That's a wrap and We Will Rock You (again)

Last weekend was a whirlwind. The show has closed and we've had our cast party. All that work and time and suddenly it's all over.(Well I still have to go to the unit and put the cleaned clothes away) There may have been a few jello shots consumed, speeches made and presents given. I love the little stuffed frog I got from the cast. It has a little t-shirt with customer designer on the front and the show's name on the back along with the year. So cute! I will keep him always, I am going with the name Dior.

I feel really proud because someone likes the outfit I picked out that they bought it for their own personal use! The shoe covers eventually worked, and apparently looked great so they wouldn't let me burn them. Ah well. Something I forgot to mention in my last post is that when I was turning the shoe covers inside out, I had to trim and zigzag stitch all 60 elastic ends so they weren't flopping all over the place. So I have a couple of pics too, I forgot to share this pic of one the actors helping to set the lights in my last post, one of Dior and a cast and crew pic taken after the last show. (I finally got to be in the back row, that's me in the blue!)

Last Saturday was a total blast from the past. I went to see the Queen musical We Will Rock You for the 17th time. (Not a typo 1-7 ). I mostly did the lottery when it was in Toronto from 2007-2009 other wise I couldn't afford to go that many times. (It was unfortunate that they didn't have the lottery this time around). The sad part is I know people have seen the show over 50 times or more. It's not one of my favourite shows, but I think the audience really connected with the cast and band at the stage door; that is what kept them coming back. When I heard that Erica Peck who played the role of Scaramouche was now playing the role of Oz this time around curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't stay away. (have to say though I miss her in her original role) There were four people in the show that I knew from the old days, but there were a few fans from the old days that I recongized. There were lots of hugs around.

The show was changed a bit from 5 years ago, but it still felt like stepping back in time. Some of the jokes and references were given a modern update. Most of the Canadian specific jokes and references were taken out like Sharon Lois and Bram,like getting a suit at Zellers, or Celine Dion perforrming in Vegas, and the fact that a videotape has been recorded over by Degrassi. One character was completely changed, but I didn't hate it, I think it made the show more cohesive, as much as I liked the actor portraying him back in the day. Overall I am glad I went, it brought back a lot of pleasant memories from the stage door. One of my favourite is when Erica took my sister her friend and I back stage after I had mentioned it was my sister's 13th birthday. One of my more embarrassing moments is when my hair blew into the lead guy's mouth when our pic was being taken. We Will Rock You is a whole other post on its own for another time. I will leave you with a couple pics one of my sis, Erica, me, the other lead Yvan, and my sis's bff. (Yvan is in a McDonald's filet o fish commercial these days) and one my embarrassing moment caught on camera.


 

Theatre and hallowe'en: a match made in heaven

It goes with out saying that costumes and theatre go hand in hand. I have to admit that Hallowe'en has been heavily  influenced by my love of theatre. At my work dressing up is a really big thing, we even have a costume contest. For three out of the five years that I participated I dressed up as characters from a musical.

The first time was going as Tracey Turnblad from Hairspray, this was before I lost the weight, As bigger woman I really found Tracey an inspiration. No one really understood who I was, I think they just thought I was a school girl. Doing the hair was a really bitch, my grandma Betty who had been  hairdresser in the 60's helped me tease it.  Here's a pic of me getting ready:

 
The next year I was Scaramouche from We Will Rock You. This was the first time I actually made a costume from scratch. My short skirt helped me flirt with my future boyfriend, and we got together a few months later. Again no one really got who I was until I showed them a pic from my WWRY programme. I am not sure what they thought I was, but DEFINATELY out of the orindary, plus my hair was purple, boy was that fun washing out... I had borrowed my mom's Eddie Bauer jacket and there was a purple ring around the neck that I got out without her ever knowing about it lol.. Here's a pic of me in costume, and a snap of the from the programme.

 
The next year I went as Velma Kelly from Chicago. I didn't recreate the Catherine Zeta-Jones movie version. Most people just thought I was a flapper, but I did have a little toy gun with me. That red dress I made got a lot of mileage. That fall I knew I was volunteering for a theatre fundraiser where we had to dress up from the 20's so it was kind of a no brainer what I was going to do for Hallowe'en. I also wore it to a Hallowe'en party the boyfriend and I had, plus a year later I wore it to another work event where we dressed up from the 20's to go a party for the Boardwalk Season 2 premiere. I placed in the top ten with this costume.

 
 Last year I placed again, but my costume wasn't from a musical this time. It was definitely more conceptual.I was a garden. I just saw the wings and knew I had to do something with them, aside from being a butterfly. Again I don't know if people quite got what I was at first, but once I said garden they got it.



 This year was more influenced my interest in women's history. I went as Rosie the Riveter/Bomb girls from the 1940's. For those who don't know they were the women who worked the factories while the men were off at war. People thought I was a mechanic or a cleaning woman, not everyone got it, however the word adorable was bandied about quite a bit and I placed 8th. I will leave you witha pic of this years costume.