My life in Sharon CT

So since May 14th I have been at TriArts Sharon Playhouse in Sharon CT. Sharon is a very small town about two hours north of New York City on the NY/ CT border. When I say small town, I mean it. Sharon boasts a pharmacy, a gas station, two resturants, a radio station, a hospital and a volunteer fire station. It also has a library and 2 vets. You may notice it does not boast a grocery store. It doesn't have one.

The people who live here do not lock doors. Car doors and house doors are left open and keys are routinely left on the dashboard. Apparently they have no crime.

They do however have views, lakes, nature and wildlife. Also- small town charm.

My job here in Sharon CT is to work as the Company Manager for the TriArts Sharon Playhouse. This is a theatre that is working on a Guest Contact Tier III, which means that some of their actors are local, two are equity (per show) and the rest are working professionals from NYC and the surrounding area. My job is to make sure that each out of towner has housing, transportation to and from the theatre, and access to the grocery store at least twice a week. I also make a couple trips to the train station so that they can go home for their day off (Monday) and I deal with any other issues that they have with their housing or transportation.

Most of the actors are from NYC and Sharon is a little bit of a culture shock. There is very little cell phone reception, no street lamps and things seem far away from each other. To get to the grocery store you have to drive 15 minutes into Amenia NY. To get to a CVS or McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts you have to drive 15 to 20 minutes to Millerton. For people who are used to being plugged in and surrounded by people it can be quite a change.

During the summer I will house over 20 actors in various types of housing for varying lengths of time. People donate time in their guest houses, a room in their home, we will be in a private school dorm- all kinds of homes. Most of the peformers will be committed to a 6 week schedule with 3 weeks of rehearsal and 3 weeks of performance. We will also host band concerts, a divas show and other types of entertainment. I also make sure that the production staff of 20 are comfortable and happy in their dorm style on site housing.

It should be interesting. I'll keep you posted.

That is if I don't go postal.

Onward, at least.

Sharon CT in Pictures

 

Graveyard near my host house.

The view from behind the graveyard.  This is basically the view from my back window as well.

My favorite kind of rooster- a silent one

 

A beautiful set of flowers out my back window.

Addresses

I'm in CT for the summer. If you need to send me mail or anything here is my current address.

Mail-
Shelley Laabs C/o TriArts Sharon Playhouse
PO Box 1187
Sharon CT 06069

UPS/ FedEx/ DHL-
Shelley Laabs c/o TriArts Sharon Playhouse
49 Amenia Rd
Sharon CT 06069

Are you joking?

Saturday night Ryan and I got engaged.

Seriously- we aren't kidding.

He took me out to dinner across the street to this fancy outdoor cafe we have been eying for months, and then to Avenue Q. Since he has been promising me the show since I agreed to move to NYC with him this did not set off any alarm bells. After Avenue Q we took the subway back up to Columbia and went for a walk around campus. There is a section of campus that has been built on an overpass over Amsterdam. It has grass and several beautiful sculptures. From that location you can see up and down Amsterdam for around 10 or so blocks in either direction. We have been up there several times in the past few months so this didn't set off any alarm bells either.

We sat down to watch the traffic and Ryan asked me if I would marry him.

After 7 years of dating I assumed he was joking. I told him that if he was joking it was the meanest joke anyone had ever played on me.

Apparently he wasn't joking because he produced a ring box containing a beautiful platinum band with a round cut diamond that he had made with the assistance of a NYC jeweler. When that still didn't satisfy me he produced an M&M bag full of "will you marry me" candies. Somewhere in there I said "yes" and we proceeded to enjoy being engaged and start trying to call our parents.

For Ryan's POV (and pictures) check out his blog at lametexpatriot.blogspot.com.

Onward and Upward.

June, July and August

This summer I will be working in Sharon NY at TriArts Sharon Playhouse as the Company Manager. I will be living in the production house and working across the street at the offices. I will be in charge of housing, travel, and making sure all AEA housing rules are followed. I will also assist the PM and the ExDir on anything they need help with.

This will continue until Sept 1st when I hopefully have a short break before working on my next top secret project.

I will promise to try to keep you updated over the summer.

Onward and Upward

Showcase in Syracuse

Friday we did our show for the last time.

Sorta.

We sorta did our show. Friday we had a Showcase in Syracuse NY at a Middle School. I say sort of because we only did 15 minutes. We loaded in around 7am, watched a few of the other shows and then reconvened around 10:10 to get ready for our 10:50 show. At 10:55 we performed the first 15 minutes of Max and Ruby to a bunch of 6th and 7th graders and potential sponsors.

Then we loaded our during the next couple acts and drove back to NYC.

Basically we spent 2 hours loading in and out for 15 minutes of performance.

Crazy-

Onward and Upward

Getting to the end of the road...

Our tour is almost over. Here are some pictures from our last two shows. These were some of the first shows with Ethan and he did a great job. His energy is really high and he and Lauren play off each other quite well.

Currently we are in Syracuse NY for a Showcase at Roxboro MS. We will do 15 minutes from the top of the show to right after Cowboy Max. It will be very weird to not continue the show and the shortened version being our last one leaves me slightly unfullfilled. Probably because we still have to load in and out almost the entire show.