The Bitch Is Back!

A friend of mine has a black tee-shirt with white letters and it reads: THE BITCH IS BACK! Of course, I begged her to give it to me, and now I own it.

So, I thought that would be a great way to kick off this new post of mine...after what--like 1 year of not posting? LOL! Actually, I think it was April when I last posted..wow..I'm averaging like 2-3 posts a year now!

In any case, all is well...I guess one of the reasons I haven't posted in so long (and probably the same reason why I am so bad at keeping up this on-line journal) is that I have a really really hard time believing that anyone actually bothers to read this darn thing! I mean..I wouldn't read it, and it's about me...so I feel it's a collosal time-eater really, more than anything.

So, how can I recap the last 8 months quickly? Hmmm, let me see...

In the summer I choreographed The Secret Garden for McLean Community Players and Winnie The Pooh for Adventure Theatre.

Then in September I choreographed The Wiz (my 6th show with Hans Bachmann) at Atlas Performing Arts Center, and then later in the fall I choreographed South Pacific for the Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre (my 4th show with them).

So I guess in a span of 8 months, I choreographed 4 shows. Wow..it didn't seem like that much? Or did it? It's all a dancing blur at this pt.

And currently I am co-directing and choreographing Red, Hot & Cole for McLean Community Players. I have no idea how I ended up co-directing this show, except for the fact that 10 years ago, I was in the cast of the 20th Anniversary production of the show at The Barksdale Theatre, when I lived in Richmond. It was such a successful show in Richmond's history and we ended up getting extended 2 times and running the show for almost 6 months.

I have such fond memories of performing in that show..it was 1998 and I was still living in Richmond, I was 20something year's old and naive and silly and immature and irresponsible and it was fabulous! Well, not really, I'm glad I've grown up, but you know, like Sondheim wrote in Merrily We Roll Along, we always "blame the way it is, on the way it was, which it never ever was.." Exactly.

Anyway, I am co-directing this show with the fabulous Joanna Henry. She is such an amazing person and so organized, structured and disciplined with her directing craft. I am learning tons working with her and just watching her, but at the same time I am getting to do my own thing too and I'm getting to put my stamp on the show.

I don't want to create an exact replica of the Richmond production...how could we? That was such a special thing, but instead, Joanna and I are working in tandem to create our own special thing. And I think we are on our way.

It helps that we have an absolutely TOP NOTCH cast! I kid you not, this has got to be one of the strongest casts I've worked with in community theatre in this area. Not a weak singer among them and many are total triple threats, which is rare to find.

I think the show will be amazing, once we get into more runs and once we fix a lot of the kinks. The show is completely blocked and almost completely choreographed, so it should be well on its way.

Other than that, Robert and I have now been officially living together for 1 year in the new house and we love it! We still have a hard time believing we actually LIVE in Old Town, Alexandria! It's kinda surreal! The Girls, (our Jack Russell Terriers, Sukie and Sally) are doing well, growing, learning and just giving all their love to their two Daddys every single day! :) They really do know how to brighten up even the crappiest day..they are little Doggie Angels..my little Princess (what I call Sukie) and her big Sis (Sally, the protector).

After our big scare in the Summer (when we lost both Girls in Old Town--don't ask, a bad Dog Walking company that you should def. stay clear of), we decided we didn't want to take any further risks and we enrolled the Girls at Old Towne School for Dogs.

I love that extra E at the end of TownE. Does it make it a better school? Or just more expensive? Seriously, it's really pricey! BUT, it's worth every penny, cause their trainer Shannon, (or Miss Shannon as I call her) is really amazing and has taught both the Girls and their slightly remiss Daddys, the art of Doggie Obedience. They are doing very well, and while Robert seems to be able to get them to do cooler stuff than I can, I am working on it and it won't be long until the Girls are making the bed, washing the dishes and doing their Algebra homework..and...YEAH RIGHT! :)

Not much else to report right now, I'm exhausted after an 8 hour RHC rehearsal yesterday and I teach tonight (Acting I at UMUC) so it's my "long day", so I have to go and actually get some rest before I Kaputz on the floor.

In any case, I'm very excited about my THE BITCH IS BACK tee..thanks to my friend, I too can be a Bitch. Elton John's song (w/backing vocals by Dusty Springfield, by the way people!), truly is a good theme song for today...I'm here, I'm a bitch (woof! woof!) so get used to it!

More on politics, our Presidential Election (argh!) and other topics to come, I promise...oh, you aren't going to believe me anyway, it's been like 8 months!

See you in August 09! LOL!