Show Down...

We wrapped up the show on Saturday night. We had a very nice sized house for the close which was a nice way to end it. The general feedback was that the 'theatre snobs' enjoyed themselves, but found the piece full of holes and lacking gravitas (ha ha - it was a melodrama) and that the non-theatre folk had a great time. I think we did what we could with the piece and with the talents and skills available. I did wish that the playwright had been more actively involved in the whole process so that some of the holes could have been sewn up a little. But I think we all committed to selling the piece as is and that worked. Our shows themselves were highly audience dependent. My best show of the run was the first Saturday, but the closing Friday and Saturday were up there. Again, the audience was a big factor and the success of the chair fall.

I enjoyed working with the group on this project. I was sick on and off (mostly on) for the majority of the rehearsal period which side-tracked my fitness plans. Illness also affected my mood so I was crankier than usual. I think that I pulled it together for the process, but you never know. The group, primarily new to Walterdale, was enthusiastic and fun and genuinely happy to be there so that made for a good experience. I hope to see many of them back for future shows as I think they had the right attitude. It wasn't the closeness of Magnolias or the near-perfection of Crimes, but I did make good friends and we entertained honestly and earnestly.

On Sunday, I interviewed for AD at Walterdale. The boys put me through a rigorous 2 1/4 hour interview. The questions were free-flowing, all over the place, hypothetical and practical. As far as I know I am the only candidate (I could be wrong), but they are not telling me until New Years (possibly this weekend). I am not sure why the wait. Personally I think they would be hard pressed to find a better candidate at this point in time.

Half Way Through the Run...

Well, we are 5 shows down and 5 to go. Things are going well. The strength of the show really rests strongly on the character and size of the audience. Opening, Thursday and Saturday nights we had larger and more enthusiastic audiences so those shows seemed to have more energy. I think, for me, Saturday was my strongest show. Everything worked and maybe it was because my sister and Mom were in the audience because I was just feeling it and I think it played on stage. Friday and Sunday we had smaller and more subdued houses. On Friday almost all of the theatre jokes fell flat so we had to re-gear for making the rest of the jokes work. In any case, it is a lesson in how you have to keep the energy even if it isn't coming from the house. I am glad for the day off to recuperate.

Why Do I Feel Insulted?...

So yesterday evening before the show I got there early. As I was getting my make-up on I overheard the other two 'early arriving actors' talking about doing an radio interview about the show. I was excited about the idea that we would get more press so I piped up "Oh! Are you guys doing some kind of interview?". The two of them suddenly looked very nervous and sad for me and they averted their eyes as one of them said, "Uh, yeah, uh, Scott set it up, but, uh, they only wanted the ghosts... uh, sorry, but, uh, I guess the ghosts sell.". I replied with a chipper "That's cool. Great to get more press for the show!" - because that's what I thought. But later, I felt insulted. NOT because I was not invited to the interview, but because they were keeping it a big secret (not just from me, but from the rest of the cast) because they think we are all a bunch of babies who would be more upset that we weren't in the interview rather than happy about the show getting publicity. I never think secrets contribute to a better working relationship, regardless of how you think people will react. If someone is going to be a baby about why they aren't in an interview and someone else is, then you call them on that when it happens. Don't assume that I won't be a grown-up and insult me in a different way.

Another Opening, Another Show...

I can't believe how many shows I have done since moving to Edmonton. I remember, before we moved, feeling anxious about what the opportunities would be. I could not have predicted the amount of projects I have worked on in the last 3 1/2 years. I tallied them when I was updating my resume for a position I was applying for (I have an interview on Dec 21st - cross your fingers!). I am up to 12 shows (ranging from set painting, to acting, to directing, to writing). This does not include the University course and the additional writing I have done when I can fit it in! I might have accumulated that many shows in twice the time in Fort McMurray... it's hard to call, because I would have likely had more kids had I stayed there.

So, last night we opened Black Hearts in the Green Room at Walterdale Playhouse. It went off swimmingly! The Opening Night audience was full of those appreciative of the melodrama. They booed and hissed and oohed and aahed at all the appropriate times. I was a bit worried in rehearsal about the cheesiness of some of the bits, but the audience embraced the fromage with gusto! We need an audience like that every night!

A Proper Frame of Mind...

Tonight is our first 'Tech Dress' for Black Hearts in the Green Room. We open on Wednesday, December 10th, but we have our first audience on Monday night for the director's Preview. We are ready, I think. Well, I know I am. It is a funny little show. Nothing earth-shaking or anything and it really blends melodrama and farce. There are times we break the 4th wall and times we don't. So there is a bit of inconsistency of form, but I just play it all with conviction and intention and I hope it sails out the right way. I think I thought that the playwright would be more involved in the process of mounting his show, but he has been very hands off. There are places I would have liked him to be there to maybe tighten up the writing. It you come and see it, we can chat about that! In any case, it is time to get focused. My drama class is blessedly done so other than 'family life' I only have the show to worry about. That's a good thing.

Life Proceeds Apace...

Well, for a long weekend, I didn't feel like I got much rest. Perhaps it was the child-activity filled day with show with friends out in Sherwood Park in the evening on Saturday (winding up with a late night at a Irish Pub), followed by rehearsing all afternoon and going to the movie with Mark on Sunday. Then Monday, all kid activities were still on (including school). On Tuesday, Remembrance Day, I did not have class, but my Final Project group met for 3 1/2 hours in the afternoon and then I rehearsed for Black Hearts in the evening. Wednesday, actually felt like a break, even though I had to go in to the University to meet up with my group again for an hour.

Black Hearts is starting to feel more solid. It has been the most challenging script I have ever had to learn and I don't even have that many lines compared to Steel Magnolias or Gypsy. It is the nature of having ghosts in the script, who we can't hear, but who may be our cues lines. It is hard for the brain. Also, a lot of the early work was useless. We could have been beating at the script, but instead we were doing all this improv stuff. Finally we are working, working, working the script and it feels like it is solidifying. I just wish we had done more work on the text earlier so I didn't feel like I am always having to shake away insecurities about lines. This Sunday we are no longer allowed to call line... which I personally feel is a mistake. We have 2 weeks to Q2Q. There are so many things that we are still adding and whenever a new element gets added the lines will regress. Maybe if we had more time working the text earlier, but, I just don't feel we are ready and I think it is a needlessly early deadline.

Hopes and Dreams for November...

On paper, this October was and continues to be one of the busiest months I have had in a long time. Keep in mind I am a naturally busy person, so imagine what a really, really busy month is for me. I will be glad when this month is over. I am going to endeavour to minimize adding things to November outside Black Hearts and the commitments I have for the boys and the one or two social events I have to go to. AM and I scaled back on meeting for our writing until the middle of the month so that helps and there are no 50th Anniversary Galas, nor shows to work Box Office coming up. I hope to keep Mondays and Wednesday nights free to decompress. I hope to write on Tuesday afternoons. I hope that our P/T Pharmacist is sufficiently recovered from his surgery to return to work so that I don't feel like the managing of the house and children is on my shoulders 80% of the time. I hope to get my hair cut and coloured sometime in November and I hope to feel well enough to at least get back on the treadmill 3X a week. I think the health thing is slowly resolving. I am at about 75% right now so that is a good thing. I hope that if I need to meet for my drama class, that we can meet on Tues and Thurs afternoon so I don't have to make another trip to the University and pay for parking on a different day. I hope that the other people in my life stay healthy, and get their crap dealt with so I don' t have to drop additional responsibilities into a very busy life that I carefully schedule and coordinate so that I don't feel swamped. I hope that Mark starts to use the organizational system (5th times the charm!) I have set up to minimize the paper explosions in our home and therefore the chaos in our lives. I will likely not see everything I want to in regards to theatre this month, but I will get to what I can and that will be that. I shouldn't feel bad about not getting to everything. There is just so much to go to and only so much time.

Germ Soup...

Thus ends a week of illness. I am still not at 100% but I am getting there. Tuesday was the worst day. I actually 'called in sick' for class and after dropping Oliver at the bus stop I went home and slept 5 hours. I still felt tired when I woke up. That evening I had orientation for Artstart and a rehearsal for Black Hearts so it was good I got the rest. I figure if I didn't have so many things on the go it would be a lot more easy to get well again. Or maybe, if I wasn't so busy, being sick wouldn't be so hard to cope with. Each night I go to sleep with the hope that I will feel 100% upon waking. I haven't gotten there yet and I grab little naps when I can and I am married to a Pharmacist so I medicate a bit to ease my way through... Maybe by my birthday...

Gibson turned 4 yesterday. A nice little birthday morning and hot dogs for supper (a supper I knew he would like... he's a little young to pick dinner so I picked for him). I am avoiding the whole birthday party concept for my children. I figure I will have to have a few over the years, but I don't want it to be an assumed thing. For one thing, they get enough stuff without the party from us and relatives. Also, I think the whole party thing gets to be too much and for them to expect it would bother me. I want them to appreciate things, not take them for granted. It is hard to know how to do this.

Week of Madness...

Whew! I am exhausted and it is only Wednesday. This weekend Walterdale Theatre is having it's 50th Anniversary Gala and I am performing so I have been rehearsing (Sun, last night) for that as well as making chocolates and cookies for the Open House on the weekend. I have to get to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Studio Theatre this week (Thurs). That is technically homework so it has to happen. Tonight I am meeting with my co-teacher for Artstart. We start teaching the class in two weeks so I want to find out what we are doing. She has done it before so her input would be very helpful! I also have to get ready for the AGM because I am the secretary and I have things to do for that (Fun Awards, minutes, attendance, etc...). I hope I survive and I am so glad we don't rehearse for Black Hearts this week!

A Read Through and then a Run Through...

Today was a wee bit crazy, but in a good way. First Mark took the boys to Olds for a visit so I had a bit of time alone at home. I decided to make chocolates for the Walterdale Gala. I made them with red and white accents because that fits the colour scheme for the event. Then I rushed to Staples to photocopy my script for New Works at the University.

Then it was off to Walterdale for the first read-thru of Black Hearts in the Green Room. It was a nice read thru and it really clarified some of the challenges we will face. We have a nice fun cast with a lot of depth and diversity. I don't really know many of them so it is nice to meet new people.

After the read-thru I went for supper at the Act and then back to the theatre to run-thru the Gala Entertainment. Whew! I am feeling pretty good about it. We have a nice little set of music and we added some simple staging to back it up.

Now I am home and contemplating bed. Tomorrow will be Oliver's first day on the bus. He was supposed to start on Wednesday of last week but in the craziness of the week I thought it was the wrong week. So we shall see how tomorrow goes!

Filling Up my Available Time...

I got in Black Hearts in the Green Room which goes up at Walterdale Theatre in December! I am playing Natasha, a nice big, funny, singing, silly, wacky role so I am very pleased. The director complimented me on my audition when she offered me the role so yesterday was a nice ego-boosting day! Woot Woot!

Class Participation...

Week three of my return to University has begun and I am really enjoying it. I actually got up and participated in front of the other 'kids' today and it was pretty cool. I actually got a nice compliment from our instructor who thanked me personally for my heightened emotional commitment to the activity. Tres cool! I guess it pays off to take those risks. I know I have a bit of an unfair advantage considering my background so I think I was holding back but really, I am paying for this, I need to get the most out of it for myself so I have to stop staying in the background and get myself out there.

I met Merran (of Cinderella fame) for lunch and Kayla joined us at the beginning and then Martin and Laura (from class) joined us for the end. Nice to hang with the 'kids' and feel like an equal and not a freaky old person (although I do make jokes about my age - it is my way... can't explain it).

On Sunday night I auditioned for the melodrama at Walterdale (Black Hearts in the Green Room). I know I kicked it, but you never know who else came out and what the total picture was so now I wait and hope for the best. I shall try to be cautiously optimistic. I feel I did good enough to get one of the two roles I want, but others may have too, so I can't really call it. Cross your fingers for me.