Finster Finds

Well, I just got offered something in Into the Woods . It wasn't however, what I wanted, so after a frustrating conversation I decided to turn it down. I won't say what part, because I don't want whoever gets it to know they were not the first choice. Now, don't think it is all sour grapes. There is definitely a bit of disappointment - there has been for awhile because I had a feeling when there was no callback - but it takes a lot of time to do one of these shows and that is a lot of time away from my family and the rest of my life. Do I want to commit that time to a project where I am not really happy to do be doing it? Not really. I have done that before in previous shows and I really resented it. After those experiences, I'd rather say "No" up front and let someone else do the show who really wants to do it. For someone else that part will be an amazing adventure - not so much for me. It would be in the wrong place vocally for me so I would ha...

We are winding up October and heading into November and there is just so much to see! I will not and have not been able to get to everything. Part of that is financial and part of that is due to a lack of time. I did get to Any Night at FTA last week. I quite liked it. It was compelling and the movement and push to the piece was really strong. There are few spots where the script could be trimmed, but it's always hard to really make that assessment without the opportunity to see the piece with and without the sections. What I felt was extra might actually be essential in it's absence. In any case, if you like your 'thrills' more psychological than gory - it is a good Halloween bet! Next week I will be checking out Love and Human Remains at the U of A . I am looking forward to this as it is a Brad Fraser piece and he is Canadian and he has a connection to Walterdale so that is cool. Plus the BFA class that is in their final year were all in my Canadian Theatre class l...

Something crept up on my system this week. It's not achy head or sore throat, but more really tired and a yucky tummy. It hit me Friday afternoon in a whirlwind and I thought Saturday would by the turn-around day but it didn't. I did, however, go to bed at 7:30 p.m. and slept until 8:30 a.m. and I think that helped. I obviously needed it (even though I missed SYTYCDC and the Opera). Anyhow, I am still feeling fuzzy, but my stomach has settled down so I will be making my way to FTA tonight to see Any Night . I have parked myself at the kitchen table - my official crafting site. I am working on the props for Much Ado at Walterdale. Right now my fingers are covered in sparkles. I have to find my glue gun to finish, however, and I am debating making back-ups but I really just hope the actors treat the masks with respect so I don't have to. I do like the sparkles! Friday was my midterm - maybe I was stressed about that and the stress crept into my system. I think I did ...

I am auditioning tonight for Into the Woods for ELOPE. It is kind of weird to move to the other side of the table so quickly. I am strangely calm about this audition. I love the show and there are 2 parts I would really, really love to do so there is excitement, but I am pretty calm. I know my song. I know the show. I have to refresh my monologue a bit (I am sadly not memorized, but it says we don't have to be). I have my resume and head shot and they look nice. I know I am going in with a pretty crappy schedule to begin with so I know that might bear influence on whether I am cast or not. I also know that they are likely to have a lot of women out ( as always ) so I cannot control that and likely quite a few mezzo-sopranos at that - many of them younger and skinnier than me which might rule me out for one or more of the roles. I also know that they will have fewer men come out and the men they have might set the age of casting. You can't have a 45 year old Cinderel...

So last night I told Mark about the conversation with Gibson about chords and harmony and tempo and he nodded and said, "yeah, I have been teaching him all that stuff" so maybe he's not a genius (ha ha ha). Anyhow, I still think it's pretty cool that he is so interested. This morning Mark and I and Gibson sang a few chords. Oliver wasn't much interested in joining in, but he was looking for something Pokemon related at the time.

Both my kids like music. They both like to dance and sing and they are both taking piano (because I make them), but Gibson not only likes music... he's really insightful about it. I always say that Gibson sang before he talked. He would babble and coo in tune with songs on the radio in car. I was in a musical while pregnant with both of the boys, and with Gibson I was also in Honey B's and they both attended many Honey B's rehearsals in the sling (Gibson more than Oliver I would say). Maybe that was a factor. So tonight. Tonight as I am putting Gibson to bed we start talking about school and what he likes and we get on to talking about Music Class and he starts asking me about Do Re Mi... we then sing Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do several times (he is in tune and it sounds lovely) and then he has me sing a solo and then he sings and solo and then we sing a duet. He uses the terms solo and duet. Then he starts asking about chords and whether people can sing chords as well as...

Tonight I get to take both my kids ot the school while each of them leads me through 25 minutes of activities showing what kinds of things they do in class and then you get about 5 minutes to chat with the teacher about concerns. They don't want you to bring siblings, but Mark works and the meetings only go until 7 p.m. and that's when he gets home so I pretty much have to bring them to both sessions. No way around it - I can't get a sitter because I need the other one to be there for their session. Anyhow, I don't like these sessions, but I do them. I know the theory behind them, but for me they are not that useful. So, we shall pack up each of their DSes so that they can be occupied while the other one is demonstrating and hopefully that will work. If I keep my expectations low, then maybe I will actually enjoy it. I have actually already been in both boy's classrooms so far this year for Read-In week and In-School field trips so I kind of know the classroom cu...

There is no weigh-in today. My weigh-in partner is out of town, so I have two weeks to undo the incredible amount of candy I ate over the last few days at auditions. To be fair, I didn't actually eat a tonne of calories, but those that I did eat were primarily sugar. Ya gotta do, what you gotta do. I avoided a seriously huge Thanksgiving Feast because I had auditions and Mark took the boys to Olds. Mom had a Thanksgiving breakfast on Monday, instead. That was nice. I didn't pig out, but the food was good and it was nice to see the Matt Strand family. Those little girls are hilarious, particularly Ariana (she does this pouting thing to intentionally try to look cute - it soooo works). Auditions. exhale. They were good in that we had 60 people come out for 5 roles. There's a lot of choice in that. They were bad in that, from those 60 people I had 20 that I called back because they were just that good. I had another 20 that I would've called back, but I tried t...

I like birthdays! I always have. Maybe it was because I was one of 5 kids, and the middle child to boot. In a noisy, busy home with 5 kids and only 7 years separating the oldest and youngest it was great to have a day that was officially yours. A birthday meant a present in the morning - yay! And then the birthday kid would get to pick what we were having for dinner and then there would be cake. I usually wanted Spaghetti and meat sauce. I loved spaghetti! And when we were little, my mom would do these shaped cakes - Snoopy was her piece de resistance, but there were others. When I was a teenager I decided I liked Black Forest Cake and we would get that. It might have been a relief too, as my Mom was working then and making a cake would be a challenge time wise. My birthday also falls very near Thanksgiving, so even after I left for school, I was often home on or near my birthday so the celebrations continued and there was always cake. Good Times. I like Birthdays! Bring 'em on!

Tomorrow is a busy day. First of all, it is Gibson's 6th birthday so we are following up the grand dinner at BP's we had tonight by heading off to IKEA for breakfast. Mark will then drop me off at the theatre while he takes the boys elsewhere for whatever adventure they can handle. The three of them are all in various stages of sickness so they may just head back home to rest. And THEN, I will see the first 3 of my Rabbit Hole auditioners. A few people contacted me and wanted to audition but were away for the Thanksgiving weekend. I anticipated this and had an extra session booked for this weekend to accommodate any requests. I am so excited. I have been wanting to do this project for almost 2 years and now it is finally beginning. Currently there are about 60 people signed up. It is the last week before auditions so I may get more this week that I will have to fit in somewhere. There are some spaces left, but technically only about 12 before it gets crunchy... I just want to g...

Well, I have been okay with one of my goals for this week. I have been easily staying in my calorie range. That's been a relief. I have been challenged by the no eating after 8 p.m. I certainly am not eating as much as before, but the structure of the days I have had has led to small snacks to curb a bigger mistake. I have also not been able to work out yet. Sick kids, evening meetings, writing articles and doing homework has subsumed my working out. To be fair, I have 4 1/2 days until the Wednesday weigh in - so I might still be able to get my 4 workouts in there. Cross your fingers. It is just hard to put myself first when every other person in the house is sick. I am walking Oliver's pokewalker for him and he is pleased with the number of steps I have been taking. I must admit my desire for more wattage on that thing makes me take longer routes and less short-cuts.