I'm Back!

  Those who pay attention to such details will notice this is my first post since April 2010. Let me begin my return by touching upon the highlights of the last 24 plus months.....

1. I mastered the web design program, Dreamweaver; hence the new look of LaurieNienhaus.com. This effort required an extraordinary amount of cursing. I feared I was becoming a sailor.

2. Tea-A-Ria was at last put to bed after ten sold out performances. My eyebrows have at last lost the 40's look I had plucked them to.
   There are some in SW Florida who wish this farce to be brought back. That's not likely to happen despite the fact cast members continue falling into character when chancing upon one another...
 

              LEONIE

This is a tearoom! There's no cappuccino. No vino! It's tea and a scone.

    

      TOMASSO
...Guys like me, we don’t drink tea. And what’s a scone-ee?

2. A first foot surgery went a muck, necessitating a second. The magical thinking I'm known for in certain circles allowed me to believe I'd be returning home immediately post surgery after the second.  
   Upon learning this was not to be as they wheeled me into the operating room, I blossomed into full blown hysteria - never pretty, btw.
   The last thing I remember was a man's voice, presumably the anesthesiologist's, saying, "Maybe it's time to put her under."
   All is well now and my China Moon Festival  went off without a hitch, but thanks only to friends offering more help than they should ever be asked to offer!

3. I've directed two more shows, for which I wrote some of the scripts - It's a Beachy Christmas and It's a Beachy Love. There may be one more Beachy thing in me as it still tweaks me not to work in odd numbers. You can read excerpts of all these plays at: LaurieNienhaus.com/plays.html. If you follow me on Facebook, there's also an album of Tea-A-Ria images.

4. I'm at the tail end of a massive garden project requiring the relocation of well over 100 wheel barrows of sand and gravel. All moved by yours truly.
   I've moved the huge rocks serving to outline my winding bed so many times that it's a point of discussion among my neighbors. Apparently some think I find it therapeutic to occasionally re-arrange large rocks as one would furniture. There may be some truth to that.

5. I began running tea and history programs at our premier historic home here in Lee County, the Burroughs' Home. This required I create programing at a somewhat break-neck pace. Some I've incorporated into my larger speaking repertoire but others I'm not sure what to do with now. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you'd like to see this home - which is indeed haunted - visit BurroughsHome.com.

6. My third book, Steeped: The Wanderings and Delights of a Tea Adventurer, is closer than ever to completion. I swear.

  Those are the highlights folks. I've found it to be true...time is indeed a dress maker specializing in alterations (Faith Baldwin).

 
The woman you see above is my friend, Carrie Hill. She told one of the most famous of Moon Festival legends - the story of Chang O.

Focus Grasshopper

Multi-tasking has long been essential to my health and happiness. I am most comfortable when simultaneously engaging in three to five different and completely unrelated tasks.

To stop is to invite an uneasy restlessness leading to who knows what? Chocolate binging? Unnecessary clothing purchases? Fruitless pacing?

But, it has been essential that I stop multi-tasking while directing Tea-A-Ria.

Hold on a sec, I've got to finish this Dove bar...

Now where was I? Oh yes...I was talking about putting the breaks on my multi-tasking. 

It's not as if there aren't a lot of tasks to be done currently. As a matter of fact, the tasks involved in putting together a theater production clearly mimic multi-tasking. Yet as they're all geared towards achieving the same goal, you can't, in all fairness, call the process multi-tasking.

Only semantics, you say? 

Just a moment while I cut the tags from my new capris...

Be that as it may, those of us who live our lives as a web completely understand what I'm talking about. It's almost unnatural to engage in only one project.

But I knew from the get go that this is what I must do - especially as this is my directing debut. And now, we're three weeks out from our opening night! It would be madness to even consider a project not related to Tea-A-Ria.

I'm actually loving this directing thing and so don't miss the multi-tasking as much as I had feared, but I wonder...why on earth do my feet hurt so much.

A Deep Belly Laugh

I've discovered, just the other night as a matter of fact, that actors - as a group - are a volatile demographic. When you hang with them, you have to expect that sooner or later, some assortment of them will break into improv and you will be left trying your best not to...well you know what can happen once you begin laughing so hard you can barely breathe and your jaw at last begins to ache.

Part of my Tea-A-Ria cast - Ms. Donna, Ms. Carrie, and Doc Sherwood (or if you prefer - Nona Lena, Aunt Sabina, and Tomasso DeLuca) - and I went to Fred's Diner last Thursday night so they could get a feel for the place. Of course, we had to sample the available food and libations. 

It was helpful and so much fun, but never did I expect to be so mightily entertained on the way home. I'm still unsure how poor Doc Sherwood, our designated driver, could even drive the car as he was laughing so hard.

I so wish I could convey what Ms. Donna and Ms. Carrie were saying but alas, it was a moment that defies explanation.

I'll tell you this though, the healing power of deep belly laughing cannot be denied!

And just to be on the safe side, I've now seen fit to make Kegel exercises a daily part of my routine. It would surely be grossly inappropriate for the director to be seen...well, again, I think you know where I'm heading here.

Pictured above is my darling Ms. Carrie - my right arm I might add.

Doors Close, Doors Open

What's buzzin cousin? Have you been good?

Me? What have I been up to? I've been alternately sloshing about in both awe and angst, which of course, is somewhat time consuming. It also tires a dilly mightily and so I've needed a lie-down here and there during this last two weeks.

Deciding to stop producing Sweet Willa's Review was knotty. This door, once closed, is the last piece of The Ladies' Tea Guild in my life. It's the end of an era. The sands of time have shifted, the universe has tilted yet again and the world is painted in shades of bittersweet.

Give me a just moment while I gently dab at the silent tears rolling down my cheek...alrighty, that passed. It's time to leave off with this Gothic heroine malarkey! I've got work to do.

Literally within days of closing this door a number of doors opened. But the most exciting leads me back to my plays, which I had put on the back burner due to the economy.

But, it now looks as if both Tea-A-Ria and A Teatime Travesty are to be performed in Naples this summer at Fred's Diner, which by the way, is a far cry from being a diner.

And it looks as if I'll be directing! OMG! We've already formed The Paradise Players.

So back to what I've been doing exactly this past week. I've been completely immersing myself in the 1940's, the era in which Tea-A-Ria - likely to begin after Mother's Day - is set.

I can now toss out 40's slang with ease - Hi sugar, are you rationed? (Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?) I once again have a slinky in my possession (invented in the 40's), and, if needed, I can create a Victory Roll hairstyle and line my lips in maroon lip liner before the kettle comes to a boil.

For your reading pleasure, here are the opening lines from Tea-A-Ria:

LEONIE
  Good afternoon ladies. I am Leonie Palazzotto and I want to welcome you to Tea-A Ria, a tearoom where you can relax, enjoy a fine cup of tea, and a bit of old world ambiance. 

NONA LENA calls out LEONIE’S name off stage before

entering left. She is brandishing a large kitchen knife.

NONA LENA
  Leonie Palazzotto! I’ma not a cuttin the crusts offa the bread! Whoever hearda such a thing! It don’ta maka no sense!

LEONIE smiles at her guests before walking to NONA LENA. She begins indulgently but quickly falls into her Italian accent, talking louder and waving her hands for emphasis.

LEONIE
  Excuse me, ladies. Nona Lena, we’ve already discussed this. You-cut-the-crusts-off-the-bread-at-teatime! It’s just the way it’s done!

NONA LENA
  First everything has to be “bite sized”! Now this! I don’ta see how you’re gonna fill these people up!

LEONIE
(speaks indulgently as she gently nudges NONA LENA towards the kitchen)
  Nona Lena, please.  Just cut the crusts off the bread.

NONA LENA
  (to a guest)  

  Does this maka any sense to you. It’s pazzo!

 NONA LENA exits left.

LEONIE
  Pardon me, ladies. Italian don’t quite understand teatime. My Nona Lena wants to put garlic in everything. I tell her, over and over, you can’t have that much garlic at teatime!  And oh...

 

(puts her hands to her head) 

  

...the battle we had over the vincisgrassi! I say, “Nona Lena, nobody eats cinnamon scented chicken gizzards at teatime. It don’t matter if it’s in béchamel sauce!"

(smiles and shakes her head)

  

 That woman! But what are you are going to do when your Nona Lena loves you so much and only wants to help? 

(sighs) 

 Now where was I…ah, yes, tea! Today we are serving a marvelous _________. We’ll be bringing out the pots in just a moment. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be sure they're warming...

xxx

Keep your fingers crossed my friends and pray Tea-A-Ria's tag line is true...Teatime goes Italian and it might never be the same! 

It's quite amazing what the universe throws at you if you keep your head up rather than trying to duck, don't you think?

If you'd like to check out Fred's Diner, click on this link:

www.fredsdiner.com