Diary of a TRF Performer... the 2011 Season!

[FaeHollow]

Hey he can always come along to dinner with us... i don't think he wants to... wants to hang out with the big kids! Yes the longgggggg scenario rehearsal... that is what happens when you miss a week folks... 4 steps backwards!

And best of all I woke up this morning to the tinkling of rain on my trailer roof! It was amazing!

[Blue66669]

Week FIVE

Saturday morning, Mister Dodd and myself picked up Miss Drea on on our way to rehearsals. We stopped to get breakfast on the way, as we were ridiculously hungover from Dodd's brother's birthday party the night before. We three headed down 1774 with the music up and blasting, singing and dancing the whole way. Upon arrival to the faire, we piled out of the car and headed to Dance Call. We ran all of the dances, over and over and OVER again, and they decided to change the way our sets are positioned. So now, we have to dance in a different direction. I know that it seems simple, but when you're used to lining yourself up between this tree and this stump and this pinecone and you learn it that way for a month, changing it up throws everyone for a loop. Our dance instructor wasn't much of a happy monkey this weekend, but it's alright. Everyone has their days. Dance call was finally over, and my friends and I made it back to the Entertainment Building for lunch. My court and I had lunch behind the EB- sammiches and chippies. I was happy to spend time with my "family". My husband made it out to finish building my camp, lovingly known as the KATHouse. I'm sharing a camp with Kelly, a member of the French court, and Stender (happy awesome photog extraordinaire). Ace brought the kiddos out with him, so they were with me for my afternoon classes. I had to explain to Evie that we were actors, and we were all playing characters. She thought we were watching a play LOL! Evie and Brinson both got along REALLY well with Jack (14 y-o Prince Jaime of Scotland), and he and Brin talked about video games during the walk to Mockingbird Stage. Right after the class intro, my kids came with me to the Sea Devil to watch some of our path work. They laughed at our jokes and helped us out some. I even got the chance to send them after my group leader with the Transylvanian Paddle (which, was HILARIOUS). I looked around the corner just in time to see my children tear off around the corner, paddle in hand, running from Jonny. I promised them cake for a job well done. Our afternoon set brought a "pop quiz", where Jeff has us perform our greeting, parting, and reverance. This is an excercise to test our preparedness because, a lot of times, this is the only real interactions that we have with our patrons. Quick and simple "Hello, my name is, I'm here to, nice to meet you and goodbye." After our quiz, we did character interviews. These are all based on character personality and history sheets that are completed through the course of the rehearsal process. They have us fully flesh out our character's background so that we get a better feel for who our characters are as people. That way, we can interact and respond truthfully to patrons and situations. At around 5pm, we headed up to the front gate to rehearse Scenario, which ran until about 6:30. Adele and I took a quick break to grab a bite to eat, then it was off to Fight Call (which USUALLY goes from 5-7). We arrived at Fight Call and started running our fight. She cartwheeled over me and landed straight onto my lower back, which sent spasms running up and down my spine. While laying completely still facedown in the grass in EPIC pain, I started feeling stinging on my arms and legs. Come to find out, I was trapped in a pile of ants. My arms started swelling and I was FINALLY able to get myself off of the ground and laid flat onto a bench. Jonny sent me back to camp and told me to rest up for the evening and be back in the morning. I went to Tango Lima, cooked some dinner, took a short break to sing a song at karaoke, then back to the camp before midnight.

9am came early this morning. Adele and I huffed it back to Fight Call to run our fights for show and tell. We made some slight changes and cuts to the fight, and made it run fairly smooth. She and I worked it over and over, getting the finer points of the fight tweaked. My back was still sore, and the ant bites were giant and throbby, but we worked through it and presented our fight for El Jeffe. After it was all said and done, she and I staggered back to Tango Lima for chili dogs and corned beef/cabbage. We ate until bursting, then sat out on the deck with some of the other casties and had a post-rehearsal beer. Shortly after that, I was found napping in a corner of the trailer. I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember waking up and realizing that everyone was gone and the place had been cleaned up around me (thanks, Ace). We locked up, took out the trash, then started the long journey home.

Next weekend is our DRESS REHEARSAL! We're also participating in a promotional appearance at The Stroll in Magnolia next Saturday. The entirety of the cast will be there. Come on out and have a good time! We can't wait to entertain you!

[ravic]

Dance groups looked good yesterday morning.

[Blue66669]

Thanks, Ravic! It was a hot mess for a little while, but I think we got things moving in the right direction.

[ravic]

Always proud of our cast.

Not sure how you do it all. Whilst working on my booth yesterday, I discovered that I do NOT have my faire legs ready for this season. owww

[FaeHollow]

I sure don't have my faire legs ready either... the 2 week break was what did it!

We went to the Astro's game so we didn't get to rehearse.. the Germans had an extra rehearsal last night and today to make up for it.

Oh dance call was a blast! with all the stress and yelling!

Good to hear out dance sets looked good... thats not quite what we were being told.... but we want to look awesome so I understand the expressiveness of out dance instructor.

There was a skunk in my camp last night and I had to wait for it to run away before I cold re-enter my trailer.

Cute little thing it was but I'm sure being skunked wouldn't have been so cute!

[Blue66669]

DAMN! I knew I forgot about something... SKUNK BATTLE!

[ravic]

Have someone tell the office about the skunks NOW!! Those little MF's lived under the booth next door to us last year. Stinkbombed that entire row of booths across from the POW.

[Strange]

You're not lying there.
We actually went to the shop a couple of months ago and put rigid steel mesh all the way around the shop.
We dug down into the ground around almost the entire perimeter, and made it damn difficult to get into at the other spots.
So far there's been no skunky smells on the work days since.
I'm hoping they take the time to trap whichever ones are left before the season starts.
Of course, with the fires, faire was probably one of the safest places for woodland critters to run to, so we'll just have to see.


btw, still no idea what's happening with Wenches. Haven't seen anyone there at all the times we've been down.

[Blue66669]

What wenches?

[Strange]

Wenches at Work, the shop on our other side from the booksellers.

[Blue66669]

WEEK SIX

This would be the end of my adventures during rehearsals. This past weekend was our dress rehearsal, where everything is run like a faire day. Learning the subtle ins and outs of scheduling, figuring out how everything will run, and putting the finishing touches on our costumes and material. This rehearsal season has been great for me. I've forged close friendships, tested myself as a performer, and pushed myself as a person. We all have worked very hard to bring you the best entertainment that New Market has to offer, and we all cannot wait to show you what we've got.

Please, as patrons, approach us! Play with us! Let us entertain you, and let us make you smile. Join in the fun and you will NOT be sorry

[Laird Fraser of Lovatt]

and get hit with a shoe!   

*just kidding, WC*

[Sir Martin]

I've really enjoyed your performer's diary, War Cat ... see you soon!

[Baron Frederick]

Read every word of your diary,thanks so much. At least we know about what a performer goes thru.