Finster Finds

So I have seen the following Oscar nominated films: Black Swan The Fighter Inception The Kids Are All Right The King's Speech The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit Leaving the following as unseen: 127 Hours Winter's Bone I do not know if I will get to see either of those. I am not sure I can handle the amputation in 127 Hours and to be honest I hadn't even heard of Winter's Bone before reading the list of nominees. I read the synopsis and it doesn't draw me in (even though it is supposed to be really good). Today I thought about which of these would have been the 5 nominees if there were only 5. I think it would be a combination of the following: The Social Network The King's Speech True Grit The Fighter Inception The Black Swan I do not know which of those would have been kicked from the list... Maybe Inception , because of timing of release, but I actually think it was the most innovative movie up there. Black Swan is really about Natalie Portman's pe...

Every year I go to an Oscar party (okay, maybe we skipped one year because AM was in Mexico - but we have been pretty consistent). My friend AM started it a few years ago (I am thinking over 10 because I know the first one was before Oliver was born). Anyhow, we have twizzlers, and 2 bite brownies and we watch the Oscars. Early on we made an effort to see as many of the nominated films and performances that we could. That got harder with kids in the picture. In recent years there have been years where I have only seen one of the nominated films. Sigh. It got even harder with the expansion to 10 films in Best Picture, but I made a real effort this year. So far I have seen 7/10 of them and I hope to see my 8th tomorrow ( True Grit ). I will not get to Winter's Bone or 127 Hours - I can't make it. No matter. I do not think either of them will win Best Picture (not that they aren't good - I am following the odds makers...). So I am right now trying to figure out who to vote ...

Last night Rabbit Hole closed. It was a lovely show, different and yet the same. I did appreciate that my cast kept it active and alive and never exactly the same, but yet preserved the story. I know that sounds like director babble, but whatevs... Anyhow, we struck the set and props (I have a crap load of stuff to put away and Mark took two big bags of toys to Goodwill) and tidied the building and sat around in a bit of a shock. This show was such a lovely family that it was sad to see it end. Now, I didn't personally have to travel the emotional journey that the actors did, so it is easy for me to say I wish it could've run longer, but I was very happy with it. I was blessed on this project. I had so many great people who helped make it as wonderful as it was - not just the actors, but the rest of the artistic staff and the crew. They really took care of it and I think it showed. I was also blessed to have so many friends come and see it. I know how busy we all ar...

Gibson, my little guy, lost his first tooth yesterday. He really lost it too. In school somewhere... so he wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy explaining the situation. Luckily, she still came through for him. Then, this morning at breakfast he worked at wiggling the other loose tooth right next door and it to popped out. He seemed so excited about this simple little thing. Maybe it is the money from the tooth fairy, but he really couldn't stop grinning and it was so much fun to see.

Why I think you should always go for the best... In a recent review of Rabbit Hole , one paper said that Walterdale demonstrated it's fearlessness by even attempting the script. I found this interesting. A compliment, yes, I do not contest that, but I do think the choice of the script made perfect sense to me. I chose it because the writing was so good. I always start with the writing. I will discard a choice if the writing is simple or transparent or clunky. I do not understand why you wouldn't want to start with the absolute best - no matter who you are. In my mind, strong writing makes your job easier, not harder. You have to be so much better to overcome a flawed script. It is why so many companies do Shakespeare even today - because the writing is good. It's why you do Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller, and Daniel MacIvor. Because the writing is good. So I didn't see it as fearlessness, I simply thought it made good sense. I read it and understood it ...

I am excited, as I usually am for Opening Night. This show has truly been a labour of love for me and it is wonderful to see it come to fruition. I am proud of what it is and I think it is pretty darn good. The Previews were a wonderful experience. The first one with the generous audience setting us off on a good foot and the smaller, quieter second audience who went along for the ride in tension and who went out of their way to shower us with compliments. Everyone who has done theatre knows that the positive feedback of absolute strangers is so very gratifying. You like it when your friends and family say nice things, too, but a complete stranger who seeks you out to say 'well done' is so unexpected and since there is nothing vested for them in terms of love for you, you trust the objectiveness of the comments. One women made a point of tracking me down to tell me the show was better than a show she saw at a professional theatre this week - not that the show she saw was...

Last night was the first Tech Dress for Rabbit Hole . It is coming together beautifully. We have some tweaks to do yet, but it is in fine shape. It has been a nice journey, despite hiccups. One actors has suffered unpredictable illness and we had to move quickly to incorporate an understudy into the production. Fortunately that has been smoother than you might think. Last night's run proved that. We have a nice team right now, one that seems to fit together well and understand how they fit into the show as a whole. The actors have to be fairly vulnerable, so the have the freedom to be that way when they do not have to worry about all the other details. Thankfully we have a cohesive team working to make that happen. Last night I got to see my show again after almost a week. My notes were few, and all were fixable. I felt comfortable with everyone in the space and really, that is what makes volunteering so much more than just volunteering - working with friends that you trus...