Hello, there, Fabulous People!
So, there may or may not be a final Auckland blog when it comes time to fly off this island for good, but from here on out Brandon and I are expecting the unexpected, and even while we're attempting to plan our next seven months abroad, we can't make any promises about, well, anything. The past two weeks, however, have been relatively normal. We've been setting up our farmstays and listing our furniture on Trademe, packing up our stuff little by little, and going to work. We gave our two-weeks notice about quitting our jobs, which felt REALLY good. It's been a godsend to have that job these past couple of months, but we'll both be pretty happy to be out of there.
A couple Fridays ago (February 20th) we went to a play called 39 Steps, which, I learned from my penpal, is also playing in London right now. The play was great. Four actors play 139 characters in 100 minutes, which was quite a feat, but it didn't feel as schizophrenic as I anticipated. It's pretty innovative and fresh for such an old story (in novel-form it was first published in 1915, and then it became a Hitchcock movie in 1935), and it was an overall cool experience. The main actor was onstage the whole time and did a really good job, but I was most impressed with the design and direction elements. It was a very fluid piece of theater.
The next day we met with the director of the horror movie for a brief meeting, during which Brandon and I told him that we would be perfectly happy if he wanted to go an entirely different direction with the script and just take our names off it, since we're leaving Auckland and aren't sure how often we'll have access to internet, not to mention phone reception. Still, he wants to go ahead with us on a second draft, so we'll continue plugging away at that for the next couple months, I guess.
That night we took a coworker's suggestion and went to the Sky City Starlight Symphony event in the Auckland Domain (Auckland's version of Central Park). We had no idea what to expect, but free, live entertainment in the great outdoors could only be a good thing. It ended up being such a fun night. We brought our camping pads and a pizza and laid out under the stars listening to a musical revue of sorts until 10:30pm. There was a guy who sang "Bohemian Rhapsody" solo, but with an orchestra behind him, and, all things considered, he did a pretty good job. Someone sang an aria from La Traviata, one of my favorite operas, and other musicians and performers showcased their talents. It was a pretty big event, warranting 30+ "portaloos" to be set up along the sidelines. Then, last but not least, the orchestra played the New Zealand National Anthem and everyone joined in, except B, me, and the crowd of American tourist-teens next to us.
On Sunday I taught yoga and then we rushed off to our rehearsal for that play we're in for the Auckland Fringe Festival - Burlesque As You Like It - Not a Family Show. That has been an interesting experience since the very beginning. It's set up like a variety show of sorts, and there are some really amazing circus-type trapeze acts, but it's not the sort of project B and I have ever worked on before. I started out as the emcee, but when the director realized that I play instruments I also became an accompanist. Brandon is featured in one act, chorus in another act, and part of the ensemble tableau vivant at the end. Rehearsal went well, but we were never sure how the show was going to come off. It all felt a bit pell-mell.
So then we started the next week with a laundry list of things to see/do while we're still in Auckland, and number one on the list was go to the Auckland Museum, so that's what we did on Tuesday. Turns out the museum really isn't that interesting. They had two real airplanes from WWII, which was really cool, but besides that there were taxidermied beetles and kiwi birds, a few replicas of fossils, and some Maori artwork, which is also on display everwhere else in New Zealand. They had a "Rare Instruments Room" where we saw things like a clarinet from 1960 and a collection of violin bows from unknown countries and dates. We did see a hurdy-gurdy, which was cool, but I am convinced that New Zealand is not a good place to go museum-hopping.
However, New Zealand IS a good place to go to the zoo, which is what we did on Wednesday and Thursday, to see the various scheduled animal feedings and hear the educational talks that accompany them. Our favorite animal of the two days was the Cotton-Topped Tamarin, which mates for life and really looks like a shrunken man in a monkey suit. But the coolest feeding was definitely for the giraffe because we actually got to go out on a massive platform and feed the giraffe ourselves!
And then it was the weekend again. Ahhh, weekends. On Sunday night we went out to Mission Bay for the annual Jazz Festival, which was really great. They had about sixteen stages set up all around (two were right on the beach) and they alternated between sets, so there was always something going on. There were also a couple different troupes of swing dancers there, making use of the opportunity to dance the night away. I have a soft spot in my heart for big band music, and some of the groups were really great. Brandon wasn't feeling very good that night, so we spent a good portion of the evening sitting on the stone wall that lines the boardwalk along the beach, just watching the stars and listening to music.
All of our auctions on Trademe were due to close the next night, which provided our entertainment on Monday. We had a bottle of wine that we hadn't had time to drink yet, so we split that while watching people bid themselves crazy over things we'd spent $15 for. A mirror we bought for $20 or so sold for $76. Three of our items got bid PAST our "Buy Now" price! A truly fantastic night.
The next morning we got a bit of a late start, but eventually we got on the road and headed toward Bethells Beach along the West Coast. Those beaches are a pretty iconic bit of New Zealand, but we've spent surprisingly little time there. As a matter of fact, the last time we were out there was for Brandon's Birthday in October. It was so cold and windy then that I think it turned us off the West Coast altogether. However, Tuesday was a totally different story. The weather was sunny and gorgeous, which picked up all the shiny bits in the black sand that makes those beaches so memorable. The beach itself was practically empty, so B and I left our stuff up on the shore while we took a dip in the Tasman Sea. The water there is so pristine - one thing kiwis definitely do right is nature preservation - and the water temperature wasn't too cold. The whole day was amazing. I only wish we could have spent more time out there.
Besides that this past week has been all about that play, really. We had rehearsals until midnight on Tuesday and Wednesday, and last night was opening. If you can believe it, the whole three-day run is completely sold out, and our tech guy who runs lights and sound for a lot of the shows says it's the best thing in the Fringe Festival. Brandon and I are frankly astonished, but happy to be a part of something that's doing so well. I think we might even get paid for it. Imagine that... PAID acting work.
Opening night went pretty well, considering that our first meeting was three and a half weeks ago. Let's start from when the audience takes their seats and the lights come up on a drag-queen and a mad scientist who attempt to demonstrate Schrödinger's Box theory by stuffing their lovely assistant in an old refrigerator and saying that she now exists in a "superposition" - both clothed and naked - because she's not being observed. Then the guy in drag lip syncs a song while someone plays piano, and the mad scientist (now in a suit and hat) sings. Meanwhile, I've been camouflaged as an audience member who accidentally walks in late, but at this point they bring me up on stage, enlisted as the official audience member that they're going to pick on throughout the show. Then a cast member - Nisha - comes out to do a striptease, but she's really inept at it and has to have the audience take her clothes off for her. Then a woman comes out wrapped in film, which is fed through a projector while she stands on a spinning stool. The film is projected on her as she is unwrapped, and Brandon is in charge of the gramophone. That number had some technical difficulties last night, but I'm not sure if the audience could really tell. Then there's a topless tap dancer, and then there's a number called "The Silencer," which is just crazy. The guy who did the drag routine at the beginning has changed into an office-type suit, and he comes home from work, where he's greeted by his wife. He sits down in his armchair and proceeds to ignore her, but then she strips out of her cute 1950's dress to reveal a metallic chastity belt underneath, which she grinds at with an angle grinder, which sends a flurry of sparks all over the guy, and he's seduced by it and then they walk off stage, a happy couple. B's main number is coaching the audience through the steps of folding an enormous origami vulva while one of our friends (Geoff) folds an origami penis. It is eventually revealed that I am not, in fact, an audience member, but a part of the cast, and I accompany a song on piano, and the final song on guitar. B gets to wear short sailor shorts and be part of the chorus for the first song, which is "After You Get What You Want You Don't Want It" - a song that Marilyn Monroe sings in There's No Business Like Show Business.
Throughout this process B and I have had one enormous question for ourselves: why are we doing this? We've doubted the coolness of the project from the very beginning, but the audience loves it, so whatever.
To bring everything full circle, guess who showed up to our final dress rehearsal on Wednesday? The lead guy from 39 Steps.
We're a bit nostalgic now about leaving this apartment, which has been our home for the longest stretch of time that Brandon and I have cohabitated anywhere, but we're also still nostalgic about the studio apartment we shared in Los Angeles last summer. We'll probably miss our camping spot in Matamata when we leave it for Lake Taupo. As long as we're together we'll always be home.
We love you all, and will blog again soon, one way or another. :)
Much love from your kiwis,
Brandon and Jenny
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