Travel Preparations

Hopefully, I will be able to keep up with posting while I'm overseas, but this is where I will post about my adventures over in Ireland.

I am so excited to have this opportunity to study abroad in the beautiful country of Ireland.

Lily or Ginny?!

So I've been told that I look like Ginny Weasley...until the last Harry Potter movie came out and then I was told, "No, you're more of a young Lily Evans than a Ginny."

Lily Evans

Do I look more like this girl or....?

Ginny Weasley

this girl? 

Leave comments because I would love to see what my viewers/readers think! 

Cheers!

Character Work for Gypsy/A Fangirl Writing Fanfiction

Something that I like to do is ask the what if's. What if it didn't go the way it did? What if another character was here? What would happen if he didn't feel that way? What would she do? I ask these questions, reading books, watching TV shows, reading a script, watching movies, or even acting in a musical. I play the part of Louise in Gypsy. We finished up Act 1 run through last night and it was great. Everyone was mostly off book which was good for just being the third week in. Anyways, this thought came to me while I was thinking about the end of Act 1. Careful, there are spoilers. ;) We (the audience) are missing an entire chunk of the story from the train station to the Toreadorables. What happened? When did Louise become okay with doing the act even though it is awful? How does she and Herbie make up for all the time that Louise pushed him away? This is my take on what might have happened...

Fear crept into my chest as Momma kept talking. She was just plowing ahead with no thought. She was trying to forget June, forget Tulsa, and forget the past. I was her future, she said. I was the dream she had. But I wasn’t. She’s saying we can do it. All I wanted to do was to run, to run far away, to find June and forget all this. I tried to run. Herbie caught me and brought me back, holding me in his arms because I knew that I would fall to the ground if he wasn’t there, holding me. There was nothing left, just Momma’s dreams that would never come true, not with me. I looked at Herbie and I knew that he knew, but he loved her so he would stand beside her the entire way. At the end of her rant, Momma left the train platform, leaving Herbie and me in his arms. We both stood there in shock at what just happened. Dry sobs wracked my chest.

“C’mon, Plug,” Herbie said softly. “We gotta go.”

~

It was dark on the train that night after...after everything. I couldn’t look at Momma because I would start crying. I wouldn’t let her see, or Herbie. The pain in my chest wasn’t sharp like I thought it would be. It was an ache, an ache that would not let up. I couldn’t breathe, which sent my body into a panic. I started hyperventilating and then the tears came pouring down my cheeks. I muffled my cries in that stupid blanket coat I made for me, for Chowsie, for Momma, for...I couldn’t even say her name, because the very thought of her and Tulsa made me cry more. Did I not show how I felt about Tulsa? Was I that oblivious and naive to think that he would love me, talentless me without any hope for the future? What on earth was Momma gonna do? What were we all gonna do?

Momma made a sleepy sound in the seat next to Herbie. I quickly dried my eyes, but the tears kept coming. Why couldn’t Momma accept Herbie’s proposal? Why? I wanted to shake that woman and tell her to be sensible, to marry Herbie, so we could be a family. I wanted to be Herbie’s daughter. I didn’t want to be a star. Momma thinks I can be a star. She thinks I’m beautiful. She believes that I’m beautiful. Can she see me at all? I’m not June. Herbie can see it. He knows.

A hand touched my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Herbie standing there, his suit shirt rumpled from sleeping in a train seat. His brown eyes filled with the same pain I felt. Momma wasn’t going to marry him until she got her way.

“C’mere, Plug.” He whispered, holding out his arms. I slowly rose from my seat and went to him. As his arms wrapped around me, the tears began again and the knot in my chest made it difficult to breathe. “Shh, Louise, it’s gonna be all right, darlin’.” Herbie said, rubbing my back.

“No, it’s not,” I cried softly. “Momma’s not gonna marry you. All she cares about is the act. I was wrong, Herbie. Wrong about you, wrong about Momma, wrong about the act, and June, and Tuls--” I couldn’t finish his name.

“You loved him, didn’t you?” Herbie asked, softly. I nodded in his chest, smudging his shirt. “What’s funny is that Angie loved you, did you know that?”

I looked at him, my brown eyes meeting his. Both of us had tears coming down our faces. “I had no idea,” I admitted. Herbie nodded. “I never really saw him. He was just another boy in the act.”

“Seems to me that you and Angie are in the same boat.” Herbie smiled. I nodded.

“What are we gonna do, Herbie?” I asked, sniffling. Herbie looked over at Momma.

“We stick together,” Herbie said. “Your mother needs us both with what happened to June.”

“I don’t want to do the act,” I confessed. “I just want a family and a house and a yard for the animals. I want you for my father and Momma to be happy.”

“I know, Plug, I know.” Herbie kissed the top of my head. “It’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna be okay.”

“You don’t know that,” I pulled away from him. “You don’t know that at all, Herbie.”

“We’ll make it through this, Louise.” Herbie said kindly. “I promise you we will make it through this.” He handed me a tissue to wipe my eyes. I blew my nose and sat down on the train seat. Herbie patted my shoulder. I looked up again into his brown eyes, those kind, wonderful, worrying brown eyes. I know now that he loved Momma and, by consequence, loved me as well. I wanted him to be my father.

“Herbie, thank you!” I said softly.

“You’re welcome, Louise, but why are you thanking me?” Herbie asked.

“For staying. For being there. For being Herbie!” I said. I looked over at Momma, who was snoring softly. “We both need you.”

“And I need you two as well,” Herbie replied. He bent and kissed my cheek. “Get some sleep, dear.”

“Goodnight, Herbie.”

“Goodnight, Plug.”

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day! I would like to dedicate this post to all of the men and women dedicated to fight for liberty and this country, to my neighbor, Mr. Weedon, who is in the National Guard, my cousin's husband, Myles, who is in the army, and all the others who are constantly in danger because they are out there protecting our country and ensuring that we are able to live without fear, without want, with the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion. Thank you for your commitment to this country! You are always in our prayers!

P.S. Memorizing lines for Gypsy...done and ready for tomorrow's rehearsal!!! :)

Insight into Gypsy

Currently I am a member of the Gypsy cast playing Louise. We are just started blocking for the show and I've been working on songs and memorizing lines. So far, I have the entire Act 1 memorized. 

I've also been trying to explore my character from reading the script and how the book describes her interactions with other characters. Louise loves her sister and her mother and desperately wants to please her mother. The girl has had 3 fathers so when Herbie, the agent, tried to be a father figure to her, Louise pushes him away, thinking he's just an agent, he doesn't really care. It's not until Herbie tries to make real the dream Louise has of having a plain man for a father and a house and a family does Louise truly accept Herbie into their "family." Louise also has a huge crush on Tulsa, one of the boys in the acts. For the longest time, Louise was always a boy in the acts her mother puts on, so she was probably buddies with all the boys. However, she can't help liking this boy, who is cute, talented, and nice. 

This is just a little insight into who Gypsy Rose Lee was before she was Gypsy Rose Lee.