Week # 4 of staging and orientation
here in Lakeland, FL had its ups and downs. For the most part it was super fun
and exhausting. In any situation where the pressure is extremely high and so
much is going on you tend to have a few rough moments and mine came this weekJ There were days that
you are just so energized from the passion that is in the room or you are
laughing so hard that your stomach is in a ton of pain during cast bonding
exercise. The next minute you may be overwhelmed with emotion because your head
is spinning with a gazillion different instructions or stage directions or
whatever it may be. You are definitely stretched to your limit in Up with
People and you are constantly living in your challenge zone which means that I
am growing as a person more and more each day.
We
did a number of things this week. We met our director of the show, which meant
that we started blocking the show, which means things are starting to get very
intense and picking up speed. Solos are being assigned along with dance
placement and so on so forth. The feelings are high and emotions are flying. If
we can just get through staging, all of it will be much smoother and things
will become a little more routine. I am being considered to sing a solo in the
African song Shosholooza, which is known as Africa’s second national anthem. It
means encouragement, hope, freedom and looking forward! I would be honored to
sing it, but we will see. Next Saturday is our premiere show of the tour so
this coming week is going to be insane. It can be known as Hell Week – so here
we go Cast A!
The
other things that happened this week were fun and we had a few surprises as
well. On Tuesday evening the owner of Gatorland came in and we got to hold real
alligators and other creatures, such as a bearded dragon, a tarantula and a
python. It was super awesome. Strangely, when he first took the alligators out
of their containers he literally pumped the pee out of them. It was very odd
and quite humorous. We had date night on Wednesday instead of Tuesday this
week, but the food and conversation were still wonderful. I had something
called a “Chocolate Parfait” in a martini glass that may be the most decadent
dessert I have ever tasted. We had some extra homework this week so we had to
fit that into the schedule. On Friday we went to downtown Lakeland to this event called
first Friday. It happens every first Friday of the month in the little town
square and the blocks around it. There is live music, vendor booths and other stuff. Of course we met others from UWP
there and had a blast dancing in the streets etc. Also on Friday we had cast
bonding time, which included some crazy challenges that we pretty much
accomplished. One of them was eating gallons of ice cream and toppings, which
we did, but then again it turned into a full on epic ice cream fight so we all
ended up sticky and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. On Saturday we had a
busy day and I had my first breakdown moment. Thankfully I am surrounded
by amazing friends who gave me hugs and just let me cry. It just feels so good
sometimes. We had people over after dinner for games, a fire and a jamming
session with our voices, the piano and the guitar. Last but not least, on
Sunday Maureen and Kevin took us to a lake to feed the beautiful swans! It was
so cool even though one of them kept getting my thumbs! Then we went to
Clearwater Beach which is ranked #1 in Florida. We ran into more of our Up with
People cast mates at the beach as well. We spent the day there and watched the
sunset before coming home to participate in the biggest American tradition ever! The
SUPERBOWL!!! A great fun weekend had by all!
You
know the Up with People theme song is extremely true- you really do meet them
wherever you go! Haha it is a wonderful thing though! I love my Up with People
people!
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