Work Hard, Play Hard

It is amazing how quickly my days go by during the week when we are rehearsing all day.  Two weeks ago was a little slower because our production staff (vocalist, dancers, and lighting and sound technicians) where in Tucson, AZ performing at the Up with People reunion.  While the production staff was away, we had our first Community Impact day, which is a chance for our cast to volunteer and impact the local communities during our week-long stay.  We spent the day working with the Coalition for the Upper South Platte-an organization dedicated to preserving water, which is the most precious resource in the mountainous area.  We worked in an area that was burned in the Hayman fire, which was the largest fire in Colorado's history.

After the cast was divided into groups, my group suited up with hardhats and hiked to our work zone.  Our group spent the afternoon rebuilding steps on a hiking trail through the mountains.  We all had a great day volunteering and it was nice to have the opportunity to give back to the local community.  As we spent the afternoon rebuilding the trail, it was encouraging to hear the hikers that passed by appreciate the work we were doing in their area.

Aside from working hard for 9-10 hours each day, I have had some fun adventures around the Denver area.  One evening, my brother took me to his favorite street tacos place for dinner.  Ever since Breton traveled in Mexico, he has had a love for street taco.  It was a neat experience to watch the owners prepare the tacos, which were delicious.  Breton also explained to me how he used to eat street tacos in Mexico, which was adding pineapple to the tacos.  I am now looking forward to eating street tacos in Mexico.

On another afternoon, I went to the pool down the street with some friends.  One thing that I have grown accustomed to is not always having access to transportation.  Vera (from the Netherlands) Janelle (from North Platte), and I had to find our own transportation.  We ended up finding a small scooter, a child-sized bike with flat tires, and a bike without a sturdy seat and flat tires.  We laughed all the way down the street as we slowly biked and scooted our way to the pool.
 

One evening, after a long day of rehearsals, I was invited by some friends to Red Rocks for a concert and to watch a movie.  Bailey (Colorado), Abbey (Colorado), Romane (Belgium) and I had the opportunity to have a tour behind the stage thanks to Abbey's father who invited me to Red Rocks.  We  walked the halls backstage where Prince and the Beach Boys performed.  I had never been to Red Rocks and I was amazed at how beautiful the area is as you look out and see the city lights in the distance.  Because I have to wake up at 6:30am during the week, I usually fall asleep by 10pm.  The movie did not start until 9:30pm, so unfortunately, Bailey, Romane, and I started falling asleep 30 minutes into the movie.  We did not end up staying for the entire movie, but I had a great evening spending time with friends outside of our rehearsals.

For the past two weeks, we have been blocking our entire show.  Our show producer, Lynne Morris, has been producing the Up with People show for almost 40 years.  The first two days that Lynne was with us she walked us through every single movement in the two-hour show.  It was a very tedious process, but our show is finally coming together!  Now that the show is blocked, we have been doing full show run-throughs.  Each time we run through the show, different singers are singing solos and different dancers are put in the dance lines.  We are constantly switching performers so the staff can see who works well in the different parts of the show.  The constant changes certainly make us all stay on our toes and focused.  We actually will not know who will be performing the solos and dances until the night of our show on Friday night.  Even then, the dancers and soloists will change as we travel on the road, so we must always be ready to perform.

It has been a blast rehearsing the show for the past two weeks.  I am very much looking forward to our world premiere performance on Saturday night!  Up with People used to produce a new show every two years, however, it has been ten years since Up with People has produce a completely original show so I am thrilled to be part of a brand new show.