After a 3 and a half hour flight and a 2 and half hour drive, I found myself at my assigned motel in Swift Current, Saskatchewan at 1 a.m. ready to fall into bed. Unfortunately, the motel double-booked itself and no longer had my room or any other available. I then spent the next hour waiting while they called around to find me a new place, on their dime of course. This morning, before my technical rehearsal, I have to move out of this lovely brand spanking new Motel 6 (it just opened this past weekend and I am the first person ever to use this room) and back into the Howard Johnson (as they now have a room available and don't want to pay for two nights at a competitors location). Fingers crossed for me that it all goes well from now on. Because, you know what? It's been going pretty amazing thus far.
My indiegogo campaign for Roller Derby Saved My Soul is off to a phenomenal start. In less than a week, I've raised over $1500. If you would like to contribute, please feel free to do so by clicking the image below. I've currently received donations as low as $5 and as high as $750. Every little bit helps!
The remount of the show in Ottawa also totally blew my mind. We sold out the Natalie Stern Studio at the Ottawa School of Speech and Drama. In fact, we had to add seats to fit everyone in. This is where I need to take a moment to thank Bruce Bissonnette and the Ottawa Theatre School for making any of this happen.
Though I want to thank everyone who came out, I do want to give a specific shout-out to my friends Brian and Dan who each brought in some very large groups. I feel incredibly grateful for the support you have given me.
Finally, I also want to take a moment to thank my friend Jen and the Capital City Derby Dolls. They were out in full force Monday night. Not to slight any other teams, but the CCDD has been an absolute joy to get to know. They represent what, to me, Derby and this show is all about: a friendly and inclusive place where someone who doesn't feel like they quite fit in anywhere else can find a home. They are a very competitive team, but still they let me join them for practice and were very patient with me and my skill level.
So thank you, all of you, for making my Ottawa homecoming a little bit brighter and reminding me that, even though it's been 9 months since I last performed it, there is still a lot of magic in Roller Derby Saved My Soul.
Swift Current won't know what hit them.