Finster Finds

This weekend, despite being sick, I went out to see some art. The first thing I went to was The Drowsy Chaperone at the Citadel on Friday night. It was our Anniversary do-over, since the first 'date' had to be scrapped back in August. It was delightful! I was so very pleased with it. Earlier in the month I had a chance to see it for free, but because of rehearsals I was unable to go. I didn't even mind paying full price for the tickets. I had heard about the show a few years ago, but other than the number "Show Off" that I saw at the Tony's a few years back I had no real knowledge of the show. Everyone I know who saw it said it was good, and I was so pleased that it fulfilled my expectations! It said what I believe about musicals. A lot of people write them off as fluff, but what is wrong with a little fluff to make you feel good? And everyone was soooo good. They were a true ensemble and each had their moments and no one was phoning it it. Simpl...

Mark will be playing Daddy Warbucks in Sherard Theatre's production of Annie . It goes up in February and I will be sending out all sorts of information to promote it when we get closer t the date. Yahoo for Mark! I am glad he will have an opportunity to show what he can do. He was sure he totally blew the audition, but I should know not to trust him. He only ever thought one of his auditions was good (the one he did for The Other Side of the Pole ) so he discounted the audition that got him Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar . I should know better than to trust his personal evaluation! I am so looking forward to seeing him onstage and hearing him sing and it is a show the boys will be able to go to, as well. It is one of their favorites! Yippee! He will also be working with my good friend Linette who is directing and she is so wonderful to work with. Its a good show for him, because he is great with kids (doesn't mind being around them, at all) and it uses his height...

I received a message from a fellow school parent this morning. Apparently Halloween dress-up has been cancelled. She was quite upset about this, because Halloween is her favorite holiday and she wants it to be the same experience for her children. She asked the school office about it and was told " More kids don't dress up, than do..." so her perception was that certain populations in the school were dictating the abolishment of the Halloween tradition. I told her I would write to the school principal to find out if this was the case. Halloween falls on a Saturday and apparently there is no school on the 30th (Friday) so the 29th was to be a dress in orange and black day. I have worked in schools so I figured there was more to it. This is the official response from the principal: Since Halloween does not happen until Saturday, October 31 and there is no school for students on Friday, October 30 a decision was made by staff to have an orange/black theme day on Thursday, O...

My throat hurts. It felt a little hoarse yesterday, but I thought that was just 2 very late nights at Walterdale (Friday - getting ready for the Open House and AGM, and Saturday - the actual Open House and AGM). I wasn't worried until this morning. Now, just after supper and I am in quite a bit of pain. I am supposed to rehearse Sweeney and my number for the Sweeney Fundraiser tomorrow. I will dose myself with Tylenol and Ibuprofen and hope for the best. The song I am doing is a big sing, and tomorrow may be the only chance I get to rehearse before the Fundraiser so I do not want to waste it. The Open House and AGM went really well. We estimated 100-200 people through the Open House. I don't know who counted, but someone threw those numbers out. I think we were closer to the 100 figure, but it was quite busy between 12:30 and 2:30 so who knows? We handed out many, many season brochures and Jimmy Dean Flyers so hopefully the personal touch sells a few tickets. I was p...

Tonight my husband is auditioning for a show. Usually that is my thing to do, but the opportunity fits him better and the time commitment nestles in a good place for me (After Sweeney and before Whorehouse) so I suggested he audition. If he gets the part then it will mean a little bit of a role reversal but that could be cool. I have to watch my scheduling as it is, but this would give him an opportunity to get out there and show what he can do. I trust the director of the show so I think it would be a great opportunity. I cross my fingers and think good auditioning thoughts and send them out across the city!

At 9:15 a.m. I was awakened by a phone call from the school. Oliver was sick, throwing up, could I come get him? I, of course, got up, got dressed and got him and then re-planned my day and evening. A child who is throwing up is too sick to leave with a baby sitter so I had to cancel my rehearsal. Even if he was feeling better tonight, I don't know that now and it's just not something you can count on. I am house-bound and that means I cannot do the bank deposit and some other running around I had planned. Gah! Just as I was beginning to enjoy the freedom of having 1/2 days all to myself!

I always hope that there will be peace downstairs and that I might possibly get to sleep in on Saturdays, but no matter what, the minute that Mark leaves the house I hear the thump thump thump of Oliver running up the stairs to crawl in with me to snuggle. He's a snuggler and has always been, but it's kind of annoying when I am trying to sleep. Besides that, he's an eight year old who is the size of a 10-11 year old and he is all arms and legs so it is a far cry from snuggling with him when he was 3! Also, Mark didn't get them breakfast before they left so hunger was a shrill complaint that forced me out of bed and down to the kitchen. Apparently Mark thought Oliver was on top of getting them breakfast, but Oliver thought he just had to get the bowls and spoons out so there was a communication gap. Ah ga ga glug gulp... So, in November, this might not bother me so much, but today when I still feel like crap and I have been out late 4 of 5 nights and I have been up early...

Typically in my life I go through these intense periods where I have several things on the go and I think I will not survive getting all of them done and then when I do I go through a lull where I find myself with lots of time on my hands. I have been in a busy period since last fall. I do have a bit of a lull on the calendar starting at the end of October and I am so looking forward to that. I am most frustrated with the 'other things' that pop into my life to suck up time I could be using to get things done. I have spent a lot of time this week dealing with stuff that I shouldn't have to. If you don't like my answer, sometimes that's just too bad. Sometimes we have to compromise. And a compromise means no one gets exactly what they want but everybody gets a little bit of what they want. I rarely get exactly what I want, why do people expect they should be different? Grrrr... At Sweeney I snapped at someone who brought an issue to me that they should've...

Remind me not to pick up another project outside of Walterdale during my tenure as Artistic Director... What was I thinking? Don't worry, the show will be good and the theatre is in good hands. It is just a matter of how thin I stretch myself. I have my own self to blame for it, I guess. On a more positive note, the first night of auditions for Lend Me a Tenor went swimmingly. We had so many wonderful actors come out. I read with quite a few (filling in) and was suddenly wishing I were auditioning too, but I can't do that time slot again. Besides, I'd really want to play Tito, and that's a little out of the question! Whoever is cast, this will be a very fun show!