When I was a little girl my dream was to be a Broadway actress. I wanted a little apartment with a fire escape in New York City, even though I had never been there. I wanted to wait tables and be poor and audition every day. I wanted to win a Tony Award and sit at coffee shops in the rain.
I went to theatre school, at a conservatory where I pretty much did nothing but theatre for four years. I studied to be a professional, with professionals. I received professional training and was abreast of the professional theatre world here in Chicago.
Then I entered the real world.
I have auditioned and auditioned, and learned that I don't like auditioning. I have waited tables, and learned that I don't like waiting tables. I'm short on cash, and although I am blessed and can live with little, I still have bills and I don't really like not being able to pay them.
Someone asked me the other day, "Have you ever thought about doing professional theatre?" Gee, if she only knew...
I don't live in a little apartment with a fire escape in New York City. I live in spacious apartment with a kitty and a boyfriend. I can decide what to do next, later.
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
5/3/10
1/31/10
Prop Shopping: Jewerly Wholesale Edition
Went on a fun prop run last weekend for my friend again. Thrilling: I'm not one for shopping (it isn't really fun when you're broke), but give me an objective, an unexplored part of town, and a time limit and I'll be off to the races. After a tip from my friend, and some research on Yelp, I headed off to Clark Street between Montrose and Wilson in Chicago where there is a stretch of jewelry wholesalers open to the public on Saturdays. And oh boy, what a sight to behold! Store after store of crappy inexpensive jewelry from China (or perhaps some other country from which we import gobs and gobs of bling). And oh, the BLING! Fake engagement rings, fake diamonds, fake gold, fake silver, and no store was without a good ole healthy sampling of chince!
The hunt for the rings was quick, but involved scouring the counters of almost all the stores on the block to find the best deal. I was very proud of myself for not stopping to look at all the pretty stuff (sparkly objects lure me like a moth to a flame; the feathered headbands were especially intriguing - "I could make these," I thought). I went in and got down to business; the shopkeepers were especially helpful and if they didn't have what I needed, I moved on. I was on a mission!
I finally found perfect little wedding bands for $10 each at this one shop, only to discover they were missing one size I needed. On my way outside to call my friend to see what I should do, I wandered into a few more shops and sifted through the boxes behind the counters with no luck. I was about to give up my little hunt when I entered the last store on the street, and to my delight found the exact same rings (!) in the exact sizes I needed (!) for only $3 dollars each! And this is when I felt my first shopping high. Oh the thrill of the bargain (now I understand how those ladies on the T. J. Maxx commercials feel)! I simply cannot believe I found them for so cheap.
I heard the stores are only open to the public on Saturdays, but I am not sure if that is true. If you are in Chicago on a Saturday, here is the Yelp link with some information concerning the wholesale district. Some of the stores are nicer and easier to navigate and sift through than others, and you can find a variety of jewelry, some of it actually quite nice looking, as well as scarves, hair accessories and knock - off designer bags. I might check it out one day when I have a little more time and cash to spend.
The hunt for the rings was quick, but involved scouring the counters of almost all the stores on the block to find the best deal. I was very proud of myself for not stopping to look at all the pretty stuff (sparkly objects lure me like a moth to a flame; the feathered headbands were especially intriguing - "I could make these," I thought). I went in and got down to business; the shopkeepers were especially helpful and if they didn't have what I needed, I moved on. I was on a mission!
I finally found perfect little wedding bands for $10 each at this one shop, only to discover they were missing one size I needed. On my way outside to call my friend to see what I should do, I wandered into a few more shops and sifted through the boxes behind the counters with no luck. I was about to give up my little hunt when I entered the last store on the street, and to my delight found the exact same rings (!) in the exact sizes I needed (!) for only $3 dollars each! And this is when I felt my first shopping high. Oh the thrill of the bargain (now I understand how those ladies on the T. J. Maxx commercials feel)! I simply cannot believe I found them for so cheap.
I heard the stores are only open to the public on Saturdays, but I am not sure if that is true. If you are in Chicago on a Saturday, here is the Yelp link with some information concerning the wholesale district. Some of the stores are nicer and easier to navigate and sift through than others, and you can find a variety of jewelry, some of it actually quite nice looking, as well as scarves, hair accessories and knock - off designer bags. I might check it out one day when I have a little more time and cash to spend.
1/12/10
Tuesday, Spaghetti
This weekend I went on a prop scavenger hunt of sorts with my friend, who is currently in charge of props for the Building Stage's new show The Ring Cycle, adapted from Wagner's opera Der Ring Des Nibelungen. Over a quick lunch (Thai - curry, yum) she informed me of some items we needed to find that day; among these were a metal pail, sequins, a muslin doll, potion bottles, a ladder back chair, an old fashioned leather camera case, a megaphone and a frog lawn ornament. We were not so lucky on our search, our only thrift store find for the show being the metal pail. We did however find this:
AND one for everyday of the week! They're large too, so they stood out among the pots and pans they were nestled between at the back of the store. We laughed so hard when we found these, in part because of their idiosyncratic nature, but also as a result of their random placement in the kitchen section of the thrift store. When I unveiled them to my boyfriend however, he was nonplussed, much to my chagrin.
Here is a link to a picture of all of them together. The illustrator is Eric Carle, whom I love; one of my favorite books as a kid was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which he also illustrated.
AND one for everyday of the week! They're large too, so they stood out among the pots and pans they were nestled between at the back of the store. We laughed so hard when we found these, in part because of their idiosyncratic nature, but also as a result of their random placement in the kitchen section of the thrift store. When I unveiled them to my boyfriend however, he was nonplussed, much to my chagrin.
Here is a link to a picture of all of them together. The illustrator is Eric Carle, whom I love; one of my favorite books as a kid was The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which he also illustrated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
LinkWithin
