Who I Am

Today was the first day of the annual cemetery walk, and it was 1) cold 2) fun 3) a grand day with great audiences 4) cold 5) exhausting and 6) slatternly, meaning that, while I worked very, very hard, I did not tidy up my house. It was 37 degrees when I left the house in my underthings (decent things that I wear under my bustle, etc.) and the high today was maybe 51 degrees. My costume is impossible to put on at home--many hooks and eyes + aforementioned bustle--and impossible to get out of at home, if husband is off coaching volleyball, so I have to make the appropriate arrangements! I play Mary Gridley, historically pictured here, with fan, braids, and bustle.

Mary was the first role I played in the cemetery walk, which, as you have probably gathered, takes place outdoors in the actual Evergreen Cemetery (where Dorothy Gage is buried, the model for Dorothy Gale of the The Wizard of Oz). Here is the pink dress (with possible bustle) I wore then, standing next to the Asahel Gridley monument in the family plot. (Pronounced ASH-el, but he was actually a bit of an as&*%le.)

And here is the gorgeous pale teal dress with bustle that I (or is that Glenn Close?) wear this year, doing a scene with Jeremy Stiller as Asahel. I wrote the script, titled "'Til Death do us (Finally) Reconcile," and it's a lot of fun to do. He is quite handsome, and I wear a copper snood, plus a black lace thingey on my head, so my hair doesn't fly off in the bitter cold wind, and olive green gloves. Did I mention that it was cold out there? Kudos to the marvelous audiences, all bundled up and full of energy and joy.