#28 - New Year's Resolutions

Ok, I know, I KNOW - why, oh why do you wait so long before you update this blog, you're asking. Well, life gets in the way sometimes.

It's the Jewish New Year tonight, and so I'm in a good place to restart Vault spelunking. It's also a fine time to actually start finding treasures again.

Since we last heard from our heroine, she'd finished up the show(s) referenced in the last post, and begins rehearsals on yet the next in the series next week. All in all, a fine showing (and one the prior Vault goddess would be proud of, for sure).

L'Shana Tova all.

#27 - Running in a parallel universe

Wow. How can so much time pass by so quickly?

Finish up one show and another one comes right along. That's how this one happened. There was the blur of family events, which included gatherings, graduations, and a short but lovely multi-tasking vacation, followed by tragic news from a friend, then another audition and quick casting in a show. After that, life altering news and here were are.

But not all the changes that have happened and are yet to come were surprising. Some were even really fabulous creative ones.

Back to creation - Vault spelunking will have to wait for a while longer.

#26-The Family Jewels

NO! I don't mean it that way (well, not exactly).

Tomorrow is my opening night for the 2nd "return to the boards" show. Well, actually show(s) [plural]. We're doing 6 one acts (I'm in two of them), and it's given me the opportunity to delve deeply into the Vault and spelunk for jewelry for my costumes. I've had even more opportunity since one of my fellow actors needed to be "glammed" up more than me, and the stash at the theatre is slightly lacking. Gad, I adore pawing through the copious quantities of costume stuff that are stored in the Vault. I brought in the Sophie Tucker jewels (yes, the ones that were actually Sophie Tucker's; but that's another story...), but we're not using those.

It's really amazing how much material exists in the Vault. And I do mean that in more than just the "material girl" sort of way. I ended up in a Muriel box yesterday and lost myself as I found 2 versions of Mom's incomplete but quite interesting "History of Muriel R. Landers" which included some more exciting tid-bits. Like the fact that Muriel got a scholarship to study with the Chicago Lyric opera, and performed the leads in Madame Butterfly and Carmen among others there. And that when she went to New York, she got a job as a secretary at CBS and discovered that once she got radio gigs, she was making way more money than she could in the opera, and that's why she went on to sing and act instead of just singing.

Funny: I have a line in upcoming show The Actor's Nightmare about leaving the opera because I couldn't sing. How ironic that Muriel did but not because of that.

In a week, I'm going to attempt to do a singing audition myself (sans the jewels, of course). And the little one carrying on the traditions is in the midst of his own change towards music. Funny how often we return to our real roots. The cycle of life and performing are so constant and overlapping.

#25 - It's March and time marches on...

...and time moves along a snail's pace and in the blink of an eye, all at once.

I followed in the prior Vault goddess's footsteps and climbed back on the boards last night for the first time since Tia Maria Visits Your Tube in 1980 (boy, I'd love to re-do that show now...). What a blast. It really did feel like coming home.

I decided to open one of the photo Vault boxes, and believe it or not, here's the first photo I grabbed: the prior Vault goddess in her stage debut (probably around age 10 or so).
I remember her telling me about this one but for the life of me now, I can't remember what the show was.

I do remember this reminded me of my "school" stage debut in The Pirates of Penzance in 6th grade. I had joined Glee Club and then auditioned for the show and got cast in the chorus. I remember we all wore hoop skirts, and I recall being knocked off the edge of the stage during one of the songs (I think it was ""I am the very model of a modern Major-General") where we all swayed from side to side. Since I was always the shortest in the class--and sometimes the entire school--I always ended up at the end of the row (you know, tallest in the middle out to the shortest on the sides). In spite of this, it was such a thrill to sing on stage in a hoop skirt.

I was so happy that many dear friends from near and far were there last night. But the one I was happiest about was the attendance of the goddess grandson, who is carrying on the tradition.

Perhaps in a little more than a week, we'll find out just how true that is. I know the prior goddess sends her best "Break a Leg" wishes to him - and so do I.

#24 - I remember Mama

Well that's a clichéd titled, isn't it?

Actually, I was thinking about the concept of "Memoir," from which that story, play and ultimately the movie I loved when I was a kid all came. Of course, everything about the Vault itself truly IS mama (or "my mommy" I called her). But the show I'm currently working on is all about memoir. And it got me thinking about that.

Buried in the Vault are many bits and pieces of writing by the prior Vault goddess, and I hope to unearth more soon. I have read lots of them; some are funny, some touching, some very painful.

In the meantime, I will continue to think about the genre, both Mom's and mine, and hope to continue writing about it. Now, off to rehearsal!

#23 - The one in which I get back to blogging

So much to do, so little time.

So, I'm a happy camper now that I'm keeping up my one DAILY blog, and will be in two, count 'em TWO shows in the coming months. But the poor little Vault sits unattended.

This is all just a roundabout way of saying I'm going take a dumpster dive into the Vault right NOW, and see what comes up. Here goes:

What an interesting piece of history this one is. Can you figure out what it might be? Yes, that's right. Remember when plastic garbage bags came with twist ties to close them? Well, this one is a leftover (perhaps there's more floating around in the flotsom and jetsom of the many Vaultboxes). You'd thread the short end into the longer openings; I guess you'd figured out which tab to put it into depending on how much you're closing off in the bag. Of course, attempts to get more specifics about this little piece of plastic Americana have proven fruitless (please do let me know if you find out something, won't you?).

I'm kinda glad it's here. It's got some interesting design lines to it.

#22 - Time flies, and yet it was just yesterday

Tonight we light a Yahrtzeit candle for the prior Vault Goddess.


Hard to believe it's been three years since she walked away from the Vault.

I miss her everyday.

LYM Mom.

#21 - A picture's worth a thousand words

A week into the New Year and before I jaunted out yesterday for my 1st callback in #*^&$ years, I did a quick dive into the Vault for some words of wisdom from dear old Mom. Here's what came out:

This was pretty typical of the prior Vault Goddess; hanging on to the returned film from a roll of 36 photos (when people really did way more film then they do now - see it's marked from 1994) where NONE of the photos turned out.

I took this as a sign that I need to create my own moments to capture. Happy to report I did just that - I got cast in a show.

I can hear the prior Vault Goddess, and boy is she proud.

#20 (or should I say #2011).

Welcome to the New Year: may it bring prosperity, abundance, health, happiness, and many new treasures to the surface for us all.

The Vault has been pretty cold lately - it's friggin' freezing outside, and though most of the insulation works well in the summer (keeping the Vault cool), in the winter: well, it's not an icebox, but there's no heat pumping in. Perhaps a new scarf will surface in the next Treasure hunt.

On another note, friends of the Vault came up with a brilliant idea for this year: it's a project to do something every day. If you are so inclined, please feel free to join in our little event for 2011, and if you'd like to participate, or have us list YOUR blog or website about your 365 day project, please email or post a comment there.

You'll be happy to know that the staff here at the Vault would like to participate, and will attempt to spleunk and post on a daily basis (we'll have to do our best to sweep the cobwebs away as we delve deeper in the Vault). We'll have to see how that develops. In the meantime, later today, post #21 may appear with a new treasure find.

Till then, Happy Trails and Happy New Year all!