Finster Finds

Last week I managed to take in three shows!  That's with rehearsing and having to go to Red Deer for an APN Board Retreat!  I feel like a rock star for getting to three shows!  So, I am also very tired... Anyhow, I took in Opening Night of Dracula at Walterdale.  I am not a big horror fan, so it's not the kind of piece I expect to connect with, but I did appreciate the gusto and expertise with which everything was attacked.  Everything looked and sounded perfect so I am sure for those Vampire Aficionados it hit the spot.  The tech/designer in me was fairly blown away by the detail in all the designs.  From the pitch perfect costumes to the Special FX and props, to the sound, to the make-up and the blood, oh the blood - you could see that hours upon hours were put into the show.  The set design was elegant and supported by a fabulous lighting design so that the multiple locations were clear and functional.  Well done! It's selling terrifically well so I would advise getti

Theatre Yes presents the National Elevator Project What can happen in an elevator? Absolutely anything! OCTOBER 16 - 27, 2013 At Various Downtown Edmonton Locations Starting @ Tix on the Square, Sir Winston Churchill Square, 9930 – 102 Ave Theatre Yes’s National Elevator Project features short plays written for and performed in working elevators. Theatre Yes has arranged commissions for noted Canadian Playwrights from across the country to write very short plays (5 minutes and under) that explore the ritual of the elevator ride. The plays require audiences to enter elevators with the actors for one-of-a-kind, unforgettable performance experiences. Theatres and Arts Organizations involved: Eastern Front Theatre (NS), Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland (NL), Mulgrave Road Theatre (NS), Playwright’s Atlantic Resource Centre (NS), Magnetic North Theatre Festival (ON), Imago Theatre (QC), Nightswimming Theatre (ON), Persephone Theatre (SK), L’Unithéâtre (AB), Ghost River Theatre

A few weekends ago I spent the weekend in Banff at the Banff Centre for the Arts participating in Playworks Ink .  It was glorious.  Playworks Ink is offered every two years in the fall in coordinated by  Theatre Alberta and Alberta Playwright's Network .  It is similar to Dramaworks, which is held in alternate years in the summer.  Playworks Ink, however, has a little more focus on play writing with staged readings and more play writing based workshops.  I took Facing the Re-Write with Robert O'Hara which I felt would be a good fit since I have so many scripts on the go in various drafts. I decided to bring a scene from Little Monsters , which I started two years previously at Playworks Ink in a session facilitated by Daniel MacIvor .  I had been feeling a little stalled with it, so I thought this would be a chance to kick it into gear. To some degree, it was the right workshop.  I was exhausted, however, after my long and busy September so what this weekend actually did

It's time to think about Stage Struck, the Annual Adult One-Act Festival.  This is your opportunity o test-fly a new work, produce that short play you always wanted to, and meet others in the community who are doing the same. There is also the opportunity for Adjudication to offer feedback so you can develop your play and grow in your artistic endeavors. Edmonton Zone   CALL FOR ENTRANTS Stage Struck! 2014   Edmonton’s winter drama festival   What:      A regional adult one-act play festival When:      February 21 & 22, 2014 Where:    Walterdale Theatre Is there a one-act play you always wanted to produce?   Need an outlet for your own new play?   Would you like a first run of your Fringe show?   We’ll provide the venue, the audience and the adjudication, you provide the talent! Winning play goes to the provincials in Grande Prairie   May 2 & 3, 2014 .   Entrants must be based in the City of Edmonton. Any scripted play, previously published or new,

  So there is this fabulous contest in conjunction with 2 Pianos 4 Hands at the Citadel.  You can win a piano.  Check it out.  Enter . I can't because I work here, but if you win and you are my friend it will make me happy.

So the past week and a half has been C-R-A-Z-Y busy and C-R-A-Z-Y good so I have not had a chance to write.  I am going to tell you about some things (like Long Days Journey Into Night and some work stuff) now and some other stuff (like Playworks Ink and my trip to Banff) later! So last week we opened Long Day's Journey Into Night at the Citadel.  Opening nights are a big part of my job.  Although my work was not perfect, the 2 errors I made I was able to fix up quickly and the 3 arising issues were similarly solved with relative ease.  Whew!  I really like the people that I work with at the Citadel.  The box office was fabulous in helping me deal with my ticketing errors, the rest of the marketing people that were there were awesome making sure it ran smoothly and the whole energy was just so good. I am feeling good that I only made two mistakes and that I could handle the other issues on the fly without too much stress. I knew that I would be too brain buzzed from work to