"We have the COOLEST jobs..."

Hi Friends!!!
I hope your all doing well, Loretta and I are having so much fun on the road but we def miss our friends and family BUT thats just how it goes. We'll be home soon enough before Fall Tour so that will def be nice. :)

Last week we were in Killeen, Texas at the Vive Les Arts Theatre and we both agreed that it was the best performance space we've had so far. We walked in on Sunday to meet our Contact and they were having auditions for Sound of Music which kinda made me miss auditioning but then I thought, "I got a job!" so that helped. haha! Anyways, Loretta and I both looked at each other after walking in the theatre Lobby, which was decked out with colors and fun chandeliers, and said "Is this a Professional Theatre Company???". It wasn't though, just an extremely nice Community Theatre. Not too shabby. :)

I could tell that this was going to be a really fun week when right as the kids were walking onstage for the auditions a little chubby girl with glasses said we couldn't start the audition because her mom hadn't brought her her "audition dress". I thought "Ohhh no! One of THOSE!" but thankfully I was wrong. Her audition dress was a shiny green Renaissance dress. HAHA! I LOVE IT! Later in the week, this kid gave Loretta and I each two of her Hello Kitty figurines. Big. Deal. The next day I noticed that no one was sitting with this same kid at lunch so I went and sat beside her. She noticed my Disney Princess Lunchox and she started talking to me about her favorite Princess-Rapunzel. Don't judge my lunchbox, its a great conversation starter with the kids esp the shy ones annnnnd I like it. She then said that she didn't like all the violence in Tangled (there is none haha!) but that her favorite play was Romeo and Juliet. ( HA! Def Violence in that!) I asked her why that was her favorite play and she said that she just liked the "kissing" part. My response: "Why's that Esther?". Esther: "Thats the most magical, important, special moment in stories! I'm a romantic and I can't wait until I have that moment in my life". SHE'S TEN and yet I thought, "Girl. I undastand." hahaha! I wonder what she thinks about Twilight? UGH! I should've asked! NOW I'LL NEVER KNOW!!!!

Esther was def one of the kids that made last week special. On the day of costumes one of the Knights came up to me and said someone was behind the set crying so I went to see who it was and it was Esther. I brought her out and started talking to her and come to find out she thought the Red Squire was making fun of her/talking bad about her in the dressing room. She said she felt like the cast didn't "love" her. I then stood up and got the entire cast's attention (even the Red Squire) and got them all to cheer for Esther and tell her how awesome she looked in her costume. They even applauded for her. The way her face lite up made my summer. Some days out on the road are rough but moments like that make everything worth it. She was soooo happy and I feel like that moment made her week with Missoula. : D Another fun thing about that week was they actually filmed the performance and they gave me a free DVD of it so now I can give it to my Dad and he can actually see my show. He hasn't been able to see it since we've been in Texas practically all summer and then in this upcoming Fall Tour I'll be in Washington and Idaho so at least he can see it on DVD. :)

Last week was also the most fun Loretta and I have had with the kids too. We're both finally at the place where we don't have to think about what we're doing and can just have fun at rehearsals and auditions. Great timing, right before the end of our summer tour. Well better late than never.  haha! We also got to meet up with Eli and Drew again, they're stalking us and they came over to our apt (Yep we had an apartment that week NOT a hotel or homestay which was awesome!) for laughs and making music videos. Loretta and I love doing that. Now Loretta and I are staying at a hotel on an Air Force Base. The MEN here are sooo nice. I wonder why? haha! I'll give you more det's in my next blog. The suspense is killing you I know. :)
-Jen

PS: Loretta and I did three workshops in Killeen and in the "Actor's Tools" workshop we actually begin by saying "We have the COOLEST jobs..." so that's where this blog title came from. Plus, its true.