another missive from the other side

So, what have I been doing with my time and vast theater knowledge these days?

Well, the time is spent taking care of a baby for 12-14 hours, and then missing her as soon as she's fallen asleep - at which point I shower, watch a TV show or two, and, for some reason, make my way to bed 4+ hours later. Granted, I do have internet time during the day - like now, when she's taking a nap, or if she's contented rocking in a chair or on a play mat. This isn't really enough quality time to crack open a book or write a long-neglected spec script, but, hopefully, one day it will be. It's taking all of my concentration to pound out a 300-word blog, for Pete's sake!

As for my theater knowledge, it's come in handy while singing lullabies to my daughter and pointing out the inaccuracies in the Bob Fosse-type character from the recent Simpsons episode, "Smoke on the Daughter." (As Chazz Busby slunk out of the auditorium and onto a bus, his posture was accurate but his hands moved too much. Fosse was all about minimalism, and subtle but emphatic hand gestures on the down beat. The down beat, Matt Groening and co.!)

Here's my list so far of effective lullabies, as culled from musical theater:

• "Little Lamb" (Gypsy)
• "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" (Carnival)
• "Feed the Birds"/"Stay Awake" (Mary Poppins)
• "Goodnight My Someone"/"Will I Ever Tell You" (The Music Man)
  
• "If I Loved You" (Carousel)
• "Where is Love?" (Oliver!)
• "Everything's Alright" (Jesus Christ Superstar)
  
• "O Mio Babbino Caro" (Gianni Schicchi) - well, opera is the precursor to the modern musical

I'd love to work in some Gilbert and Sullivan, but I'm still getting my lyric soprano high notes back after not using them for a few years. Anyway, it's difficult to sing very high notes quietly enough for the song to still have the desired soporific effect.

It's gradually occurring to me that there's really no chance of my getting my life back so much as getting another life in exchange. A life full of trying to be a good mom and an interesting person without letting one identity sabotage the other. Right now, I have to focus mainly on the mommying until I get that down, so I can work on drawing out what remains of the person I used to be.

Or, I have to have the choreography ingrained in my muscle memory so that I can get back to the acting. Theater can be used as a metaphor for everything, huh?