Awake in My Dreams

On stage @ The El Mocambo in Toronto. April 2012

This coming Sunday, I leave for the small town of Petrolia to play "Peggy" in the musical production of Godspell.  Ya, I had no idea where that was either. To my fellow perplexed Ontarians, Petrolia is just outside of Sarnia... a 3-hour westbound drive from Toronto.

I'll be gone for 6-weeks: May 13th until June 24th. Aside from fears of being homesick and not finding organic tofu in this obscure little town, I am very excited to be doing this because I absolutely LOVE musical theatre! Performing live might be my favourite thing to do, period. There's nothing like pouring your soul into other souls who stand there waiting to receive it. When I'm on stage, I get the instant gratification of knowing how or if I affect you, what sounds make you close your eyes, what melodies make you sing along... what makes you fall in love. It's turning me on just thinking about it.

I also love the 'community' feeling that comes with working in theatre. Theatre rehearsal schedules are always intense, giving you hours upon hours of time spent with your fellow cast mates and crew members. By the time you get through weeks of 10-hour rehearsal days, matinees, school shows and nightly performances together, you'll ALWAYS walk away with new, artsy friends and connections.

All that said, I haven't left town yet and I've got lots to do before I go. When I booked this Godspell gig months ago, I'd always thought the week prior to my departure would be a smooth one. Thought I'd be cold-chillin, getting versed in all the music they sent us ahead of time to learn, be completely packed and ready to go.

But as fate would have it, on Monday I performed a short set at the opening reception for b current's Rock.Paper.Sistahz festival*. It was a sweet time in an intimate, colourful space, inhabited by a graciously attentive audience. My faithful friends/players came with me: Dave on guitar, Chris on percussion. No stage or plug-ins, just a few original songs shared with a room full of souls. It felt so good!

Tomorrow morning. rather this Wednesday morning (geeze, where did the time go!) I have a third callback audition for another musical. And it's kind of a big deal ;-). I'm not at liberty to divulge any details about this one just yet, but believe me, you WILL know if I get it! Anyways, it's been stressing me out because there's a lot to learn and well... there never really is enough time for these things, is there? Please, please, please wish me luck, send some prayers, light and good vibes. I want this one. Badly.

Right after this big-deal-of-an-audition, I have a rehearsal with my scene partners for an acting class I have on Thursday, Friday I'm in the studio with Silver Roland working on my album, Saturday night I have one last acoustic gig at The Old Nick** and THEN... I finally leave for Petrolia on Sunday morning. 

Somewhere in between in all this, I really have to start packing, kiss my mother and figure out who's going to feed my husband while I'm away. And a bunch of other little things, of course. While I was stressing out about this long list of to do's I have to conquer, I decided to stop and give thanks. I'm thankful to be busy with work that I want to do. Every project I'm currently undertaking is something I have prayed for in some way or another. I am thankful to have purpose! And I am thankful that while "living the dream" isn't as easy as it seems, or even as easy as I, myself, expected it to be... it truly is living.

So getting back to business, I'm going to go over this audition piece one more time and then tuck myself into bed. Maybe I'll fall asleep, or maybe I'll get back up when I realize I absolutely must do just one more thing of that To Do list before I can get a good night's rest. Either way, I'll be dreaming. I never, ever stop.

~LM

* The rock.paper.sistahz festival is still going on until Friday May 11th! Do yourself a favour and check out some of the events before it's gone:

** If you don't think you'll make it to Petrolia to see Godspell, come take in my acoustic set at The Old Nick this Saturday night!  That's Saturday May 12th @ 9pm, 123 Danforth Ave. No cover!

*** You're still reading? You must really love me! Then I guess it wouldn't be too much for me to ask you to help me make my next album "Do You Believe", coming out this August? Pre-order your copy or donate even more to get some cool stuff!