Friday night was wardrobe for Merchant of Venice again. This will start to get very repetitive I expect so I wont post it every time I work on a show, it's the same 3 shows in that order: Much Ado about Nothing, Merchant of Venice and Macbeth.
Then I went to a party tonight, Ugly Dress party for a couple of the hair girls birthdays. It was the first time I've had a chance to drink since leaving England. Utah's not quite the dry state I expected it to be, there's expected to be a lot more parties happening as the shows start to settle down into a routine.

Yesterday we went to Groove Fest, which was a mini festival where people were performing on stage and there were loads of little stalls selling things. It was in a fiel and was really cute and relaxing. I then had to buy a load of ingredients for Sunday's Southern Pot Luck meal.
Last night was Macbeth and then after (finishing at about 12:30) we went for a midnight hike in the full moon. The hike was to Cedar Breaks; we drove up there (an extra 1000ft above sea level, we're already 3000ft up) then walked about a mile along a path that led through forest and along side the cliffs of a canyon. Absolutely terrifying but such a beautiful sight. I've never seen anything like it before in
my life. I'll have to go again during the day so that I can get pictures because it was too dark. Scary but immensely beautiful.

Today: Sunday's are always a relaxing day here, so I usually relax by the pool for a while. Today though we had a Southern Pot Luck party where a group of us got together and cooked Southern American food. I don't really know what southern food is, so I decided to cook something English that no one here had heard of... Toad in the Hole :D It was my first time cooking it and other than getting stuck to the bottom of the pan I was super dooper impressed with myself for how it turned out! It was really nice getting to taste everyone else's southern food, there's a lot i've never heard of before.

Today was pretty much that same as Monday. I worked wardrobe for Much Ado About Nothing rehersal
. I had 3 extra changes added for Chelsea and 1 extra added for Caronline. Thank God Michael's pretty much OK dressing himself for this show or it'd be a nightmare. But all went fine, but I definately need to learn to calm down a bit because when I saw the paperwork and that I had 3 extra changes I did panic maybe minutely. As soon as this starts getting into a routine then it'll all be dandy :D

Today was the dress rehersal for Macbeth. I went into the costume shop this first thing this morning as usual. I've always said that I prefer sewing to working in wardrobe, mainly because I don't like the thought of having to wash clothes after every performance, but already working in wardrobe is a kind of buzz. Today there wasn't really any changes so there wasn't really much to do, but the general atmosphere is more exciting than sitting in a quiet workshop. There's so many people to meet. My british accent is the starting point for a lot of conversations and it's fun when people do their impressions of an English accent. I will fight of gaining an american twang in my voice for as long as possible.

Day two of working in wardrobe, this time for Merchant of Venice. Already I'm starting to get the hang of things, such as understanding the sheets that I use to keep track of what costumes go on what people at what time. After yesterday's major rush and panic I honestly thought it would take me forever to get used to. One major accident that happened today was in the middle of my final quick change with Chelsea Steverson... some spiritgum (used for sticking on facial hair and wigs) got spilt, managing to get onto 2 cloaks and a dress (and into a cut on my thumb which was unbelievably painful but not as important). It was a really big accident that caused panic but luckily Jeff found a solution that would get it out. I was sewing in the costume shop this morning which I like to do, but I sewed the bottom hem of a skirt wrong and it wasn't fully explained how I did it wrong other than sewing it too tight. I'll learn for next time, as that's what I'm here for :)

Yesterday I woke up at 8:30 naturally. No one else was awake so it was really boring. I just read my book until I got so bored that I went to the shop. When I got back, Carl and Daniel were awake and ready to go to Sand Hollow. That place is absolutely gorgeous... it's a lake in the middle of orange mountains where you can swim, sunbathe and even cliff jumping... i didn't quite have the guts for that though.

Today is my Grandma's birthday :) Happy Birthday Grandma!!

It's been a very busy day today. I spent the morning from 8:30 sewing. Come 3 o'clock we had to take all the costumes for Much Ado About Nothing over to the Adam's Theatre for dress rehersal this evening. This is the most intense show I've worked on so far and the first time I've ever had to do a quick change so that was a new experience. With help I managed to get through it all fine. One quick chance was a rush, from one complete costume to another.
I finally finished at 11:30, it's been a very long and painful day but all in good spirits and experience. :)

Yesterday was my first day in the wardrobe shop. It was fun to get back to sewing again. I was only given small jobs like slip stitching, which I enjoy, but I was still nervous and felt slightly inadequate compared to the others who have several years experience with the company. I'll get better and more confident as my time with the company progresses.
I got shown around the backstage of the Adams Theatre... If I went around on my own I would undoubtably get lost! Working with wardrobe will definately take some getting used to. Last night I watched the run through of The Merchant of Venice. It was a really good performance, made me laugh and I had to hold back tears at one point as well. It also gave me the opportunity to cheat a little - I sat with the cast sheet in an attempt to learn all the actors' names.
Today's my 3rd day here and it's been constant days of meeting new people so names will definately be a struggle for me to remember.
I went into the costume shop to work again today, but generally it was more chilled out, I got to sit by the pool and enjoy the sunshine. Also our second housemate Liz has moved in so it's a full house and a bit more lively which is good!
Like last night, I'm viewing a run-through tonight, this time... Macbeth!

It's hit me today how lonely this place might be. I don't want to get homesick and I don't think I will, but it's very difficult to get onto the internet unless I borrow someone else's computer or use the one in the costume shop. Not having my phone isn't helping either. So my addiction to texting and facebook has had to go almost cold turkey.

I met my flatmate, Jen Seluznow, today, which made me feel more comfortable. And I went to the costume shop to see where I am going to be working and met everyone there as well, including Daniel Mathews who will be coming to Bournemouth next year. Everyone else here is from different areas of the US so they've all been in the same place that I am now, but its still scary, and in a way intimidating to meet so many new people all at once, without the luxury of being able to call home.  An hour on facebook this afternoon made happy :)

The show that I will be working on this summer are Macbeth (apparently 'Macbeth' can't be spoken in the theatre because it's bad luck and so it's called MB or Moose), Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing. All being shown in the Adams Theatre, built to look similar to The Globe Theatre.

Generally it's been a chilled out day, but with lots fitted in. I had a look around the area, did a bit of food shopping and went to the costume shop for cupcake day and to meet everyone.

Flight to Utah

I woke up first thing this morning at 6 o'clock. Got to the airport for 8 and had a nice breakfast with my mum before a slightly teary goodbye despite spending longer times away at uni than I will on this trip. The only thing that i've been nervous about is that my visa's OK and that I'd get through customs OK. England looked beautiful as I was leaving. The sky was clear so I could see the miles of the country, glittering as the sun caught the tops of the cars or windows.

Continental flights are amazing and definately recommended by me. They were always the cheapest flights so I was expecting some crap like Ryanair flights. Nope... TV with a wide range of films and games that I could watch what I want, when I want (The Proposal, Casablanca, Alice in Wonderland and How to Train a Dragon are the films I watched) and free meals. No need for all the food I brought.

I met a girl called Rebecca Griggs who was sitting next to me on the flight from Heathrow to Newark, who was going to an american camp in Pensilvania.

My first impression of New York as I was flying in was that there were a lot of baseball grounds. That's probably a strange thing to think but it's the first thing that stuck out.

The second flight wasn't as posh as the first but I still got another meal... I'm officially full to the brim of airplane food. Las Vegas airport is HUGE! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find Marilyn and Jerry Leider who were picking me up, but as I waited to retrieve my bag from baggage claim, a florescent orange sign appeared over the crowd saying 'shelley calvert'... imagine my excitement to know my fears of being stuck in Las Vegas not knowing what to do were silly imagination :) It was such a great greeting to America, they're wonderfully lovely people. They drove me the 3 hour journey to Cedar City (I fell asleep in the car because by this time it was about 3am British time and all I'd had was a couple of little naps) where I got to see the appartment I'm staying in. The bedroom is big with a double bed and I'll be sharing with two other girls. When we got to the appartment it was 1 o'clock in the morning (8am British time) so I was absolutely SHATTERED!! Goodnight for me! :D

I leave to go to America tomorrow so I thought this would be the opportune moment to begin this part of my blog.

I'm travelling to Cedar City in Utah to work as part of the costume department for the Shakespearean Festival, which puts on several theatrical shows throughout the summer. I'll be there for the whole summer, from the 16th June 2010 to 20th September 2010, working on all different areas of costume such as dressing, wardrobe, alterations and making.

This experience is going to be ideal in order for me to gain more experience in the Costume industry; to further my knowledge and hopefully get my mind set on which area of costume I would like to make for in my 3rd year of University at The Arts University College at Bournemouth and in future work placements.

I've no idea what it's going to be like when I get there. At the moment I'm very nervous and excited about being there, but definately not looking forward to the 15 hour flight via New York.