Sunday Morning, Rain is Falling

Actually it isn't raining. Apparently it only does that when my parents are visiting. Le sigh. 

 

Seattle is cool. I mean like wayyy cool. I've done some down right amazing things that, let's face it, would just never happen in the Midwest. 

1. Remember that Shitstorm I told you about? Well it happened about 3 weeks ago. We had 150 people, standing room only, in our PONCHO rehearsal hall and we talked (more like ranted) for three hours about theatre and drank dollar PBRs. We talked about this article in length. The article was read out loud and then two big wigs in Seattle Theatre started off the conversation by "contending the bone." One of them picked apart the Shakespeare point saying that we need to continue doing his work. By not doing so you're robbing artists all over the country from doing the classics and putting their interpretation into anything other than new work. He stressed that playwrights aren't the only ones that deserve to be creative. Point well taken. The other man agreed with this point and bounced off in numerous different directions basically culminating in calling the article's author an idiot. I felt bad for the journalist. He was pretty much slaughtered. But that room had an undeniable energy. People were shouting and cat calling and pretty much pouring their hearts out. I've never seen people talk about theatre in this way. The passion. The intensity. The sense of urgency. It was so contagious. It really reminded me that theatre is frickin amazing and I chose to be in this line of work. So economy be damned I'm going to do everything I can to stay in it. If not for anything else than for the dollar PBRs. Oh and did I mention that we ended the evening by singing Journey's Don't Stop Believing? Because we did. 

2. OBAMA. Obama. OOOOOOOOOBAMA! Now if that wasn't just about the most exciting night, then I don't know what was. I had some friends over to my apt and Mollie cooked dinner while we all sat two feet away from my tv and watched the results coming in. The noise level was deafening when Obama went over 270. We were all freaking out and calling/texting everyone we knew. I was shaking all over I was so excited. It's nice to feel like a vote matters. That when you vote Democratic they don't just automatically say, "tough luck." And it is SO NICE to know that America supported Obama. None of this too-close-to-count-so-let's-wait-three-days bull. He won. Change is in the air. Of course we then all started balling our eyes out when he gave his speech in Grant Park. When you see Oprah and Jessie Jackson crying and you don't shed a tear, then I'm pretty sure you're heartless. Of course the fun didn't stop there. We took to the streets of Seattle. We went down to 1st ave and marched with hundreds, maybe even thousands, of other people chanting "Yes we can!" Antoinette hugged just about every person she ran in to. Jessica and I were just screaming our heads off and dancing with strangers. It was just...amazing. Big city living perk: the liberals love to come out of their house and party it up. I don't think I've ever felt so proud to be American. Even saying that sounds corny and cliche and something that a Texan would say. But I really did feel it. It was a great night. Freedom. Democracy. America. 

3. And what about my parents coming in town? It was, to say the least, one of the best weekends I've had in Seattle. It was so much fun getting to have my dad in Seattle and not be stressing out about buying a bed or finding a discount furniture store. And it was wonderful to finally have my mom here and get to show her just a few of the things that I love about Seattle. We went to Pike Place Market, of course, and spent a lot of time there shopping for my grandpa's 70th birthday presents. We went into the Space Needle and had dinner which was soooo good. It was kind of an overcast night so next time we'll do brunch. But it was awesome and touristy. We went down to the Aquarium which was more fun than I thought it would be. I knew my dad would get a kick out of it so I offered it up on the itinerary, but I actually had a great time. Things that I love that I didn't know I loved: sea otters. They're the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Cats and dogs have never done it for me, but these little guys? I'd buy a tank if I didn't have to pay rent. It was just really nice to have my parents here and to not be worrying about, well, anything. It was so calm and relaxed. I loved it. 

4. I protested Prop 8 in the streets of Seattle yesterday. Once again I'm pretty much a Doobie Brother. There were 10,000 estimated people there wearing rainbow colors and holding Bert and Ernie balloons. There were signs about "Divorcees for Gay Marriage" and "Jesus had two dads." I won't stand on my soapbox and talk about it here, but seriously: don't hate. (Maybe this is just the thing we need for a bunch of recording artists to get together and re-record the Black Eyed Peas' Where is the love?)

5. Work Updates: I've been trained in how to work both theatres in our building as a Lobby Manager so hopefully that will continue to bring in extra money and not be too stressful of a second job. The Rep as a whole isn't doing too hot. I won't write about it because this is a public blog and, hey I kinda want to keep my job. But the economy sucks and everyone is hurting. This makes it a really interesting year to be an intern. You're watching the steamroller go by knowing you won't be affected by the aftermath. It's odd and sad. Ask me about it and we'll talk. Three Musketeers closed and it was a really great last show. That audience was ready to laugh and have a good time. The actors were pretty much doing whatever the heck they wanted. Jeff Bender yelled "You're shooting blanks" when Ryan Sham's gun didn't go off and I then I died. This was a fun cast and I actually got to know a few of them. I'll miss their opening entrance and my obsession with Hans the most. He's just wonderful. 

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll post pictures of all of these things soon. Thanks for reading. Miss  you!