"The House of Blue Leaves" is two weeks into its three week run, and we've gotten a lot of good feedback from audiences and critics alike - although, many audience members do not know what to make of the show. It's a dark comedy. It's very funny, but parts of it are too dark for the comfort level of many people. There are a couple of parts that are just downright disturbing.
Here are links to a couple of reviews of the show. I've gotten positive mentions in both of them - in case you're interested in seeing them (both of my mentions are near the bottoms of the articles, if you just want to skip to that part).
For the most part the shows have been running very smoothly. I did receive a semi-serious injury during a performance though. During opening weekend I hurt my right hand pretty badly, and it is taking its sweet time to heal. There is a part of the play where my character is getting arrested. My right hand is handcuffed, but I run away before my left is cuffed - leaving the rest of the handcuff hanging from my wrist. Right after that there is an explosion (from a bomb built by my character) and we are all thrown to the ground. During one performance, the hanging part of the handcuff was left open, and when I hit the ground the open part of the handcuff impaled the palm of my hand. I literally had to pull that part of the handcuff out of my hand onstage, and put pressure on the wound for the rest of the scene to keep from bleeding all over the stage. Luckily, the rest of the scene only lasted a couple of minutes, and I was able to keep most of the blood in my hand. The handcuff dug in pretty deep, and now there is a sizable hole in my hand and the surrounding areas are all black and purple. For a couple of days, I could not even use my right hand. But now it's starting to get better, and, even though it still hurts, I can at least use my hand.
My work in this show has been noticed, and it's already landed me another role. The artistic director for the theatre company liked my work in this show, and she thought that there was a role that I'd be good for in their next production (which she is directing). So she brought me a script to look over and asked me to audition, and what-do-you-know I got the part. So now I'm in one play and rehearsing another. Nice.
The next show is "Kimberly Akimbo". It's about a 16 year old girl who has that disease that makes your body age four times faster than it should. So even though the character Kimberly is 16 years old, she is played by a 64 year old woman. I will be playing a super nerdy and gloriously awkward 16 year old who is, essentially, her love interest.
Here's a fun bit of trivia: In all of the plays that I've done, I've never had to kiss onstage. (I have for scenes in acting classes, but I don't really count that.) After all, I don't usually play the romantic lead because I don't really have the romantic lead looks. However, for this show, the romantic lead is a nerdy, unpopular 16 year old - and that's a look I can pull off. So, to answer your question, yes: my first onstage kiss will be with a 64 year old woman.
While "The House of Blue Leaves" has allowed me to use my ever-so-charming Queens accent, "Kimberly Akimbo" is set in New Jersey. So, Erinn, I may be calling you up to get some advice on perfecting my Jersey dialect.
Okay, it's now after 1 o'clock in the morning. I have to be up for work in less than 6 hours. I should try falling asleep again.
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