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The Roxy theatre burned down yesterday.

My play Body Language was done there, during NextFest, in 2000.

It was directed by Amy DeFelice, who has since been nominated for five Sterling Awards, and directed Take a Bite for me.  In it were Aaron Talbot, who’s now the Communications Coordinator at Theatre Alberta.  And Shannon Blanchett, who’s in New York City this minute. And Adam Blocka, my stage manager for The Ugly Princess right now! People were posting about the loss of this theatre from New Brunswick, Montreal, and Australia.

I went to see what was left last night.  To see that it was real.

There was an elegant lady in smashing, long coat standing there, also looking at what was left.  She said she’d been a season-ticket-holder for years, and that she had a ticket for Cheerleader!the show that was meant to begin that night.  I told her I’d had a show done there once.

Before she left, she squeezed my arm and said “I’m so sorry.”

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The day a dozen firemen rescued me!

Sort of.

Once again, we can thank Twitter:

Here’s what happened:

Back in the late fall of 2001, after the attacks on New York City and Washington DC, came the anthrax. I worked at The Edmonton Journal at the time. One day, I came home to find my electric bill in my mailbox, and this written on the back in thick, black, greasepen:

9/11

Now. I’m working at a newspaper. Canadian soldiers were walking around in fatigues and driving around in tanks. In Edmonton. I decided to be cautious and brought the (unopened) bill to the electric company’s main office downtown and asked a customer service representative about it. His advice: it was probably nothing, but don’t open it anyway. Thanks.

This was just down the block from work. So, I brought the envelope to show my boss. This is where the teasing began.

“OH, so you decided to bring it to work and share it with us?”

No. Not serious at all. Which is why one of the paper’s photographers later took a photo of the (still unopened) envelope lying on my desk while the firemen walked in.

Because: after my boss had a look at the envelope, another co-worker suggested I call 311 (the city’s helpline), and just ask about it. So I did. And got transferred to 911. And was told there would be a big bunch of people there in just a moment.

FREEZE ON: Me realizing I’ve just accidentally called the fire department.

So a dozen (or so) firemen come in, approach my desk, have a look at the envelope, and bring it into an empty boardroom to open. EVERYONE in the newsroom has gathered round, staring into the glassed-off room, partly because they’re newshounds, partly because they want to know what the HELL is happening?!

Finally, the firemen came out…envelope safely opened, nothing but my innocuous statement inside. And then the jokes started:

“You’re turning as red as your hair!”

“The good news is they owe YOU money!”

Telling my friends about this afterward:

“Your life is so much more interesting than ours.”

“So? Were any of them single?”

My friend Jessie gave a copy of the book The Bad Girl’s Guide to Getting What You Want to each of her bridesmaids. It contains advice on how to meet firemen. It’s funny how closely I unintentionally followed it.

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Peep Show TODAY

SkirtsAfire_2013_EMAIL1 (2)So today is the day. Come to Skirts Afire and hear a snippet of my play Marathon/Sprint and four other wonderful shows at Alberta Avenue Community League today at 2 pm! Admission by donation — tell everyone you know, and see you there!

And for a bit of extra fun, check out Theatre Alberta’s very cool feature about Edmonton actors describing their Roles of a Lifetime — I’m in there, describing my role as Countess Marie-Laure de Tilly in Michel-Marc Bouchard’s amazing play Lilies.

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More Skirts today – Peep Show tomorrow! Spring AHEAD.

So Skirts Afire is now in full swing — more events today, all afternoon and evening!

Because it’s always tricky — tomorrow everything and everyone jumps ahead one hour, so to catch Peep Show, be sure to be at The Alberta Avenue Community League by 2 pm Daylight Savings Time tomorrow, Sunday, March 10.

And the theme colours are red and black. That’s what I’ll be wearing!

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Next weekend – my skirt catches fire! Metaphorically.

Next week, starting March 7, 2013, is Skirts Afire on Alberta Avenue! And on the final day, March 10, will be Peep Show – 5 scenes from 5 never-before-seen plays, and mine is one of them. Come hear a snippet of Marathon/Sprint!