Sunset, Sunrise...

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 look after. The rest of the week is pretty slow so that is good. I have some writing deadlines that I am waaaaay behind on. On to the next project, right? Just have to figure out what that is...

Opening Night - Check!

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.

Excited about Sondheim!

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 delightfully sarcastic lines (my favorite!). I hope that you all can make it to see this lovely show!

We run from September 8th to 11th. Evening shows are at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday matinee is at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through Festival Place.

Normal for me is always changing...

No really, it is. I move from project to project so it's always a little bit different for me. Fringe is done for now but that didn't stop me from going and seeing one of the holdovers (Giant Invisible Robot) with a friend this week. Actually that was the first time I have ever gone to a Fringe Holdover. Usually I am too exhausted to partake. The show was good - would have liked to have seen it in a smaller venue for the sake of intimacy (it was a one man show), but it was good. You could tell the guy had mucho Improv background.

Now I am knee deep in A Little Night Music. We incorporated Elizabeth into the show today. She did amazingly well! I think I called line as many times as she did! Really, the lines are perfect in my car when I run them... they will come... now we have a more focused and intensive rehearsal period before we open so it will all come. We did a Sitz Probe on Wednesday night and it was lovely to sing with an orchestra again (after so long...). I am really happy with this production. I like everyone in the cast and the play and music are so good.

Today I read about a contemporary deciding to quit their job because of the success and fun of her Fringe experience. These things worry me. I know they shouldn't worry me personally - it's not my life... but a Fringe show does not a career make. You have to pay the rent... don't you? It would be nice if life could be fun like theatre is all the time, but a fun life seems like a shallow existence. Who is paying the bills? The taxes? I have known others who have done this over the years to varying degrees of success... I know it is their life... but I worry about their children and spouses and the fact that while some of them had some talent, they weren't necessarily tremendously talented. Mark occasionally asks about my goals... I just want to create and tell stories. If I am fortunate enough to be compensated for it - then that's a bonus. It's too fragile a world for me to stop the work I do for the store and my family for it. All I can do is to try to do it better. On that note - I am excited to be going to Playworks Ink this fall - Daniel MacIvor will be there!

Back to School Preparations...

We are one week from the return to school for the boys and a little bit longer for me. Now that Fringe is done I have to go through all their stuff that they brought home last June and see what I need to get. It is irritating to buy a new set of pencil crayons every fall when I know we have a huge box of half used ones at home. I think I might spend some time sorting through those and the crayons and saving some money instead of buying new ones. Don't call me cheap - call me frugal. I hate the waste!! I know they also brought home some duo tangs and loose leaf paper and Oliver has a binder that is immaculate. I'd like to reduce the purchases as much as possible.

For my school I have a list of nothing. I am doing scene study (Drama 257) so there are no texts on the list and I think I probably just need to dress to move. I am at a disadvantage there since I do not move as well as those 20 year olds, but I will do my best.

I am debating auditioning for a couple of projects this Fall. I do not want to get swamped and I want space to write. It will have to be the right project with the right people. I want to work on things where I learn... I also don't want to fill up the time and then find I am unable to do something amazing that might come along later. So, I think I have to wait for the right thing... I really should be writing more...

Night Music picks up again this week and goes into high gear next week. Sitz Probe on Wednesday and rehearsals on both Saturday and Sunday. I really need to review my lines. I know that next week will be challenging but luckily we (as a cast) are in good shape and I know we will all support Elizabeth as she finds her Desiree and moves into the show.

Today I spent some time with Gibson alone at the Telus World of Science while Oliver went fishing with Grandpa. Apparently Dad fell in the water and the fishing was not great, but Oliver had a good time and is getting quite good at casting. That's pretty cool. Gibson enjoyed having me to himself and spending my money!

A To-Do List Builds...

We have a wee 2 weeks off from rehearsing Pieces (Fringe 2011) while 2 of our actors are away and I am not accumulating an unanticipated To-Do List. I should have anticipated it, but sometimes I have to put my brain into the 'let's just get the next thing done' mode or I would get overwhelmed. Anyhow, the next two weeks will be about media materials, photos, posters, media releases, programs, etc... and I think I will be able to handle it. The once relatively free calendar is filling up (ugh), but the boys scoot off to camp next week so I should have much more time in the daytime to do any running around required. I am really thinking hard about a camp the following week, but in August they go three weeks straight in various camps so I am hesitant to do that. Somewhere in there I want to get a haircut...

The show itself is in good shape. The arc defined and present, but the big thing now is lines. It's tricky because of the overlapping dialogue so I do not pity the actors having to work on it in a vacuum over the next 2 weeks, but we will go hard in August when everyone is back. I will also work with anyone who wants a line running partner (I'll even do different voices for the different characters!). I am happy with where I have brought the script to. It could likely go further but I would have needed more time. It is a challenge to schedule with the my own schedule and the schedules of the people involved (a couple of them are in 1 or more other Fringe shows and then there are holidays and workshops - it is summer). In any case, I feel the script has taken leaps and bounds from where it was and my cast is very committed to making it work.

Last night I had rehearsal for A Little Night Music. We did a run of the show, off book. It was my first time off book for the whole show. I had put in some time on the lines earlier in the day, but the run told me I have some work to do. I generally know what I have to say, but I will need the reinforcement. We don't go up until September, so I know the task at hand is well within management. We run the show once a week for the next few weeks until after Fringe and then after Fringe we get serious. I feel like we are in great shape there.

A Nice Review, a Wedding, Family and Exhaustion...

The Gateway had a nice review of Village of Idiots and they even mentioned my set:

http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/arts-entertainment/2011/07/10/absurdity-rules-walterdale-s-wacky-world-idiots

Thought I would share. There was a pretty good review in the Sun as well, but they didn't say anything about the set, so I didn't post the link. This Blog is about me, after all... Well, really this review is better so why not just read it?

I got back from my San Francisco/Berkeley trip for my cousin's wedding on Sunday evening. I had left Thursday morning and enjoyed the 3 1/2 vacation slash family reunion slash wedding. It would have been the perfect trip to take the boys on since there were dinosaurs at the wedding and a whole bunch of kid cousins, but I did my best to enjoy it without them. I did a lot of visiting, but it always feels like you don't get to do enough. I was wishing I had made my return on Monday instead of Sunday so I would have had that one last day... but alas...

I am now tired. I have had rehearsals for Pieces (Fringe 2011) this week. Tonight was very giddy. We are off-book so that is good, but there is still a lot of "line" so work is needed. I am happy with where we are at and now we have a 2 1/2 week break until we can rehearse again. And then we go hard! Tonight we did media photos and from what I saw on the camera they looked pretty good. One of our cast is a very good photographer and she took some lovely shots. It really takes a village... Next week I meet with Sound Designer Magnolia and my lovely SM Kim and we have a track through the script for cues, etc... so we can figure some of that stuff out before we hit the space. I want to be ready when we walk in there.

I am so tired. I am pretty sure it is all the overlap of multiple projects and the travelling and all that, but today I shut my eyes and opened them and it was 2 hours later. I need to get my energy back! As of this weekend one project will be done (Village) and my ADship will be technically over and I will have a break on Pieces so I can work on my lines for A Little Night Music. I am missing a Production Meeting for Wyrd Sisters tomorrow night because I have Night Music rehearsal, but I told them what I think they need to know at this point so I am good there. I am only Master Painter for that show after all...

Looking Forward...

Tomorrow (Wed, July 6th) is Opening Night of Village of Idiots. I am excited and sad about this. It marks the last Opening Night of my tenure as Artistic Director, so there is a sadness about seeing this journey end. I have learned a lot and met a lot of friends over the last few years. I have made mistakes, and learned from them. I hope that I am passing on what is needed to the incoming AD. I have been trying to do so, but I also don't want to be overbearing or come across like I am trying to still do the job. I will miss it. I know that this job and what I learned from it will serve me in the future, but like anything 'unknown' it is scary to move on. I am also excited about the Opening. Openings are always fun and because I got the opportunity to design the set I am anxious to see the reception of that.

I also have to pack tomorrow. I am going on a wee holiday to San Francisco for my cousin's wedding. I am so looking forward to seeing my cousins and siblings and aunts and uncles who will be there. I have a list of things to do before I go... when I come back, I dive right back into Pieces and A Little Night Music and finishing the run of Village... I am looking forward, but the path is cluttered...

Waiting to Gel...

Spent the afternoon putting together a bookshelf and listening to the two songs I sing on in A Little Night Music. I am getting very familiar with them both. It is strange to be working on so many projects at once. You wouldn't think so, considering my history, but it is in that with A Little Night Music all the participants are very busy so we have been getting together in little groups and fits and starts. Luckily many of us know each other, but I think it might be one of those shows that we gel in towards the end of the process. Which is okay, but I hope it starts gelling a little bit next week... I do rehearse 3 times for it next week after all...

Run Don't Walk... Otherwise you won't make it...

Last night I had the read-through for what will basically be the Rehearsal Draft of Pieces (Finally Sauces' 2011 Fringe show). I was very pleased with it and am excited to start working. We have a very tight, but spread out, rehearsal schedule and I won't be there next week as I have A Little Night Music Rehearsals all week, so AM will lead the initial text work. Tonight is Opening Night for From Cradle to Stage. I will be there to do my pre-show speech and watch the shows and enjoy the reception. Tomorrow I have a meeting with Ted, my builder for Village of Idiots. Alli got the drawings to me yesterday and I dropped them off to Linette, the Director - now I need to get them to Ted. I am looking forward to starting work on the set and have started painting props in my kitchen. I have also started collecting things that I think might work.

Today I woke up with a headache. I tried to sleep it off, but had to get up to medicate. It is starting to subside now that I ate something so whether it was food or the medication, I don't care. My head feels much better. I am still tired though, so I might take a wee nap this afternoon... so I can run later...

Do What You Need to Do to Make it Work...

This is the story of my life as a Director when it comes to scheduling. I thought my Fringe show was going to be easier, but despite having only 5 actors, it was a major challenge. My schedule doesn't help, but I planned to use Sunday afternoons and Monday evenings to get around the worst of A Little Night Music. A wrench was thrown in that with one actor unable to do Sundays. I knew I had one big challenge with one actor being away the last two weeks of July, but the plan was to use the week before Fringe Techs start to review and tighten. I could make this work. But a different actor came in with a conflict that affected 5 out of 7 of those days in that week. That's the section about which I am most worried.

I haven't even got all the conflicts in, but I had to start constructing a schedule before any more of them filled up the remaining weeks with vacations, or visits from families, or other rehearsals (2 of my actors are in other Fringe shows). I laid it all on the calendar. In June there were 6 days in total where I could use everyone and 4 of those were days I could potentially be scheduled for ALNM. Okay, now I need to write a sucky email to my ALNM Director asking for days off in June. I wanted 8 rehearsals in June - I can get 6. In July, it's even worse. There are only 3 days where everyone is available and 2 of those I have potential ALNM rehearsals. I write about that in my sucky email to my ALNM Director. Apparently those 2 days are 2 of only 3 days she has her whole cast until Aug 16th, can I give her one of them? I will do so, because I know what it is like, but my cast needs to rehearse without me there so I will put someone else in charge that night and fix what I need to the next night. In July there are 6 rehearsals (I wanted 8 minimum) one of which I cannot be at.

Now I don't need them all for ALL of the rehearsals, but because of the structure of the show I need 4/5 of them at almost all times. It's done. We will rehearse 20 times between now and then if we are lucky (like I said, I still don't have all the conflicts). No one can be sick. No one can throw another 'surprise' holiday in the works. This is THE schedule.

Next year, if we decide to do a Fringe show and we get in - I am building the schedule first and saying 'if you can't work with this, then I will find someone else, I love you, but maybe next time...'

Now I can get to next week...

Had a great lunch/meeting with AM about life and our Fringe show. We are on track. I got there 1/2 an hour early and that gave me time to look at the script and make some really good notes for where it needs to go. I shall work on that tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. I am excited about ideas that came up for the script both from my head and from suggestions from AM. It is a good place to be.

Also, got the email about schedules for next week for A Little Night Music - YAY! I only rehearse Tuesday next week (which means I have to cancel one other item and decline another - sigh), so I can look at planning with the Fringe Team for a read through of the script. May should be a reading and re-writing month with June getting busier, so hopefully I will get more schedule information from ALNM and then I can plan with my team. I know that I will have Monday nights free... I can also use those.

Anyhow, I am in a better place now than I was earlier. I even got some more done on that Character Study thing.

Behind Again... and here I am Blogging...

Yesterday was demolished by errands and cyberspace. I have to get a computer that is not linked to the internet so I don't waste so much time on Facebook and Twitter. My great writing push from earlier in the week did not extend into yesterday and today has been tied up with errands, Store work (payday tomorrow!), and a lunch date. Hopefully I will get something done this afternoon. There is tomorrow, but I plan to be napping after the wedding. Yes, I am planning on watching. I am hoping it takes my mind off the election.

Tonight I have my one-on-one for A Little Night Music. I haven't finished my Character Study, but I have done a bit on it. It feels weird to do it when I haven't done anything but a read-through on the show. I am really adverse to making definitive choices for my character until I work with the text aloud and with the other actors. I know, it sounds like excuses, but those of you who have worked with me as a Director, you know that I work very intensively with the text for many, many, many hours of rehearsal before I start pushing for more concrete choices. I just don't know what to expect from this one-on-one and I worry it will be a waste of time after we get it on it's feet and start hearing and speaking the words. sigh. I also want a schedule for next week and after sooner rather than later. I can only hold those days open for so long. It will burn my butt if I save them and find out last minute that we aren't rehearsing. I have three other shows on the go, so time is valuable for me. I messaged the Director yesterday and she said we should be getting a schedule asap, but it has not showed up in my in-box yet. Frustrating. I will ask tonight at the one-on-one. I just need to know so that I can plan my life and the rest of the stuff I have to get scheduled.

On a more positive note - I will be seeing Into the Woods (ELOPE) and Boygroove (Impulse Theatre) this weekend. Two musicals, very different, in one weekend. Should be fun!

A Little Downtime... How unusual...

So the show closed this weekend. It was a fabulous experience. I know, if it wasn't great to do it, you wouldn't put all that time in for free. But beyond the usual greatness of doing a show, this particular experience was even better. The cast and crew really bonded and the show itself grew because of that. I personally had a great time and felt that I grew a bit through the experience. The show is not typical of musical theatre. How could it be? It's freaking Brecht and Weill! I found this the toughest music I have ever had to learn. It isn't stuff you can hum at home on your own unless you have listened to it over and over and over again. I can hum a few songs now (not my own though). The show is not nice and pretty, neither is the music, but it is funny and sharp and cynical and rude and a bit crude. We had fantastic costumes and an amazing set and wonderful musicians and I feel like I made many good friends through it. I know not all my friends who came to see it liked it. Not their kind of show. Only a few let that show... Most really seemed to get it and enjoy it for what it was. The houses were big and except for one strangely quiet night, they were very responsive. Now we are done and I move on to my next, count 'em, 4 projects. From Cradle to Stage is first up. From our Production Meeting yesterday things are well under way and I don't have much to do until I can start painting. Village of Idiots should be cast now. I am waiting on a cast list. I am also waiting to meet with people about the set construction/drafting. We can't start the actual build until June, but I also have to get to work on props. I also have the next two weeks to re-write my Fringe show, Pieces. I want to start scheduling but I don't know my schedule on my last project, A Little Night Music. I got the part of Charlotte!!! Yay! I have to do a Character Study - not so yay... I don't typically do those anymore (like not for about 15 years) as I tend to approach my acting from an objectives/reaction kind of process... knowing the favorite food of my character is really unimportant to me onstage. Anyhow, I will get it done, it just feels like homework and for a hobby I would rather not have homework. I would rather use the time to learn lines and the music, but whatevs... We had the first read-through yesterday and I think we have a nice strong cast (some were missing, I will assume they are as good as those who were there). The really nice thing is that over the next 2 weeks I have only 2 scheduled things, so I feel so incredibly free right now! Yay!

Audition - A Little Night Music

I had my callback for A Little Night Music tonight. It went well for me and I am happy with what I did. It went well for the other actress up for the same role, too. So, I think they can go either way. I will be cool with that. It would be different if I was obviously better and didn't get it. I think they will have a hard decision to make and I am glad I do not have to make it. I love the part though, and the song (Every Day A Little Death) so I will keep my fingers crossed. Also, I know a lot of great people in the cast or up for roles, so it would be nice to play with them. I wish my life weren't so busy, because then I would have opened myself up for more options int he show, but it is jam packed already so a cameo is about all I can handle at this point. I will keep you posted!