My Uniform
I run the field trip program at ‘work,’ which involves marketing, booking and performing in our educational mini-musicals that we offer to schools in our region. It is the theatre’s top-grossing program and our best community outreach tool. This year alone we hosted over 6,300 pre-K through 8th-grade students from 8 different county school systems in Georgia and 5 systems from South Carolina. An estimated 70% of all students had never seen a live play or musical before and, of the small percentage of students who had, only around half had experienced live theatre outside of their school or place of worship. So not only are these kids experiencing what its like to see live theatre, they are also performing in front of their peers, learning facts and figures about their chosen school subject AND wearing silly hats. I love this program.
That said, there are days when you just feel like a dumbass wearing a bee hat and singing about pollination. I’m the one who sells people on the great benefits of this field trip - but I’m also the one who has to wear a little bonnet and apron while I talk about good nutrition in Hansel & Gretal Eat Right, so that when I finally arrive at the witch’s candy house, I don’t eat any of it because the witch doesn’t offer me any healthy food choices. The shows are great learning tools for kids, but sometimes the reality that we are adults playing Sherlock Holmes and Watson in a science show called Geology Rocks! (get it?) is a little painful. ‘Sedimentary, my dear Watson,’ gets very few chuckles from 2nd graders.
So, I was in a field trip this week about the establishment of the 13 Colonies, playing George Washington. (That’s right, George Washington.) About halfway through the show, George gets arrested by the History Police for speeding through the Revolutionary War, so I get a good ten-minute break from the show and the kids. This particular day, I heard the front door open, so I stepped out into the lobby to see who it was. As luck would have it, it is my favorite UPS man bringing me some dance costumes. He comes to the theatre probably twice a week, knows my first name, recognized me at the mall one day…we’re tight. Which is why I was really surprised when he gave me this funny raised-eyebrow look when he saw me. I said hello, signed for the package, asked how his day was, all of the social niceties. Then he very politely asked me what the hell I was wearing.
It was then that I realized - I was dressed in breeches, waistcoat, jabot and a tricorner hat with my hair pulled back in a ponytail by a little black ribbon. I also had trick handcuffs on my wrists, as I had just been incarcerated for trying to make history fun. The kids on stage were getting really close to my next cue and I knew that I didn’t have time to explain to him my entire reason for being…so I just said the first sensible thing that came to my head:
“This is my uniform.”
Without missing a beat, my delivery guy said “maybe you should work for UPS instead.”
As I sprinted towards the stage, hands cuffed before me, I thought that he kind of had a point. I’m a 23-year-old girl dressed up like the Father of our Country, acting out hypothetical-at-best historical moments with third graders who are taller than me. Then I went on to say my bit about the Bill of Rights (its the perfect resolution to our living Constitution!) and I thought…nah. At least my uniform has lace.
Let the Festivities Continue
Ahh, celebration of my birth continues!
I just got a card in the mail from a certain M. Mouse of Toontown, U.S.A., signed by the whole gang! My buddies Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy and Janson all pitched in to wish me a good time and a good year. Yeah…I know people.
Then my boss asked if I could get a swing for this morning’s field trip so that we could have a private meeting. Knowing her as I do, alarm bells immediately sounded in my head…a meeting in the morning with Kelie? There has been so much craziness at work lately, I figured that this meeting could be about anything from next week to next season to her next sabbatical. As it turns out, our ‘meeting’ was a 90-minute massage at Savannah Day Spa, lunch at Zunzi’s and ice cream at Kilwin’s! Alsom!
This was absolutely THE best massage that I have ever had. She actually listened to what I said in the consultation about focusing on my feet and shoulders, she made sure that everything from music to lighting to scented oils were all to my liking, the pressure was perfect, they had fresh fruit and champagne…ahhhhh. The weather was perfect for dining al fresco at Zunzi’s (homemade hummus – yum!) and of course, every day is an ice cream day. It was nice to be reminded that, in spite of all our daily (hourly?) complications, I work with someone who truly does care about me and my well being. All in all, one of my favorite business meetings yet. 
Shakespeare in the Park!
What an event! When I think about it, I just can’t stop smiling.
For those of you that aren’t here, this year’s Shakespeare in the Park was a collaborative effort, involving all sorts of different performing arts organizations in our community. Our fearless leader, Jin Hi, had the terrific idea to give the arts community a theme (love) and let us choose scenes, soliloquys and sonnets to interpret and present however we wanted. When the ideas started pouring in, she divided the show into acts, Act I focusing on Love at First Sight, Act II as Lust and the others as Conflict, Resolution and Commitment. With so much freedom, the show ended up as a wonderful conglomoration of different styles and interpretations – some classical, some contemporary, some totally off the wall – so that this year there was something for everyone to enjoy. Shakespeare became accessible and enjoyable, at least in part, by everyone in our community. There was a hip-hop translation of Romeo & Juliet’s first meeting that flowed seamlessly from an urban dialogue to the classical text and back again, there was a modern ballet of three key scenes from Othello with the most beautiful pas de deux I’ve seen in a long time. To set the new mood, each act began with a sonnet, performed in the original text, and then reinterpreted by a freestyle poet. There were scenes set as Tennessee Williams’ dramas (the lover’s quarrel from Midsummer’s), James Cagny-esque film noir (Much Ado ‘would that I were a man…’), 1950’s beat poetry (Hamlet’s ‘get thee to a nunnery,’ feauturing yours truly), punk rock (Taming of the Shrew), and many, many others. It was a true celebration of music, dance and spoken word, all performed on one perfectly clear, full-mooned night in Forsyth Park. Magical.
Did I mention that the kids rocked the house? Because…damn…they did. No, their scene had no great ‘meaning’ or ‘message’ and yes, it helped that they had their own cheering section front and center, but I really believe that they gave a great performance. I know I need to stop gloating, but I feel really proud that I pushed this project through, despite people trying to discourage me from being involved at all, much less with the kids. I know that they had a life experience this week that they will never forget – and who turns down free publicity like that anyway? For the most part, they handled themselves with great aplomb, both on and off the stage, and I would do it again in about twenty seconds, roadblocks and all.
What I appreciated most about this experience was the way that it truly brought our arts community together on one project that we could all enjoy with equal representation. Backstage was just beautiful, filled with people of all different backgrounds who all love the same basic principles of theatre and community. I reconnected with old friends, hung out with my current favorites and made many new acquaintances that I hope can turn into great friendships, possible theatre collaborations and even potential coworkers. Being involved in Savannah Shakes both on stage and off for several years, I feel like this was a great homecoming for a lot of people. Having Alan as the prologue (breathtaking) and Jim as the epilogue (heartwrenching) was so moving to me and to many others who have a history with this event. I hope that it continues and thrives, with their blessing.
I also hope that everyone on the planet gets to experience some of the amazing sensations of this week. Firstly, nothing compares to that entirely humbling feeling you get of standing on that large stage in front of that invisible crowd…by yourself. You can feel yourself standing in light, but all around you is darkness and stretched out in front of you are flickering candles, going back, back into the night. You’re outdoors, so there is nothing for your voice to bounce off of, and it just kind of looks and sounds like you’re in a vacuum…yet you are completely and totally aware of the sensation of not being alone. Oooh…powerful stuff. Secondly, I hope that every performer who hear’s Prospero’s soliloquy (‘we are such stuff as dreams are made on’) gets chills up and down their spine, knowing that every word he speaks is the truth in the most joyous and most sad of ways. Theatre is an ephemeral art. Every moment has the potential to pass by in a second without any meaning or anyone’s notice. Or it can linger in your mind and in your heart, preserved perfectly in a safe place for all time. Mmm.
Lastly, I hope that everyone gets to know the kind of genuine cameraderie that existed back there, crossing over age, gender, cultural and racial barriers. We all went out there to do what we do…together. And that means a great deal.
Joy Book, Entries 3 & 4
3) This morning there was a red cardinal sitting on our fence in the front yard. Everything around him was brown or green and he stuck out like a lone apple on a tree. I hope he wasn’t trying to sneak up on anything.
4) Seussical Jr had a lot of little joys, so I’m going to divide these into subcategories.
4.1 The show was an amazing success, both on stage and off. I was absolutely blown away by some of the kids’ performances. I got to see them do things that no one ever expected of them, and do them with such conviction that even they were surprised! This one actually turned out exactly as I had envisioned it; a silly and sincere pop-up version of a Dr. Seuss book. It had an amazing set, illustrated by The Amazing Josh and looked even more like Seuss than Seuss. My dad absolutely outdid himself on the lighting, Renee really pulled out all the stops on these crazy costumes, Megan totally kicked butt with teaching the music…I could go on for days. Best of all, it had great heart. No performance was ever perfect, which is a happy byproduct of working with youth. Even when they do screw up, its completely forgiveable and it gives them a good story to tell later. This play brought me and many others immense joy.
4.2 The cast gave Megan and I cards signed by everyone (including one that said I was ‘alsome’) and a Barnes & Noble gift card. How sweet!
4.3 Maria gave me such a tight hug today that I thought she wouldn’t let go. I hate to see her leave, but I know that she will do great things no matter where she is. Her mother was very touched by this play and by the theatre community here in Savannah. She told me how nice it was to have a place that encouraged people not only to be creative, but just to ‘be.’ That’s probably one of the nicest and most sincere things anyone has said about us. I wish them well.
4.4 I will always smile when I think about the Thing Circus or the Wickersham Brothers’ offbeat dancing; my own personal homage to The Pips.
4.5 At the end of a show, I love to think back to the first day of rehearsal and remember what the kids were like then. Courtney would barely talk to anyone on the first day, much less the teachers. Now she’s a little chatterbox who introduced me to her family and her boyfriend and wants to know all about…everything. Jared looked like some ‘too cool for school’ John Lennon impersonator, but as it turns out, he’s as big a dweeb as everyone else, doing research on Dr. Seuss books in his spare time and practicing his one solo line over and over again while he waits in the wings. Tyler kept trying to change octaves on all of his songs because his voice is changing and he was afraid of croaking. Well, he croaked and squeaked a lot, and after his voice got used to their new aerobic activity, he sounded the best he ever has and hit notes he thought were unattainable. You could have knocked Bailey over with a feather when she found out she was cast as Jojo, and the same could be said for Dannen cast as Horton. But they stepped up to the plate and both of them gave oustanding performances…I could watch Bailey sing McElligot’s Pool every day of my life. Cason was so disappointed in his role during the rehearsal process of this show, but I swear that this was the best on stage performance that I’ve ever seen him give. He’s a hard performer, putting out everything he has every time, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. I could say something about every single student in that class, but this would be too sappy and boring for anyone but me. They made new friendships, discovered new things that they could do and – as usual – challenged me in new and surprising ways. They give me the warm fuzzies. They also make my head hurt so much that my hair fluffs out.
4.6 Today we crammed the theatre full to overflowing for our last performance. From the way people hooted and hollered, you would have thought they were attending a rock concert! I started to get a little teary during the opening number as I realized fully that I am actually doing what I talk about wanting to do all the time and actually achieving the goals that I set for myself and the students. I want to use theatre to affect people, to make them feel, to make them think, to make them believe…and you know what? Today we did. We made people dream and imagine and we made them smile, sending them out into the world happier after they had seen the show than they were before, maybe causing a chain rection of smiles, giggles and goodwill across our community for the whole day. Today, in that moment, I truly smiled with my whole being, with every kid of every age in that place. No other ‘job’ can give you that kind of joy, even for a second. When your joy has become more than just a single tear, when it has turned into an event that you can share with strangers, then you know that somehow, somewhere, you must have done something right; that God has touched this place while you were in it.
Today we made fairy tales come true.
My Joy Book, Entries 1 & 2
1) I finally found it: My Smoothie.
Its called The Pineapple Surf and it comes from Smoothie King. It has kiwi, vanilla, honey, other yummy stuff I can’t recall, and of course, pineapple. It was so amazingly scrumptious that I drank the whole 20 oz thing, and I never do that. I’ve never really enjoyed smoothies all that much, but then I guess that I didn’t really understand Smoothie Joy until today. The guy at Smoothie King told me it was clear that I had not yet found ‘My Smoothie’ until today, like its some sort of personal discovery or path to internal peace. But you know what? It might just be.
2) Today was First Communion Sunday for the Catholic Church. On my way to work, I passed a church on Lake Mayer whose sign read:
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FIRST COMMUNISTS
I Have Returned
Yes, I have been shamefully negligent to my blog, as of late. But I’ve been busy! If it makes anyone feel better, I haven’t done laundry in a very long time either.
So, I had a birthday (yay!) and this is my first post as an older-yet-not-much-wiser-23-year-old. I had fantastic meals at Firefly Cafe, Leopold’s and Masato’s in celebration, as well as many cakes. Many, many cakes. 4 cakes, 1 dozen cupcakes, 1 pan of brownies, 1 box of Ferrero Rocher, 1 molten lava dessert and 1 melted icecream thing from Masato’s, to be exact. I work with/for a lot of people and all I ever talk about is work and food, so it makes sense that most of my gifts would be edible. Allow me elaborate on one of the ’special’ cakes.
Last year, Bonnie got me a small round cake from the Piggly Wiggly bakery next door to the theatre. She asked the girl at the bakery to put “Happy Birthday Jenn” on the cake, but apparently the cake that Bonnie chose was too small to fit all of the letters. Unable to contact Bonnie, the cake decorator improvised and instead wrote “You’re Pretty Jenn” in sloppy cursive. The universe may never know why she chose these words as a substitute for “Happy Birthday,” but regardless, it made a funny looking cake and a good story.
Well this year, Keena decided that she would continue the Compliment Cake theme and order a large one that said “You’re Awesome Jenn.” Not to be outdone, the cake decorator woefully misspelled one word so that the cake read:
YOU’RE ALSOM JENN
Really. I can’t make this stuff up. I’m not that funny.
My family and friends treated me to a nice array of gift cards (I get to go shopping – woot!), yummy scented candles, music, books, coffee, and of course, a plethora of desserts. Vann got me my first bicycle and opened my eyes to an entire world of two-wheeled transportation and recreation…video and photos to be shared soon! Megan gave me a Joy Book to write down all of the things that make me smile and the first entry is about how exciting it was that the pages have yellow polka-dots on them, just like the cover of the journal. The next couple of entries here will be copies of what is written in my Joy Book, so read and enJoy. They’re alsom.
