Thanksgiving...in 'Murica

I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving in this country since 2010. Isn't that weird? But it sure will be nice to cook it this year without having to actually kill the bird first. #grateful

Still on the job hunt, it is NOT easy to find one out there right now. Especially with as picky as I'm being. I keep getting a lot of "oh, I may know of something" or "I can get you in where I work" but that's usually the last I hear of it. So that's discouraging.

I do live in a kick ass location now in West Hollywood. I'm right in the center of everything I have always wanted to be in the center of. Now I'd just like a job so I can pay for all the things I want to do and take advantage of while living here. BUT, instead of being cynical, in the spirit of the week I will be grateful. So here's my 'what I'm thankful for: 2013 edition.'

• Friends. Being unemployed is trying but being surrounded by friends who support you (emotionally, mentally and financially) without question is quite literally a life saver.
• America.  Man this country is great. I'm still really happy with it. There are tiny little everyday irritations but at the first sign of getting irritated at something stupid, I can still force myself to laugh at how ridiculous and petty it is. I hope I can keep that up.
• Food. Good LORD is the food great here.
• PC Friends. Didn't realize just how much I'd need them. They're the only ones who truly understand how hard this readjustment is.
• Patience. What an amazing skill I have been blessed with. Seeing impatience in so many others, I find myself whispering "relax" so many times during the day. Seriously...relax, people.
• It's not about me. How many times daily could you relax if you just said those four words?
• Family. Haven't been home for Christmas in a few years either. Since I'm unemployed, a plane ticket seemed unlikely until one just appeared in my email inbox. No questions asked. Family can be frustrating and filled with drama and make you want to tear your hair out, but Jesus, what the hell would we do without them? It's so nice to be love so many people, so humbling to be loved that much.

Baking desserts today to get prepped for Thursday. Wish me luck. Happy Thanksgiving.
Get in the holiday spirit!
http://www.amazingoasis.org/2013/11/best-coin-ever-spent.html?m=1

The Ovations

Another addition to my hard to believe exitstence these days...

What are the Ovation Awards? Well, it's like the west coast version of the Tony's. They are held once a year and give awards for local theatre in both intimate and large settings.

But let me back up...

After my fun gig at the Les Girls event, I followed up with an email to the stage manager, Brenda and thanked her for a great day. Brenda just so happened to be cast in a play at a local theatre, The Rogue Machine, and they were looking for a stage manager. She asked if I had any experience in that. I laughed and said um...yes, yes I do. She asked if I could come in the next day and check it out. So I did. The Rogue Machine theatre is in Los Angeles. It is a building that holds two theatres, one seats 99 and the other seats 45. The only do original productions so they can not only workshop and produce new content but also don't have to pay rights to put on published works. The show that Brenda was in was an original 60 minute comedy entitled "Lone-Anon." The play is set 5 years in the future and the government has started identifying socially inept people and mandating them to go to support groups to try and stop using their phones and interact with actual people. Foreshadowing? It is a very funny play, a cast of 6. There is Brenda, who plays a shy librarion, Neil (also the playwright) who plays Dabney an internet CEO who has trouble communicating is inner thoughts, Keith (also the director) who plays the group therapist Mike who means well but is a little unhinged himself, Tyson who plays Tanner, a blockbuster employee who's 'on the edge', Melissa who plays Senise who is newly ordered to the group and Brian who plays Lincoln a "garden-variety misanthrope." The production is being done in the small theatre and they needed me to be 'on book' in their last few weeks of rehearsal as well as run the sound cues and light board for productions. They were scheduled to run from the 1st of November through the middle of December. I get paid a stipend, not enough for a full income, but at least it's something! Everyone who works there is so warm and welcoming. Brian, also happens to be on the TV show Scandal which made me really happy when I first met him. He is tall, gorgeous and has every right to be a downright jerk and yet he is the sweetest guy. Many TV/Film actors do shows here because they like to work on original pieces. One show last season was so successful it transferred to the Beverly Hills Playhouse and now is opening on Off Broadway in the spring. IN other words, they do good work.

www.roguemachinetheatre.com

http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Reviews-Late-Night-World-Premiere-LONE-ANON-Is-Not-Just-for-Loners-20131027

In the middle of all this, my friends Juan and Derek found us an apartment in West Hollywood right next to Santa Monica Boulevard. The location is ideal and we were lucky enough to attain it rather quickly. So we moved in. I'm slowly pulling things out of storage realizing just how much crap I kept. I was under the delusion that I had thrown so much stuff out and yet there are so many boxes yet to unpack. Me and my damn photo albums...

So that brings us back to the Ovation Awards. The producer Andrew who was friends with Liz, John's sister from the peace corps (make sense?) contacted me and asked me if I wanted to work backstage at the Ovation Awards. Since Andrew was recently named one of Variety's top new leaders:

http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/variety-honors-hollywoods-new-leaders-1200751959/

I figured, whenever he asks me to do something, I'm gonna do it. This year's awards were at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse which is one of the infamous California Missions. The day before the awards, a guy named Tito (the production manager) called me and asked me to be in charge of communications. I said yes, not really knowing what that meant. I had to show up at 7:30am on a Saturday (I know...). I met Tito and he set me up in the production office. There were 40 walkie talkies and I was in charge of them as well as all of the tools. Everything had to be checked in and out and I had to keep track of it all. the crew piled in and built the set, set up the audio and the lights. We were here for 12 hours. Basically I had to sit in the office and watch the equipment, they fed me lunch and dinner and then I left at 8:30 to go over to Rogue Machine for our evening performance.
The next day was the day of the awards. I had to be there at 11:30 to do the same thing. There was a lot of downtime on Saturday, Sunday it was non-stop. There were many more people there and a lot more stuff going in and out of the door, all of which I was in charge of. The 3 producers (including Andrew) came in and out to check on things. Andrew walked in and said "oh hey Jenn." (That feels good). The stage manager put me in charge of the winner envelopes, no one could see them but me. 
The host, Michael McKean, showed up around 5 to rehearse and the presenters started showing up around 6, such people as Sharon Lawrence, Steven Weber, Jason Ritter, Ed Begley Jr., Cathy Rigby, Val Kilmer and Melissa Manchester just to name a few. Sharon Lawrence remembered me from the Les Girls events. Yes...I'm name dropping. The show began at 7:30 and ran for about 2 hours. My friends at Rogue Machine won the award for Best Play in an intimate Setting so they were celebrating.
The thing I loved the most was the atmosphere of camaraderie and support in the LA theatre community. Many comments were made about how LA has a bad rap for theatre and yet here were hundreds of theatres out supporting each other. It was so great. I'm really happy to be a part of the community.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-ovation-awards-2013-20131103,0,3575488.story#axzz2jv0ukZ3r

Tito took my contact info to after I told him I'd work backstage for him whenever he needed me so hopefully that will work out too. Still on the job hunt. Now the clock is ticking since I have actual rent to pay now. Keep sending those positive vibes!