Just Call Me Carol. Ms. Haney If You're Nasty.

Well, it's official: I'm no longer Margo Canning. I'm not Bea Arthur or Elaine Stritch. I'm not even Jimmy Durante, for God's sakes.

Right now, I'm Carol Haney. And I have the injury to prove it.

This weekend at LYLE was our first dealing with another show moving into our space. For weeks, we've had the place all to ourselves, but Lifeline is producing an adult show that goes into previews during the last week of our run, so we now have all these levels backstage that make our crossovers longer and generally leave zero space to move around back there.

As I said looking at it yesterday, "This is one, big actor trap."

And it was. For me.

Today, before my entrance as Valenti, I was standing on a level about a foot above the stage waiting for Jim to exit stage right so that I could step down off the level and then enter stage right.

Well, when my right foot touched the stage floor, my ankle twisted and all my weight (insert "fat ass jokes here") crashed down on my right ankle.

That's the ankle I injured extremely badly a few years ago when I broke that same foot.

The ankle twisted and I heard a "pop." And like a good little actor, I walked on stage and went right into my Valenti scene. Then, I went into my song. And then, my dance. And I moved right through the rest of the play without missing a beat.

Why? Well, for one thing, the audience was LOVING it - - and me - - and it's hard to stop the show when they're laughing at everything you do.

I also kept going because I know my body when it gets injured on stage and if I just keep going, the endorphins keep moving through my system and the injury isn't as painful.

But when the show stopped, that's when I really felt it. Luckily for me, my ankle isn't broken - - it's only a pretty bad sprain. Also, I'm lucky because my understudy, the fabulous Rus Rainear, was at the theatre with 10 minutes to spare to take over my role in our second show today.

Of course, that's probably where my good luck ends. I'm sure that a movie producer was in the house for the second show. And that's why I'm now officially Carol Haney. And Rus is now officially Shirley MacLaine.

Don't understand the references? Watch this clip and all will be revealed.



I'm off to rest my ankle, practice the hat trick in "Steam Heat" and figure out what key is best for me when I'm singing "Hernando's Hideaway." Oy...