A busy day. I get to the MGM just barely in time. There’s so much construction going on in Vegas that traffic can be horrendous. It doesn’t help that my car has started to overheat. It doesn’t like the 114 degree weather any more than I do.
I make my way to the airbag in the house and it’s a great session. Though I don’t go up to the second level again, I do the face drop fall from the railing a few times. At the end of it, Paul tells me that I’m officially done with airbag training. He is clearing me!!!! WOOHOO! I might try to do the second level again at some point but I have to say that it’s a relief to be considered sufficiently competent enough to move on.
I change into my costume as quickly as possible for storm training. I’m happy to discover that the exercises I’ve been doing to strengthen my grip have really paid off. I have no problem gripping the rails and holding on during the “Big Wave”. I learn the routine and we run it a few times. Here are some photos that Gail took of the training session:
And a final close-up:
After training, Paul tells me that he’ll likely try to get me validated for Storm on my next training, which might be the week that I get back from Montreal. It will be a real victory but since I can’t do Storm until I’m validated for Pageant (since we go right onto the boat from the Pageant scene), it won’t mean an immediate appearance in the show. Still, it’s been a good couple of days in terms of feeling like I’ll be in the show soon.
On a side note, I’ve learned that the hard leather boobs on the Nanny’s apron serve a similar function as a good luck talisman in a sports arena. Very few can resist the urge to briefly (or sometimes not so briefly) fondle them. Of course, I’ve got so much padding on that I can’t feel a thing but it’s pretty funny to be greeted this way when I’m in costume.
It would take too much time to take my costume off to make it to stretch class (which is enjoyable but optional) so I decide to practice the fan dance while I’m still in costume. I do better than I expected and am really pleased – though it’s interesting how the costume changes my movement. It’s so bulky and the apron is such a hard leather that I can’t move as freely as I’m used to moving. I do struggle with two of the moves – mainly trying to figure out how not to get tangled up in the long sleeve panels that I only wear in the opening scene. Before the show, Gail is able to show me how she navigates the sleeves for those moves and I’m looking forward to working on it.
I watch the show as normal and don’t ride on the Tatami deck so that I can watch Storm on the monitor. As expected, Gail’s moves become even clearer to me now that I’ve done it.
There is one more “first” worth mentioning. Noami, one of the stage managers, is leaving KA to be an SM for the new Elvis show. Tomorrow is her last night but cast and crew head out after the second show to send her off. I grab a quick bite to eat from home during the second show then head out to join them at Sedona, a cool bar about eight miles from the Strip. I’m really glad for the chance (my first opportunity) to socialize outside the show and I get several comments about me in a dress. It makes sense. They’ve only seen me in workout clothes (which is an outfit that few of my LA friends have seen me in) or in my Nanny costume (which is not sexy despite the large boobs).
Jeana is a classically trained actress who hails from Los Angeles where she lives with her husband (actor Scott Dawson) and two cats. She has appeared in countless theatre productions with many esteemed companies such as the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum and Grove Theatre Center. Jeana has also appeared on television in Saving Grace (opposite Holly Hunter), NBC's critically acclaimed Journeyman and the long running medical drama Strong Medicine. 
awesome! you are really moving along. so excited to see the pix too!