pros and cons

Guess what I was doing last night and the night before and will be doing every night for the next two weeks? It's probably something none of you have ever done or dream of doing.

I was running lines with my husband.

Yep....thrilling. Most of you are probably thinking that running lines sounds like a drag. Sometimes it can be. However, running lines does have it's pros and cons.

Pro:
Currently we're working on the part of Fred/Petruchio for Kiss Me Kate. My husband is the understudy and needs to be memorized in case of sickness, injury, or sudden death, (let's hope not on that last one.) One of the great things about running lines with my husband is that I get to read most of the show in advance. So I know what to expect when I see the show.

Con:
I read most of the show in advance and I know what to expect when I see the show.

Pro:
But because I get to read the show in advance, I can ask my husband questions about parts I don't understand like "Why is she so angry at him?" or laugh at funny lines like "Oh Lilli, you're not going to whoops" or discuss certain parts of the story like "It's sad to think that during Shakespeare's time women had their place."

Con:
However, sometimes this can ruin the show for me because I already know the intricate details of the plot and don't get to watch it unfold onstage.

Pro:
My husband is a trooper and does really well at memorizing so many lines so quickly. But I have to admit that I have a very good memory, and sometimes I memorize the other lines faster than my husband memorizes his....if I'm really trying. And usually I end up memorizing his lines because I hear them repeatedly.  

Con:
That just means for me that when I see the show, I know when an actor has made a mistake on his or her lines. This has happened a time or two before in other shows.

Pro:
Even though running lines takes at least an hour or more a night, it does mean that I am spending time with my husband.

Con:
I'm spending time with my husband....running lines....oh, the things I do as a theatre wife.

Pro:
I'm not an actress. My husband may convince you otherwise but if I were an actress, then Kristen Stewart would be pure genius on the screen. I've done a few acting tid bits in my lifetime, including two scenes for my husband's directing class one semester. However, I do enjoy pretending I can act. (Sir Ian McKellen on Acting -Yes, I am referencing this video again. :) So one of my favorite parts about running lines is making up accents and pretending to be the different characters. Lilli has a western accent. The gangsters have a New York accent. Paul is boring. Ralph is always tired. Hopefully by doing this my husband will admit that I am fun to run lines with.

Con:
If I practice too much, my husband may finally admit that I am good enough to be in a play and persuade me to do a show. Don't get me wrong, I love the theatre....I'd just rather be in the seats than on the stage.

We have fun running lines. Sometimes it's a drag and sometimes it's entertaining. Overall, I love my husband so much that I will sit on the couch, cuddle up to him, be the characters, and run lines...over and over and over....

agendas

 Auzi made his first trip to Salt Lake City this weekend. He did great and ran so well. It's nice to have a car that works....completely.

Since my husband had been rehearsing all day, I drove down to Salt Lake. As I was on I-15, I noticed ahead of me two Penske trucks with a car on a trailer following each one. I figured they must be moving and I wondered where from. Washington. They were on there journey somewhere south and we just happened to be passing them right then and there. They had their own agenda and so did we. But our paths crossed just for a moment. 

Then I got to thinking....What was their agenda? Why were they moving? Did they get a new job? Did they want to be closer to family? Did they want warmer weather? Their agenda was grander than ours. We were just heading to Salt Lake for the weekend to be with family. And then we'd be back up to our home. 

Then I got to thinking even more....Every car had an agenda. Was someone heading home from work? to work? Were they on their way to see their love? Were they heading to a concert? to the mall? or to a party? Or were they going on vacation? or to a family reunion? And just for a moment, all our agendas matched because we were heading south together.

Then it hit me. Sometimes I get caught up in my own agenda that I forget that everyone else has his or her own agenda. Even if they are my closest family or friends, I still don't know everything they are going through. And I definitely don't know what complete strangers are going through. But there are moments in our lives when our paths cross, either for a split second or a few hours or a lifetime. 

So when our paths cross, what do I do with that time? To be honest, I don't always make the most of it. I would say most of the time it's taken for granted. A cashier at Hobby Lobby rings me up but I don't bother to talk or smile because I don't know them. I see my extended family for a few hours but don't talk to everyone cause I know I'll see them again. My husband is home for lunch but we sit on the couch watching X-Men cause we know we'll have time later.

But what if the cashier's mother just passed away. Or what if my cousins just graduated from high school and are heading off to college. Or what if my husband was bored of X-Men....wait, he wouldn't be bored of X-Men.....what if I wanted to talk to him. I don't know everyone's agendas and most of the time there's not much I can do to help out. But I can smile, or say "Thank you", or ask "Hi, how are you?", or tell them "I love you." A little thing can go a long way.

I'm not saying I'm going to be perfect. But I can make someone's agenda a little happier. 

the inside scoop

I'm grateful my husband has a passion because it is so important to me to do what you love. And my husband loves acting! Being back on stage is seriously lighting up my husband's life. So I thought it would be fun to ask him some question about acting. Enjoy your exclusive inside scoop!

Q: What's it like working for the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre?

A: The company's got a small town feel to it. You are taken good care of as an actor. They are very excited to have us working for them. It is a different atmosphere though because I'm musical theatre and most people there are opera. But I'm surrounded by a lot of talent and I enjoy that. 

Q: What do you enjoy most about being an actor?

A: Performing. I really look forward to being in front of an audience. It's nice to have all the lines memorized and the work done and go out in front of an audience and just enjoy acting. I also enjoy being good at something. I'm better at this then anything else I do and it's nice to excel at something.

Q: What show are you most looking forward to this season? Why?

A: Kiss Me Kate. I've never done this show before and it's lots of fun. There are fun costumes, big dance numbers, and it's just a funny show.

Q: Is it hard to memorize all your lines and songs?

A: Faust is hard just because it's in another language. It's just jibberish and I don't know how to pronounce the words. But I've never had a problem with memorizing. I learn best on my feet, playing out the scene with the script in hand. Repetition. 

Q: Do you get stage fright?

A: I use to when I first started acting. I see stage fright as freaking out right before a show, not remembering your lines or cues. But I still do get nervous....well, excited nervous. About 10 minutes before a show starts I get excited nervous, but once the curtain goes up and the show begins, I'm not nervous anymore. I just love being on stage. 

Well, there ya have it. Some thoughts on acting. And if that wasn't enough, check out this funny video and see what Sir Ian McKellen has to say about acting.

So basically if you want to act, all you need to do is imagine and pretend....right? Go ahead. Give it a try. I dare you. :)

summer plans

So my husband started rehearsing again. It's been a full semester since he's been a part of a show, and I can tell he's really missed show biz.


Last October, he auditioned for a few companies for this summer's seasons. When he heard back from the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre here in Logan, (especially when he found out he got a part) he took the job. We've been really excited about this opportunity and now it's finally here.


This season, the UFOMT is doing Tosca, Faust, My Fair Lady, and Kiss Me Kate, along with a few other small productions. My husband is Zoltan Karpathy in My Fair Lady, the understudy for Fred in Kiss Me Kate, and ensemble for My Fair Lady, Kiss Me Kate, and Faust. And a couple days ago, they had in-house auditions for a small production of Girl Crazy....my husband got the part of Jake Howell. All I can say is, he's busy busy busy!


The UFOMT season started on May 30 with the first day of rehearsals. Shows start on July 12 and run through August 11. Rehearsals run Monday-Saturday, starting around 10AM and going to about 10PM. Daily schedules are given about a day in advance. My husband isn't gone all day, but anywhere from 1-3 hours at a time, 2-4 times a day. It's kinda hard to plan a life when you don't know what to expect from your job each day....but we manage. And of course, he's loving every minute of it....from singing, to dancing, to learning French.


Me? What do I do now that it's summer and my husband is busy being an actor? Sometimes I feel like Rapunzel in "Tangled".....

I'm not locked inside, but after I've cleaned the house for the fiftieth time, I feel like I'm trying to find things to do. I guess this summer I'll be discovering some new talents and hobbies. :)

a funny life

Life is funny. I don't really know how it is funny because it doesn't make us laugh but it does throw unexpected turns at us and I guess those can be funny. It all depends on how you look at it. But I will say this....life is funny because not all turns given are unexpected. Some turns we know are coming. But it always seems like when those turns are coming, life sends the unexpected turns our way.

About six weeks ago, my cousin was in town and we were having a discussion with my husband about vacations. I want to go to Walt Disney World and he doesn't want to spend the money. My cousin and I  tried to argue that now is the best time to go because we have no major financial concerns. I then said, "It's not like everything is going to happen to us all at once." This was a Brian Regan moment when I started desperately chasing after the words that came out of my mouth. I seriously jinxed us.

We knew that our neighbors were moving and that the new ones moving in wanted to share internet with us. So it was our responsibility to get that situated. We previously had Qwest but decieded to try Comcast because of a friend's suggestion. Big mistake! The guy took over 2 hours to get it going, ruined my white hand towel after washing his greasy hands, and then proceeded to tell me that I did not have wireless internet but just an Ethernet connection. Also, we found that even with the Ethernet connection, the internet was slower than Qwest. And I'd have to spend another 50 dollars to buy a router. So it was back to Qwest.

The beginning of May we noticed that our car had a rattling sound. So we took it in. While it was in, we also had our oil leak fixed. We came back from a birthday weekend and drove the car out of the mechanic's lot. Within 10 minutes the car died. Thankfully it was already in our driveway at that point but it would not start try after try after try. So we had it towed back to the mechanic. After a few days and several tests, the only thing they could tell us was that they were perplexed and that they thought it was an engine problem. Really? Really?!

Although we made a good chunk of money last year, we were still expecting financial aid from the governemnt to help pay for my husband's education. It was the beginning of May and we still hadn't heard anything. So my husband checked into it and found that technically he had been in school for 4 years and no longer was eligible for financial aid. But if he filled out some paperwork stating why he was still in school and hadn't recieved a degree yet, they would consider giving him some money. So he did, and they did, and no money. Apprently they ran out....? We were suppose to have recieved an email in April explaining the situation but we never did.

About a year ago, I asked my landlady if we could repaint our apartment. And to my surprise she said yes. She even allowed me to choose the colors. (I guess my degree did come in handy.) Well, it wasn't until this Memorial Day weekend that we got serious about painting. We went to Home Depot, got the colors, approved the colors, got the supplies and 5 cans of  paint, and started. Its been 6 days now, and with some parental help, we managed to paint the front room, the hallway, the kitchen, our bedroom, and the bathroom - ceiling and all - all on a budget of less than 400 dollars.

We decided that since our current vehicle was dead and we didn't owe much on it that we'd just pay off our loan. So we went into the bank and asked to do so. The nice young man helping us asked about our car. We told him the brief version and explained that since it was dead (and not likely coming back from the dead) that we didn't want to have to make any more payments. Once the transaction was completed, the nice young man said, "Congratulations! You are now the owners of your car." We both looked at each other and mumbled, "Yeah, a dead one."

A dead car and 2 rental cars later, we managed to start looking for cars. We found several online that we liked and called on, but without a car we couldn't exactly go looking for one. My mother was sweet enough to let us borrow her car. The day she brought it up, we went to look at a few different cars around town. The first one we saw, we liked....a lot! So after talking and glancing at a few other cars, we told the guy we'd take the car. We ran into our bank at 5:55pm on a Friday evening and started work on a loan. Tuesday evening, everything went through on the loan and we became official owners of a Nissan. Wednesday we got it inspected and registered and Thursday we got it detailed. Can I just say that cars are expensive!

After a few headaches and phonecalls, I finally got Qwest wireless internet up and running. The problem now is that the only working phone jack in our house is five feet up the wall and in our hallway. And the cloest outlet without going through doors or behind ovens is across the room. So now we've got working internet but at the expense of a green cord running through our kitchen. We're still working on it.

I don't know if I can look back at May and laugh. But life, thanks for making May a funny month.