Festival Accompli!

We wrapped up the Footlight Festival on Saturday. It went smoothly but I am glad that it is done. It was an exhausting two weeks (in addition to the Staged Readings, I worked FOH three times, participated in one of the Round Table Discussions and went to one of the Variety Nights - add to that a trip to Fort McMurray on one weekend and a wedding on the other and it all adds up!). I felt a little frustrated with the communication. It all worked out in the end, but I found it hard to shake the feeling that although I thought I was clear about what was being promised, that there were people not happy with what they were getting, and that the Festival was being manipulated to deliver more. A more open and honest conversation about what was wanted vs. what was happening would have been nicer, but perhaps there wasn't time for that, or perhaps in the middle of things people didn't have the ability to articulate things in an open way. Luckily, I had two phenomenal people in the booth, who were able to handle the last minute changes and roll with it and who were able to stay past the time they were called for. I know that it also impacted on the FOH, as some of them were also required to stay later than they had expected, but they rose to the occasion. I think that everyone left happy, and I hope that those who were accommodated recognized that there were many people to thank for it.

These last two weeks have been crazy!

I am off to A Grand Night For Singing (the ELOPE show) tonight. I worked Box Office on Tuesday and Thursday. I was at the Membership Round Table on Monday Night. That was coming off the trip to Fort McMurray and the Staged Readings on Sunday Night. Tomorrow I have Marissa and Kreg's wedding and the 2nd edition of the Staged Readings. I thought June would eases up but I am getting emails about meetings for contracts and Zachary and stuff! Plus I have some birthday parties and it never seems to quiet down.

I am up to 9 on the Waiting List for Fringe and potentially 6 by the end of the week. I feel closer but not close enough. I am going to propose the Interplay idea so the work is useful now.

One Down, one to go...

What a weekend. Could it have been any more jam packed? I doubt it. I headed to McMurray on Sat morning for the Mike and Lorie Eddy Retirement Bash. More on that in another post. Then back home to Edmonton on Sunday. A quick nap (45 min tops!) then off to the South side for supper with friends of Marks that I had never met before. Then dash to the theatre for the staged readings.



The event was sparsely attended, but those that were there were appreciative of what they saw and heard. Mr. Twiddles went off well, there were places that the pacing lagged, but not too bad overall. I think by the end they figured out with a reading you need to push it because you lack the business you'd normally have to keep the audience attentive.



Then we saw/heard The Burning Blood. What a great piece of theatre. Even though it was a reading, it was so very good. I wish I could write that well. Maybe someday if I am a very good girl. There is something about a reading, too, where you strip away all that clutter of set and movement and costumes and all that and you can just focus on the story and the voices. Your mind fills in all the images and you just go with it. The cast assembled all have rich voices and they attacked the script with passion. It was great. My big regret is that the Festival Schedule is so tight that we cannot hear the whole thing at it's second staging on Saturday. But, that being said, I am glad that they got the opportunity to 'do it all' at least this once and that I was there to hear it.

Just a few things...

1. Wonderful to hear the band with the voices on Sunday. Cathy and Jamie sound so good and when you add violins, and guitar, and the coolness that a bass just is, it all gets better. Somewhat sad I had to leave before they made it through the whole show, but I will hear it again (and again, and again). The Last Five Years, People! March 12-14th! Be there!

2. Good meeting tonight with the directors of the Reading for he Footlights Festival. We have a plan for casting both shows that should be fair and manageable. A bit of a challenge to sort it all out from names and numbers and some resumes, but we do have a plan. Both the ladies are sharp and keen and enthusiastic and working for the good of the script. That's what I like to hear! I feel good about this.

3. Spent a lot of time working for Revenue Canada today and I am glad that is done for another year. When you only do the monumental task once a year it is always a steep learning curve come February!

4. Great fun at the library with Gibson today. If I paid attention to what he actually said I would know everything there is to know about Mario.

A Good Day...

Today was the Friday of Teacher's Convention. It was so nice not to have to leave the house for anything. The boys are getting to the age that (for the most part) they can play well together and they also appreciate a day with no running around. I had a couple of big writing and reading tasks that I needed to do and the boys played and I got to work. I completed my Post-Workshop Draft of Zachary and the Storytelling Stones for my meeting on Tuesday and I also finally got around to the second Draft of Mr. Twiddles, the script I am providing dramaturgy for as part of the Play Readings portion of the Footlights Festival. I have felt bad about the second item because my life got crazy-busy with winning the workshop for Zachary so I lost the time I thought I would have over Reading Week to get things done. I had a lot of scripts to read and that had to happen, as did the workshop and whatever work I had for school and L5Y, so unfortunately I pushed Mr. Twiddles to the back burner. I didn't want to do a sloppy job of it and not give it the time it deserved. Today I focused and got the work done.

I also did laundry and managed to make my clothes minty fresh by leaving a full pack of gum in the back pocket of a pair of jeans. Duh!

p.s. Twas nice to wake up singing songs from L5Y. We had a good rehearsal last night. My actors are working so hard and they pick up notes so fast. I will soon become redundant and unnecessary (let's hope not).