The Year in Review...

Top 10 favorite moments on this lil' ol' bloggedy...

10) Being Bloggerized by Tracy Olivera...

9) This edition of Images of the Week...

8) Steve and Matty's Strange night...

7) SGS and Lucky Spinster Reunite...

6) 9/11 remembered

5) The Fire remembered...

4)My real-life Bridget Jones moment in front of a live audience...

3) My shortest part time job ever...

2)My ridiculous paranoia after a spider bite...
and a TIE...
1) My On the Heels of... series, including most recently, Eleasha Gamble.
and
1) My Nemesis...part one and two.

I hope you all have the Happiest and Safest of New Years!
Luv,
SGS

BEWARE OF THE BLOB!!!

This story is just way too funny for words...at least it is to me. I found this while rifling through the paper while home for the holidays...
Only in Pittsburgh, folks. Only in Pittsburgh.

Pumpkins

Ok, folks...it is almost January.
The time for pumpkins on doorsteps expired on December 1st.
But oh no. That's not good enough for you, is it. Noooo....it just cost way too much money for you to throw it out, huh?
I can think of few sights I hate more than pumpkins on a doorstep and a Christmas wreath on the front door. It seems a conflict of interest....Pumpkins signify EVERYTHING that is harvest and Halloween.
That time is long since past.
The power lesbians next door have had their 3 pumpkins out for like 3 god-damned months!!!!!
I swear I am going to smash them if they aren't down by the new year.
Ugh.
ok. Thanks for letting me vent.

My Favorite Movies..."The Devil's Rejects"

" Where the hell you goin'? Damn it. Don't you NEVER turn your back on a fuckin' clown when he's talkin' to you!"

Wow...I just watched my Christmas gift from Filmdom (my roomate, Ryan). He got me The Devil's Rejects. Fan-fucking-tastic. I also watched another DVD Christmas gift from my Mom and Dad, The Phantom of the Opera. It still sucks. So glad I watched this brilliant film tonight to wash the distaste of the awful, I can't sing for shit, yet I'm cute Phantom out of my collective.

"Boy, the next word that comes out of your mouth better be some brilliant fuckin' Mark Twain shit. 'Cause it's definitely getting chiseled on your tombstone."

70's horror was the best of the genre. The filmakers of that decade got it more than any before or since. Much of this is due to the volatile events of history happening around them that served as inspiration. This is why I largely decline new horror...I hate the modern horror film. All techno and quick cut editing. They never allow the audience to SEE the horror.
Now...when I saw Cabin Fever, I got excited by new horror again. That movie was more an homage to 70's horror than an actual movie of its own...I adored it.
When I saw House of 1,000 Corpses, I did enjoy it, though MTV seemed to helm the film...
I had my doubts about The Devil's Rejects. It takes an awful lot to lure me to a cineplex these days.
Ryan raved about the film, and I nodded, and thought, "Sure, bet it's great..."...I am such a picky horror movie fan that I only go to the ones I really am anxious about seeing. This film slipped off my radar. I was so stupid.

The Devil's Rejects is one of the most brilliant horror films of our decade. A mix of Pulp Fiction, Boogie Nights, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, rolled into one. An amazing 70's rock soundtrack, paired with slightly late over-dubbing at times, paired with the best cross cuts and fades...it is indicative of everything that I love about the 70's horror film.
Now, it is definately not for the squeamish...it is excruciating at times...unforgiving in the ways that The Last House on the Left is in its torture scenes. Anyone who has ever been victimized in any way should not see this film. The film is all about victimization, from both side's perspective.
The Thelma and Louise/Bonnie and Clyde style ending is the only fitting one you could end this film with, but what is strange is how you almost want these sick people to get away...
Of course you do, though...you want to see them in another film....they are that engaging. You hate and love them at once...very Natural Born Killers.

"There is no fuckin' ice cream in your fuckin' future. "

I am so glad Ryan gave me this tribute to what the horror genre should be. Few horror films have the balls that this one does...Rob Zombie is a man who knows what he is doing, and the proof is in the carnage. See this film.....but not around dinner-time.

THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED!

Anyone who is remotely NEAR my general vicinity at this time of year gets the Same question from me....
"What's wrong with the little girl doll on the Island of Misfit Toys in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"
No one ever seems to know.
Every once in awhile, someone is SOOOO sure they know the answer, but then forgets. I have often said that she has the clap.
Or crabs.
But now, thanks to one of my favorite links in the right hand corner, Damon DeMarco, (whom you should truly pop over to- such a great site), comes an article that answers the age old mystery...thanks SO much to TV Party.com...

Broke(back)en hearted....

Merry stuff...
I'm back after a sojourn to P-town....
All was well..got a new set of kitchen tools...new pots, pans, knife, ect.
Got clothes, BAD movies galore...
And I saw Brokeback Mountain...
I am shattered and on the floor.
I have only one word...REPRESSION!
This movie was SO amazing, and yet so depressing...I wanted to scream..."It is 1975...move to NYC...you'll be fine! "
Despite all of the hot straight man-on-man action, the hot point for me was the repression.
GOD!
See it! I don't know about all the Oscar talk for Heath, but I think it is amazing.
Maybe because I have a mild crush on Jake. Oh please...who doesn't?
He was SO AMAZING in the film. This monologue in particular wrought me to a teary pulp...

“Try this one,” said Jack, “and I’ll say it just one time. Tell you what, we could a had a good life together, a fuckin real good life. You wouldn’t do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain. Everthing built on that. It’s all we got, boy, fuckin all, so I hope you know that if you don’t never know the rest. Count the damn few times we been together in twenty years. Measure the fuckin short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and then tell me you’ll kill me for needin it and not hardly never gettin it. You got no fuckin idea how bad it gets. I’m not you. I can’t make it on a couple a high-altitude fucks once or twice a year. You’re too much for me, Ennis, you son of a whoreson bitch. I wish I knew how to quit you.”

I believe his performance to be the better of the two. Not that Heath's was anything to scoff at, mind you...I find it heart-wrenching as well. Both deserve an equal amount of praise for this film, and NO, not because they played "gay" (whatever that is) well....but because they played forbidden love extremely well. The film is a symphony of joy intertwined with longing and pain.
I was so saddened by the film, and found it so gorgeous.
Thank God I don't have to hide who I love...it would kill me.
How was your holiday?

Lotsa Balls...

Thought you might enjoy this cute pic from Damn Yankees. On top of the crate is the dynamic Cindy Marchionda, and surrounding her are my fellow teammates. (That's me far right, squatted down).
The show is going great so far. We are in the midst of Secret Santa, so dubious and sneaky activity backstage is in full effect. Hee-hee.

I had a fun little sneak away to the Lucky Spinster's fly Martini Palace this afternoon.
She was being all grinchy, and hadn't put her tree up yet...
I would have none of it.
I marched down to her house and forced her into the Christmas spirit...
You should see her tree.
I can't wait for her to photograph it and put it up on her blog. It is this cute mini tree that looks like it was made out of pipe cleaners, and then she has these GIGANTIC balls that hang all over it...they almost made it fall over...and then the most enormous star possible...
She also put about 75 balls on the tree...big, small, medium...it is a sight to behold.
I gave her a strand of purple lights from my gay Christmas tree, and a Christmas Cd...
MY FAVORITE Christmas CD...A John Waters Christmas.
I'm sure she will dream of sugar plum fairies tonight. As for me? I gotta be at Arena all day tomorrow...2 shows, the first at the crack of Noon. Yeesh.
So in conclusion, Callie has huge balls.
Merry stuff.

Maria, what is it you....

I saw that the Sound of Music was on last week. I missed it, dag-nab-it.
I remember how much I adored it as a young fag-child. (predictable).
But I never understood the lyrics...so I sang along whatever came out of my mouth that seemed to fit.
While walking a pooch today, I laughed out loud, remembering that in "How do you solve a problem like Maria?", when they say..."Maria's not an asset to the abbey", I always thought they said something like..."Maria's not an Assotouley Abby".
It fit.
I didn't think anything of it.
I thought an Assotouley Abby was some sort of nun-speak for like...a good nun or something. You know, like "so and so is such a Chatty Cathy"...
or "so and so is such an Assotouley Abby".
Years later I found the correct lyric. I didn't find it as fun.
Just a tidbit I recalled along my travels today...

What the F@#? is this, Batman?

OK...I just find this crap way too funny. Here's breaking news on 2 supervillains who plague the planet...
Who thought up these names? Can you hear that discussion going on?
"OK, let's make up scary monikers for these 2, so people really get spooked!"
Between this and "rejectionists", I am SO comic booked out by the US gov these days...

This just in...

Well, the reviews are starting to come out for Damn Yankees...(if you're into that sort of thing). Here are a few...
DC Theatre Reviews
Potomac Stages
Washington Post
Talkin' Broadway
Washington Theatre Review
Washingtonian

Picture of the Moment...

Here's a group shot from the Reale Brothers' new show at The Arden Theatre, The Dinosaur Musical. And there's our own Mrs. Mig far right.
This was just too cute to resist...
For more info, click here.

On Why I've been silent on Theaterboy.net

Because I feel that the current thread of discussion is a very personal matter, and none of anyone's business. I know that we as a theatre community, for whatever that term is worth, LOVE a good piece of dirt...but do we ever stop to think about the heartache, politics, and personal situations involved?
I believe it to be nobody's business, but the people involved.
Period.

On The Heels Of...Eleasha Gamble

Eleasha Gamble...what can I say? My best friend in the world for several years now.
Anyone who has seen either of our cabarets, Ebony and Ivory, Ebony and Ivory 2: The Second Coming, have seen a sneak peek on our strange and codependent relationship.
We are masters of procrastination, as well...this interview being a prime example...this was supposed to be a publicity interview for our last cabaret 2 months ago....she finally finished the questions this past week. Ridiculous.
She is currently out at Olney Theatre in Oliver!
Here's what Mama Boonie had to say...


SGS:Ok Eleasha...no holds barred...Honesty, please...After the last cabaret, which was a hit, but much stress to put together...what possibly made you want to step into the ring again?

EG: Honestly I did not want to do another Cabaret. Period. It makes by brain hurt, but since it was given to us we had no choice really. The cabaret only becomes fun for me when we finally get to do it for an audience. Before that it's hell on earth. Honest enough for you!

SGS:How did you and I meet?

EG: Well according to you we meet one night after I was doing West Side Story at Olney theatre through Matt who was also in the show with me. But as I have told you I don't remember meeting you. The first time I remember meeting you was when we did Grand Hotel at the Sig.

SGS:What do you love about working together on the cabaret process with me?

EG: What do I love?Hmmmm... I love the crazy ideas you get, how neurotic you tend to become, and the way you call my cell phone 20 times a day. You completely lose your mind and it makes me laugh, because you do it like no one else I know.

SGS:Hate?

EG:I hate that it always takes us ages to figure out what we want to do in our Cabaret. We are the worst procrastinators. If only people knew how often our set list changed. Up until the hours before. It will never change. If it ain't broke...

SGS: Funniest Eleasha and Steve story you can think of?

EG:One Friday night when Steve and I were preparing for our first cabaret we were on our way to Kinko's. Now this was like trip number 50 to the Kinko's so we were going a little crazy. Well were in the car and Steven and I are just so candid I turned to him and said, "I have gas." We were both loopy so we started hysterically laughing. Unfortunately also it smelled pretty foul too. So we finally made it to Kinko's and I couldn't stop farting and luckily it was just Steven and I in the Kinko's so we were just cutting up and dying from the stench in the Kinko's on a Friday night. (You had to be there)

SGS: Be glad you weren't there.What are your favorite things in the world?

EG:I have so many favorite things. I love my family and friends, Buddha, and knitting in the nude to name a few! ( That was for you Stevie)

SGS: Yes, she knits in the nude, folks. Explain "Mama Boonie"...

EG:This term comes from the film The Color Purple. At the end when Celie and her children are reunited, her son Adam hugs her and says what Steven and have translated to be, "Mama, Mama Boonie." And one day we started making Mama Boonie into an actual character. And soon it became a joke were we would see people on the street and say, " Hey it's Mama Boonie." So now we try to find Mama Boonie and when there is a Mama Boonie sighting we give each other a call. Mama Boonie has been sighted all over the place. Steven and I affectionately call each other Mama Boonie.

SGS: Thanks, Mama... What was the hardest thing to get used to during our time apart last year?

EG: Well my mom got really sick during my time in NYC last year and then my grandfather passed. So needless to say it was the hardest time of my life, and it's times like that that you need your friends. But luckily we live in the age of cell phones. ( Sorry about your phone bill!)

SGS: My pleasure...Upcoming projects?

EG:I'm in Oliver right now, and then nothing big until Into the Woods at Signature in the fall. I'm excited to play the witch again it's going to be fun to be in a show with you again!

SGS: Yeah, it'll be great to be in a show where your character wants mine dead. Charming. What do you love about our friendship the most?

EG: I love that I can be crazy with you. We can be such girls together when we watch The Color Purple and cry, but then I'll get a call from you while you're taking a dump on the toilet ( my favorite.) I feel I can be open with you, you're my sister. I can just look at you and have a conversation. You can make me laugh or you can make me cry. What don't I love about our friendship?Thanks, baby...I luvvvs you.

SGS: I have NEVER called you while taking a dump...simply for the reason that I cannot get reception in my bathroom...:) Talk soon, M. Boonie.

And with this image...

...time for bed. I'm all tuckered out for the evening, and weary of another long tech day.
Look at my hubby and the pugster...adorable.
I'm gonna carry them both down to bed now...
till tomorrow...

Miss Weston reminices...

This is a picture of the lovely Tracy Olivera as Miss Weston in Damn Yankees at Arena Stage...
She looks like Aunt B, doesn't she? I love it.
Tech is as most techs go...slow but sure. These days are SO long...I have no concept of even what day it is....
I will put more up here soon...and prepare for a return of On the Heels of...
My Matty's show, Nevermore starts rehearsals next week....SO excited for him.
Lots more to come, as soon as I get my bearing back...Do we really start previews on Friday? wow.

And furthermore...

I found this toxic food checklist...no, not toxic to us, just pooches.
Some of these were shockers to me...



Did you know !
That chocolate, onions, garlic, and macadamia nuts are some of the most toxic foods dogs can ingest?
Other potential dangers include:
· Pear pips, the kernels of plums, peaches and apricots, apple core pips (contain cyanogenic glycosides resulting in cyanide poisoning) · Potato peelings and green looking potatoes· Rhubarb leaves· Moldy/spoiled foods· Alcohol· Yeast dough· Coffee grounds, beans & tea (caffeine)· Hops (used in home brewing)· Tomato leaves & stems (green parts) · Broccoli (in large amounts)· Raisins and grapes · Cigarettes, tobacco, cigars

The Grapes of Wrath...

How did I spend my day off?
Well, I didn't have to work, so I spent it lounging around in underoos...me and the hubby had breakfast food, (which he cooked, as always), and then he went to the gym...the snow started to fall...it was lovely...
Lucky Spinster came by...we did pilates, and I helped her memorize her Shakespeare lines...
We watched 50's educational films and laughed...
I played Gwen Stefani CD's and jived around my living room like I was in Risky Business.
The snow kept falling...
Then, Matty was eating a salad...grapes were in it...
Yes, I know everything there is to know about dogs...I take for granted that others don't.
Grapes are DEADLY to dogs...
we give Boo a lot of table food...horrible practice, but...he's a pug...you can't understand this fully till you own one. There is no way around it...you're gonna give a pug table food.
Matt gave him 2 grapes...
I found this out and went into panic mode, calling the emergency vet, ect...
we had to induce vomiting with Hydrogen Peroxide...finally it happened.
Poor boy...his 3rd birthday spent puking.
much like my own 21st...
he is fine, all is good, but it was just enough drama to fill out the day.
I felt the worse for Matty, who lovingly gives all sorts of table food to the Boo, and felt horrible to find out that grapes are toxic to pooches.
All ended fine, though. Jenny Cartney, Lucky Spinster, Ryan, Matt and I finished out the night playing Catch-Phrase.
Tomorrow is 11AM-11PM rehearsal...god bless us everyone...
remember folks...no grapes or raisins to dogs!

Fire!

Exactly 2 years ago, Matthew, Ryan and My house burnt down. It was December 5th, 2003.
It was the night of my Mother's birthday, my pug, Buddha's birthday, and it was the first snow of the season...
I had just decorated for Christmas, and went outside to look at the tree through the window...snow was gently falling. It was gorgeous.
We had our birthday party for Buddha(R.Scott Thompson, Sean MacLaughlin, Matt, and me).
R. Scott left, and Sean stayed. Sean and I stayed up with the Boo, drinking. Matt went to bed , as he had to open up the Luna the next morning.
He left the next morning, and as usual, I stirred awake after he left. The Today show was on...those fucking ALWAYS upbeat cartoons that they are...I glanced out the window to see if any more snow had fallen...I saw what looked like smoke...I took it at first to be steam...thinking that Matt had put some clothes in the dryer, and the exhaust fan was blowing steam...
I continued watching Al Roker assify himself, when I realized that the steam vent for the dryer was on the other side of the house...(just woke up...neurons not firing yet)..
I got up and realized that the smoke was not outside, but coming from the vent inside just below the window...
I had that moment, like in When a Stranger Calls when you realize that the call is coming from inside the house...
I ran to the bedroom door, and threw it open...smoke was everywhere...
Sean was sleeping on the couch, breathing in LOADS of smoke, but still asleep....
I woke him up and we searched EVERYWHERE for the source of the fire, but couldn't find it...
also bear in mind, just for comedic sake, that I was naked...I'm sure that freaked Sean out just a little bit more...
Finally, we heard a crack from behind Ryan's door...Ryan wasn't home that night...I opened the door...
Fire hit Oxygen and burst forth...there was a fire around the outlet/computer...I was afraid to throw water on it for fear of electrical concerns...
Sean dialed 911 and we ran down the street...(with Boo in tow)...
My boss, Kim, lived 2 minutes from my house at the time, so we ran to her house, threw Buddha in the house and ran back to the burning house...(thanks to Kim for throwing a coat on me).
The house was overcome by now...Sean and I were taken to an ambulance for smoke inhalation.
The house burned up well done in the meantime.
Matt and Ryan got there too late...all was lost by then....
Ryan lost EVERYTHING...
We lost a lot...mostly due to water damage...
We could have had it worse...I could have slept through it...I could have lost my Boo...
we were lucky...
I will always remember the Signature Theatre, and the cast of Funny thing...Forum, who donated LOTS of money to get us a new place...
I had to go on for Hysterium in Forum starting the night after the fire...I remember those weeks after the fire as a whirlwind...
Thank God for Eric Schaeffer taking us in...
I find it necessary to reflect every year on this traumatic event in our history...It feels like 30 years ago...but so much GOOD came out of that tragic morning that I firmly believe the old stand by tha things happen for a reason...
Merry Christmas to all...And check your smoke detectors, of which we had none at the time...

Picture of the Moment...

I just had to throw this up here..
look at my Lucky Spinster...wasn't she so ahead of her time?

Lines...

Some of my favorite lines in Damn Yankees...

(probably for the wrong reasons)

SISTER-"And I must say the hot dogs out at the park aren't what they used to be. I had the poorest hot dog yesterday I ever had."

...hmmm

GIRL#1-"Look out! Here comes Mr. Welch!"

and...these other memorable quips...

LOLA- "I'm just a bad hussy"

APPLEGATE-"What was that crack?"

SISTER-"Get your hands off of me, you Republican!"

SISTER-"Doris, you make me sick"

*sigh*
I guess you have to be there. It's the little things that get you through. :)

In the space...

So, we have moved from the rehearsal space at Waterside Mall to the Fichandler Theatre...what a difference!
Even though they say it is the same size as the taped off constraints of the rehearsal hall, it is definately bigger. Much more time needed for entries up the voms...much more traveling done in dances.
We had our first Sitzprobe...the orchestra sounds HOT!!!
Also tried on my uniform....yes, I would be player #13.
Funny.
I chose the number...you see, my baseball player is very superstitous, for one thing, and has a b it of bad luck....when Joe Hardy comes along, he says that he wants to be shortstop...which is the position I play...or played on the team...
So we are working through the show today and tomorrow, and tech starts Tuesday.
Costumes will be added then, which I am looking forward to.
And...as expected...I've already started decorating my station..
:)

Reefer...

Just because you all know I'm obsessed with Reefer Madness the musical, I had to pass along that it was now available on DVD...and my hubby gave it to me early as an early Christmas gift...(we give Christmas gifts starting ridiculously early and continue through January...yes...lots of money is involved.)
Add it to your own Christmas list, and I promise you won't be let down!