My first daylog! Wow, where do I begin...
It's been a really wild week. Friday was the closing night of the first theatre production of my last year in high school -- One Christmas Eve at Evergreen Mall (essentially the Hallmark Channel of Christmas plays). I've been oddly calm throughout the run-through of the show this week, though not without any difficulties.
We ran Wednesday through Friday. I played two characters: Stephen, an overzealous actor playing Jacob Marley who seemed to really toe the line between "jealousy at his fellow actor Erin for getting to play Scrooge in A Christmas Carol" and "borderline misogyny," and Ellie, a mall elf who just had her engagement broken off by a very uncaring boyfriend, being comforted by the mall santa Gerald. There is a scripted fight scene between Stephen and Erin. Thursday, at the climax of that scene, the Marley wig I was wearing flew off. I was very glad that it wasn't my line when it happened, because all I could think was "My weave...!" I probably would've just burst into laughter if I didn't have the chance to recover myself. Our makeup head looked like she was going to explode, her eyes were bulging out of her head when I returned backstage. It was so hilarious.
The name tag on my elf costume read "JOLLYBALLS," which garnered more than a few small laughs when I frustratedly yelled it out into the house. I did the macarena on stage, my grandmother got to see me in a dress and eyeliner, and we told horrible Christmas jokes all throughout the scene. It was the most incredible thing, and we kept fucking up our lines the whole show. It was partially nerves, but I think by Friday we were just having way too much fun on stage. I don't think I've laughed on stage quite like I did last night.
There have been a lot of difficulties getting through this show. I would almost say it's my least favorite show we've ever done. I had the most costume pieces and the most complicated makeup designs of the whole show. I didn't just get to dress up in a simple getup, no -- I had to work with an airbrush that never cooperated, and that elf costume had like a hundred separate parts to it. I had to fight with the fucking elf ears up until opening night when our teacher finally vetoed them. And when I put the dress on for a TikTok publicity video, I got many a transphobic comment after. I struggled a lot trying to come up with a reason to like this play.
But now that it's over? Hey, we did good. 100+ people showed up to the final night. I got to see old friends, theatre alumni who came down from college to support us, and all the people who said I looked amazing in the dress far outweighed the hate I got. I got to really forget about all the frustrations of the day. But that in itself is a story for another day.
So, happy Saturday. It's been rainy and dark all week, and now the sun has poked out to bring a little bit of warmth. I'm relaxed, kind of exhausted, and I'm gonna make lunch once I post this. I'll be seeing Little Shop of Horrors in San Bernardino later tonight. I hope your weekend is just as peaceful and relaxing, friends.