Finster Finds

Well, last night was my 3rd night singing with Chanteuses. I felt much better after the practice last night than previously nights. I think because I was really working hard and I felt that my practicing had helped. I do find singing Sop 1 a bit of a challenge right now. It is not because I can't do it, but because I haven't been singing up there in so long that the muscles are out of practice. It is good for me because I may actually get more of a comfort zone up there if I work it. Perhaps one day I will even feel comfortable soloing up there. Who knows. I know I didn't audition for Hello Dolly because of the whole range thing. It is not because I can't sing up there, it is because I am not comfortable contemplating a solo with too many notes above a "C" (the one in FACE). I want to sound my best at all times and I tend to think i sound best in my belt. Ohhhhh. The challenge with this group is also that I feel I have to work harder, and because nobody knows ...

Okay, so that lastest play took me 3 days from starting to finish and that was only a couple of hours each day. I can't believe it. It is so satisfaying to finish even a part of a play, but to actually finish a whole one so quickly makes me feel really good! Yay! I keep this up and I may have plays coming out of my... ears! I do find that I do better with a specific assignment. The plays in progress that I have partially written (and have had for months to years) are all my own, with no indicated audience and no parameters set by someone else. I think that is what holds me up. The task is far more daunting because I don't know the guidelines of the assignment. I have always been good at homework --> I think I need to define my own homework assignment with the criteria required if I am ever going to complete those works. What do you think?

Hey Y'all! Sometimes all I need is to start. I have thought and thought about the competition for Storybook theatre in Calgary and did a little research and mapped out some ideas for about 2 weeks, but nothing was written down. I kept leaving it and did other things. You know, games, they will kill me for taking up my time when I should be more productive. Anyhow, last night I got down to it. I looked at the calendar and realized that I have 11 days if I wanted to get it done so I had better start. I actually wrote about 15 pages last night. I figure I can really push tonight and get to about 20-25. It is hard to judge length on it because of the physical stuff in the script, but I am trying to imagine and guesstimate. In any case, I did a dramatic amount of work just by pushing through it. Plus it isn't half bad. I thought about it and decided that if I wrote "crap" I could always edit it out later. The main thing was to write it in the first place! So n...

Well, I got my application package ready for the Marty Chan workshop and I will send it off today. I hesitated and then I kicked myself. It doesn't hurt to apply and see what happens. Afterall, I applied for the One Act Competition at the Walterdale and my play is being produced now. I also applied for the 24 hour playwriting competition at the Enrites Festival and so I will see what happens with that. I would be excited to get into that! I figure that I just need to keep writing and writing and challenging myself and finding more opportunities for learning how to write better. I am fortunate in that my livelihood does nto depend on it, but I don't want that to be a reason for complacency. I like the idea that I am taking risks and trying things that I might not have tried 2-3 years ago. In the past I tended to rule myself out as a candidate and who knows, it might be the right thing for me to try. Ah... Table reading for "Pieces" on February 2nd. I will be excited to...

Well, today I meet with Marsha Amanova, the director of my One Act Play, Pieces. This will be our first meeting with regards to the play and we will be talking about auditions and roles in the rehearsal process. I plan to be "the playwright", not "the director", because I want to see if the script will work in someone else's hands. It will no doubt be hard for me since I have directed quite a bit before. I am excited about the meeting as it is one more step in the process and what is a play if it is not on the stage? I think the fact of the meeting has spurred me on to work on some of my other projects. I spent the morning collating the material I have for "Cassandra Now" and "Natural Born Mother/MotherLoad". I think that I can work with both scripts and I need to establish a deadline for myself for completing a first draft of either. Last year I said I would have an entry for the APN competition so that means I have less than three mo...