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Thursday at Epic Universe again.
Today we had Warner Bros. "audits," which only meant that a lot of execs were at our first show specifically to review it and give feedback. Some of us were likely quivering in our boots, but ultimately only three of us would perform, and they of course chose Mariah (trombone), Adam (trumpet), and Adrian (clarinet). They're the preferred group, so we call them "the PR trio."
This was our first time seeing Mariah in costume and she ROCKED it. Especially the hat, now that I've worked at a hat shop I can see that the shape of it suits her face shape very well. Mariah is black, and the color of the suit is flattering against her skin tone. I was a bit jealous but costumes can't suit everyone who wears them, and this one is totally meant for her!
The PR Trio did all of the shows, all day. Which makes sense...why make costumes drag ALL of our costumes out, or put us ALL in makeup? But the rest of us sadly ended up doing nearly nothing all day. Yes we were paid, but it felt awkward that three of us were doing all the work and six of us were just sort of sitting around reviewing lines and blocking. I should appreciate the down time; we will get our turn.
(Fun fact: this happens in orchestra/theater pits as well, usually during rehearsals when actors and lighting/techs get bogged down in rehearsing stuff and forget that there are ten people below the stage who have done nothing for four hours. So it isn't uncommon or exclusive to Universal, performance arts just be that way sometimes.)
(The Epic Universe ad that aired during the Super Bowl)
After lunch we had a really exciting event: we got to see the stage show, Le Cirque Arcanus!!
(photo courtesy allears.net)
It was INCREDIBLE. I mean...here is where Disney is going to be strapped to come up with something that can compete. As usual I daren't share details, but the technology and staging and animatronics and puppetry and visuals and live performers, all coming together in this show, are STUNNING. I've never seen anything like it. You could actually believe you were watching wizarding magic being performed right in front of you. Really REALLY grateful that they let us see it today. Once the park is open we probably won't get another chance.
After that there was one more show, and we were pretty much done for the day.
I hadn't gotten to play my frankenbone other than to warm up, but Andrea is willing to use it as well since she also doesn't want her personal trombone to be used with our prop. Therefore I left Frankenbone in the green room tucked in a corner, and it will live there for any of us to use as needed, with our own mouthpieces of course and cleaning it regularly.
Before leaving today Mariah and I made a point to have a little photoshoot at the Epic Universe countdown clock.
We were denied a full-cast photo here last week, but Universal has since backtracked on that decision and started allowing pics here. It looks like it's too late for a full-cast photo now since too many people will be missing, so we figured at least we could get individual shots.
Just me, with the timeclock and wearing my Epic badge.
Mariah and I cheesing together:
Back home I packed meals as usual, practiced bass trombone, did a load of laundry, then got a bug up my butt to do more since Jameson was out watching our friend Lea perform in a show. After laundry I washed and changed our bedsheets, memorized some Disney music, and scrubbed the shower with a horrifically smelly bleach-based cleaner that Reddit says is the absolute best but warned me to ventilate to the extreme. Even with the vent fan on in the bathroom my eyes and throat were burning, so I had to open the door out to the pool deck and hold my breath while scrubbing away. Florida is very humid and mold and mildew reappear so quickly no matter how hard I scrub. When I was finished it really did look better, but I can only handle suffocating like that maybe 2-3 times a year. So it had better keep the mold away for a long time.
When Jameson got home I told him of my doings and we went right to bed.
Almost forgot, Andrea, the third female trombonist at Epic, got me an Easter gig! Usually I do the cathedral downtown in Orlando but they haven't asked yet. I'm grateful that she asked me :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday and another day at Epic. This time I was the one in costume and performing sets, which is good because I want the practice and also PR trio needs a break after they did all of the shows yesterday!
Our first set was canceled partly because @bioreconstruct was back, circling in his chartered helicopter. Now that previews are happening the park and everyone in it are behaving as though it's open for business, so there are people in costume and interactives and performances happening all over. There are still a lot of things that Universal wants to keep secret until the big reveal, and we are one of those things. So we ducked under an archway and waited, and waited. Additionally, there was a malfunction with our entrance door that probably ultimately led to the cancellation.
The rest of our sets went very well. We are getting used to working with our prop, interacting, and even the new changes that we've just learned in the past few days. I am getting used to how the costume feels, and learning how long it takes to get in and out of costume/makeup each day. And my "frankenbone," although it's not as fun to play as my own horn, will work for this show.
You know, I think we might be ready to do real shows! It feels like just yesterday we were panicking about memorizing our music. Time flies.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Before our last set of the day, we were given something really special.
Our 3rd party boss had us get out of costume, then took us into the park.
He took us to our performance spot.
I wasn't sure what was happening, but he looked SO EXCITED.
Cosme Acajor's wand shop is right next to our performance space...
(Image from Harry Potter Fandom Wiki)
With a huge smile, he opened the door to the wand shop and said, "Go on in....pick out your wands!"
That's right: they bought us our very own wands today!!!!
(The nine never-before-released wand options at Cosme Acajor.)
It was overwhelming, suddenly faced with the very personal choice of which wand is "meant" for you! And there were so many to choose from. Cosme's new-release wands are displayed beautifully in the shop, each one on an ornate stand and bearing a description of materials and personal characteristics that may be a good match for the wand. In addition to these, there are character wands "imported" from Ollivander's (Harry's wand, Newt Scamander's, Snape's, Dumbledore's, Death Eater wands, etc) available for purchase. The Ollivander's wands are sold in rectangular boxes, and the Cosme wands in triangles ("prisms.")
After gawking like a tourist I just started popping open boxes to see what the wands looked like, because there were at least 20 different Ollivander's wands to choose from. I was tempted by Skender's wand as it's circus-related, but he was a bad guy known for chaining up animals so decided against. Tempted also by the Cosme black-and-silver Deco wand (the one that I'd thought suited my show character) but it had ultimately been designated to the clarinets' character, so I passed on that too. My character's wand, incidentally, was nowhere to be seen in the shop, but if I want to go get it I've got a gift receipt and could do an exchange.
In the moment and a little overwhelmed by choice, I decided to a) look for a wand that suited me as opposed to my park character, and b) strongly consider the Cosme wands as they are the ones that are actually from the "world" where I'm working. I did in fact end up with a Cosme wand, and although I felt a little dubious about it at the time, the more I look at it the more appropriate it seems.
Can you guess which of the nine Cosme wands I chose?
When we had all checked out we thanked our boss profusely. These wands are not cheap, and they are beautiful, and the fact that he was able to arrange for us to own one even though we are 3rd party is incredibly generous and kind. I am not a Wizarding World fan, but very much appreciate the gesture and having a memento of my time here at Epic Universe, however long that turns out to be.
With that, we performed our final set, got out of costume, and headed home.
On the way out we took a group photo in front of the time clock. Not everyone was present but it was still really nice.
Congrats on making it to Preview Week, everyone!
Some folks went to Top Golf for a fun night out, but I have so much to do that I had to pass.
Instead, Whole Paycheck for salmon dinner ingredients, then home to unpack and tell Jameson about my exciting day.
Practicing trombone, receiving a new transcription job, and making plans for my days off before going to bed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Up early but spent a lot of time responding to social media messages, as I've just shared that I'm working at Epic publicly for the first time. Everyone has a zillion questions about the new park, which isn't surprising but is a bit annoying when anyone could google the basic info....well anyway.
After that I had my tax meeting, and found out that I'll be breaking even this year, which is just fine by me.
Then made the dill sauce for salmon tonight, and decided to make some carrot cake muffins using leftover matchstick carrots. I used Half-Baked Harvest's recipe, which is semi-healthy and she has you drop a cube of cream cheese into the center of each muffin which should be lovely. I made them today because Jameson is going to a Savannah Bananas baseball game tomorrow with his friend Hannah, and they have to leave early, and I figure they could take some muffins with them to enjoy on the drive :)
Then lunch, and cleaning up from that took a little while so by the time I sat down to do more transcription it was already 2pm. For dinner I made sous vide salmon with dill sauce, creamy lemon orzo, and roasted asparagus. It turned out quite good.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, up early after a crummy sleep to do transcription.
Jameson got up shortly after, and his friend Hannah came to the house so they could leave for the Savannah Bananas game in Miami together. It's 8 hours round-trip driving, so I packed them some muffins to go with their other snacks and they left around 10am.
After they were gone I had quite the productive Alone Day:
- About 2 hours of transcription
- 1 hour trombone practice
- Packing meals, clothes, and equipment for Epic tomorrow
- Vacuumed, dusted, and mopped, which took quite a long time as I haven't done it in a while and was very thorough about it
- Shopped for misc things like Tupperware to replace ones that broke recently, new underwear, and random household supplies
- Shopped for crummy trombones on Goodwill so we'd have more than one at Epic (why I'm the one who has to do this is beyond me, but whatever)
By the time all of that was done it was 5pm, so made myself leftovers and a cup of tea and enjoyed typing this post and a little down time.
Tomorrow will be a very early Epic day, but Dwight is gone again so I think it'll just be our sets and hopefully ending at 4pm instead of 6pm. Also, I'm going to start bass trombone lessons this week! Excited and nervous, but looking forward to getting better at the bass trombone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: An Epic-Disney sandwich, with two Epic days flanking a Disney day. I'll be bringing my transcription work with me too.
Thursday: The first of FOUR WHOLE DAYS OFF IN A ROW. I'll finish transcription, do more household stuff, take my first bass trombone lessons, and cook us some nice meals.
Today we had Warner Bros. "audits," which only meant that a lot of execs were at our first show specifically to review it and give feedback. Some of us were likely quivering in our boots, but ultimately only three of us would perform, and they of course chose Mariah (trombone), Adam (trumpet), and Adrian (clarinet). They're the preferred group, so we call them "the PR trio."
This was our first time seeing Mariah in costume and she ROCKED it. Especially the hat, now that I've worked at a hat shop I can see that the shape of it suits her face shape very well. Mariah is black, and the color of the suit is flattering against her skin tone. I was a bit jealous but costumes can't suit everyone who wears them, and this one is totally meant for her!
The PR Trio did all of the shows, all day. Which makes sense...why make costumes drag ALL of our costumes out, or put us ALL in makeup? But the rest of us sadly ended up doing nearly nothing all day. Yes we were paid, but it felt awkward that three of us were doing all the work and six of us were just sort of sitting around reviewing lines and blocking. I should appreciate the down time; we will get our turn.
(Fun fact: this happens in orchestra/theater pits as well, usually during rehearsals when actors and lighting/techs get bogged down in rehearsing stuff and forget that there are ten people below the stage who have done nothing for four hours. So it isn't uncommon or exclusive to Universal, performance arts just be that way sometimes.)
(The Epic Universe ad that aired during the Super Bowl)
After lunch we had a really exciting event: we got to see the stage show, Le Cirque Arcanus!!
(photo courtesy allears.net)
It was INCREDIBLE. I mean...here is where Disney is going to be strapped to come up with something that can compete. As usual I daren't share details, but the technology and staging and animatronics and puppetry and visuals and live performers, all coming together in this show, are STUNNING. I've never seen anything like it. You could actually believe you were watching wizarding magic being performed right in front of you. Really REALLY grateful that they let us see it today. Once the park is open we probably won't get another chance.
After that there was one more show, and we were pretty much done for the day.
I hadn't gotten to play my frankenbone other than to warm up, but Andrea is willing to use it as well since she also doesn't want her personal trombone to be used with our prop. Therefore I left Frankenbone in the green room tucked in a corner, and it will live there for any of us to use as needed, with our own mouthpieces of course and cleaning it regularly.
Before leaving today Mariah and I made a point to have a little photoshoot at the Epic Universe countdown clock.
We were denied a full-cast photo here last week, but Universal has since backtracked on that decision and started allowing pics here. It looks like it's too late for a full-cast photo now since too many people will be missing, so we figured at least we could get individual shots.
Just me, with the timeclock and wearing my Epic badge.
Mariah and I cheesing together:
Back home I packed meals as usual, practiced bass trombone, did a load of laundry, then got a bug up my butt to do more since Jameson was out watching our friend Lea perform in a show. After laundry I washed and changed our bedsheets, memorized some Disney music, and scrubbed the shower with a horrifically smelly bleach-based cleaner that Reddit says is the absolute best but warned me to ventilate to the extreme. Even with the vent fan on in the bathroom my eyes and throat were burning, so I had to open the door out to the pool deck and hold my breath while scrubbing away. Florida is very humid and mold and mildew reappear so quickly no matter how hard I scrub. When I was finished it really did look better, but I can only handle suffocating like that maybe 2-3 times a year. So it had better keep the mold away for a long time.
When Jameson got home I told him of my doings and we went right to bed.
Almost forgot, Andrea, the third female trombonist at Epic, got me an Easter gig! Usually I do the cathedral downtown in Orlando but they haven't asked yet. I'm grateful that she asked me :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday and another day at Epic. This time I was the one in costume and performing sets, which is good because I want the practice and also PR trio needs a break after they did all of the shows yesterday!
Our first set was canceled partly because @bioreconstruct was back, circling in his chartered helicopter. Now that previews are happening the park and everyone in it are behaving as though it's open for business, so there are people in costume and interactives and performances happening all over. There are still a lot of things that Universal wants to keep secret until the big reveal, and we are one of those things. So we ducked under an archway and waited, and waited. Additionally, there was a malfunction with our entrance door that probably ultimately led to the cancellation.
The rest of our sets went very well. We are getting used to working with our prop, interacting, and even the new changes that we've just learned in the past few days. I am getting used to how the costume feels, and learning how long it takes to get in and out of costume/makeup each day. And my "frankenbone," although it's not as fun to play as my own horn, will work for this show.
You know, I think we might be ready to do real shows! It feels like just yesterday we were panicking about memorizing our music. Time flies.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Before our last set of the day, we were given something really special.
Our 3rd party boss had us get out of costume, then took us into the park.
He took us to our performance spot.
I wasn't sure what was happening, but he looked SO EXCITED.
Cosme Acajor's wand shop is right next to our performance space...
(Image from Harry Potter Fandom Wiki)
With a huge smile, he opened the door to the wand shop and said, "Go on in....pick out your wands!"
That's right: they bought us our very own wands today!!!!
(The nine never-before-released wand options at Cosme Acajor.)
It was overwhelming, suddenly faced with the very personal choice of which wand is "meant" for you! And there were so many to choose from. Cosme's new-release wands are displayed beautifully in the shop, each one on an ornate stand and bearing a description of materials and personal characteristics that may be a good match for the wand. In addition to these, there are character wands "imported" from Ollivander's (Harry's wand, Newt Scamander's, Snape's, Dumbledore's, Death Eater wands, etc) available for purchase. The Ollivander's wands are sold in rectangular boxes, and the Cosme wands in triangles ("prisms.")
After gawking like a tourist I just started popping open boxes to see what the wands looked like, because there were at least 20 different Ollivander's wands to choose from. I was tempted by Skender's wand as it's circus-related, but he was a bad guy known for chaining up animals so decided against. Tempted also by the Cosme black-and-silver Deco wand (the one that I'd thought suited my show character) but it had ultimately been designated to the clarinets' character, so I passed on that too. My character's wand, incidentally, was nowhere to be seen in the shop, but if I want to go get it I've got a gift receipt and could do an exchange.
In the moment and a little overwhelmed by choice, I decided to a) look for a wand that suited me as opposed to my park character, and b) strongly consider the Cosme wands as they are the ones that are actually from the "world" where I'm working. I did in fact end up with a Cosme wand, and although I felt a little dubious about it at the time, the more I look at it the more appropriate it seems.
Can you guess which of the nine Cosme wands I chose?
When we had all checked out we thanked our boss profusely. These wands are not cheap, and they are beautiful, and the fact that he was able to arrange for us to own one even though we are 3rd party is incredibly generous and kind. I am not a Wizarding World fan, but very much appreciate the gesture and having a memento of my time here at Epic Universe, however long that turns out to be.
With that, we performed our final set, got out of costume, and headed home.
On the way out we took a group photo in front of the time clock. Not everyone was present but it was still really nice.
Congrats on making it to Preview Week, everyone!
Some folks went to Top Golf for a fun night out, but I have so much to do that I had to pass.
Instead, Whole Paycheck for salmon dinner ingredients, then home to unpack and tell Jameson about my exciting day.
Practicing trombone, receiving a new transcription job, and making plans for my days off before going to bed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Up early but spent a lot of time responding to social media messages, as I've just shared that I'm working at Epic publicly for the first time. Everyone has a zillion questions about the new park, which isn't surprising but is a bit annoying when anyone could google the basic info....well anyway.
After that I had my tax meeting, and found out that I'll be breaking even this year, which is just fine by me.
Then made the dill sauce for salmon tonight, and decided to make some carrot cake muffins using leftover matchstick carrots. I used Half-Baked Harvest's recipe, which is semi-healthy and she has you drop a cube of cream cheese into the center of each muffin which should be lovely. I made them today because Jameson is going to a Savannah Bananas baseball game tomorrow with his friend Hannah, and they have to leave early, and I figure they could take some muffins with them to enjoy on the drive :)
Then lunch, and cleaning up from that took a little while so by the time I sat down to do more transcription it was already 2pm. For dinner I made sous vide salmon with dill sauce, creamy lemon orzo, and roasted asparagus. It turned out quite good.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, up early after a crummy sleep to do transcription.
Jameson got up shortly after, and his friend Hannah came to the house so they could leave for the Savannah Bananas game in Miami together. It's 8 hours round-trip driving, so I packed them some muffins to go with their other snacks and they left around 10am.
After they were gone I had quite the productive Alone Day:
- About 2 hours of transcription
- 1 hour trombone practice
- Packing meals, clothes, and equipment for Epic tomorrow
- Vacuumed, dusted, and mopped, which took quite a long time as I haven't done it in a while and was very thorough about it
- Shopped for misc things like Tupperware to replace ones that broke recently, new underwear, and random household supplies
- Shopped for crummy trombones on Goodwill so we'd have more than one at Epic (why I'm the one who has to do this is beyond me, but whatever)
By the time all of that was done it was 5pm, so made myself leftovers and a cup of tea and enjoyed typing this post and a little down time.
Tomorrow will be a very early Epic day, but Dwight is gone again so I think it'll just be our sets and hopefully ending at 4pm instead of 6pm. Also, I'm going to start bass trombone lessons this week! Excited and nervous, but looking forward to getting better at the bass trombone.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday: An Epic-Disney sandwich, with two Epic days flanking a Disney day. I'll be bringing my transcription work with me too.
Thursday: The first of FOUR WHOLE DAYS OFF IN A ROW. I'll finish transcription, do more household stuff, take my first bass trombone lessons, and cook us some nice meals.
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