Shoes! A Long and Frivolous Post

First, I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my return to blogging, it was quite a boost after closing a show that wasn't so much fun. Of course not all the actors in Romeo and Juliet were annoying; I actually enjoyed quite a few of them, like Scott Greer who plays a supporting role in my shoe story.

Scott Greer is like the energizer actor; he just keeps on working, all over Philadelphia. The major reason is, of course, that he is a phenomenal actor. In addition, he's a wonderful cast member -- kind, considerate, and fun.

Mr. Greer played Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet only he couldn't make all the performances because right after we opened, he started rehearsals for another play, Shining City, with another theater company (incidentally with the same director who directed R and J). As part of his contract for R and J, the Arden agreed that his understudy would go on for 3 performances.

Enter Benjamin Lovell who was Mr. Greer's understudy. I had met Mr. Lovell when he understudied 2 roles during History Boys (now, that cast I could never complain about). Mr. Lovell was not always an actor. He began his life (or the the part of his life that I know about) as a shoe salesman opening up several shoe stores in the greater Philly area. The shoe stores, Benjamin Lovell Shoes, are quite well-known in the area because they carry some very nice brands--Clark's, Danskos, Naot, etc. I had no idea that he had these shoe stores until he brought us all coupons for the shoe store.

Mr. Lovell has said that when he meets a new person he doesn't look at his/her eyes, he looks at the shoes. He says he can tell everything about a person by the shoes. I wonder about that. I wished I had asked him but we were too busy going over lines and blocking.

I'm not a shoe person. I'm not even a clothes person. I hate spending more than $20 on jeans or shoes. Well, that's not entirely true. I do spend money on running sneakers but I don't buy new ones every 500 miles as suggested; it's more like every 3 years or so. Truth be told, I prefer thrift stores. Going into a department store and seeing the same item of clothing in 50 different colors and 52 different sizes overwhelms me. And, you can find the best stuff in thrift stores. Case in point, here's a totally cool pair of pants I found in a consignment shop recently:

Wait for it though, you HAVE to see the back:

You won't be finding those pants at Target! They fit me perfectly and were only $12. I call them my party pants.

But I digress. Yesterday, it rained all day, and I had some residual bummerness about not being the best of all possible stage managers on R and J, and not getting along with everyone--so I went shoe shopping. And, I spent money. I bought 2 pairs of Danskos because, well they were extremely comfortable and because everyone, I mean EVERYONE has told me how great they are. The salesperson told me that once I own a pair of Danskos, I'll always own a pair. I'm not so sure about that but I am tickled pink about my purchase. I can't tell you why I'm so happy but I am. Retail therapy I guess. Oh, here's a picture of them:


I wore the sandals all last night and they were the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. The clogs I have on right now so I'll let you know.

Who knew shoes could make you happy?