Finster Finds

Well, I have been saying that there is a lull in my theatre life between September and April ( basically between A Little Night Music and Nine ), however, I have managed to fill some of that time up this week. In addition to working a couple of casinos (Shadow Theatre and Theatre Yes) I also auditioned for the Drama 483 midterms and was cast in one of them, as well, I interviewed for and received an offer to direct for New Works at the U of A. The 483 scene is for the play Mrs. Packard . I do not know which role I will be playing at this point. I will find out Sunday. And the New Works script is also a mystery. I have my fingers crossed for one in particular but will be happy to work on whatever they want me to! I am excited. I think I should pause now before auditioning for anything else. At this point the time is filling up. Since I am also Master Painter for Wyrd Sisters at Walterdale I am running out of free time. But it is parcelled out nicely. I also wanted to mentioned I am ...

Due to a happy circumstance I once again was able to see a show at The Citadel last night. This time it was a Preview for Death of a Salesman on the Shoctor Stage. A few years ago I saw a very well done production of this play so I wasn't sure how I was going to receive it. It is always hard to judge when you have seen and enjoyed a piece before. However, this production was everything it should be. Although Tom Wood, as Willie Loman, was clearly the anchor for it, it was a true ensemble, with stand-out performances from Wood, John Ullyat (Biff Loman), Brenda Bazinet (Linda Loman) and Tim Campbell (Happy Loman). But that's not really even fair. Not one actor onstage felt miscast or lazy. I could list them all, really, it is really that the core of the play is the family itself. I will admit, I am a bit of an Arthur Miller fan, however, I had a couple friends tell me at intermission and after the show how much they had hated the play when they studied it in high school and how ...

This season is going to be interesting... that's what I keep telling myself. I already feel the lull between projects. This is something I hadn't felt for the last 2 1/2 years because there was always something to do with Walterdale . Even if I didn't have an active project on the go I often needed to be helping in coordinating upcoming events and helping others to fill out their teams. There was little down time. I liked that. But this season will be different. Night Music wrapped up and my class at the U of A was on the go - so there was that. I threw in an audition (which I will admit was not up to my best - too tired from Night Music at the time and woefully unprepared). I also signed up for Shadow Theatre's casino and for working FOH for NLT's first show of the season, Heroine . After all, there are many theatres in the city who benefit from volunteers and, hey, I got the time. The Casino was fun. Worked a shift with a couple of friends and some other nice p...

I was lucky enough to catch a Preview of Ronnie Burkett's Penny Plain this past Sunday at The Citadel. What a fabulous show! Yes, it's all marionettes (wait, there were a couple of hand puppets in there too), but it was a fascinating story of a distopian future all told by Ronnie Burkett through many characters. I thought I would be distracted by the puppets, I was not - I was so in I often could have sworn there were tiny little people inside each of them. The mannerisms were subtle and individual and the story itself, although dark, was compelling. You wanted to know what was going to happen. You were shocked and entranced by the changes in the characters. You cared about them. It was more than just a play in so many ways. Just the fact that one person was creating the voices and characterization for all the characters and you totally believed them, was pretty cool - but the seemingly effortlessness of the movement was brilliant. There were a few exceptions of Preview night...

Today was class three of my Fall course, Drama 257 . I was a little leery (as usual) at the beginning, but I am really enjoying it. The 'kids' are nice and I like the style of our instructor, Donna Marie, and I think that I can get something out of it. I always worry about those things when I take classes at the Uni now. Being that I am 20 or more years older than most (read: all) the other kids in class and I might even be older than the instructor, I tend to worry about how I will fit into the dynamic. However, this group of students seem to like me and accept me as one of them (whew!) not just 'the old lady' in the class. The first two Projects that we presented I think demonstrated that I am not just a dilettante, but that I am serious about this and that I have something to offer. I am anxious for script work. I understand the vocabulary of intention and specificity and choice and being present, so I want to apply that to some script work. I am curious as to who I...

A Little Night Music closed yesterday. It felt strange. Closing on a Sunday Matinee never really feels like a closing, but it was. I loved doing this show. I really enjoyed the character and the music and although I would have loved to sing more than I did in the show, considering how much I had on the go, it was probably a good thing I didn't! I also loved working with the cast. There were only 16 of us on the stage and we also had a nice close-knit crew. It was a delight. The best of theatrical experiences! It is now done and I have only the memories... So now what? I have my class and I am getting started with my school volunteering. I am also waiting to find out when the boys activities will be so I can plan the rest of my life. Today was a bit of a write off. I did get some stuff done, but I am very, very tired from the last week. Exhausted. Tomorrow will be better. I have an audition tomorrow night that I need to prepare for and a props drop at the theatre that I need to loo...

Last night A Little Night Music opened. The show was solid and we thrilled to the response from the audience. A few jittery hiccups here and there but that's live theatre! I truly enjoyed playing the 'bitchy' Charlotte and getting laughs for my barbed lines. Tonight is show 2 and we only have 4. Most of the people I know are coming on Saturday night. It has been a great adventure so far and I am sad that we only have 3 more times to do it! In any case the audience really seemed to enjoy the show and that's what it's all about! I hope to see you there.

We are getting closer to A Little Night Music opening! I am getting excited. Between last night and tonight I had a pretty awesome show (take the best sections from both). All I got to do is put it all together. The show has really gelled in the last week and a half. All that work stretched out over so much time have truly paid off and in a strange way the length of rehearsal time has reduced the stress. Tomorrow we have a media call and I have to get my hair on for that and head out to Festival Place in the morning! Hopefully I can sing as well at 10:30 a.m. as I can at 8:30 p.m. at night! We only have 4 shows for this. I am anticipating a good turn out since the Christmas show consistently sells out and they have many, many more shows. The cast is also so incredibly strong. Everyone can sing and is well cast. I love the fun that is happening both onstage and off. The show has beautiful music ( Sondheim! Squee!) and is funny (a bedroom farce, if you will) and I have the most d...