Hi! My name is Olivia Oguma and I'm lucky enough to play Stephanie Lin in the awesome new play LUCE by JC Lee at LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater. Stephanie (without giving too much away) doesn't appear until about 45-50min into the show. So I have a lot of downtime to prepare, put on sparkly nail polish (for real) and hang out with my fellow cast members! Here's what my evening at LUCE looks like...
5:30pm – I start getting ready to leave for “half hour.” I usually eat a light dinner/snack pre-show (and a bigger meal post-show).
I also look at my “wall of lines” in my house, where I have hung up index cards with line reminders.
6:00pm – Heading to the theater on the 1 train…
I get to see the new cool art installation along the way in the Lincoln Center plaza area…
6:13pm – And it’s only about 13 minutes door-to-door from my apartment to Lincoln Center Theater!
6:15pm – This is about the time I enter the backstage area, sign in on the call board… and hear Okierete Onaodowan AKA “Oak” (who plays the title role of Luce) belting in his dressing room shower.
I do not have a picture of Oak in the shower… HOWEVER, here is a picture of Oak.
And here is a picture of the shower. (Insider secret: LCT3 bathrooms are almost the size of a studio apartment and have the best acoustics ever!)
6:30pm – It’s “half hour” time!! I say hello to my dressing room mates: the dynamite duo of Sharon and Marin.
And… now it’s time to get into Stephanie mode!
6:40pm – In addition to makeup…
I also get to put the finishing touches on my Stephanie nails!
I’m currently using three different shades of purple, that all have amazing shade-names that oddly remind me of Stephanie (Opi Liquid Sand in Can’t Let Go, Sephora by Opi in I Don’t Bite and Elf in Purple Madness).
7:00pm – The show starts. I get into half of my costume (upper half: Stephanie, lower half: Olivia)— no need to be sitting wrinkling my full costume just yet. Time to wander around the theater in my frog slippers, and check on House Seat Request confirmations, and (back during previews) go over whatever notes our director May has given me from last night’s preview performance.
7:05pm- This is actually the only time I have to visit with my show buddy Oak, AKA “Shower Singer Extraordinaire.” Usually we discuss such important topics such as how we are possibly related due to our similar last names, our mutual love for HBO’s NEWSROOM…
… and sometimes for fun I try on Oak’s costumes, which fit me very well, as you can see.
7:30pm – Time to get in full costume!
7:45pm – Once I have my my fake iPhone prop and my backpack, I’m ready to go backstage and wait to do my scene. My backpack was actually also used in LCT3’s production of SLOWGIRL— it has different pins on it now to make it Stephanie-eque.
7:46pm-8:00pm – Well, I’m onstage doing my scene now! … So I don’t have any candid shots as I’ve left my camera in my dressing room. But come see the show and you’ll see exactly what’s happening when I’m onstage! Intrigued much?
8:05pm – After my scene, I go back to the dressing room by way of the crossover in the Claire Tow Theater lobby/bar. Here I get to say hello to the house staff, including the awesome people who run the LCT3 lobby bar (which has great pre- AND post-show drinks and mini sandwiches).
8:10pm – Now I’m back in my dressing room crafting away. I am a huge decoupage fan. Check out this mirror I decoupaged yesterday, using magazine clippings and Mod Podge glue.
8:30pm – Time to go on for bows!
8:40pm – By this time, the show is done and it’s time to get dressed and go say hello to my friends who have come to see the show who are waiting for me in the LCT3 lobby! Tonight the cast of my last show (EMOTIONAL CREATURE) came to see the show with EMOTIONAL CREATURE director Jo Bonney.
9:00pm – Heading to the train again to go home after a great show!
Come see LCT3’s LUCE! Now thru November 17th at LCT3’s Claire Tow Theater.
