Strawberry Rain

Sounds like a bad love song, doesn't it? I promise this entry won't have anything to do with cheesy love songs, I just needed to combine the two most interesting things happening to me right now, or at least, the two most significant.

First off, it's raining. I love rain, it's my favorite kind of weather. Just thought I'd point that out.

Second, and probably more crutial, is me. I am now, officially, as of yesterday afternoon, a strawberry blond. I wasn't always that way, trust me. Before yesterday my hair was about as generic brown as you can get, and had been since I was born. I had always been sort of happy with my hair color, I never really gave it a second thought. I never envied other hair colors, never wished it was different, never even thought about dying it. And then came the play.

I am currently in the P.O.V. (that's point of view) Stage Company's production of Anne Frank & Me in Haverhill, Massachusetts. I have a small part, not too many lines, I'm only in the begining of the play, but it's a part and I like it. I'm playing a character who starts off the play named Chrissy, and is a popular, annoying, racist, Holocaust denier who is incapable of forming her own opinions (and I think is somewhat jealous of the main character's ability to dance). She's basically an all around terrible person to be around, and is about the only type of person I would not be able to stand. Narrow-mindedness drives me insane, people who insist on trying to prove a point that's a.) wrong, and b.) isn't their own opinion, such as for example "The Holocaust never happened" or "every person in X-religion is a terrorist" both of which they heard from their father's racist friend at work who must be correct because he's "pre-med" or something...GAH! They're about the only kind of people I really, literally, loath. Just be open-minded about the world, and I'll like you fine, whoever you might be. Effectively, I am playing the very kind of person I despise.

Which to be perfectly honest, I'm ok with. Anyway, that's beside the point.

So after I play "Chrissy the racist Holocaust denier" the main character gets hit by a car, and so of course gets transported back in time to France, in the Holocaust, as a Jewish girl. The people she knows from modern times take on somewhat different roles, such as her principal becoming her father (sketchy) and her English teacher becoming her mother (very sketchy). As her worst enemy type person in modern times, in the 1940's I'm one of her friends, Christina. Who, though not being as stupid and ignorant as her modern day counterpart, still follows the Nazi's rules and gets nervous and scared when Jews have radios. There are echos of her previous self in Christina, but all and all, she is a completely different person.

What all of this of course means is, I need to be blond. My character is specifically not Jewish, however, with my curly brown hair and various other facial features, I apparently look more Jewish than the girl playing the specifically Jewish character. Oops. The solution; dye my hair blond so that not only do I look more like a ditzy popular girl (and less like an internet/sci-fi geek) but I also look specifically (stereotypically) non-Jewish. Now all I need is blue eyes, too bad mine aren't at the moment.

The color of my hair is scientifically (in the world of hair sylists) called "Strawberry blond". I like it, it's different. It's not quite bleach blond, it's not like Paris Hilton or Rose on Doctor Who, it more of a gold color. It's darker than you would expect. It's the first time I've ever done something this drastic for a play, thought I've sort of secretly always wanted to. On every audition form they ask you if you would be willing to change your appearance for the show in anyway, and I always check yes, but they've never asked me to. It's been a bit disapointed, I always thought it would kind of fun to have to change my appearance for a play. Now I finally get to.

It's different, I'll say that now. Everytime I walk past a mirror or a window, or anything with a reflection and catch a glimpse of myself, I do a double take. So far, being blond hasn't been any more or less fun than being a brunette, and I'm finding I'm no more stupid than I used to be. I'm not entirely sure where this stereotype originated from, or what caused it, but I have a feeling I'll be doing some research on that tonight. After I study Holocaust denial.

It's like playing a part, walking a mile in someone's shoes. Evertime you play a part you discover what it's like to be another person and that's what I find continually facinating about acting, getting a chance to see the world from a different perspective. Sometimes the perspective is more inteligent, like Alma Threedle, sometimes it's slightly narrow like, Chrissy and sometimes, you're not even looking at the same world, Seussical. You would think that seeing the world as a blond wouldn't be much different than seeing the world as a brunette. You're wrong. Any change you make for yourself is the change to look at the world a bit differently, no matter how small the change is. It's what makes life interesting. Like rain.

Have you ever noticed that if anything exciting happens, anything tragic or dramatic, or just different happens during a rainstorm. Anything can happen in the rain, any emotion, any feeling, any drama, it can all happen in the rain. On a sunny, it's just non-stop happy, and who wants that? Live life differently, walk in the rain, dye your hair, look at it all from a new perspective.

You can hear the rain pouring on the roof...love it.

Newly blond,

*Nelly*