Good Evening!
First of all, thanks to all those in chat tonight for the very warm welcome back. -And for those of you who weren't in chat when I was...
In short, it's been a rough two weeks. My "allergy crap" turned out to be two(!) bacterial infections - one in my throat and one in my sinuses. Thankfully, my doctors really ran the gamut of tests on me, and started me on the road to recovery. There's been a virulent strain of strep throat going around lately, and, at first, that's what they thought it was, but after running various tests and checking out all the various possibilities, they finally put their collective finger on my particular malady.
After all is said and done, I am doing much, much better now. The biggest thing I had to deal with was the side effect of the antibiotics - I developed a very upset stomach, and, consequently, acid reflux - which is something I've never had before. So, now that my antibiotics are "all gone", I'm now on Prevacid to help remedy the acid reflux, and it seems to be working like a charm. It's sooo nice to sleep through the night without waking up every 30 minutes coughing up a storm. *I swear there was a stretch of four days/nights where I only got about 10 hours of sleep total. -And, trust me, that made playing the show quite interesting - even when Mr. Schwartz came to see the show!
-And, looking back at the past two weeks, I was actually kind of pitiable... I basically would wake up in time to get to the show - and to eat - well, try to eat (my throat was really sensitive for a while) - get to the theatre, play the show, and head back to the apartment and try to sleep. There were a few times I wanted to call in, but since I don't have a sub... YES! I'm a trouper!
Thankfully, the staff at the theatre was very understanding, and made me as comfortable as I could be when needed. -And I have to say Ford's Theatre has one of the most comfortable "Equity cots" around - just perfect for those for in-between shows naps.
Oh! One "pleasant" side effect of the past two weeks is that I lost 16 pounds in about 11 days! My doc tells me that I should "Eat, Eat, Eat", and put back on the weight I lost, but, hmmm.... She even suggested that I eat lots of ice cream! The full-fat stuff too! ;-) We'll see... In the meantime, I'm enjoying fitting back into my "skinny jeans" again. *It actually caught me off guard... I weighed myself last week, and noticed that I had lost a lot of weight in a short time... I thought it was my scale malfunctioning, but when I went back to the docs last Friday, sure enough, I had dropped all that weight. -And after thinking about it, I did try to eat at least three to four times a day while I was sick-sick... but when you only eat about 200-300 calories each time, it doesn't really add up... well, at least not to my normal caloric intake.
Now I just have to introduce foods back into my diet at a "cautious" pace just in case I've ended up becoming sensitive to some foods, spices, etc. I have tried some "bad" food here and there, and so far, so good. Hopefully, once my system gets used to NOT producing so much acid - especially since I'm no longer on the antibiotics - I should be able to eat "normally". But I will be playing it safe in the meantime, mainly to not to aggravate my throat which is still a bit "tender".
Too much information?
-Oh, and there were the couple of days in there where they thought I had contracted Lyme disease... ugh... Needless to say, that weighed heavily on my mind and psyche in general.
So...
As for spy movies... Never really much of a fan of them... I like the Bond movies, but I never really watched any of them closely enough to tell you which one is which. However, I, too, love (most of) the theme songs, and there's still nothing like the sight of Sean Connery in his bathing trunks. Truly the best looking Bond without his shirt on.
OK - Well, I think this was long enough of a first-time-back-in-a-while ramble, but...
DR Jed - Sorry your production of EDEN is not going so well. I'm still liking mine. -And till June 4...
As for Broadway caliber talent... There are sooo many people out there. Deserving and (possibly) undeserving. I play about 1500-2000 auditions a year - regional theatre, tours, and Broadway productions. Most everyone who comes in the room has a chance, but it's that "something" that attracts the eye/ear/heart/other-body-part of the director/casting director/choreographer/musical director/producer that gets that person the job. Yes, stunt-casting does abound nowadays - but I don't think stunt-casting is something new, is it? -However, I do have to wonder about Scary Spice stepping into Mimi in
Rent? Does anyone really care any more? (And from all reports, she is majorly vocally handicapped for the role... but I guess with half of the audience singing along anyway...
) -Sheesh, I guess my meds made me catty too...
-I just wish there were more shows running at the same time so that more people could get work. Heck, even in the "regions" the competition can get quite tough at times.
And as for people not learning how to project... Blame it on their teachers! I'd rather have a student start off with a good classical teacher to learn some good technique and vocal habits, rather than having them be coached and finessed to death throughout their training - which, unfortunately, happens.
OK - Now I am rambling... I guess I'm more back to "normal" than I think I am...
I missed you guys!
