These past few months I had the pleasure of working on a production of Spring Awakening. There are no words to describe how wonderful this experience was. Perfect in every way. Let's start at the beginning.
The Beginning.
Once upon a time, my bestie Lauren and I were talking on iChat, and she mentioned that she wanted to audition for this new production of Spring Awakening. My ears perked up immediately and I googled "Over the Moon Productions" right away. I emailed Kate, the director/founder/producer/queenofeverything saying that I wanted to be a part in any way I could--auditioning, interning, assisting, whatever. The first person I met was Jason, the assistant director. We had a quick little meeting at Starbucks and he was awesome and it could not have gone better.
After that, I didn't see anyone til our first production meeting. I was nervous going in because I knew no one and I hadn't really worked on something this big before. I was still a little awkward that first day, but I got even more excited because all the people I met were so cool and fun. We signed contracts and discussed schedules and such. I told them that I wanted to help in any and every way. They told me that they probably wouldn't need much help until tech, but that they would let me know. I hoped and prayed to be part of the rehearsal process. It felt like an eternity until March.
Prom.
Next up was 80's Prom! Over the Moon hosted an 80's-themed prom fundraiser for the show and Trevor Project. At first, I was just really excited to go with a group of friends. But then I decided to email Kate and see if she needed help. She asked me to come help set up in the morning and I also offered to donate wine (since we have so many extra bottles and no one in our house drinks). I had a blast decorating and I started getting to know some of the people. Kate's dog, Scout was there jumping around and being so darn adorable. We all split up around noon to go home and get ready.
I had so much fun dolling myself up. I gave my hair a big ol' pouf with a Disney scrunchie. I wore a pink off the shoulder floor length dress, à la Molly Ringwald's bridesmaid dress from Sixteen Candles. I bought it for A DOLLAR at the weekly Jet Rag Dollar Sale. I wore some fun crazy makeup and big jewelry. Val was my date and he and Adam came to pick me up w/a limo town car. They brought me a pink wrist corsage.
**Quick Background Info** Since I left school before any of my proms, this was kinda my only chance to experience it all. My mom and Adam and Val really went out of their way to make it awesome for me. I love them all. :)
The night was fantastic. Lots of dancing. The DJ played an awesome mix of classic 80's songs and contemporary music. It was so much fun to see all the crazy costumes and big hair. Almost everyone went super all out. Then, guess what happened next? I WON PROM QUEEN. My beloved Adam Baby voted for me a kajillion times I guess and I won!! It was the craziest moment and I will never forget it. They crowned me and gave me a pretty sash and a LiteBrite. At the end of the night, we stopped at the In 'n' Out drive-thru and got delish burgers. It was a perfect ending to a fabulous night.
Act 1.
The next week, there was a run of Act 1 for the designers and crew and a mini production meeting. I was still a little nervous and awkward around all the people. It was incredible to see all the actors doing their stuff. I was definitely still an observer at this point. I just watched and listened and soaked it all in. At the meeting they told us that they originally wanted to do the show in an old church (such a cool idea) but it didn't work out with the venue. They told us we were moving to a theater in Hollywood. After that day, I got kinda disconnected from it all for a bit.
Act 2.
Two weeks later, we had the designer run of Act 2. The improvement was tangible. It felt so real and raw. I really felt the emotion and drama, of which there is plenty in Act 2. At the meeting we were finally starting to talk about Tech which was super exciting.
Preparing for Tech.
That week, I started getting emails about Tech and scheduling and what I would be doing and when. I was getting more and more excited by the minute. I sent the email to Christina about interning and she was actually available. I introduced her to Kate via email. Then both of our names were on the schedule. Seeing that made me so happy. The next week we had an intern meeting at a cute café in Silverlake. It was awesome to see Christina. The meeting was short and sweet--basically just going over the schedule and answering any questions. Christina and I stayed for lunch after which was SO nice and long-awaited. That day was just awesome. After lunch, I had some time to kill, so I went and laid down in the park by the lake. Who knew there was a lake in Silverlake? Apparently only the stupid idiots like me were left off that memo. It was so blissful and unexpected to pause and unwind for a minute. My dad and I also ended up seeing Spamalot on the fly which was a bunch of fun.
Alright, I shall continue writing about the heaven of my SA LA time soon. See you then!
xoxoleah
It must be very thrilling to ride a stylish limo! You should have taken those glasses off and worn contacts. You’re beautiful, but in events like this, let them see how pretty you are and don’t hide those pretty eyes behind the lens.
Posted by: James Perkins | 02/15/2013 at 12:35 PM