Pure Michigan

Howdy friends!

I am currently writing to you from Alpena MI, home of the $2.75 well drink! I have been here for almost a month now and boy do I have much to tell! I have been working nonstop at the Thunder Bay Theatre. I choreographed the musical that I am also currently performing in, so busy is definitely not an understatement.

I really love Alpena. It is a perfect place to find some reprieve from the hustle and bustle of NYC. I do miss the accessibility of the city and the weather (snow at the end of March…what???) but otherwise I am very happy that I took a contract in a small town in Northern MI. Alpena is pretty chill right now, since the weather is still cold, but come summer, supposedly this place is a busy vacation town! Alpena is a town on the water. It has the Thunder Bay River which meets Lake Huron. When I first got here, we actually could walk out on the frozen Lake Huron. We made the foundation of an igloo on the ice!

One thing that I love about Alpena all the time is the great little restaurants. There are plenty of bars and restaurants offering great food at pretty good prices. Also, it must be said, the bar scene here is RIDICULOUS. The prices here for booze are low and there are plenty of bars to choose from. If you like beer, Michigan is a great place to be. There is one brewery in Alpena (I’m looking at you Austin Brother’s Brewery) and a few in the surrounding areas. Beers generally cost $4 or $5 dollars and are delicious. I often get beer here just because they are so good! Coming from a wino like me, that’s a pretty big deal.

Alpena has treated me well so far. The people are super friendly and as soon as they hear that you work for the Thunder Bay Theatre, their eyes light up and they ask all about you. It’s very welcoming and it has made my stay in this small town that much more enjoyable. The audiences are very appreciative of the theater community Thunder Bay Theatre Co. has created and definitely want more of what TBayT is producing.

I am contracted here for 2 shows, “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” and “Half&Half”. We opened Fools this Friday, after a delayed opening due to a snow storm, and it received good reviews and a warm response from our audiences. Fools is a Roger Bean musical shaped around pop hits of the 1960s. I got to choreograph the show which was a lot of fun and I also play the role of DeeDee. I am very proud of the work I am doing- it’s nice to be performing in a musical and I feel that my choreography really fits the show.

We start “Half&Half” rehearsals tomorrow which should be fun. Plays, for me, are a lot easier than musicals, just because there are less variables to juggle, which allows me to really focus on my character. I can’t wait to play the character Lucy- she kind of reminds me of my sister Elena. She is very strong and independent, plus she was raised by a feminist mom. It’ll be fun to play with the arc of the character and play opposite of some great actors.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this last month! I am gonna post about this awesome pasta salad I made a couple of days ago. Straying a bit from the theme of this blog, but who cares? I am sure all 5 of my readers (Hi Mom!) will not be phased by my erratic blogging.

Miss you all!
xoxo
D

---