BWW Blog: Theatre Things I've Been Doing at Home

This weekend was originally supposed to be our opening night for our production of Everscape, but instead I'm sitting at home for the. . . what, eighth day in quarantine? But I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about what I'm missing - everyone is feeling the same thing right now, missing out on showcases or productions, so I'm not going to keep telling the same story for long.

I do, however, want to talk about everything that's been getting me through this period of restlessness. Between online classes, taking care of my dogs, and everyone in my home being an essential worker except for me, I feel like most of my day is me waiting around until I need to do something.

Podcasts are a lifesaver - my favorite has been Musicals with Cheese for the longest, but I never thought I would actually catch up on the episodes. Now I'm waiting every week for the new episode where before I had a catalog of a handful that I thought would be there forever. If you know of any other theatre podcast worth listening to, I'm all ears.

(On a side-note: Have you noticed how many musical theatre podcasts have the same format of one Broadway fan trying to get their non-musical friend to explain musicals? Musicals with Cheese, Broadway Baby, Musicalsplaining, and I'm sure many others. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess!)

I've also been reading. There's been so much reading! At the start of the year, I set a reading challenge for 13 books thinking that it would be difficult. I've almost doubled that by now and thank goodness I'm able to borrow ebooks from my local library or else I would be regulated to reading the shampoo bottles whenever I'm bored.

(Now it's time for me to stop myself and push another recommendation, but the novel A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott is full of the dazzling imagery of vintage Hollywood and tells the classic story of a girl from the middle of nowhere finding herself in showbusiness.)

Out of all of the sadness and anxiety of this situation we are all in, there's at least the joy in finding a new hobby or getting back into something that you felt like there just wasn't any time for. Many of my friends and I have been filling our theatre kick with Netflix parties or watching things digitally together - mainly Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is truly amazing and hilarious.

(Half of this post is just recommendations for things. . . what's the point of enjoying something if you can't get as many people as possible to also enjoy it? But okay, I admit I've probably reached my limit in pushing things on you.)

I'm sure I'm not the only one indulging in art and media to get me through the quarantine, and I'm hoping that reading this feels relatable to whatever you're doing to keep yourself busy. Not everyone is getting the same stay-at-home treatment during this time, so I think trying to be responsible with social distancing is the very least that I can do while other people are doing so much more.

(If anyone actually takes any of my recommendations to heart and actually ENJOYS them, I would love to know!)

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