Inevitably Keely

A little over a year ago, I pitched a show for The Empty Space. It was a good pitch for a project that I was passionate about doing. I had a connection with the show for years - doing it fresh out of high school, relating to it as recently separated woman dealing with a tiresome divorce and then again as a mother of two young children. I connected with a director who I knew would do the piece justice, who I very much wanted to work with and become friends with. Everything fell into place perfectly. But we decided not to do the piece I had wanted to do. The timing wasn't right and we were concerned about the large size of the cast and the limitations we'd need to overcome. We decided to put that show on the backburner and we chose another. We entertained various options until we made our final decision: Hay Fever by Noel Coward. For months, all my extra energy went toward the show. I spent hours online searching for costume pieces and doing research for the actor's pa...

Act III (The Act opens in KEELY and DANIEL'S room. KEELY is stretched out across their queen sized bed and there seems to be no room at all for DANIEL. A lamp R. of the bed lights the stage dimly. KEELY has a look of amusement on her face as she observes her belly. DANIEL has just finished brushing his teeth offstage and is trying to assess if there is any room on the bed for him to lay down.) KEELY. Look. (Lights fade up slightly. There is a spot on KEELY and her protruding, bare belly. It is almost ominous.) DANIEL. Heh. He's moving, huh. (sits on the tiny open space R. of KEELY on the bed.) KEELY. Yes. But look. This is my pregnant belly. (Beat.) This is me sucking it in. (KEELY takes a deep breath in, looks at her belly and then at her tired husband.) DANIEL. Huh. (He sees no real difference.) KEELY. Pregnant belly. Sucking it in. Pregnant belly. Sucking it in. (There is actually, no real difference but she is clearly amused and still has not budged from the center of the ...

Tonight was our fifth rehearsal for Imaginary Friends. We have sixteen more before we open. OMG! Sixteen, that's it. There are parts of me that are enjoying this process immensely. Getting to work with these talented people in a theatre that I have wanted to work in since I first saw a show there almost five years ago is very cool. Having to do research on the amazing Mary McCarthy and trying to understand how she worked and why she had this feud with Lillian Hellman has been very enriching and interesting. Both women were forces to be reckoned in the literary community. I admire them both, but would have liked Mary more, I think: possibly because she is who I am playing. This play is pushing me in different ways than shows I've done in the past. No, I do not have to do the Cha Cha while dealing with my first trimester of pregnancy and the singing shouldn't be too difficult (no harder than any of the opera's I've been in, I'm sure). I will have to smoke on stage...

Last night Daniel and I went down to the Spotlight so I could take photos of their new show Glengarry Glen Ross: (Opens at the SPOTLIGHT THEATRE in Bakersfield, California tomorrow (Feb.23) night. The show was written by David Mamet and directed by Roger Mathey.) This will be my last "job" for Spotlight until after Zoe is born, but I will be taking photos of V-day at the Empty Space (down the street from our house) next week. I've got to say I'm going to miss photographing the shows. I should only miss two productions, but I've really enjoyed the process and feel like I've grown as a photographer since I started doing this for them a little over a year ago. Last night I took 250 shots and when we got home, I dove right in and cut them down to 156. Choosing my favorite 13 (I don't know why I ended up with 13) wasn't easy. I must say I'm pretty darn proud of how well they all turned out because I was slightly distracted. 1. There was a very decadent,...

I got an email today from the director or The Vagina Monologues. I got in, along with tons of other extremely talented women all of which I am extremely excited ot work with. A few of them are already good friends; I imagine more of them will be by the time this is over. I get to do the monologue I auditioned with: The Vagina Workshop. It was the only one out of the bunch that I could really imagine doing 30 weeks pregnant, and luckily Amy saw it the same way. I am beyond excited. I've always wanted to be a part of V-day. Maybe it was becoming a mother that pushed me in that direction. Whether we find out for sure tomorrow (at our detailed ultrasound) that this baby is a Zoe or a Connor, they are a big part of why I wanted the chance to do this. I wanted to do something that makes a difference. I want to teach them from example that violence against women, or anyone is wrong. I should have gotten involved years ago, but I'm grateful for the opportunity now.

Sometimes I struggle with it...not feeling completely appreciated for all my time and effort. I don't earn a lot of money doing it. I take a lot of time going over my photos: editing, choosing, getting rid of the not so flattering shots, making publicity boards. Sometimes I don't get credit when people post the images on their myspace pages but I don't call them on it. I just keep plugging away and I never turn down the opportunity to take more pictures even if I'm sometimes tempted to do so. Really, when it all comes down to it...taking the photos and spending my time doing what I love is worth it all. Zoe doesn't know what she's in for: pictures all the time! For now, the theatre* keeps me busy: (Photography by Keely Emery - click collage to view 65 photos from the show) High School Musical at THE SPOTLIGHT THEATER Book By: David Simpatico Songs by: Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, Ray Cham, Greg Cham, Andrew Seeley, Randy Petersen, Kevin Quinn, Andy Dodd, Adam ...

First of all, our opening weekend of "The Full Monty" went great. The audiences seemed to love us and we all had a great time. Secondly, I'm exhausted! So...I'm taking a brief hiatus from the blogging. The time will be spent performing "TFM" for three more weekends, rehearsing "Assassins", hosting friends & family over two different weekends, and trying to find time for some R&R. I'll probably (definitely!)check in on your blogs and I'm likely to post Photo Friday submissions, but consider this lady on blog vacation until possibly the end of October**. Til then, I leave you with the dog children: **Let's make it October 10th. That gives me 2 days to recover from "TFM". I just can't stay away from this blog for too long!

Well, it's finally here. After weeks of rehearsals and trying to juggle everything going on in our lives right now...our show is opening tonight. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. My character is fabulous. Boisterous. Fun. Loving. She's got a zest for life and she is a hoot to play. It's an excuse to wear leopard print with no abandon, have big hair (it's sort of flat in the pic below), and lots of sparkling jewelry. I get to Cha-Cha and sing two songs. I've been having a blast. If all goes according to plan, this will be my last show for a while. At least the last one I have such a big role in. I'll be content with just being the photographer for the theatre and getting to be in the audience fora change. Ha! As I type this, I remember we start rehearsals for the next musical (Assassins) on Sunday night after our matinee for "The Full Monty". I'm assistant directing this one though, so it should be a little less stressful. Anywho. I...

This past June marked my fourth year in Bakersfield. I moved here from San Diego after sleeping on an old futon in my parents’ living room for 7 months. I'd left behind a horrible marriage and was ready to start a new life. Bakersfield seemed like the logical place to go. Why? That was pretty much everyone's question. No one understood, least of all my parents or my former employers. I was leaving behind a good paying job, friends, my family and San Diego for Bakersfield? Why not L.A. or Chicago (where I had job offers)? Why not stay in San Diego? What was there to do in Bakersfield? The main draw for me was that I'd be living with my best friend from high school. We'd be able to do all the things I missed out on doing before. Moving in with her and her roommate was instant family, instant friends. It was living in my own space with two girls I thought the world of and being included in theirs. It was late night Rusty's delivery, Ouji board nights, eating out almost...

Last Saturday afternoon, Daniel and I checked into the Hilton Gaslamp in downtown San Diego. We relaxed and then got ready to go to the theatre to see Wicked. My husband ironed his shirt for the first time in ages and I did my hair and makeup. It was an event. We looked good. I should have taken a picture of us. When we got down to the lobby, we asked the guy at the front desk what the quickest way to the Civic Theatre was. He suggested we walk since it was just a turn to the left and then 4 blocks away. Four blocks later, we were at the Pacific movie theater. Clearly, I need to annunciate better. We kept walking for a few more blocks, made another left and arrived at our destination with time to consume bottled water and a cheese tray for two before we took our seats. The show was fabulous. It was an amazing experience to see those characters come alive after being a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz movie and the Wicked book. I felt like a little girl watching every scene with anticip...

It's not that I've been wanting to neglect you, internet. I've been missing the blogging, really - I have. It's just that I've been busy. I'll spare you all the details (cleaning, planning, organizing) and just share the interesting stuff: I did a little photo shoot for the Spotlight Theatre last Friday. Here's a peak at how they turned out: They will be using these photos for their publicity posters and programs - so that is exciting for me. Looks like I will actually be paid and listed in the programs as the theatre's photographer. That thrills me beyond words. The pay is way down on my list as far as importance goes, but it's nice to be involved and to be appreciated. I'll be at the theatre tomorrow night taking pictures of "The History of Rock and Roll". Also cool is that there is a very strong possibility that one or more of my photos (from when I photographed "The Thing About Men") will be published in the newspaper this...