Sunday night I was waiting in line at the grocery store and felt on my fingers for my rings. Except I don’t wear rings. Those are part of my costume. After nine straight days of rehearsal and performance, it’s odd to return to the real world.
When I left the theater after our last show of the first weekend of Christmas Revels performances, my carpool-mate and I both needed groceries. We walked into Trader Joe’s and I said, “Whoa, people who aren’t in Revels.” It was a little overwhelming to be in a brightly-lit space full of people buying food. No adorable children were dancing with eggplants or anything.
After I’d started writing this, Meghan Siritzky, a member of the teen chorus, put in a special request via Facebook for a blog post about surviving Revels withdrawal. I don’t really get Revels withdrawal anymore – the fact that it keeps coming around every year helps. And, honestly, I’m relieved to have four whole days when I can pay attention to my neglected work and I don’t have to put on makeup or remember my lyrics.
But it’s nice to know that I’ll be back in Andalusia Friday night, for the start of our final five performances.
Anyone else have any suggestions for Meghan?
Learn more about the 2011 Christmas Revels: Andalusian Treasures
View the Schedule of Performances and Purchase Tickets
Oh how nice that must be for you… to not have Revels withdrawl…. to be able to come back year after year… must be nice….
slash/I was actually going to suggest this post.
Heh. Yeah, I’m in a totally unfair position here. But, you know, any time you want to move back to the D.C. area….
I love Meghan’s photo!
I think the withdrawal has a lot to do with what you’re going back to in the “real world”. If it’s math class, then yeah, the withdrawal will be more poignant! It helps to have something else that you’re looking forward to doing that you can’t do during tech week — catching up with other friends/family, writing Christmas cards, gearing up for school or church holiday concerts, parties.
But certainly, there’s nothing quite like Revels. On occasion, I have been known to throw together informal carol parties either the week before or the week after Christmas, just to take the edge off!
And by the way, Happy St. Nicholas Day everyone!
Look forward to the next weekend’s performances…and get a lot of rest. That’s what worked for me. An you know, the week will just fly by and you’ll be back in Lisner again…and it will feel like home. Take joy!