Who said theatre isn't a contact sport?

So yesterday was a fun day! My cousin Nicklas got married to a wonderful girl named Sarah. I hadn't been to a wedding since his sister Keitha got married in 2006, and I didn't remember much, so all of my nuptial related knowledge came from the wedding scene in The Sound of Music (which I was in this summer). The entire family really enjoyed themselves.

Very romantic ♥

And furthermore, this was my first time to get to go out with all the single ladies for the bouquet toss, and lo and behold...

Look who caught the bouquet!

 I sent this picture to Adrian. He's skiing so he hasn't received it yet. ;)

Anywho. The purpose of today's post is regarding the myth that theatre is a nice, safe past time. Wrong! Theatre is an art that imitates life, and that art sometimes turns a little painful. It's something that happens all the way from children's theatre to Broadway and West End. Afterall, Idina Menzel was absent from her closing weekend in 'Wicked' due to a cracked rib she sustained after an accident going through a trap door. The production of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' faced yet another obstacle when Natalie Mendoza, the actress portraying Arachne, was benched following a concussion.

After being in twelve productions over the past four years, I have also experienced my fair share pf stage injuries. Last summer I was in a production of Footloose with Broadway Academy of Performing. I played Ariel. At one point during the show, Ariel sneaks out of her house and has a confrontation with her ex-boyfriend, Chuck Cranston.

It's blurry, but this is me and my friend Sutton!

 In our production, he grabbed me by the arm and half flung/half pulled me into the wing. Well unfortunately during one of our last rehearsals he flung a little more than he carried and I careened into the church pews that had been stowed behind the curtain. The resulting bruise across my shin was very tender!

Ow.

In our currently play, there is a scene between Adrian(playing Jekyll and Hyde) and I where he draws my blood and I faint in his arms. He is then supposed to let me go so that he can try to kiss Jekyll's love interest, Rosamunda, played by the lovely Katy Moore. The great thing about the way it is blocked is that if he just let's go of my arms then I can control my fall and avoid injury. Unfortunately, during the last couple of runs he has gotten very into it and has thrown me, rather than just release me. This causes me to follow straight onto my right elbow, then onto my shoulder, finally bumping my head. I didn't think much of it, other than teasing Adrian about man handling me, until I woke up Friday morning with this beauty:

Observe my cuts and the forming bruise.

I'm not sure how the fall cut my elbow, but there you go. The mysterious theatre gods at work. By Friday evening it had also began to swell and bruise, as well as my shoulder. I consulted with my big sister (a Physical Therapy student) and she advised me to ice them both. So I did!

Uber attractive.

Thankfully the swelling went down and the bruising is ebbing. I'm just fine:)

What about you? Anyone have any fun(?) theatre injury stories to share?