Sweet relief!

The day we have all been living for here at TWV finally arrived--Grease opened on July 17! This means no more rehearsals, just shows each night at 8pm. Your picture of the week features Marcus in his Vince Fontaine costume. It is truly something to see. The show is a blast and the opening night audience went insane. It rained, so we had to hold curtain for an hour, but it finally stopped, so we got to do the show. When the crew went out to dry the stage, the audience cheered. We had over 1100 in the audience, including 2 busloads of Red Hat Society ladies. They sang along and danced to the music. It was a lot of fun. We do it again on Friday.

Just in time for the schedule to lighten up, the first trimester of pregnancy has ended! The morning sickness has GREATLY decreased, though the dizziness seems to be sticking around. At least we can get a normal amount of sleep now. The belly is growing, though my first trimester weight gain was only 1 pound. (Marcus's first trimester weight gain was 5 pounds.) I think I lost a little due to the morning sickness, so while I shaped up a little around the sides, the belly started to protrude. I'm pretty much exclusively in maternity pants now, mostly because they are SO comfortable!

Hope this finds everyone doing well. We should have a lot more time to go on adventures now, so we'll keep doing picture of the week!

Another week in WV

Yes, another week has passed. We lived through a rainstorm (or 8), our first rehearsals for GREASE, more morning sickness and a trip to Buns. We saw Buns advertised in a little article for Hinton, WV, a town about 20 minutes outside where we live and work. The other Lanes are staying in Hinton when they visit in August, so we thought we'd check the place out and have a nice "Homestyle lunch" as advertised at Buns. We even invited our friends Lee and Angie to join us. Now Marcus and I were expecting offerings like pinto beans and cornbread, spaghetti and meatloaf. We arrived at Buns about an hour later than expected, after being sent on a bit of a wild goose chase by a well-meaning lady at the Chamber of Commerce. We quickly realized Buns was more of a Roadhouse establishment (we were tipped off by the sign that said "bikers welcome") and not the Mom and Pop homestyle cafe we had been hoping for. As we walked into the dark, smoky room, a bartender in ridiculously short shorts greeted us. We sat at a table (we had the joint all to ourselves for the time being) and she took our drink order. Everyone was having Coke or Sprite. She brought over the 2-liter bottles and poured them for us. She then produced the menu, which was on one of those little stand-up plastic things that usually have the beer list on them in bars, and said "Here's what we got to eat...cheeseburgers and stuff." Indeed. Hamburgers. Cheeseburgers. Hot Dogs. Corn Dogs. Philly Cheesesteak. Ham Sub. We ordered our food and were joined by some locals who proceeded to have a heck of a pool tournament while playing country music on the jukebox. One of them tried to shake my hand on my way back from the bathroom (I dodged him) and proclaimed, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I like the one in the white skirt." I don't imagine he would like me at about 8 in the morning when Baby Lane decides to reject everything I've eaten in the past several hours. Anywho, our food came and we couldn't help but giggle. Our cheeseburgers were on sub rolls and were those frozen kind of hamburger patties. But they did have sassy romaine lettuce. I guess that counts for something. The best part of the experience was taking the picture you see above. That's me and Angie workin' the BUNS sign. OH, yeah.

Yee Haw

Hello, friends!
Our first week of shows is winding down here at good ol' TWV. Everyone's starting to get used to each other and the shows are falling into a good rhythm. Honey In The Rock is mercifully short. Hatfields and McCoys, the one Marcus directed, is looking pretty fantastic. Technically, it's a VERY busy show, which keeps me on my toes. We are all looking forward to our first day off in over 2 weeks, coming on Monday. Then it's back to it as we head into another full week of shows PLUS start rehearsals for GREASE on Friday! Marcus is getting up to go fishing at 6am with one of our electricians. I will be asleep. I wish them well.

Today we had lunch at a little Cajun restaurant we found a couple of towns over. It is the only Cajun restaurant in WV. It was all kinds of good! Authentic spices, tasty crawfish, excellent shrimp and great side-items. Nice job, Gumbo's of Fayette--we'll be back!

Baby Lane had an unhappy morning, pretty much rejecting anything Mommy tried to feed him/her. We perked up a little once we were fed Cajun food. I wore my pregnant pants for maximum expansion capabilities. :) For those keeping up with such things, Baby is now the size of a kidney bean. We get to hear the heartbeat on July 2!!!!!!

The picture of the week is my assistant, Megan, and I checking the props before Honey In The Rock opening night. It's has been voted the best picture taken so far this summer.

update

Hey, everyone! We finished tech for Marcus's show tonight and we are TIRED! We just finished a four-day strech of 10/12s. (For those not in the theatre, those basically mean looooong days.) Our first show opens on Tuesday, then Marcus's opens on Wednesday. We are VERY ready for them to be open so we can sleep.

On the baby front, thing are going well! My belly popped out a little overnight. It's the weirdest thing. We're 7 weeks along now and, according to babycenter.com, baby is the size of a raspberry, has elbows, organs, eyelids and a brain and can move around. And is making mommy sick as a dog. Seriously, the morning sickness can stop at any time. I've been trying my best to keep a full stomach, which helps, but sometimes it gets the better of me. Baby craves McDonald's and will not let me start my day without grease. I got sick in the middle of rehearsal this afternoon, then had a BBQ pork sandwich for dinner and actually felt better. SO STRANGE! But at least we get a cute baby out of the deal.

Here's your picture of the week. This was taken off our back deck. It's a gorgeous West Virginia rainbow after a rainfall. The red poles mark the ski slope. It is incredibly beautiful here and we have seen our fair share of wildlife. Tonight on the way home we saw a fox, 2 deer, a groundhog and something we couldn't quite identify. Tomorrow we are hoping to eat at Restaurant. That's what it's called. Restaurant. It's attached to an Exxon station. People say it's good . If it's greasy, Baby will be happy.

Greetings from West Virginia

Hello, everyone!!!
Yes, we are still alive. It took us this long to get internet. Seriously. But we are wired now and PROMISE to actually start doing "picture of the week" as soon as we find the little cord you hook up from the camera to the computer. :)

Well, a LOT has happened since we arrived in West Virginia! Our 3 bedroom condo is AMAZING! It's so weird to have all this space. We will go into culture shock when we get home to NY. Work is good. Jen Lane, who has not driven in about three years, got lost about twice a day the first week. Once Marcus got here, things got better. He drives everywhere...probably for the best. The scenery is beautiful and serene and it's SO quiet! We are also re-discovering things like seeing bunnies hop through your yard, smelling fresh-cut grass and going to Wal-Mart, where you can find anything. Really. Anything.

We moved to the park on Friday (the theatre is in a National Park) and have been doing some looooong days of spacing/singing/stage combat/gun safety and the like. Thankfully, the weather has been pretty kind. It poured on us yesterday for a few minutes, but that cooled it down, so we didn't mind. We head into tech next week, then open our first 2 shows the 12th and 13th. Then we collapse for a day before starting rehearsals for GREASE. The fun never stops!

The biggest news we have since last we wrote is that (wait for it.....wait for it...) we are going to
have a baby!!!! It's true! We found out about a week ago and went to the doctor on Thursday to get everything checked out. We're about 6 weeks along and are due on January 27. (Poor Marcus will have to live with 2 Aquarians.) We could not be more thrilled. For those who have met our neighbors, you understand that this is great timing so that we can be away from them for several months! We will, obviously, be moving as soon we get back to NYC. (everyone keep your ears open!) Our families are very excited and VERY ready to welcome the new addition. SO there you go! Surprise! We'll keep you posted on the ever-swelling belly. I kind of feel like I"ve been invaded by a sweet little alien. And I can't eat bell peppers anymore. Pregnancy is weird.

Hope all's well in your corner of the world!
Jen, Marcus and Baby Lane :)

Greetin's from WV

Thought we got lost, didn't you!?!?! We are here! (well, I'm here, Marcus arrives at11 tonight) Internet access is almost non-existent right now. Something is wrong with our cable connection, so until that is fixed, no wireless in the condo. AAAAAAAAAAAAH! And yes, I"m losing my mind without it. I get about 15 mins. a day on a computer in the office. Fortunately, the guys in the big ski house the company rented have internet now, so I can come down here.

ANYWAY...West Virginia is absolutely beautiful! I've never seen so many hills. And it is COLD! It actually sleeted a little today. I could live without that! The condo is great. 3 bedrooms, very cozy. Great view off the back porch. Yesterday I saw a bunny out there and then looked up to see a gorgeous rainbow in the sky! At the theatre site yesterday (in a Nat'l Park, by the way) I saw a beaver. Good times.

This has been pre-production week, so the tech staff and my assistant, Megan, and I have been hard at work getting things ready for the first rehearsal on Monday. I'm looking forward to meeting the actors and getting started on rehearsals. I promise to post a picture as soon as I can use my own computer to get online. I have some beautiful nature shots and some cool ones of the theatre spaces. I also have some cute ones of baby Adam. :)

Hope all's well with everyone!
jen

T-Minus 1 week!

Our time of departure is creeping up on us QUICKLY! We realized last night (then we panicked a little) that 1 week from tonight, we leave! Marcus will be back to teach another few days of classes before re-joining me in WV for the remainder of the summer, but A WEEK, y'all! The apartment, while cleaner than it's ever been, is unbelievably cluttered. There are piles everywhere. Books we need, research for the shows, my stage management kit and such. And there's still so much to do. Get the mail forwarded. Get haircuts. Pack clothes! AAAAH! I kind of gave it all to Jesus last night and accepted the fact that everyone there will probably be wearing the same 6 shirts all summer, so I'm going to try REALLY hard not to over-pack. I can always go to the mall or the super Wal Mart when we get there and grab a couple of t-shirts. The interesting part of my packing will be my dress for Meredith's wedding. Driving down with it will be a snap--it can hang in the back. I'm still figuring out what to do with it on the plane to Alabama.

Ok, back to it! Keep your eye on our blog for lots of pictures and info about West Virginia coming soon!!!

Oh, and for the Adam fans out there, we'll be stopping through Springfield to visit the other Lanes on our way to WV next week, so I'm sure between Grandma Claudia and me, we'll be armed with a whole new bunch of cute baby pictures!!