Brilliant and Regal, they call me

Queen Liliuokalani

Bubbly, ferocious, hungry, lazy, creative. These are words that would describe me to a tee.

Regal, brilliant, beloved, idolized, gracious. These are words that do not describe me to a tee. However, they are words to describe Queen Liliuokalani, whom I am becoming.

The process. The work. This should be the fun part. It's frustrating to have to morph your natural tendencies into someone else's; someone more composed, deliberate, focused than yourself. Someone who feels just as strongly and passionately as yourself, but who was "educated by the masters from Boston who founded the school for the royal children" -Queen Liliu, The Last Queen of Paradise.

In other words, someone trained to be temperate. 

Now I'm sure the juxtaposition is quite hilarity-inducing; imagine the Sal you know. Perhaps she's rolling around in the splits in a bunny onesie. Perhaps she's singing at you whilst engaging in an altogether incomprehensible tap routine. Perhaps she's dressed head-to-toe in waterproofs, splattered with the morning's mud with her hair looking like medusa and rainwater littering her glasses. Perhaps she's stuffing her face with digestives dipped in murky tea, or staring at your dessert.

This is a more hilarious transition than seen in The Princess Diaries that's for sure. There have been many hiccups along the way, altogether worsened by my pride and reserve. After all this time, I still haven't gotten used to being viewed. But with every production, as I become more in-tune with my character, I become less engrossed with myself and all the self-consciousness that comes with it.

This character is not only a challenge dramatically; she sings from an F3 to an F5 and is onstage for all but one scene. She speaks Hawaiian simply and easily - including things like, "David La'amea Kamanakapu'u Mahinulani Nalaiaehuokalani Lumialani Kalakaua". Yep. It's epic. I say all of that one minute then am singing the next. Prowess.

And to think, I'll be finishing this run, then hopping on a flight to the USA the next day.

See you soon, America. It is a very, very wonderful thought that I will be seeing you within a week. And off I go.