december already!

Wow, I can't believe it's already December. I looked at the calendar and thought, not only is the end of the year fast approaching (and I have a ton of presents to finish), but Puppet Scrooge opens this week!

We're slowly but surely racing toward our opening night. Tech rehearsals make for long nights, but it's also awesome to see things take shape. Some of my theater friends love the rehearsal process, but I love the actual run, when everything is put together.

There's still time to see the show, too - go to http://matrixtheatre.org/ for more information.

rehearsals, opening nights, and other miscellaneous things

I don't know why, but I feel busier than usual trying to balance theater, (some) music, and life in general. Ha, now that I look back at that statement, I think, Duh, of course I'm busier than normal. But it's definitely a good thing.

Life back in Detroit is rather idyllic. I know that sounds crazy, since every day when I drive to rehearsal I'm trying not to get killed (or give in to road rage) as I go into the city. But it's nice being around the familiar haunts I grew up with - and plus, the shopping is so awesome in Detroit. Seriously.

We open Puppet Scrooge in roughly a week - wow! I can't believe the time has gone by that quickly. I'm still learning how to maneuver my puppets. I actually get to try one of each - I'm a marionette in the party scene, a hybrid hand/rod puppet when my buddies and I are cracking jokes about Scrooge's death, and a shadow puppet when people try to sell Scrooge's items in my pawn shop. And the rest of the time I'm a human. It's been really cool to work with the puppets, and I only wish I had more time to get things down exactly right.

I'm working on a "surprise" for friends, family and fans - keep an eye on the website, as I hope to launch it shortly after December begins.

I'm also looking forward to Christmas, when I (maybe) get a day or two off. Right now I can't think of anything lovelier than sitting at home all day reading. Ah, the good old days.

life in detroit

Well, I'm back at my old stomping grounds in Detroit, splitting my time between here (for the theater) and my home in Lansing. It's kind of cool to be back here, especially since the theater that I'm working at (the Matrix) is in Mexicantown, where I used to live in 2001. Although Mexicantown has definitely changed since I lived there.

We've begun rehearsals for Puppet Scrooge, and I'm excited. There are so many facets to this show that I find seriously cool because they're new to me - I've never worked with puppets before, and we also get to help with script revisions. Four weeks of rehearsal doesn't seem like enough time, but I know it will somehow all come together - it always does.

Since it's been so long since I've lived here, I always feel a bit like a tourist when I return to the Detroit area. For one thing, there's awesome shopping around the area, always a treat for me. I'm planning on checking out Ulta and Borders today - dumb, I know, but since we don't have those stores back in Lansing, I'm kind of geeked about it. It's those little things in life - kind of like how I always visit a Target when I'm on tour - that make me happy.

technological decluttering

Today I did something seriously momentous in the life of today's musician: I closed a bunch of my online accounts.

Some of them were things that I had signed up for but never used, like LinkedIn. Others were sites that were the "hot thing" at one point in my music career, but I had stopped checking them (mostly social networking sites). The fact that I had over a dozen of these accounts to close, and that half the time I couldn't even remember my login and password, only solidified my conviction that I was doing the right thing. Sometimes I think, because there's so much out there to try, we just get caught up in the next big thing and think it will be just what we needed. This is especially true in music, as there have been tons of social networking and band management (and sometimes both combined!) sites that have cropped up in the last few years. They're really popular for a few months... and then fizzle. And that's roughly the time when I stop using them.

Plus I find I get annoyed at having to update a blog in five different spots, or uploading the same profile information on ten different sites. It's just information overload and a waste of time for me.

I haven't completely gotten rid of all my accounts/websites, but it sure feels nice to have cleaned out some of the technological clutter.

something different for christmas

Well, for those of you who follow my musical meanderings, you've probably noticed I haven't been touring as much this year. I've decided to take some time off and go back to an old passion, acting. And it's been a fun year so far - I've done two (vastly different) shows at a great up-and-coming theater, The Encore in Dexter, MI, and am now delving into film and straight plays. I've never done a non-musical before, and I'm really looking forward to trying it out.

Right now, I'm writing still, but sporadically. Most of my time has been spent cleaning out old files and just stuff from my house. It's amazing how much you can accumulate over the years, and as a songwriter, you tend to keep everything because you never know what could provide good writing material.

Other things I'm working on: finishing a short film, called The Apple, that's being made and produced by some students at Michigan State University. It's a really thoughtful ensemble piece that focuses on different people's lives as they pass on an object (a red apple) from person to person. We started filming two weeks ago, and aside from the cold weather, I found it to be a very neat experience. There's so much attention to detail that has to go into filming even just a small piece of a film (something that in live theater would be about a minute's worth of the script). I'm very excited to see the finished product.

I also will be working at the Matrix Theatre in Detroit this holiday season, on a play called Puppet Scrooge. It's a revamped version of A Christmas Carol, set in Detroit - and with puppets! I was so impressed at the puppets I saw when I went in for my audition, and I'm looking forward to observing puppeteers at work (and maybe learning it myself).

But once I get myself organized, I have a couple of good ideas that I can't wait to execute... so just bear with me, and keep checking back!

new (old) music

I just discovered some old demos from 2002, before I recorded Ordinary Girl. Some of the songs didn't make the album, but others did - and were majorly revamped, but you can still hear the original lyrics and melodies in there. Crazy! I'm seriously debating putting them up on the website for people to enjoy (and for those of you who have Ordinary Girl, you can compare the two versions).

a very overdue update

Oh my word, I just looked at the date for when I last posted and realized... it was a month ago! So here's an update for all, and thanks for being so patient...

I spent September in rehearsals for Sweeney Todd over at the Encore in Dexter. Sandwiched in between there were two nights of a songwriters-in-the-round (although it was more like a line) at the Encore, and I played a brief set both nights. The fall just sort of whooshed by... and now here we are in October, when the show actually opened.

It's been going well. No mishaps (i.e., people falling off the stage from the second story or anything) have happened, although I don't know how many times I've nearly tripped going down the stairs. For a gal who's scared of heights, that's the scariest moment for me. We've got one more weekend left, and if I don't trip, I will count this show a personal success.

Back on the home front, we're still fixing up our house, cleaning, etc., and hoping to put it back on the market soon. Part of my busy schedule means sacrificing the house - it's very cluttered. I'm looking forward to the break in between weekends so I can actually get my house in order!

And finally, in other exciting news, I've signed on to do a short independent film here in my town. It will be a nice thing to try, since I've never done a film, and it's local, so I can save on the commuter costs for a few months. But I know I will miss the Encore, and can't wait to get back to them when my schedule opens up again.

So that's what's been happening! I'll try to be better about updating this blog. Funny, I was better when I was on the road all over the country than I have been in the last two months from my own home!