God I'm a dancer!

A dancer dances! Okay that was a little theatre dweeb's nod to A Chorus Line. But in my case it's sort of true. In Li'l Abner, I'm now in the corps du ballet. Well, more accurately I'm doing a lot of running throughout the very long and energetic Sadie Hawkins number before I take part in an "adagio partnering" section or something like that. Along with all the dancers on stage I get to flip and lift a girl. My patient and supportive dance partner is the wonderful Leslie Stevens who I got to play with in Can-Can as well.

Well, enough of my blathering on in dance lingo. I've got to hop in the shower and get unsweaty before I do a little sketching before bed. Then beauty rest then errands tomorrow morn before getting back to the theatre at noon.

Life is good. I'm in the midst of lots of art and I'm so grateful. Take care, all. Peace and love in 2008! Go get 'em!

Rainin' in Dogpatch U.S.A.

Wow! Has it been soggy here in So Cal or what!? There's one spot in the rehearsal hall that has a little folded towel to catch some drips, but that is nothing compared to the gushing gutters and huge puddles that make driving a bit of an obstacle course. I'm happy my commute is only a few miles (for now).

Li'l Abner is pluggin' right along. It's a deceptively dense show with lots of ensemble interaction, so the days sometimes feel like we're hackin' away at the underbrush. But it's a fantastic group of folks and I'm having a great time. Thank heavens our creative staff and everyone is on the ball.

One little surprise for me is that I'm a part of the dancing ensemble a couple times during the show. In the Sadie Hawkins Day number in particular I'm lifting a girl and boogiein' all over the place. I'm thinking about buying a dance belt and leg warmers.

And more artwork keeps pouring in. I'm working on a logo illustration for a show that's opening soon off-Broadway. This is a rush job, so my down time will be work time. Thank goodness this work load doesn't include Chicago lifts or attitude pirouettes. And I also possibly have a caricature commission in the works which is becoming more and more of a rush job as I wait for photo reference. Hope this one works out. Add it all to the fun Riverside project and I've got a nice work load over the next few weeks. I'm happily busy and grateful.

Oh! Before I wrap this up, here's something exciting for me... Last autumn I drew a sketch of actress Amy Ryan (as commissioned by friend David Quinn). She sent the loveliest note, and I've been wanting to post it, but now – since she received an Oscar nom – I'm just bustin' to show you. She's just fantastic. See her lovely gesture here.

Well, I've got to go run some music stuff and do some sketching. Peace and love, y'all!