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Summer Fun ‘n’ Suds

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

Part I

Hi, friends!

Now, I know I have not been good about my blog this summer. And I know that title makes it sound like I just opened either a bar or a laundromat or something. Ah, no. But you’ll see. For not working full-time, I’ve remained unbelievably busy! A few folks have asked me about the good ol’ blog lately, so I thought I’d try to keep up with myself more often and get an update out into cyberspace for inquiring minds: My lovely, loyal listeners. All three of you. (Just kidding. In fact, in recent months, this site has somehow drawn over 3000 hits a month and climbing, so thanks for that!) Not that I haven’t felt the urge to write a whole bunch. You know me, my mind’s always workin’. Yet any one of a variety of things always comes up to require attention.

So what have I been doing this summer? It feels like…mostly…laundry.

Yes, it’s hot! It seems that everything I’ve done in the last several months has been very sweaty. (Don’t get the wrong idea, now.) Heck, in Chicago, just walking to catch the el in these hot months can drench you. But seriously, I’ve been having a blast.

First off, I was in the Glenview Theatre Guild’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain.” After ending my 13-year absence from musical theatre last year with “Fiddler on the Roof” with my hometown community theatre company, I couldn’t resist coming back. That means there’s been a lot of tap dancing this summer, starting in March with challenging but fun refresher dance classes, then in April with rehearsals. Lots of cardio with tap dancing; you’d be surprised. And a very big-budget show for community theatre. No little “step touch, step touch” for this group. In other words, we tapped our tushes (and toes) off!

In the final three weeks or so leading up to opening night, you’re on stage pretty much every night for several hours at a time, step-scuff-hop-step-step-shuf-fle -ball-changing. Polishing it up so you look graceful and effortless while trying not to get bumped by whoever becomes a whirling dervish next to you; trying to keep from getting spit on by someone singing to the rafters; and re-acquainting yourself with smiling while coordinating your eyes, arms, feet, and bod with everyone else’s. “Must avoid falling lamp-post set piece.” “Must dance around ever-present water leak on stage right.” In a snazzy flapper dress (which actually was a highlight). Or some gawd-awful Pepto-pink sateen dress in a showgirl number that some of us dancers felt made us look more like the Golden Girls than Ziegfeld Girls. And oh-so-breathable. (Not.) Let’s not forget racing like a marathoner back down to the makeup room to blot, touch up, curl, or run back up the other side for a quick change in two minutes backstage for your next scene! With 30 other adrenalined-out people buzzing around, too.

See? Sweaty. Like the radio biz, people think the theatre is also so “glamorous.” Ha. Neither are in actuality, and theatre’s probably dirtier! In a three-weekend production, the grubby rehearsal clothes, panty hose, dance briefs and other unmentionables just had to be soaked or washed regularly or I couldn’t bear it. Can you imagine the folks on Broadway who do this, eight shows a week, for a living? Their water bills must be ridiculous. Now, we wouldn’t put up with it if we didn’t love the stage. And I hate laundry. But…when it’s done…just like Paul’s dad in “A Hard Day’s Night,” I like to be “very clean.” Ahhhh.

Part II

After “Singin’ in the Rain” ended, and I thought I’d have clean clothes for an extended period of time before the next regular wash, I decided to return to another passion I developed last year: Bikram yoga. “Sweat” is an understatement! Did I mention, despite these activities, that it’s absolutely at the bottom of my list of favorite summer things in Chicago to walk around in sweltering, oppressive humidity? Well, in this “hot yoga” class, that’s about the only place I’ll tolerate it. It’s good for ya.

If you’re not aware of what goes on, it’s a 90-minute class of 26 postures, each done twice in a row in a series, in 105-degree heat and roughly 40 percent humidity. You feel it in the first three classes or so, thinking “what the f— have I gotten myself into? There are so many other useful things I could be doing with my time than shvitzing in this sauna of a room.” You want to die. Or at least lay down. Which you can, and should, if needed. How many workouts can say that?!?

After a while, you start to welcome that rush of warm, moist air when you walk into the yoga room at a Bikram yoga studio. You’re dripping within the first 10 minutes in there. The first 55 minutes consist of standing postures, followed by 25 minutes of floor postures. In between the standing and floor postures, then between nearly each floor pose until the end of class, are mandatory minutes, or sometimes mere seconds, of “savasana” poses. It means “dead body” pose, which essentially means you lay down, motionless (like your life depended on it, which it kinda does in this case), calm your breath and rest.

The poses are rarely demonstrated, but explicitly described by teachers who have endured nine weeks of training with posture clinics, dialogue memorization (movement instruction), and up to three yoga classes a day by Bikram Choudury himself, the creator of this theory and series of traditional basic–yep, basic–yoga postures. You watch yourself in a mirror, and if you’re new, watch those in front of you until you get the hang of things. Pretty impressive way to run a workout, actually. “Why do you need to calm your breath in yoga class,” you ask? Because it’s so darn hot in there you literally barely move, yet it’s TOTAL cardio! Your heart pounds like you’re racing horses in the Kentucky Derby…next to them on foot, not on their backs.

There are pages upon pages of testimonials and controversy about this yoga to read on the internet. I’m happy to report that I’ve found that it has been good for me. I tried it for the first time about a year and a half ago, and lost six pounds and a jeans size in the first six weeks or so of consistent class, which means at least three times a week. I continued for about six months but then got into other things, went to class very sporadically, picked it up in winter briefly, then again just a few weeks back. It also can get pricey if you’re really serious.

I’ve recommitted myself! The story goes, if you have weight to lose, you will lose it, so that’s the first thing you notice with consistent practice. The heat and “tourniquette effect” of this series of poses increases flexibility and detoxifies the body, from the lymph, nervous, muscular and adrenaline systems to the very blood rushing through you. If it weren’t for the passionate, educated urging of your teacher, shouting “lock the knee, lock the knee! Suck your stomach in! You’re flushing out the bad stuff and pushing fresh, oxygenated blood throughout your whole body!” you’d seriously think everyone in class is nuts for spending 90 minutes in this hardwood-floored, mirrored sweat lodge. But soon you notice that your lung capacity has increased, your posture has improved, you crave different, healthier foods, and you’re shrinking up because the nutrients are being absorbed in your body more efficiently and, therefore, the fat is burning off more efficiently, too. Neat, huh? Must-come-back…

Then class ends, you change, go home, shower, breathe deep, and relax…and have to hang your workout clothes and towels to dry and re-use a couple of times, or throw them right into the…yep, you guessed it: Laundry! Oh yeah, if you’re going to pursue this kind of class, you’ll need skimpy but comfortable workout clothes, a beach towel so you don’t slip on your mat, a hand towel to soak up the results of your sweatbox detox to keep you comfy and to hold the grips, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, before, during, and after class!

Challenging, but good times, seriously. By the way, ironically, I didn’t lose a pound in all those weeks of hoofing in “Singin’ in the Rain” this summer, but got back to Bikram for the past three weeks and have already lost a couple.

Part III

My final sweaty summer story will be brief, mostly because I’m bound by a confidentiality agreement. I was a background performer (otherwise known as an “extra”) on the current Chicago shoot of the new “Batman” film installment, set to come out next summer. Since it’s common knowledge on the ‘net that certain actors are shooting this film, I can say it was just plain neat to be on set in the middle of the night in the middle of the Loop, with Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhardt, and Gary Oldman mere feet from me, waiting for the director, cameramen, and hundreds of crew to set up the scene. I loved checking out Heath’s character makeup, being a sometime stage-makeup artist myself. They look like regular folks when they’re standing on the pavement right in front of you, as opposed to looking larger-than-life up there on a movie screen.

What’s so hot about that you ask? (Other than Heath, that is. Tee hee.) It was about 90 degrees at night that week, and let’s just say we were dressed for a different season. When you’re shlepped on foot for several blocks around their production “camp” around downtown Chicago, to wardrobe and props and to holding and back, not dressed for summer, well, after our eight-hour overnight shoot, I peeled everything off me, wrung it out and went to bed around 8am the next day. The next night would have been more of the same but they decided they didn’t need to shoot with us after we arrived, and sent us home after an hour. I didn’t even work, yet after only an hour downtown had to chisel off my gunked-up makeup and peel off the clothes at home, again! Bleck. See, and unless I’m doing Bikram yoga, it totally grosses me out. I think that’s all of the nifty observations I should reveal until the movie comes out. All things considered, the other extras were cool people to hang with for a couple nights, making it an all-around fun experience.

So you see, it really has been a busy summer. And a hot one. Apologies again for such a long time between entries. I’ve of course been busy filling in a lot at 100.3 LoveFM, going to street fests with friends, partied it up at my favorite festival of peace, love and music–the Fest for Beatles Fans–last weekend, and have tried to hit the beach and the pool a bit (some of which activities require more laundry than others, especially with the wacky thermostat that’s a requisite fixture in every radio studio I’ve ever worked in). And signing on with new agents, dealing with yet another hard-drive crash–talk about getting your blood boiling–and researching other fun freelance gigs. And trying to stay cool. And clean.

I may not have to hit the suds for a while now…unless I’m in a bar. Or unless the “Batman” people call me back to work. They’re here til the end of the month. Stay cool, everybody!

Musical selections for today: “Heatwave,” Martha and the Vandellas, “A Hard Day’s Night,” the Beatles!