RENT.

So it was back to New York in a whirlwind. And straight into rehearsals for RENT. I was an emergency sub for a Swing who was getting her wisdom teeth out and supposed to be there for only 2 weeks. The cast was wonderful, but so different from the casts I had worked with before. RENT just had its own energy.

Swinging is awesome, so I was happy to do that. And it is kind of hilarious that I was in RENT. And again, it was quite different from anything I'd done before, which made me happy. I think I wrote that in my bio... let me see if I can find it:

"Diana Kaarina played a 19th century ballerina (Meg in Phantom), a 19th century street urchin (Eponine in Les Misérables - final Broadway cast) and a 1920’s debutante (Miss Dorothy in Thoroughly Modern Millie). She’s thrilled to join the current age onstage! Originally from Vancouver, Diana is a songwriter and is working on a pop album."

Well, I WAS working on a pop album. And then I got back to NYC. I covered every female role in the show except for Joanne. I was technically titled the "Mimi/Maureen" swing, but the chances of my going on as Mimi were slim and none. My 2 weeks became a year. I'm not really sure how that happened, but it did. And I went on for every role I was supposed to but Mimi. (Mimi I only did in rehearsals and an understudy concert.) I still have wax on one of my favourite hoodies that won't come out from an understudy rehearsal. I learned that lesson the hard way. Strangely, I don't have many pictures from RENT. I was a Swing so I wasn't in the photo shoots - I think I only have this photo with Jan - after a show!

It was jarring to be home without really prepping for it, but I soon settled back into the NYC lifestyle. Let's be honest here, I am very much a west coast kind of gal. I like to lay back and relax. The quick pace of NYC is great for a little bit, but after a while, I kinda just want to go to Costco.

I did workshops for a few shows: Liberty Smith for NYMF and Tale of Two Cities a few times, Out of the Hands of Children, Womyn in 3... more that I'm sure are escaping me and I'll probably add later. I auditioned for other things. I did some more voice overs in NYC. I booked a job recording a children's CD. I crocheted a lot. I got the nickname "Crochet MacGyver". That's pretty awesome. I bet if I had some yarn and a crochet hook, I could maybe survive any disaster. Edible yarn...

Anyway, one night when I was on for Maureen, I just couldn't keep my balance. I did the "gotta, gotta, gotta..." thing where she keeps flipping her head in "Over the Moon" and I stood up and was completely disoriented. I was dizzy. Strangely dizzy. I shook it off to maybe an oncoming bug or something. We got to "Take Me or Leave Me" and I almost missed a step on the chair.. I was getting more and more dizzy and couldn't keep my balance for anything. This was getting strange. And that's how I found out I was expecting my daughter.

I did RENT until the end of my first trimester. My boobs got huge. My tummy started to stretch my leather pants. It was hilarious. But Kylie kicked her way through the whole experience.

And then... the whole NEW adventure began...