So... You think by now i would learn that I don't really like doing wardrobe but do i ever learn?
no.
and so i am dressing the show that I have been assisting on for the past week... its crazy. its too much too soon too fast too everything. and of course its a festival... I thought the New Plays Festival at ASU was bad, oh kids its not much better in the real world after you graduate. The show that I am working on is part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and as always 'it was only supposed to be a little more than a staged reading!' I really hate it when they say that, cause they never really mean that... and then all of the sudden its a surprise that they want a fully produced show cause its only supposed to be a small show and has only been budgeted as such, of course. I wish they would just tell you right at the start that it is a HUGE show (and that they have no idea what is going on) and get it over with. cause everything else is just a lie... The show that I am working on it actually really cool... and we are rehearsing in this rehearsal space down near Times Square that is unlike any other rehersal space i have ever worked in. There is basically justa bunch of rooms... and there is usually always an audition going on in one studio or another... so you got people in the elevator or in the lobby or the hallway frantically humming to themselves, drinking massive amounts of water, warming up, rehearsing dance sequences, stretching and contorting their bodies into impossible positions wearing amazing layers of dancewear that are totally picture worthy (if i had time to take one...) it kind of makes me feel like i am in 'A Chorus Line' or something (I hope I get it, I hope I get it... how many people does he need?!!??!, how many boys? how many girls? how many people does he... I really need this job! Please god I need this job... I've got to get this job...) and of that weren't enough I am working on a musical about the life of Charlie Chaplin, and Andrea McArdle is in it (OMG, its the original Annie), and this guy who is also in the cast of Rent at the same time... I've kind of always dreamed of working on a big fancy broadway production someday, which this show DEFINATLY is not, but its kind of a taste of that. Which is exciting... afterall i start out doing musicals. its a bit like coming home i guess. one thing that really surprises me about Broadway is that it is so accessable. its all right there...
The show is part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Its called 'Behind the Limelight', and is playing for the next week or so... You should come see it and check out the festival. Its acutally a really good thing.
But my life for the past week or so that I have been here has consisted of me (party of one) carrying/lugging GIANT large huge big extremely grand heavy bags of costumes all over this f**ing city... and i as we know am a wee girl. But seriously, I am a glorified costume chauffer. Welcome to the Glamourous life of a Costume Designer! but I am not desiging these days. I am actually assisting this awesome up and coming designer named Chloe. I really like working with her because she is teaching me a lot about living and working in the city... which is what I need to be learning right now, being green in the ways of the APPLE... so anyway, i am getting paid in experience as they say. Yay for fun.
So, to help me schlep my massive amounts of costumes to 1000 different places each day I have employed my GIANT large large rolling suitcases which are MEGA helpful. Not only to they hold a lot of shit, but they roll which saves my life. Oh god... best thing i ever did was not have my parents take my suitcases home. They are so much better than the ricepaper bags. This not only A) makes getting a cab in off-traffic times a cinch (they all think i am going to Airport with a giant suitcase like that... Ha Ha Ha... but I am not...) and B) It prevents you from getting a cab in rush hour traffic cause the last thing that they want is to go all the way out to the airport when there are pleanty of ppl in Manhatten who need taxis... if you see what I am saying... its a blessing and a curse. Also it adds a tiny bit of excitement to my work as a schleper by making me feel as if I acually was about to go on a trip somewhere. Oh the Thrill of Travel... even if I am only going 10 blocks. whatevs.
Also it has made me realize that I have spent a lot of my time in the last year packing suitcases... hence the price you pay to be a traveling theatre gypsy nomad wanderer. I've moved like 5 times this year! I am actually glad to stay here in NYC for the next year. It promises to be full of excitement... And ADVENTURE!
Things That I Have Noticed About NYC So Far...
- There really is such diversity here its Amazing and awe inspiring that that many different cultures of people live in one city.
- There really is SO MUCH going on at once... Sometimes I feel like I suffer from overstimulation. especially working in and around Times Square... there's so many flashing neon signs all day and all night... its a lot to take in...
- Traffic in NYC is awful. especially on Monday mornings, but just in general traffic in the city is 25/8...
- Taxi driviers are assholes, most of the time. 1 in about 10 is actually nice and will help me with my GIANT suitcases... most of the time I am on my own...
- Crosstown blocks are so much shorter than blocks going uptown or downtown. (or is it the other way around?)
- The subway = totally unglamourous. end of story.
- The city really is almost a European city, but only almost because there are big differences btwn them... more on this in another posting i think...
- My fellow new yorkers are mostly very nice. its weird here how much of your time you spend ignoring all the people around you... but when you need help there is (usually) someone there to help ya. Like several times this past week random strangers have stopped and helped me hail a taxi, or load my suitcase into the trunk, or get mountains of bags in through circular doors... its surprising also how much weight personal contact has in this city. You see so many people in a day you really have to make connections with some people that you see all the time... like doormen, and guards, and shopkeepers especially and the guy who makes your coffee in the morning, or the person who checks you out at the grocery store. If they remember you and you can make conversation with them its always a plus. and it just makes your life less monotonous i think. I guess that's just humanity, who knew?
Someone told me this and I think its really true, they said that whatever you need the city will provide for you. Maybe not as quickly as you would like but in general you have to give it time and it will give. It sounds a little hokey but its true. New york Is all about timing. So far my timing has been good, knock on wood.
