Finster Finds

Yesterday AM and I met for Finally Sauces and figured out what we will be doing for the Fringe. It is kind of exciting, as I will have another one of my scripts on a Fringe stage, and even more so because we know we are in and have none of that anxiety about 'will we get in or won't we'. We decided, after looking through a number possibilities, to remount Pieces , the one-act I wrote that was produced at Walterdale 4 years ago in From Cradle to Stage. It won't just be a remounting, however, as I have done a lot of writing since and I feel I can develop it more. Currently is runs 25-30 minutes and I would like to add 15-20 minutes to develop some of the background characters more. I will also be directing, which I feel more confident about after the last Fringe experience. I also have to figure out what will happen to me next year. The new AD will shortly be selected and that will mean a job that has taken up a lot of my time will no longer be on my plate. I will c

Tonight I started learning my Mrs. Peachum music for The Threepenny Opera. It went fast and it's all recorded for practice in the car and it felt so very, very good to sing again. I felt like I was slipping on an old favorite coat that I had stuck in the closet but hadn't worn for a while. It felt good. It's just the learning stage - getting familiar with the notes and the words and the tempos and all that and I have by no means mastered the songs, but it still felt good. All in all I am having a good week artistically. I am so pleased with Rabbit Hole and where we are at and what I am seeing. We were off book for Act one last night and it was really very good. A month out and off book and even though 'line' was called, it was all present and there was some really powerful emotional stuff happening. I am searching for the balance for my actors of making sure they have enough rehearsal to be ready while not over-working them so that they are emotionally exhaust

I had a nice, relatively quiet Christmas with fun for the kids at Grandma and Grandpa Strand's on Christmas Eve and then having them (G&G) over for Christmas dinner on the actual day. The turkey was smaller to reflect the smaller crowd and that meant a later start time to the preparations and a much more relaxed day as a whole. I was surprised and delighted by a new camera (Yay!) and a few days later the arrival of The Tudors - Boxed set. Both were on my wish list. I recognize more and more as I get older that I am hard to buy for because I feel like I have everything I need except time and how can you give that? I also got 3 hours with a personal trainer from the Mom and Dad and that will be put to good use. My eldest brother and his wife got mine and Mark's names and they overwhelmed us with movie and restaurant gift certificates. We have used one of the movie gift certs to see the latest Harry Potter when the boys had school Monday but the store was closed. Very nice t