canada...!

   I am exhausted.  And I now have funny money that is colorful and single coins that equal 2 whole dollars.  Oh, I also cannot text or talk on the phone so much...For five. whole. weeks. Yikes. 

   But despite all that, I just wanted to say that Toronto is really cool.  European in feel, actually--with lots of people sporting skinny jeans and the guys wearing their hair longer and shaggier and the ladies wearing their hair however the heck they want.

     I have a feeling I am going to like this town.  Especially when I get some more sleep under my belt...

     Just a quick note about yesterday's show.  Well, I was a little bored and wanting to try something new, so I decided to give Kristine an up do.  Sort of.  At least, as up as someone whose hair is a couple inches long can be.  So, I took the sides and clipped them back.  That's all I did, promise.

    The girls were really supportive of it, thought it looked cute and funny and to be honest, I really wasn't being so serious about it.  Like, I wouldn't have worn it that way out. I just thought it'd be fun to do something different for a change.  Something slightly different, mind you.

    But, when I walked downstairs and saw some of the boys in the cast, you would have thought that I had shaved my head bald by their reactions.

       You look hideous! was maybe one of my favorites.

        Or how about, You're joking...right?!

        Actually, I especially enjoyed it when they told me that it looked like I had grown a mullet, that I had shaved the sides of my head, that I had walked right out of the 80's, etc... 

          Needless to say, I lost my fleeting-at-best confidence in the new do and simply had to take the tiny clips out.  Once I did, those guys breathed a collective sigh of relief because Kristine's hair was down once again. As it should be, apparently.

      

          Lol.

          It honestly did not hurt my feelings; maybe my *OSA meetings have really been helping, after all.  I guess it's good to know that I have friends who will tell me the truth--or at least, the truth as they see it--without fail.  

*overly sensitive anonymous

          Okay, feeling a desperate pull towards sleep now. Especially since I will be attending Baayork Lee's famous warm-up class tomorrow morning. That's right, I said morning in a reference to me actually being somewhere other than my bed.  And yes, I will take a gold star...

           One more quick thing: I went and saw High School Musical 3 tonight and truly had a good laugh. Not necessarily because it was funny, per se, but because the writing was so bad at points, the segue's into musical numbers almost nonexistent, and the cheesy factor was astronomical.  But with that said, I truly enjoyed myself...And Martha Cox was definitely not legal...;-) 

leaving cleveland and I won't look back

                 We are leaving Cleveland. Finally.  I don't mean to offend any of you who might read this blog and be from Cleveland, but honestly, it has been the most difficult stop so far.  

                 And after three cast members being held at gun point by a thug on the street, we are all a little stressed and relieved to not be walking these streets after tonight.  

                 This is the only city where our company has had to hire armed security guards to walk us home. The other night we had a sassy lady security guard, who, before leaving the safety of the theater and braving the streets, said, "If anything goes down, you guys drop.  I am much better with a clear shot."

                 And she was not kidding.  

                Just last night my friend Ian was walking home from dinner with his fiance and they happened to pass a man, standing alone on the sidewalk.  Just as they got close he started rummaging in his pockets and drew something out really quick...Ian jumped and screamed just a little...The man proceeded to bring his just-found tissue up to his nose and blow.

              So yeah, like I said, we're all a little tightly wound.  

               There are just so many abandoned buildings and so few people downtown that you really have to watch your back.  It's a sad town and I hope it gets better soon.

             But tomorrow we're heading north, up to Canada!  Toronto is going to be sweet and fun even though we will not be celebrating Thanksgiving at all because that is a very American holiday and we will be very much in Canada. And very much working.  

            Actually, knowing our cast, we will find a way to celebrate Thanksgiving; we find a way to celebrate almost anything.  

dialogue

    A recent conversation between me and Drew (via phone, of course...):

                        Me: So, how was Jenna's birthday lunch?

                       Drew: Really fun. Afterwards, we went to Alliance for Jenna to get her nose pierced.  She wasn't able to, though, for some reason, so I got my other ear pierced instead (one of his ears already having been pierced).

                        Me: So, you got your ear pierced on Jenna's birthday? And where was Jenna at that point?

                        Drew: Waiting in the parking lot, with mom.

                        Me: On her birthday. 

      

                        Drew: Yep. 

 

                        Me: Well, can I see a picture?

 

                        Drew: Of what?

                        Me: Of your ear, silly!

                        Drew: Sure, just a sec.

                  I wait a moment and receive this on my computer: 

         Me: Uh, babe? Nice pic of you and Tally's...ears...but I was hoping for a shot that included both your ears, you know, for the full effect.

         Drew: Hold on...

        And then I get this:

   Me: Huh. Interesting psychopath impersonation there, but I still cannot see both piercings!
   Drew: (getting just a tad bit exasperated at this point) Alright, lemme try again...

   And then I receive this:

          And I proceed to laugh for a good 30 seconds.  

          Me: Baby, that picture is so crazy!  You look like some kind of...monkey-man or something...!

         Drew: Jess, it's the only way I could get one picture of both my piercings, which is what you wanted.  My face is too big or my ears are not the right angle or something, but this is the only way to show you my new peircing with the old piercing so that you do indeed get the full effect...

         Me: (still giggling) Well, it's perfect. Don't change a thing!

         If I need to laugh I just look at that picture. Aside from the obvious, make sure you look at his hands, too. They almost look like alien hands--or at least hands that are from someone else--and then the picture takes a creepy turn for the worse because why would two other people be pulling at Drew's ears?  Oh and one more thing: his left wrist looks especially skinny, which makes it even funnier for some reason.  Or maybe it's just me.

         Anyway, just wanted to share this.

the day I met Josh from the West Wing

           There he is, folks.  Bradley Whitford, aka Josh from the West Wing.  And let me just admit this now, I have a bit of a crush on him. Sigh.  And I met him!!!

           Okay, so this didn't exactly happen yesterday, per se, but the point is it happened. 

            To me.

           About six months ago, in New York City, that land of opportunity and sweet, sweet happenstance.  

           But first, let me give you a little history.  While doing the national tour of the Will Rogers Follies, a small group of us became hooked on just a little show that changes lives called The West Wing. At some point during the day or even during a show one of us would give each other the sign--a W made with our fingers and flashed twice, nice and quick--and it would be on.  

           Me, Zaller, and Betsy would watch The West Wing after the show.  

           And my crush on Josh would grow.  Sigh again.

            Fast forward to me rehearsing ACL at the New 42nd Street studios on well, 42nd street.  We are on our lunch break and I run down to Pax, the restaurant that is right next door and conveniently offers us a discount.  I stroll in just like any other day, prepared to order my usual salad and I stop dead in my tracks with that salad completely forgotten.

            Because Josh from The West Wing is standing in line, about to buy his food.  Like he's a normal person, like he's not the most amazing advisor that has ever worked in the White House.  

          I just stand there and stare at him for a while, making sure that it is indeed him.  But there it is, the facts of his close proximity right in front of me--same height, same build, same receding hairline yet wonderfully fluffy hair and intelligent face...Wow, it's really really him!

          Now he's walking towards the door and he's about to walk out of my life--probably forever--unless I do something.  So I stop him as he gets to the door with a question,

           Excuse me, but you're Josh from the West Wing (in case he didn't know...), and well, I just love you...(okay, so maybe that wasn't a question, exactly...)...

          Josh simply says, Yes, I am.  Hi, my name is Brad.  And then proceeds to shake my hand(!).

          I am mentally kicking myself while calmly shaking his hand because of course I know his name is Brad!!! Unfortunately any ideas I have for our conversation trailed off after my admittance of love for him, because see, I really hadn't planned anything else to say. At all.  But I wasn't going anywhere...  

         Noticing this, he kindly takes the reigns of conversation from my star-struck hands and, probably noticing my jazz pants and sweatshirt, asks, So, are you a dancer? 

       Grabbing onto that thread that will perpetuate our verbal back-and-forth like a lifeline for a drowning man, I excitedly say, Yes! Yes, I am a dancer! I am rehearsing for the 1st national tour of A Chorus Line at New 42nd Street!

        I am rehearsing there too, for a new play, he tells me. Like it's totally normal that we are rehearsing at the same place!!! 

         That's so cool, I say, Well, I just wanted you to know that I love your work, and well, I love you...

         Thank you so much, He kindly responds, I appreciate that. 

          We smile and he walks out the door, lunch in hand.  So yes, I did meet Bradley Whitford (but well, I just call him Brad cause you know, we're like that now) and I did tell him that I love him. Twice.  

          After he walks out the door I refrain from pinching myself to make sure that the exchange did in fact occur while the lady sitting at a nearby table turns to me in a conspiratorial manner and says, I absolutely LOVE him too; I just didn't have the balls to go up and talk to him like you did!

 

           We share a look and both bask in the glow of being in the same room with Josh from The West Wing.  But my glow is a little brighter, see, because I actually got to talk to him.

           And that is the account of the day I met Josh from The West Wing. 

for jenna, with love

   Today is a very special day. What, you didn't realize?  Well, duh, it's my sister, Jenna's, BIRTHDAY!!!!!! (what kind of calendar do you guys have, anyway?)

   Isn't she so pretty?

   And she used to look like this...
   Back when my mom bathed her in sinks, that is.  My mom doesn't do that anymore though...Too bad.  

   Anyway, I sent her this picture, since I couldn't take part in the family lunch this afternoon or the ladies' dinner out tonight--all in honor of her birthday, of course...
            See, Jenna is a very special gift for my family.  In fact, she is to date the most amazing party favor anybody has ever received in the history of party favors.  

            And no, I am not really kidding.

             Twenty years ago (sounds like I am starting a speech, but I can assure you I am not) my brother got invited to a birthday party for a kid from church.  Jason did not necessarily want to go to this party, but well, being a pastor's kid, you don't always have a choice.

             So, my mom dropped him off at the party.  This party-kid's family just happened to have recently taken in a 17 year old pregnant girl who was also an illegal alien from El Salvador.  They took her in because she had already had a little girl 2 years before and her father had threatened to throw her out on the street if she got herself pregnant again.  This pregnant girl's name was Maria; she was beautiful.  And she was scared.

            As Someone who knows what He's doing would have it, Maria went into labor and gave birth to a little girl during this birthday party.  Maria had bound her belly during most of her pregnancy, successfully hiding it from her father, and also successfully causing this brand new baby to be pretty small.  But her hair! Wow, she had a ton of black hair; her bangs went all the way down to her eyes, making it look like she was born with a little skull cap on.  

          So right, when my mom went to pick Jason up from this birthday party, the birthday kid's mom asked all the people there,  Will anybody take this baby home? 

           And what'd my mom say? I will.

           Just like that. No phone call to her husband, no checking in with her 4 kids, just a quick assent to a monumental shift in our family.  

           So Jason and mom drove home with a tiny brown baby.  And well, we were surprised, to say the least.  I mean, she was adorable, so she had that going for her...

         But anyway, it didn't take long for us to fall completely head over heels in love with her.  My parents got the adoption process started almost immediately, and a year later, it was official: she was (and is) Jenna Veronica Latshaw, a wholly intrinsic part of our family and valued beyond all words.    

         She is my sister, in every sense of the word.

        It's funny, I forget that technically, she is adopted.  So when I introduce her to people, I am always surprised to see a look of confusion on their faces as they are mentally trying to work out how it happened that we are sisters (was it the milkman?  a surprisingly diverse gene that finally showed up?)

         When I went for my first fitting for ACL in NYC (enough acronyms for you?) Jenna accompanied me.  And when I met our head of wardrobe, Rory, I simply said, This is my sister, Jenna.

        Rory stood there for a second, looking back and forth between the two of us, before I finally said, I know, we don't look that much alike...

        He jumped in, No, I can see the resemblance in the nose!

         Jenna and I burst out laughing and I finally explained to him that Jenna is adopted. Though I will always appreciate what he said about our noses; I have long been a fan of Jenna's nose.  

       So, that is the story of how we got Jenna.  And if you've ever had a party favor half as good as her, well I won't believe it, I'll think you're lying.  

       Happy birthday, Jenna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

three cheers for paying it forward!

     Sometimes you meet a person who helps restore your hope for humanity. 

     Like Laureen, for instance.

     But let me back up a bit.  After the show tonight there was a swanky party in the President's Club (though I saw no presidents there. And I looked, too) at the theater.  The highest theater donors were invited--as well as the cast.  It was nice. Drinks, desserts, people.  Actually, I was at the bar with my friend, Jay, and overheard somebody say, "Wow. They look much better on stage..."

    Well, I turned around and politely said, Excuse me? And the lady repeated herself, making me realize that I had misheard her the first time, saying, I only commented on the fact that you guys look better off stage.  

   Huh.  Either way, not the best compliment in the world.  Either we look not great on stage or not great in person...But that wasn't the part that redeemed humanity for me (no, duh).

    I got to talking to a certain lady, Laureen. Very sweet, very interested in theater, loved the show, has a granddaughter who dances and all that.  She asked me what the buzz was on Broadway...I told her people are anticipating Shrek the Musical, that there is also a revival of Guys and Dolls in the works, but that some shows are getting pulled before they could even start--like the revival of Fosse's Dancing--because of this economy.  

   Things are probably going to get worse before they get better, unfortunately, she said.  I know, since I am in the mortgage business.   

   This sparked even more questions on my end; we talked about the bailout, the faulty loans that banks gave out, the fear that they are now in because of those.  She mentioned that there is just nobody smart enough in congress to really solve this problem, the bailout was the best they could come up with and it really wasn't good enough. 

   Well, shoot.  We need a change folks, but that is another post.

   So anyway, long story short, I mentioned how Drew and I currently have a mortgage and are looking to refinance and blah blah blah.  She told me that she not only is a mortgage broker, but also hold a masters in financial planning (this is when I almost started to worship her. almost.  I didn't, though, because that would be way wrong).  I explained that Drew and I are two artists and don't always know exactly what to do with our money; she told me that she knows exactly what I mean and would love to help us (then I started falling a little in love). But our house is in DE and you are in Cleveland...I said.  Doesn't matter, she assured me, I work nationally. She asked me how high our interest rate is and upon finding out, told me that she is pretty sure she can get me a lower one.  We exchanged information. We hugged.  We will be in touch, she said.  

   What a kind, helpful, smart woman.   Before I left I told her, Betcha didn't know you were going to help Kristine Urich with her mortgage when you were watching her on stage tonight!

   Anyway, I am a big fan of Laureen.  Not sure what will come of it, exactly, but just the fact that she is so willing to help and to share her expertise shows what a generous spirit she has. 

   Way to pay it forward, Laureen!

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   You know who didn't pay it forward, not one bit, not at all?  

   The guy who held up three of my friends in the cast at gun point tonight while they walked home from the theater.  He stole one of their phones, too.  How terrible...

    Cleveland is dangerous.  I saw a drug deal the other day. Crazy.  We make sure to walk in groups--and try, when we can, to have a man in the group...   

    

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

   But back to the positive, right?  I, along with Ian and Colin who are also in the cast, taught a master class at the Imagine Center in conjunction with Broadway Across America.  There were probably about 40 high school and college students, and it was a pleasure to work with them.

   What wasn't such a pleasure, however, was the amount of times I had to demonstrate that opening jazz combination from the show.  

   IT. IS. HARD.

   It really is.  I was glad to get to the theater tonight and realize that I only had to do it twice more once the show actually started.  I actually took comfort in that. All those lunges and jumps and squats are no joke--not to mention when they are at warp speed and you are wearing heels. 

    But it was fun to share such a historic, iconic piece of choreography with dance hopefuls.  

    So in a way, both me and Laureen paid it forward today.  

good news, a thank you, and a disclaimer--in that order

            Okay, it's official, I have another gig.

             That's right, I have another gig!!!

             And for many of you who read this blog, it will be just a drive away, right in the city of brotherly love.  I booked a gig at the Tritone Bar which is slated as a Cool bar. Great food. The most diverse music venue in Philly.

              And that's not all, my esteemed and accomplished older brother, Josh, of boysetsfire fame, is going to be lending me some of his rocking skills as a guitarist.  His job is to dirty up my songs with the guitar, as he puts it.  And Drew (you may recognize him from The Look Machine, which has sadly been on hiatus for a while now), my husband, and a fantastic musician in his own right, will be lending his sound to my set as well.  

            The date is 12/28, starting around 9:30 and I'd love it if you guys were there.  It is a bar, so if you are under 21 you have to be accompanied by a parent or someone who will at least claim you as their child for the night. 

           Kidding. I don't promote lying unless it is for the greater good, as in I tell my stage manager that I have a hamstring issue in order to let my understudy on so her family can see her.  So, yeah--if you are not as yet 21 then bring your parents along--I might just play something that they will like!

           I know this is way early to be telling you about it, but I am excited and don't worry if you forget, because I will remind you when it gets closer...

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          On another note, I was pleasantly surprised to meet someone who has been reading my blog outside the stage door tonight.  He even came bearing gifts; I got to leave with a bottle of sweet tea.  And one of his party was wearing a rocking boysetsfire sweatshirt; I have the same one in red and it is a lovely garment, indeed.  

          So, thank you! It was lovely to meet you and thank you for supporting my show! The fact that you drove three hours each way to see it means so much;-)

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         One more note, please.  I would like to give as a disclaimer that when I doubted on my blog whether or not Bill Belichick, the coach of the Patriots, has a soul, I was truly and absolutely using sarcasm.  I am a staunch believer that every human being has a soul, even the likes of Bill Belichick.  And though one might be a cheater, wear an incredibly old and probably stinky sweatshirt on national television, and be a poor sport, that does not preclude one from having a soul.  

          So for the record, I do believe that Bill Belichick has a soul and may God have mercy on it.