science and S'mores" night at a board members house. Don't ask me what that means. I don't know! You'll have to come back on Wednesday for that! For now, enjoy these pictures from the Our Town Opening Night Party!

The Gibbs' family portrait

The Webb's family portrait

Also, my mom texted me today, and she and Doug are coming up on August 8th! I'm really excited to have them come see Shrew and the theater and Toad and everything! Enjoy your weekend!

It's been a good couple of days!

Rew and I have been cleaning and tidying up, and stuff's actually starting to look really nice! Plus, he's actively helping me learn. Explaining things to me and asking me what I want to learn more about. We went for coffee and ice cream one afternoon, and we talked about my goals, and he drew me a map of how the monitor system was set up. It's so nice to have someone who cares as much about me learning as I do. I feel like I may actually be finally understanding.

He also taught me to solder today, and I fixed a cable! I feel really comfortable with him already which is nice because I have a hard time learning if I'm not comfortable around the person who's teaching me. I feel like I can't make mistakes or ask questions, and I get really self-conscious which is unconducive to the learning process. But here I feel like it's okay if we go slower and it's okay if I have to ask about something I should (probably) already know. Not having the time to learn in school hindered me, but I'm determined to make up for it here!

I'm excited to start working on shows. I know that once I fall into being a board op monkey, I'll get bored, but I'm excited to go through tech and have it not be a massive disaster. Though I do wish I had more access to things like live mixing here.

Since Rew doesn't have an actual office, we've been spending a lot of time in the library. If there's one thing I love above everything else in this town, it's the library. It's so small-town, and the atmosphere is so friendly and warm. I love sitting there and listening to the people come in and the librarian talk to them and make suggestions. There's such a charm about a small town. There's also a book sale in the basement, and I am definitely buying at least two books.

I said I'd get tired of the atmosphere in Toad, and it's already started. It's loud and energetic most of the time, which is just not something I like. Thankfully, I can hole up in my room most of the time and escape it, but it's hard that this is the base for most of the activity because it means there are people here all of the time. My introverted self is trying hard to adjust. I'm definitely glad I have a car, though, so I can strike out on my own when I need to do so.

It's been a little while!

There's been some sickness going around Toad lately. One of our actors started it, and now our master electrician has it. I got some form of sickness/my body figuring out the climate but it wasn't nearly as bad as what Ryan and Sam have. Mine was more of a general meh-ness and a scratchy throat.

Because of that and because it was prep week, there wasn't a whole lot to do last week, so I ended up with a lot of time off. I ended up sleeping for most of it trying to ward off the sickness, so I didn't do anything super exciting in that time.

There was a little bit of a clash between the production manager and my supervisor, but I think that's all been worked out now. My hours have also changed from 9:30-5 to roughly 1-8 pm. My supervisor and I both work better that way, so that'll be nice. I can sleep in!

I helped do some inventory which was entertaining. Lots of poorly made equipment (from Radioshack? Really?) and super old equipment.

Reel to reel tape deck, anyone?

Today we had intern orientation with the artistic director, and it was great. It's so nice to hear that someone actually cares about my intern experience here. Then we had lunch and so many new people have arrived! It's bustling and busy and very exciting. Then we had a company meeting where we went over everything from safety to life in Monmouth. Tonight there's a company dinner at a board member's house. She apparently makes amazing desserts, so I'm looking forward to that, even though I'm tired.

Yesterday was my day off so I went down to Arundel, ME where my best friend Alex is working at the Arundel Barn Playhouse.

I hung out with her crew, went to the beach, watched part of the Tony's, and just generally enjoyed the day. I hadn't seen her in forever, so it was really nice to get away from Monmouth and see a familiar face.

We're still down three housemates, but we've all officially started! It's technically prep week, so we're working on setting things up and getting them working rather than working on an actual show. The actors are in rehearsal for The Velveteen Rabbit and are having a grand time of it, from what I've heard.

As for me, I got to relax a little on the first day, and then Rew and I set up the board and set up and tested the headsets. We have a brand new Behringer Xenyx X1832USB this year which will become my BFF from the summer. Also, we're getting SFX (an audio playback program) which I'm very familiar with, so I'm glad I won't have to learn a whole new program.

Everything about this little town is so quirky. The theater building also houses the public library.

 It's a little strange, but very quaint and charming. Plus, it's been absolutely beautiful here, especially weather-wise. I've been cold waking up in the morning! It's glorious.

The theater was originally built as an opera house, so it has that same, giant, decorated opera house feel in a little tiny theater that seats a little over 200. It's cute and (here's the word of the summer) quirky, and definitely very maze-y. I'm reminded of trying to learn the Taproot Theatre summer of 2011. I'm sure I'll figure it out soon, but for now I get pretty turned around.

I've never worked in legitimate summer stock before, so this will definitely be a new experience for me.  We spend June preparing as best we can and all of July in tech. That's going to be pretty crazy. But, I'm  already enjoying it way more than last summer. 

The Tang of the Salty Sea will Call Us Home..

I've been pretty lucky in terms of theater experience. I spent the last two summers in Seattle and California, and I landed a pretty awesome sound internship for this summer as well. And this one gives me room and board as well as a small paycheck!

This time, I've traveled up the coast to Monmouth, Maine which is about 20 minutes south of Augusta (which is the capital, in case you, like me, are not up on your Maine facts). I left Baltimore around 10 am on Sunday and drove, drove, drove for ten and a half hours (an hour and a half longer than Google said it would take me) and finally made it! I moved into Toad Hall (as it's affectionately known) which is this huge old Victorian-era house that sits right across the street (literally) from the theater.

The first night was quiet, as only three of us were here. The next day, I woke up and traveled into Augusta to find breakfast and explore a bit. I found a Walmart to pick up some necessities (there's an Ulta in the same shopping center...Lord save my paycheck) and then headed back to finish unpacking. One of my two roommates arrived not long after I did, so I met Beka and her mom. 

Then everyone started to arrive! I share my room with Beka (Stage Management Intern) and Beth (Props Intern), and we share our bathroom with Matt (Lighting Intern) and Simon (Acting Intern). Through the living room are two more rooms where Sam (Master Electrician) and Daniel (Production Manager) live. Upstairs there are four more bedrooms. They hold Aislinn (Actor) and Hannah (Actor); Ardarius (Actor/Shop Foreman) and Ryan (Actor/Box Office); Sarah (Costume Intern) and Armadi (Marketing Intern); and Luke (Actor) and Alex (Actor). The last three haven't arrived yet, but other than that we're a full house! 

There are four bathrooms (one of which also has laundry), a kitchen, a living room, a game room, and the scene shop and costume shop are both attached to the house. It's a crazy environment! Last night, everyone who was here went out to dinner at Margarita's and that was fun and ridiculous. Then we hung out in the living room until bedtime. It's a creative, energetic environment, and for now I'm loving it. I know eventually my introvert side will kick in, but for now I'll enjoy the talent and passion of everyone around me. 

Welcome to the Jungle

Hello and welcome!

This blog is going to be a little bit different for me. I'm combining two things I've really come to love a lot: beauty and theater.

So, some background about me!

I'm Liz. I was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL. I spent the first two years of college at New College in Sarasota, FL and the last two and a half at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH. I graduated in December with a BA in Theater Arts with a concentration in Theatre Design/Technology and an emphasis in Sound.

Since then, I've been hanging out in Baltimore, MD trying to figure out my life. I was looking into grad school and internships and basically any experience I could get that would get me closer to my ultimate goal: to work as a sound designer at a theatre somewhere in the US. While I was working that part out, I got really into the beauty community. I have a core group of Youtubers who I watch religiously, and I'm following a bunch more blogs. I'm especially into nail polish, but I love reading about all cosmetics and skin/hair care products.

So this blog is a combination of those things. I just relocated to Monmouth, ME for the summer for a sound internship with the Theatre at Monmouth. There will be more on that tomorrow. For now, I just wanted to introduce myself and say welcome. This is a new venture, and hopefully I can keep at it. And maybe have a little fun along the way.