The Sky is Green and the Grass is Blue

We finished our first week of rehearsal and we have about two thirds of the play up and on its feet. Bill gave us a piece of advice to chew on that I greatly appreciated, "Nothing you do in this play is going to be as brilliant as these words. So don't act like they are getting in the way of your performance." And he is very right and we needed the reminder - I needed the reminder. Its not that you think you don't need the language, its just that you get very involved in the emotional track of your character and their background and blah blah blah and then you forget that everything you really need is right there in the moment in the specific words you are speaking. I guess I get caught up in thinking, 'This language is hard for people to understand so I am going to overcome it so that the story will be clear.' When really Shakespeare chose those specific words for a reason and they tell the story very well on their own.

Anyway, last week was really fun - I had a lot of free time. I went to Bikram, rode my bike, we went to Norris Springs - and it was amazing. Norris is a hot spring about an hour outside of Bozeman where they have live blue grass music and sell local food (meats and produce). So you sit in a wooden pool of hot water coming right up from the ground, listen to great music, and eat good food. Only 5 bucks to get in and the food and booze is very reasonably priced. Suck on that, Chicago bars!

We also had plans to go hiking, but we all stayed out too late on Sat night and then woke up sick with various forms of the common cold on Sunday. It also dropped from 82 to 55 degrees F over night and that didn't do a lot to help anyone feel better. It officially feels like fall, which I guess it officially is the Autumn Equinox - the leaves are coming down, the air is crisp and it just smells great outside. But I hear it is supposed to be in the 70s here tomorrow. I gotta get my horseback riding in before it gets too cold. And I want to float down the river too...

This week is going to be busier than last. We have gone back to 8 hour rehearsal days with an hour for lunch and Wed, Thurs, and Fri are going to be dedicated to Workshop workshops where we learn how to teach the high schoolers neat things. I am mildly nervous about this part, but I have been reassured that it is sometimes the best part of the tour. And then a week from this Friday, we have our first performance. Yikes.

But it will be fine! No worries! Me worry? Not me. I think my throbbing headache has finally abated for the day. I went to the gym (we get free memberships!) and spent a significant amount of time in the steam room and sauna and that really seemed to help.

I'm gonna hop off to bed now and will try to get back to write later this week.

Love from Montana to all!