Happy New Year!

And as 2013 begins, here's a few of Regina Brett's "45 Lessons Life taught me":

"Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful."

"Forgive everyone everything."

"Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about."

Rachelyn's Favorite Things: 2012 edition

Here's just a few of the things I've fallen in love with this year a long with an explanation. Some of these make excellent last minute stocking stuffers, presents for yourself, practical presents for other people, White Elephant gifts if you like putting practical things to watch people fight over them, or more presents for yourself. One day when the lovely Denise Boylan and I have an established TV show with lots of audience members, we will make a super long list with even cooler items and hire people to throw the items to our audience members. Kind of like Oprah. 

Relaxation:

• Fleece Pajamas

      When Rebecca and I were visiting our brother Matthew in Hartford, CT to watch The Cherry Orchard and hear his underscoring, we went sheet shopping for him in pity of his lack of apartment items (starving artist AND a student).We settled on buying him fleece sheets, because we knew the cold days were coming and he needed more warm things. Once we made his bed to surprise him, we could not believe how soft and cozy they were! Well, we returned to NC, I looked for them in stores here for my Chicago bed, and they were nowhere to be found. BUT I found fleece pajamas and was excited at the thought being able to get up out of bed with that cozy softness when wearing fleece pajamas.  

      I feel so strongly about these, I've already purchased my mom and little brother some for their birthdays and want to give the rest of the family some for Christmas.

Rebecca and me in our fleece pajamas when midnight of 12/21/12  hit so that we would be wearing them when the "world ended" ;)

• Green tea with Cinnamon

       No favorite in particular--any green tea sprinkled with cinnamon! Soothing, yet detoxifying, and a metabolism booster--times two!

• Epsom Salt Baths

        Well, you can't give baths as presents, but you can give the Epsom salt...to yourself!

With my own bathtub here at home in NC, I've rediscovered how peaceful and relaxing baths are. I copied my mom in using Epsom salts in her bath with a splash of lavender body wash for bubbles. With benefits such as "eases stress and relaxes the body, relieves pain and muscle cramps, eliminates toxins from the body" and much more, how could you resist? 

• Moisture Renewal Mask

          I didn't know a moisture renewal face mask was an important part of your skin care regimen until visiting a spa to redeem a gift package for a facial earlier in the year and talking a lot about skin. I use Mary Kay's (as I'm still a consultant) and it smells and feels delightful.

For when you have to be in front of a lot of people:

• Luster Premium White NOW! Toothpaste

    While searching for nannying tips in Parent magazine, I read about the toothpaste's Bluevrite technology that creates the optical illusion of white teeth. The article was one on fast beauty tips for moms on the go. Instantly intrigued, I had to try it for myself, and it works!! 

• "Not Your Mother's" Dry Shampoo

      I'm pretty sure my sister and I have tried every single dry shampoo available trying to find the perfect one. This one works instantly (no waiting for it to dry), doesn't white leave residue, and doesn't leave your hair smelling like lemon pine sol. Besides the obvious purpose to get rid of oiliness in hair, it works great as what I'll call a "hair primer" for easier styling, or for adding more volume. 

• Got2b Volumizing Powder

       It's like magic! One second it's powder in your hands, and as soon you rub it into your roots under your top layer of hair, it disappears and adds EXCELLENT volume.

• Mary Kay Oil-free Eye Makeup Remover 

       Ok, so I discovered this before 2012, but I just recently started using it as a painless false eyelash remover after shows.

Outdoor Winter Strolls:

       

• Timberland Boots

       My first rain boots! Snagged these at Rugged Wearhouse (one of my favorite stores in the south) at an incredible price. Unique and warm. They'll be great for Chicago snow once lined or worn with wool socks!

• Fleece-lined tights 

      Here's the fleece theme once more! I think it's self-explanatory now ;)

Music: 

       So many albums to enjoy this year, but this one is extra special...

•  Alex Maryol's new album Six

        This past January I took a trip to Santa Fe, NM to visit dear friends Alex Maryol and Andy Primm, and ended up having such a memorable weekend (blog posting can be found here )

         When Alex was driving Andy and me through the Sangre de Cristo mountains, he played some of his songs from this (not yet named) album for us. Well guess what? The album has now been released! I may or may not have "Falling" on repeat as I've been typing this...

Be jealous of my signed copy. 

        

      

Christmas Cheer

Recipe for Christmas cheer before a Christmas show performance:
   --Eggnog in place of creamer in your coffee
   --A plentiful supply of candy canes

Explanation:
    Eggnog: It tastes delicious with your coffee (hot chocolate, too), and you only have a little bit of time before they take it away until next Christmas season!
    Plentiful supply of candy canes: Perfect for getting in the Christmas mood, great breath fresheners since you will be in close a proximity with other actors, and a nice sugar boost to keep your energy up through the show. You need one while getting ready before the show, one during act one, intermission, and act two. Your castmates will be jealous of your brilliant idea, and you'll be in the giving spirit to share your treat, anyways. Just make sure they don't get stuck to your costumes or street clothes.... ;)

On a different note:
As heard quite often, it's in the valleys that you grow. Over the past few years I've really been able to experience God's provision as in Philippians 4:19. For example, when Rebecca and I moved to Chicago two years ago, we didn't know how we were going to pay the upcoming rent, we shopped at the dollar store for groceries but only for the bare necessities, and all of a sudden we were provided with a random job as personal assistants for a day for a family planning a party who not only paid us well, but gave us a few great pieces to furnish our apartment. I also was provided with the gig of Christmas caroling in costume with Michael Goodman, and later got the fantastic nannying job to afford the Chicago theatre life for the year and a half to follow.
Currently, as my family is struggling financially (which is the main reason I've been here in NC--to help out in moving to a smaller place) we've been able to experience His provision even more. Some examples--The water heater here at my mom's house died just over a week ago, and I had no idea how we were going to be able to afford getting it replaced. A dear friend from church came to replace it and told my mom's Sunday school of the need, and they covered it! Also, I've just started a part-time nannying job for the next few weeks until I return to Chicago---They contacted me through SitterCity (how I found my previous nanny family), and are only 3 miles away!
There is also an amazing job I'm being considered for, which I will definitely post news of if I get it :) It's related to the performance field and would provide such great experiences. 

Blonde!

First off, this past weekend was opening weekend of White Christmas! It was so much fun, and I'm looking forward to eight more performances and seeing it grow even better each time. The set came together gorgeously, and I feel so special to have gotten to be a part of that aspect of the show. I was honored to get to go to the "tech people" opening night party, haha. My older brother, Matthew, was able to fly in for the weekend to see it, so all of us Primm's were reunited!

 Here's a little show invite video from  my partner in crime and me that we did for some of her friends ;)

They say that "every woman should have the thrill of being a blonde. It gives you an automatic boost of confidence and it's just plain fun." What I failed to listen to was "make sure you get it done by a professional, especially if you have dark hair." Aside from the video above, here's the outcome in a couple of White Christmas photos: 

BUT, that didn't come without an almost hair tragedy!

I had been planning to lighten my hair to overall blonde for quite some time, and when Teya (Rhoda in White Christmas) and I were discussing show hair, I found it was the perfect timing to go blonde for the show so that I would contrast her reddish hair! In order to save money...famous last words when referring to hair...I did some research and decided to attempt it all by myself since I've had coloring success in the past. I purchased Clairol's Born Blonde, mixed the ingredients, received some help in application to the back of my head from my mom, and finished the rest. It was taking a bit longer than I had expected to lighten, and I had originally wanted to go Platinum, but was worried that my previous highlights were going to turn blue or another odd color, so I washed it out. At that moment I realized a BIG mistake--I forgot to add the liquid lightener (step #3) to the bottle! After it was dried, the outcome didn't look terrible, but it didn't look GOOD. It was yellowish and my previous lowlights were a weird red.That night I went to sleep and had nightmares about the hair, haha, and the first thing the next day I contacted my stylist friend. She reminded me about using toner when going blonde! Whoops--and I had even known that from past highlights! Off to Sally's Beauty Supply I went to purchase Wella toner, went home, applied it, used a deep conditioner, and VOILA! It was fixed!! 

Lastly, here's a photo from one of rehearsals of one of my favorite moments in the show:

Photo Credit: Willa Folmar

This is Lucia as Betty Haynes in the Regency Room scene singing "Love You Didn't Do Right By Me". Also during this scene, Bob Wallace sings "How Deep is the Ocean". Aside from my mom's giant chiffon curtain, my diamond curtain, artist Larry Wu's NYC painting, and the beautiful music...I want to point out Lucia. She's amazing. Every time I hear her voice I want to close my eyes and soak it in. She has been through so much this past month in her life AND to add to that--two days before the show opened, she was injured backstage and severely sprained a ligament in her ankle. If you look closely, you'll see the boot on her right ankle. She has been performing--including doing choreography in the song "Sisters"--with it--in spite of the pain! 

@rebeccaprimm's #theatreTechbaby

 Remember those sweet skills learned from helping paint the set to Sylvia? Well, they've been used quite a bit lately. I've been hired to work with my sister painting the set of White Christmas! (Lots of thanks to her as she knew I needed some income and could have hired others) One of my duties last week when I began was to be in charge of the volunteers that come to help paint. I was nervous out of my mind, mainly because I'm basically on their level of knowledge yet I was supposed to look like I knew what I was doing. Guess what helped me look more experienced?



I hope you guessed, "You're wearing Rebecca's awesome paint clothes," or a variation of that answer.

If you guessed, "Oh, you're wearing the key to the theatre around your neck," you get 100 bonus points, because that's really good attention to detail and extra guesswork you just did. (Opening up the theatre each morning and holding the key definitely gave a sense of power)

There were a couple of set pieces that seriously needed spackling, and I taught myself how! You should have seen the giant gap in the wood pieces. Spackling like a BOSS.

 

And what makes the start to your day better than crazy smilies on your work instructions?

 

 (Ok, well maybe a Grande soy-no water-Chai and a croissant from Starbucks or even better Amelies waiting on the work table when you arrive would, but I'll make sure I'll let you know when that happens...)

 

It has been a humbling experience realizing the amount of work that gets put into the tech world of theatre. Everything from the design process to the building of the set has taken months. I remember Rebecca having skype meetings with the Technical director and working on the designs this past summer while she was in Chicago with me. Every day so far my whole body has ached from the previous day's work. I told this to Rebecca and Evan (the technical director), and Rebecca said, "That's how I feel every day" with an empathetic look. She wasn't exaggerating when I was in Chicago, and we talk on the phone, and she tells me how exhausted and aching she feels. Tech people work from the morning hours into the late hours of the night. They were there with me when we began work in the mornings and were still there after my rehearsals have ended that evening.

And it's all for the love of theatre. I've been guilty amongst many other actors who haven't thought twice about the tech side of things and haven't properly shown appreciation. I've mentioned this before, but this time I've experienced just a bit more of a taste of the work that's put in.

 

Here's a sneak peek at one of Rebecca's backdrops! It's for the number "I Love a Piano" which is a really big tap dance number and basically a showstopping number. The drop is unfinished in this photo, but last night the drop was raised and it is STUNNING!

 

 

 

This show has obviously been a great learning experience for me, and it solidifies even more how staying in Charlotte for this bit of time was the right decision. It has been the theatre tech class I've never had, a dance gaining experience, and also more character work experience. I really love our director, Ron Chisholm, the cast is all very pleasant and helpful (especially in the choreography remembering area), and being Rita is a constant laughing time as she and Rhoda are lots of fun.

 

All of us Primms will be reunited opening weekend as Matthew is going to fly down from CT!



Every theatre has a ghost.

I had never heard a theatre ghost story from someone that I actually knew until Friday evening. I had been helping Rebecca paint the set of Sylvia at Pease Auditorium that day (my first set painting experience!) along with my mom and our artist neighbor, Kathy, as Rebecca needed lots of help to finish before the show opened that evening. Rebecca was finishing up painting as her boyfriend Justin, James Duke (set designer), and I were admiring the set. She was also taking a poll from all of the workers on whether or not I should go to a haunted house that evening with a guy I just started seeing. Why the poll? I can't stand horror movies, I still sleep with a night light, and I was so sure I would die in the haunted house, BUT I had never been to one before. Then, the topic of ghosts came up. James told the story of a time when no one was in the theatre, and he looked on the monitors of the stage and there was a lady dancing in a colonial costume. Another time, he walked into the house, and the same lady in the same costume was sitting on the stairs with her head in her hands crying. She looked up, saw him, got up and ran through the stage right wall. The moment he said the second time he saw her, my mind flashed through a few experiences I had that day. I asked him what color her costume was, but didn't talk about the experiences right away, because I figured it was lack of sleep. Then I decided to. I told them all of how quite a few times that day I while I was painting, I saw something white out of the corner of my eye from the direction of that stage right wall. When I turned to look, nothing was there. Rebecca instantly said that she had the same thing happen to her, but she, too, thought it was just lack of sleep or something. James said, "Maybe she was watching you." I wonder why. I wonder why Rebecca and I were the only ones that had that happen to us that day. As Rebecca and I were talking more, we came to the conclusion that she was probably an actress. Maybe she was rehearsing her scene when James came in that time she had her head in her hands.

Soon after, I was on my way to the haunted house. What a way to begin that evening, haha. Guess what? I didn't die in it! I was EXTREMELY freaked out, though. ;)

Here's photos from that set painting day:

I look either really experienced or really messy with Rebecca's paint clothes on ;)

Rebecca's really fast finishing touch. A manhole since it  is set in NYC.

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas...

This week I received a call from Matthews Playhouse with the results of the White Christmas callbacks....

I happily accepted the role of Rita!!

I'm so excited to get to be in another show that Rebecca has designed/painted and be in my first NC show (aside from the Opera Carolina supernumerary roles in high school). It's kind of strange that we Primms have lived here so long, but haven't gotten involved in the theatre community of Charlotte until just a few years ago.

The other day I found an issue of Backstage (a theatre resource which mainly lists auditions) that I had saved from the summer of 2010 when Rebecca and I were living in New York. The article that instantly caught my eye was "10 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Deciding to Become an Actor", and when I read number 7, I remembered how much that point had made an impression on me the first time I had read it.
Here's a quote from number 7:
"Money isn't everything.
You can have a satisfying actor's life without making a dime off your acting....I now believe that continuing to act, in and of itself, is success."

Rereading that article came at the perfect time. It was during my whole decision making process whether or not to stay in Charlotte for a bit to audition. Charlotte does have quite a few opportunities, but Chicago definitely exceeds theirs greatly and would be the better "career choice".
 One of the friends I sought advice from was my long time actor friend Ryan Roets who replied, "You can work anywhere under the right circumstances, but it's all about what you want to do. I'm discovering that my happiness in doing theater is more important than where it is or what I'm getting paid. Have fun. I say stick it out and have a blast."

With all of the advice given and my prayers for wisdom, the decision to stay in Charlotte for a couple of more months to be in White Christmas with Matthews Playhouse, help out my family, and pursue audition opportunities here just felt right. Due to transportation costs, unfortunately, I won't be able to return to Chicago until the show ends, but probably not until after the holidays. I've felt bad for just vanishing and not saying goodbye to my Chicago friends (for now)! It isn't the first time I've "vanished" from a city, though ;)