Work

Getting ready for work...

Well I have a ridiculous amount of jobs for a married woman with two kids.

My primary job for the last 10 years of my life has been working for Virginia Opera.  Currently I hold the title of Lighting Supervisor/Overhire Manager. Being lighting supervisor is a great job; my main task is to function as the Assistant Lighting Designer for the show and remount the production from our home in the Harrison Opera House to two sometimes three other venues! The trick is to remount the production and make it exactly the same as it was. Now you would think it would be a simple process but when you go into three different venues that are not only bigger but also are not anything like home it gets a little tricky. Different lighting positions are one of my biggest challenges. So it's like a puzzle; trying to make everything fit in a different box.  I love this job--you have no idea. I mean, it seems fairly complicated but that's what makes it exciting. I enjoy the complication and if you want to see me get excited, watch something not work out the way it was drawn on paper...oh I live for those moments! Because that's when my brain really gets to work. The end result is oh so wonderful...knowing the pain and agony leads me to the moment where I'm sitting in the back of the house and slapping myself on the back like damn girl, you've got this!
The other part of my job is more complicated, less satisfying. I also am in charge of staffing all of the crew calls...it is literally a 24/7 job. Phone calls, texts, emails...constantly trying to find people to come in to work...man it wears me down! But it's all good; it's my job.
One of the great things about working in the theatre/opera world is that the people you work with become your family inadvertently. You are with them more than your real family; you eat together, drink together, sleep together (not literally, but you know). Some of the people I work with are so dear to my heart, I don't know what I'd do with out them. My boss is one of those people, which makes life complicated and interesting. It's a balancing act to try and make that work but I think we do just fine.



Anyway job #2 is the one I'm getting ready for...delivering pizza for Pizza Hut.
I've only been working here for a few months and it's only on the weekends. But I do enjoy it. I enjoy coming home with cash in hand after delivering all night; that makes the walking, running, and angry customers worth the while. I don't know how long I'm going to keep this job. It is definitely a good one to have as a backup. I can come in when I want and work as long as I want.

Job #3 is seasonal.  I work as a Production Assistant for the Virginia Arts Festival.
Quite simply, we do setup/strike for events which could be as easy as setting up coffee or as complicated as disassembling a stage. Either way, I enjoy this job because out of all the things I do, it's the one job where I don't feel like my brain is in full over-time all the time. I work for two really awesome people over there and I get to work with an assortment of people who I have either worked with as a stagehand or have worked for me as a stagehand! I like to call VAF the all-star game of the entertainment season.

I also co-own/operate a business with my best friend Jason Tuthill and Dave Young. AndScene Productions, now officially a year old, is a production design company. We do production design/setup for movies, commercials, videos, etc. My best friend Jason is the Production Designer, Dave is the Art Director/Business Manager and I function as the Set Decorator. Our most recent project is a movie called The Possession Experiment, which I assisted in the stunts as well.  Here's a sneak peak of that project:

In my spare time (LOL), I also work as a shop electrician for Theatrical Builds, LLC, and I am the lighting consultant for Norfolk State University's Brown Hall Theatre.

Why? Why do I do all of these things?

I suppose for the most obvious reason--I'm insane. I mean, who the hell wants to do all that?

The biggest reason is because we are in a massive amount of debt. I'm not going to elaborate on how that happened. But hopefully all this hard work will help my family get out this giant hole we're in. So far, it's slow going. I mean you can accumulate debt faster than you can pay it off. But I'm hoping between all of the things I'm trying to do plus all the jobs my husband is working (he's up to three right now), eventually it will pay off.

In any case, time to put on my hat and apron and get these pizzas out. Not only is it football sunday, it's also WWE Pay-Per-View sunday...should be some good tips today!