June, the middle name of one of my favorite babies.

Another fun week here in lala land. Friday was the beginning of Pride weekend here in West Hollywood. It was insane. I stayed in the apartment. I had rehearsal Friday night and when I got home I had to park over a mile away. Nothing makes me happier than walking...

Anyway, one cool thing was that I was lying in bed Saturday evening listening to the noise and someone was blaring the Dreamgirls soundtrack really loudly. My roommate, Derek, came home and told me that it was not, in fact, the soundtrack, it was Jennifer Hudson down the street giving a concert. So, I guess that's something. 

On Saturday, I drove down to Chino for the day as my best friend, KT, was in town for the weekend and it was the only day I had to see her. Not to mention, I haven't seen baby Genevieve since she was 2 days old. I would show you pics, but KT doesn't put pics of her child on the internet so I will respect that. She is damn cute though. Trust me on that one. KT and I and her family and friends had a great day laughing, busting on each other, the same old story. I had to leave for rehearsal in the early afternoon and had to get on the freeway to get past the Staples Center before the hockey game let out. It all worked out well and I got everywhere on time.

Sunday morning, Juan and Derek woke up early and made a beautiful variation of Eggs Benedict and made what we called "We-Ho Benedict" which was biscuits, sausage, arugula, tomatoes and poached eggs covered in Hollandaise sauce. It was delectable. They headed up to the Pride parade and I headed to rehearsal. Since the roads were all closed for the parade, a 15 minute drive turned into an hour and a half. Yay. We had another rehearsal for "Small Parts" but I got out of there on time and home in time to watch the Tony's. What a glorious show. Is there a better awards show out there? There wasn't a performance, okay maybe one, that wasn't perfect. (I just don't think that was the best choice to showcase, Rocky). Anyway, Hugh Grant, charming as ever, Audra MacDonald, a legend, Carole King appearing, Neil Patrick Harris stealing the show as always, it was just wonderful. We had a blast watching it. (On a side note, one major gripe: I think we can cut out the anniversary performances i.e. Cabaret, Wicked or the previews for next season and maybe show some tech awards. Let's not forget that without set designers, lighting designers, sound designers, costumers and choreographers, you would not have a show. My two cents)

Monday night I took Ethan, Grant and Chris (Grant's roommate) to see Gruesome Playground Injuries. It was nice to be back at the Rogue Machine Theatre. It just makes me happy there. I introduced them to the tech designer and he showed them around and the set for the new show "Penelope" opening next week. Since they're all theatre geeks and tech nerds, they loved every second of it. They all enjoyed the play a lot. Always nice to be reinvigorated.

Yesterday "Small Parts" opened. It went pretty well considering that was the actual first time we've ever run through the whole thing. George Chakiris came to see it (Bernardo from West Side Story). He looks pretty damn good for his age. So it was another exciting night in Hollywood.

The World Cup starts tomorrow. And yesterday was 4 years since Dad died. It's funny, the one memory i have from that time is the World Cup. My brother John and I were crashing on brother Bob's couch and every morning we woke up to the sound of those damn vuvuzelas from the South Africa World Cup. It was the strangest sound and yet it always made me laugh because it was just so damn weird. It was a terrible time and yet a fun time just having sleepovers with my brothers. A lot has changed in four years. A lot. But those mornings are fresh in my mind. I miss everyone, especially those who aren't in my life anymore regardless of what took them away from me. 

Up next? My birthday! (applause) Plans? Nope. 

Be back soon.

<3

June is busting out all over...almost.

How is it June already? How is this year nearly half over?
So "Be a Good Little Widow" ended its run on Sunday. It was sad, but it was time to be done. After it was over, we had the fastest strike I have ever been a part of. The audience filtered out at 4:30pm. By 4:50 the entire stage was bare. It was remarkable. The world of professional theatre. 
From there we headed to Sara (the director/producer) and CB's (the producer/sound designer) house for the wrap party. It was also CB's birthday so there was a nice mix of industry people there. They live in a cute house in Studio City with an amazing backyard that includes a guest house, a pool house (the game, not the swimming kind) and a camping tent set up with all the amenities. It was cool. They had a full spread of bbq and drinks and we had a lovely afternoon/evening wrapping up our time together. I really enjoy these people and had a wonderful time with them.

Donovan, Sara, Caroline, Andrew, Larisa and Trey.

Phil, Larisa, Donovan, Trey and myself saying goodbye.

The next day, I got to go see one of the opening performances of the next play I worked on "Gruesome Playground Injuries." It was remarkable. One of the best plays I've seen. I got a designer cred as I did the props for them. It is running through July and I'm so proud to have been a part of it.

One of my proudest props, a stone owl for one of the actors. Our insanely talented tech director, David Mauer aged him to look like he had lived on the roof for a century.

Designer Cred!

And on Tuesday, at long last, I got to see the Piano Man, Billy Joel in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The last time I saw him was 1994 at Giants Stadium. His voice sounds exactly the same. He was remarkable and it was a blast.

Lots of lights!

Post-show glow!

But enough fun, back to work. Resumed rehearsals for "Small Parts" the one-man show for the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1706

It's complicated with 150 cues in 75 minutes, but it's fun and as usual, the people are great. I think I've been really lucky in that I like nearly everyone I meet.

Thursday night, quick break as my dear friend Erin was in town from Prague and she and Holly (roommate from Moldova) and I reunited for the first time since June, 2012. It was a much needed girls night, even though they dragged me out of my house at 9:00pm, I was happy I went. These girls are family.

Me, Erin and Holly on Santa Monica Blvd.

So that's been my week. I have a rare day off today and then it's into tech week for 'Small Parts' to get ready for opening. 
And now: June!

Holy shit, it's almost summer.

Soooo...I haven't written on here in a long time. Maybe you've noticed. But the good news is, it's because I've been busy. So let's catch up, shall we? Back to February...

• Oscars - It was so nice to get to watch the Oscars in Los Angeles instead of at 3am trying desperately to stay awake to see Best Picture. Best friend, Diehl and his roommate, Josh held a party and I got to hang out with the Chino crew which was just delightful. It's so nice to hang out with people who are as crazy about this night as you are. We had a great time. We all sang along to "Wind Beneath My Wings", we danced to "Happy", we cheered for "Frozen" it was wonderful. We also held a prediction contest in which Diehl and I tied. After all this time, still in sync. I enjoyed the evening as well as the telecast. I am always a fan of Ellen Degeneres, thought the winners were richly deserved and even though my favorite of the nominees, "Dallas Buyers Club" didn't take home the big prize, the actors were awarded and "12 Years a Slave" truly was the best movie of the year. But it was worth it all to spend the night with my movie-obsessed pals again.

Diehl and I with our prediction win!

And then in March...

• Hawaii - Yeah, I freaking went to Hawaii. Never really had any desire to go, I'm not a 'beach' person. My dear friends, Juli and Jason, decided to renew their wedding vows after 20 years of marriage. These two are more in love than anyone I have ever seen. They invited me along and as much as I wanted to, it just wasn't possible. But then, I live with flight attendants so I could get there...and there was a room available...so, what the hell? I dragged (quite willingly) Diehl along with me and boy did we have a blast. We were there for 6 days and took in the sights and it was amazing. WHY didn't I ever want to go here? It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Truly beautiful.

Reuniting with our college friend from Kutztown University, Amy.

Enjoying the sights.

A rainbow, the morning of the wedding.

Juli and Jason wedding.

Jeremy, my ex-boss taking selfies on the beach.

Jerrod, my ex-boss, my friend, Jules and her son, Logan.

Logan, such a snuggle bug.

Best friends for 21 years now.

A mini-Too Faced reunion on the beaches of Maui.

Standing on top of Mount Haleakala, 10,000 feet up!

Whale Watching indeed!

• Stinking Rose - This is an all garlic restaurant I have wanted to go since I moved to LA back in the 1990's. My dear friends Gracie and Patty came up to LA with Another friend, Ken to see "The Book of Mormon." Afterwards, Juan and Derek and our visiting friend, Julia met them at this place for dinner. It was a delightful evening as Gracie treated me to my first dinner at this place. A night I shall never forget, especially the garlic ice cream. Don't judge it, until you try it.
• PCV Reunion #1 - My roommate from Moldova has returned to So-Cal. I haven't seen her since I left Moldova in July. From Moldova, she went on to teach English in Indonesia. She came to NY for a wedding in March and then came home and surprised her family. I headed down there to spend a few days and it was like no time had passed. It was a little surreal as the two of us have never known each other in the U.S. much less California so sitting with her at In-n-Out was strange but it was cool. 

And then in April...and May...

• Gruesome Playground Injuries - The Rogue Machine hired me again, this time to do props for their newest production. It was my first time as an actual 'designer' but it was a lot of fun. When someone hands you a check and says 'go shopping', it's nice. The play is amazing. It opens this weekend and it's honestly one of the best things I've seen in this area. Come see it! https://roguemachine.secure.force.com/ticket/#details_a0NF000001FRCNZMA5

Actors Jules Willcox and Brad Leischer.

• Be a Good Little Widow - I was also hired to be the stage manager for another show this time in North Hollywood. Andrew, the producer that I met through PC friends called me and asked me to do it. The show ran for 6 weeks and again starred some familiar faces in the Hollywood scene so I was in my glory. Having been there now for almost two months, I truly love these people and have gotten to hobnob with a bunch of celebrities over Chardonnay...talk about a dream come true. I really love the professional theatre scene in LA. 

Opening night with Pretty Little Liars stars, Larisa Oleynik and Ian Harding.

• The Mets visit Angels Stadium - This doesn't happen very often as the Mets usually play the Dodgers. So imagine my glee when they were coming to Angels Stadium. My first baseball game out here since I've been back and I get to see my Mets play and NOT have to go to Dodgers Stadium. The thing is...nobody told the METS about it. So I was treated to seats in the Posh Diamond Club where there's a gourmet meal beforehand, in seat service which means there's a menu and waiters at your seats and while enjoying all this, my dear sweet, Mets get slaughtered 14-2. 14 to freaking 2! It was humiliating. This was also the last day of the Masters so by inning 6, myself, along with a great many others wearing Mets paraphernalia were in the Diamond Club watching Bubba win the Masters.

My incredible seat, my favorite player, David Wright. 14-2!!!!!!

• Easter Dinner - For years before I had left, Diehl and I always made a point to have Easter Dinner together. Neither of us really care about the holiday, and most of our west coast friends spend it with family so it was always just an excuse for us to have a dinner at a place we normally wouldn't. In the past few years, our friends Deb and Larry have been joining us. So this year, Deb and Larry decided to come out to North Hollywood to see "Be a Good Little Widow" since I had a performance on Easter Sunday. We made plans to have dinner after that. Diehl had intended on joining us but he couldn't make it. We took this opportunity to go somewhere exotic. Diehl doesn't exactly like too much international cuisine. We decided on an Afghani restaurant in Pasadena. I had never had Afghani food before but I love trying different cuisines, as do Deb and Larry. After the show, we headed there. It was a tiny place and the lovely waitress was extremely patient with us and explained all the dishes. Everything we ordered was amazing, the service was impeccable and I even was inspired to write a review online. I encourage everyone to try international cuisines. There's so much out there. And it's so much easier giving money to family businesses than chain restaurants. I should know...my brother owns the best one. ;)
• PCV Reunion #2 - As the month finished, I got two familiar visitors, my friends Lindsay and Conrad from the Peace Corps. It was Conrad's birthday, they were itching to travel, Conrad was dying to surf in the Pacific so they just made a long weekend out of it. It's weird just how at ease I feel when PCV's visit. It just feels familiar and comfortable. So they only stayed with me for one night as they went gallivanting around the city. Jessica came over and the four of us made dinner and drank wine just like we were in the middle of Eastern Europe. We made our old standbys, Buffalo Chicken Dip and Blue Cheese Burgers. It felt just good.

So what's next?

Be A Good Little Widow ends this weekend. It's been a great run and I'm so happy with the connections that I have made there. Still on the job search. I work a lot and make some money but people still keep asking me why I'm not working. It's funny how if you don't have a desk or an office, people think you do nothing. I've had 3 theatre jobs in the professional theatre world in the last month. I'm doing what I went to school for, how many people can say that? I'm doing exactly what I came back here to do, not to mention what I moved out here to do in the first place. 

So, plans for what's next?

• Small Parts - A one man show that is a part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival taking place in June. I am the stage manager. Had our first rehearsal today and it's really cool.
• Billy Joel - My dear cast and Producers of Be a Good Little Widow got me tickets to go see Billy Joel play at the Hollywood Bowl next week. I drive by all the time and wanted to go badly so imagine my tear-filled surprise when I opened up a card from them last weekend. These are good people. And I'm so excited. I only saw him once in concert and that was in 1994. It was the best concert I had ever seen as he performed with Elton John. It was a special night with one of my favorite people who I still dearly miss, every day.
• Eric - My dear nephew has an internship in Boulder, CO so at some point I'll be trying to get him out here to LA for the weekend. It's always nice when family gets to see my world every once in a while.
• 4th of July - Celebrating the birth of our country IN our country. Huh, what a novel concept. I was invited to Northern California for a party with some Hollywood types, but I don't know if I'll be able to go. But who knows? Stranger things have happened (Hawaii, anyone?)
• Family - The family is good. Miss them as always. Brother Bob and Sister Jill keep me updated of the goings-on at the restaurant to make me feel like I'm there. I'm so thrilled that my nephews and nieces are such a part of my life that I text them and tweet them daily. Adore them. Mom and Leroy, true to form, are way busier now than they ever were when they had jobs. If you thought retirement would slow them down, you don't know them. My step dad, Leroy had to go in for some surgery and it's taking him longer to recover. My parents are in their 70's now. It's weird to think of your parents as mortal. But he is going to recover, it's just going to take time. I'm not a praying gal but I send good thoughts his way every day. 

So that's what's up with me. All right, 2014...I gotta get better at keeping this updated. My promise to you. Nice catching up.

Happy New Year...ish

Can you get away with saying that in February? Mid-February no less?
So here it is, mid-February 2014, 6 whole months after being back in the states and yes, still unemployed. Oh how I so enjoy answering that question.
STILL unemployed and the money is running out quickly. But I'm not worried, so why should you be?
December was a fun but busy month. I went home for Christmas for the first time in 3 years and it was glorious. Spent a lot of time at my brother's restaurant working with him, making the pasta, helping with whatever I could. It is super fun to be there. I wish it was located in Southern California. My sister's kids were all home for the holidays and hanging out with them as adults is so much fun. Of course I miss the babies, but they're just super cool people and I really adore them. Worked NYE at the restaurant to help my brother out and as busy as it was, it was really fun. Rang in the new year with my brother Bob and Sister Jill at a local bar where we danced and sang to 70's and 80's rock and roll. It was really fun. To think a mere year ago, I was doing the same in Transylvania.
Back to Cali in January brought some Peace Corps reunions with some more friends but still no job. Working at the theatre still but our show ended in mid-January. The exciting news is that it was picked up for a feature film. I will be working on that in June and I sure hope to do more at that theatre as it is a wonderful place with wonderful people. 
So now, back on the job hunt. I'm being a little more aggressive than I have in the past few months after slowly realizing that no one is going to just hand me a job. That's depressing, I thought I'd be pretty wanted with the resume that I have. But I'm still at it. Can we just leave it at that?
Just wanted to quickly update. Be back soon with Oscar pics...the important things in life.

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!

Another Remarkable Day in my life...

So Elizabeth, who is quickly becoming my pimp...or should I say agent, that's less scandalous, got me another job doing tech stuff. I had no idea what to expect.
A producer, Andrew calls me and sets me up to work backstage at a celebrity benefit cabaret for Breast Cancer Research. I was to be at the Avalon Theatre on Monday (this past one) at 8am and would be there probably close to midnight.
I left super early because LA traffic and all that. So I got to the theatre early, no small feat for Jenn and I was the first of the crew to arrive. Andrew looked a little surprised to see me. So let me list the people who were involved in my day so you can refer back to the list as I name drop:

Andrew - Producer
Brenda - Stage Manager
Amanda - Asst. Stage Manager
David - Andrew's assistant
Steve - Crew
Lili - Crew
Dingbat - Crew (this is not her real name, but it's appropriate, believe me)
Todd - Musical Director/Genius Pianist
Jerry - Director
Jason - Choreographer
Terrell - One of the backup dancers

Celebrities:
Miss Dakota - A local burlesque dancer
Jean Smart - Star of Designing Women, Sweet Home Alabama, etc.
Deborah May - Character actress, best friend of Jean Smart
Adam Busch - Known from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other TV shows
Eric Kufs - A guitarist for Adam.
Barrett Foa - Star of NCIS, Los Angeles
Peter Porte - Star of The Young and the Restless
Brandon Barash - Star of General Hospital
Melissa Peterman - Star of Reba, comedienne
Sam Harris - Star Search Champion from the 80's, known for "Over the Rainbow"
Steven Weber - Star of Wings, Studio 60, etc.
Peter Gallagher - Star of The OC, While You Were Sleeping, American Beauty, etc.
Chris Mann - Contestant on "The Voice" Season 2.
Judy Reyes - Star of Scrubs and Devious Maids
Ana Ortiz - Star of Devious Maids
Sharon Lawrence - Star of NYPD Blue and Rizzoli and Isles
Bruce Vilanch - Writer for the stars on the Oscars, Emmys, etc.

So as I was saying, Andrew was a little surprised to see me. I forget that in LA 'on time' means a half hour later. I met Brenda, the stage manager and sat down watching the crew begin to build the set. One thing about union workers, they will not let you lift a FINGER to help them. I appreciate that about them. 
I first met David. He was Andrew's assistant for the day. He was born in the Ukraine and moved to New Jersey when he was young and moved to LA a few years back to be an actor. It was fun to have someone to speak Russian with.
Lili arrived next. She was also an actor but worked in property management locally.
Dingbat arrived next. She had one of those obnoxious names that is usually common, but she spells and pronounces it differently? I immediately disliked her.
Steve arrived last. Chatted with him for a bit and he's from Old Forge, PA. Are you freaking kidding me? That's where our family restaurant is. Can't get away.
Once we all arrived, Brenda took us on a tour of the theatre. It was 3 floors. On the top floor was Jerry Lewis' original dressing room when Martin and Lewis used to perform there. It was quite large and had a balcony and a bar overlooking the stage out of view of the audience so that people could watch the show. Below the stage was the long underground path for actors to enter from stage right as well as all of the business offices of the theatre. Out in the lobby, the President of the Breast Cancer association was helping the designer decorate the lobby with feather boas. There was a crazy hustle and bustle going on and everyone was busy.
The morning consisted of a lot of sitting around and watching until the 'talent' arrived. But that was okay. Brenda said she needed someone reliable to do the mics backstage. I had it in my head that this was the job for me, but dingbat spoke up sooner so she got the job. Annoying. Andrew showed us headshots of the people performing so we could memorize their faces. There were only a few I didn't know but I didn't want to show off.
Dingbat knew none of them, shocker.
The band started to set up and they were amazing as they did their run through. Unfortunately, this was the time Brenda wanted to do the cue to cue and as we were on stage with the band, we could not hear her. This was a problem. She and Todd argued back and forth but eventually came to a compromise and we waited. Todd finished the band's rehearsal and Andrew ordered lunch for all of us. David ran and got us Chipotle bowls. Yum!
After lunch was when we started to get busy. The 'talent' started to arrive and one by one started going through their numbers with the band.
(I should mention, Les Girls is an annual cabaret benefit. The lineup of celebrities changes every year but everyone sings, usually a funny/filthy song, or an old song with updated funny/filthy lyrics. It's for a great cause and there is a lot of "MONEY" in the audience. There is a silent auction held in the lobby before the event, red carpet out front, etc.)
As the talent arrived I would show them where to park, where the dressing room was, let the band know they were there so they could schedule a run through etc. It was busy and a lot of running around. But FUN!
I think my favorite moment was when Jerry, the director, asked Dingbat her name. When she said it he said "I don't have time for that. From now on you're Mary." I literally LOL'd. She wasn't too pleased.
Dingbat also kept going up to all the 'talent' and saying 'now where do I know you from? Nope, not that...what else?' Like do these people really need to prove themselves to you? Oh she just annoyed me all day. There were a lot of backup dancers running around too as they were appearing in numbers with Barrett, Peter and Judy and Ana. One of the dancers, Terrell, was the funniest, cutest little gay boy. He started joking around with me and soon I had a BFF for the day as he went everywhere I did. We broke for dinner around 6:00. They ordered in a bunch of pizza. (Well, LA pizza, so...you know...) The show was scheduled to start at 8:30pm. Everyone had rehearsed and was ready and they were setting curtain call at 8:15pm. Nice to know that the last minute thing happens everywhere. Sam Harris could not arrive until exactly 8:30 and he had to leave by 9:30. So that was stressful.
Once the show began, my job was to run upstairs to the dressing room, get the performer, escort them down to the stage, get them mic'd by Dingbat and get them to their entrance spot with their props during the song before theirs. Thankfully, everyone was very nice and very professional. 
The only stress came when the show didn't begin until 8:45 and Sam Harris was scheduled to go on at 9:45. Seeing as he had to leave at 9:30 this was a problem. They switched the entire program around. But this guy? A TRUE professional. He had NO rehearsal, hadn't even met the band. He came in, got his mic on, went on stage, KILLED it, brought the house down, came off stage, took off his mic, thanked us all and took off. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! I loved it.
I think my favorite part was standing backstage watching the performances with the people who were about to go on. Melissa Peterman killed it singing "Making Whoopee' with only a foam finger as her prop. Then I stood backstage with her and watched Miss Dakota dance and we joked around how we could never do that.
Sharon Lawrence sang a hilarious song "A Man I Could Love" from the musical "Enter Laughing" by Carl Reiner.
Steven Weber sang another hilarious song called "Blow Me...a Kiss" that apparently Martin and Lewis used to sing. It was pretty filthy so it was hilarious.
Jean Smart and her friend Deborah May sang a funny duet called "The Grass is Always Greener."
Bruce Vilanch sang "Get Me to the Church on Time" with some Prop 8 adjustments. I spent a lot of time with him and he's just so fun to be around.
But by far, my favorite was Peter Gallagher who sang "Anything Goes" with some updated lyrics talking about how shitty Congress is. He was absolutely the nicest person. He stood backstage and chatted with the crew for a while. Dingbat kept asking him to name movies he had been in until she had heard of one. Smh...
Anyway, as he was leaving, we walked out together and I got a photo with him. A little blurry, but still. He's just the sweetest guy. 

Finally, the finale was happening and the evening was over. Despite the stress during the show backstage, the audience loved it and didn't see any of the troubles. Brenda and Andrew were very happy and walked us all to the bar to do a traditional 'the show is over' shot of vodka. We had survived.
We got to take a seat for a while and have a few drinks and then we helped clean up backstage. Again, couldn't touch anything on the stage or tables or anything else so we just helped wardrobe and clean up garbage and stuff like that.
I was exhausted! I hadn't been on my feet that long in years but it was exhilarating. At the worst moment (that more than likely had to do with dingbat) I was still having a ball. I have to figure out a way to make this my career and do it for a living. 
So that is my mission. So all y'all asking what's next for me? It's this. ALL this.