I am fighting my way out of the weeds. I am struggling to learn the character of Ida Strauss in Titanic. When I used to do investigations, there inevitably comes a time when I used to say, I was “in the weeds.” I could not figure out what happened and I hoped, thought about and just willed some little piece of evidence to point me in the right direction. I would go over and over statements and interviews, and call people again, asking more questions. Then, the proverbial light bulb would go on and just like that I was out of the weeds.
I thought I knew this character but when I heard her words out of my mouth I freaked a little and realized that it was not right. I had to learn an accent, which was (believe me) not good. I also learned the dance. Sort of. When they recorded it, I showed my husband and he said it could be my audition tape for left shark. Left shark was on the halftime Super Bowl a few years back with Katy Perry. Right shark was on point, but left shark went rogue and wandered around.
We laughed at that (come on, it was funny, look up left shark if you want) but inside I was nervous. I was in the weeds in oh so many ways. So what else to do but…go on vacation?!
We spent a week in Ocean Isle, North Carolina. We swam in the ocean, collected shells, sat on the beach and played putt-putt. We ate Italian Ice and walked on the pier.
I meant to learn my lines and practice them but I didn’t. I won’t say that this week cleared my head. On the contrary, I was kind of out of it. But things are clearing. The director promised that the only thing that will sink is the ship, so I’m ploughing ahead. My grandson, husband and friends are helping by reading lines. I use the lines everywhere. My friend and I were walking past the Tom Cruise cardboard cutout after seeing Top Gun Maverick, and she popped out my line, “You’re still a pretty good-looking fella.” My grandson cracks up when I sing, “Maybe you should drop bread crumbs.” Basically, everyone is having a lot of fun with this. I apologize if you are sick of hearing about it, but if you’ve done community theater you know how consuming it can be. Two weeks to opening!
One of the cool things at Ocean Isle is a little museum. They have lots of neat displays and activities, but this is one of the family favorites. I say family because adults and kids participated. You color a fish, a stingray, or an octopus, then scan it into the computer. Your fish pops out the pipe on the big screen and swims around with all the other people’s creations. It is so fun to see your little fish bobbing around. There were no sharks on the screen, left or right.
What about Chester? Well, Chester spent the week at doggie camp. He enjoyed running around with the other dogs (I could watch on the Camper Cam). When he came home he was Exhausted with a capital E.
He didn’t move for two days. Unfortunately, he also had a touch of pink-eye but we dropped in on the vet and he’s fine now. He likes the vet but this is what he did…
Chester is a pretty lucky fella, especially since we felt a little guilty and have been giving him extra treats.
I’m not nervous anymore. Driving to NC we saw a rainbow. Not just a rainbow but a double rainbow! I think it was good luck. When I came back to rehearsal my stage husband told me we are no longer dancing, just standing by the captain and clapping now and then. Yes! The one thing about being in the weeds is that it never lasts forever!
Walking Chester 