Officially Taking a Break

I've been saying that I'm going to temporarily retire from the theatre for a while now. For months I said "Oh, after Shrek, I'm done for a while", with the intention that I would go out on top like George Costanza- <triumphantly raises arms in the air> "Alright, that's it for me!". Everyone asked me if I was auditioning for Young Frankenstein at the JCC and I adamantly said "nope- I'm taking a break"... until the director called me on the day of callbacks and asked me to come in and nail it. All I did was go in a belt the word "Tits" for 16 counts... I'm serious. And while I don't think I actually did nail it that night, the creative team was very nice and ultimately offered me the part.


Tssssssst!

What made me decide to squeeze in one more show before I take this break I've been talking about for months? Young Frankenstein was one of those films that I had watched from my early childhood on-- I was rattling off quotes from it when I was still in elementary school (without necessarily realizing just what I was saying- "What knockers!" "Oh, sank you, doctor", for example). There are so many moments in that movie that perfectly demonstrate the kind of comedy that I find funniest. Also, I love Madeline Kahn. LOVE Madeline Kahn. So when I heard that JCC was doing it, of course it caught my attention. But Shrek: The Musical really took it out of me-- I'm not sure how many people really know how much-- and with moving into our new house and all the
responsibilities I'm juggling at Geva this Spring, I knew that I was going to need to take a looooooong break. So I told myself I was done and I was totally cool and excited about that.

I also thought that I would be pregnant by now. I naively assumed that of course I would either be too tired/barfy to be able to handle it or too showy to be passable in any stage roles after Shrek. For months I daydreamed about being secretly pregnant during Shrek and then making a sassy end of the first trimester announcement at the end of my program bio- "Fiona marks Mary's last stage role for a while, as she is making her debut as "first-time mama" this Summer!" to explain my planned hiatus. Well, that didn't work out as planned.

So what's one more? The only 2 things that kept me from auditioning were 1) my tiredness after the grueling Shrek process, and 2) the hope that I would be "in the family way" by the time the show was running. Well, I negotiated with Danny (who, after playing Shrek, understood exactly what I was talking about with issue #1 and sympathized greatly) and made him promise me that 1) I wouldn't be called to rehearsal more than 2 times a week for the first few weeks of rehearsals, and 2) that should the family thing work out during the process, he and the costumer would be very kind to me and make the necessary accommodations both in physical demands and seam allowances. He heartily agreed and, having all my conditions met, I took the role.

Now we're less than a month away from opening and things are starting to move quickly-- next week marks my first real week of regular rehearsals and we start running the show the week after that. We had rehearsal last night and blocked my last song ("Deep Love"- look it up on youtube for a laugh). And I realized how truly tired I really am. Don't get me wrong, I love it and I'm going to have a crap-load of fun with this role. But it's time. I find myself getting really frustrated and irritable with myself in rehearsal, I'm having issues with my body on so many levels now, and all of it is causing me to be way way WAY too hard on myself. I need to streamline. I need to listen to my body. I need to rest and recharge and refocus. I've gotta stop and breathe.

So this is officially it for me for a while, friends-- come see me go out with a bang in Young Frankenstein at the JCC in May. And then, once I've had a chance to settle into life again, maybe I'll have some news on my next big role (whether it'll be on the stage or in a nursery, only time will tell).

(I vote nursery.)