Diving into work at Walterdale...

Last week was kind of a special one for me with regards to Walterdale Theatre. At the AGM I became the President for the 2017/18 Season, a posting I am very excited about especially considering the team that I will have to work with on the Board. It marks a return to the Board after a 5 year absence where I poured myself into production and a new job and work on other Boards. I think that after the experience I have gained on the Theatre Alberta and APN Boards I go back with a lot of skills that will help me serve the organization.

I also was surprised with an Award last week. I was selected for the Outstanding Season Contribution Award. Because they knew I was attending as incoming President they didn't tell me, so it was a very nice surprise. I was glad that Mark had decided to come along and since Walterdale has been so much of my theatre family over the years, I did feel like I had a lot of friends there to share the win with. It is always wonderful to be recognized and thanked for what you do and even nicer when it is done in front of people you love.

As for my Walterdale non-Board work this year, I am happy to announce that my play, Water Beneath Her Feet, has been selected for development and production at this year's From Cradle to Stage Festival. This means that I get to work on the script with dramaturge Tracy Carroll between now and February and then the developed script will be presented at Walterdale as part of the From Cradle to Stage Festival in May 2018. I had my first session with Tracy tonight and am looking forward to diving into a new draft with her questions and comments buzzing in my head.

Long Weekend - Lots of sleep and another 3 shows!

May is a great month for theatre in Edmonton!  This past week I saw three shows and rehearsed for both of my Fringe shows.  All in all and very theatre filled week!

Thursday night was Opening Night for Make Mine Love at the Citadel.  It was great to finally see the show onstage.  I was amazed by how they brought to life all the complicated elements of the show and made them seem like magic.  There's a car chase, a train ride, and a bus crash in addition to the wonderful work with all the Hollywood film projections and all of those are a testament to the skills of the phenomenal technical department at the Citadel. they really did a wonderful job integrating the film with the stage work and it was cool to see it all come together.  The cast of 10 is tremendous and they literally feel like a cast of thousands. I watched the show on Opening Night Thursday and then was back with the family for Sunday evening's performance.  The boys were thrilled to see their Irrelevant show favourites, Mark Meer and Jana O'Connor onstage, and they giggled through the slapstick and silliness.  I think 9 year old Gibson tuned out a bit during the romantic parts, but the almost 13 year old Oliver was engaged the whole time. I enjoyed the show both nights and a little bit more so on Sunday.  Not sure why, but it just felt tighter. There's some tremendous chemistry between the leads, John Ullyatt and Rebecca Northan, and the rest of the cast (Sarah Machin Gale, James MacDonald, Lisa Norton, Alex McCooeye, Farren Timeteo, Julien Arnold, Mark Meer, and Jana O'Connor) give them a fantastic array of comic characters as a backdrop. Make Mine Love runs at the Citadel Theatre to June 1st.

Friday night, @catharooni and I took in Mistakes Were Made at Shadow Theatre.  I had a great time! Glenn Nelson as theatre producer, Felix Artifex, gave a truly powerhouse performance in the almost 2 hour long show.  Although it is a two-hander, Nelson is onstage, on the phone or talking to his fish alone for about 95% of that time.  How he keeps it all straight is amazing to me.  It was incredible.  Never was he 'talking to the audience' - he was always present in whatever ridiculous conversation he was having. You'd think that a play where a character is on the phone for the majority of the time would be challenging to keep the audience engaged, but this was not the case.  As the secretary, Esther, Erika Conway was lovely as well.  She was a great counterpoint of calmness to Artifex's ever-increasing stress.  I loved the script.  The playwright in me was wowed by how the layers of the story were wrapped in these escalating phone calls.  Felix himself is not always likable and some questions were left unanswered which might frustrate some people, but I liked the feeling at the end.

Saturday was Closing Night of Starless by Eric Rice at Walterdale Theatre.  This was this season's offering of new work at Walterdale through From Cradle to Stage wherein a submitted script is selected and developed with a dramaturge (Tracy Carroll) through the first part of the season and then produced onstage.  I was a part of the production team as Master Painter. It felt a little weird to not see the show until closing, but that's the way my life has gone this month.  Starless was about a homeless man, Ralph (played by Mark Anderako) and how he is treated by the world.   I am still thinking about what the take away was from it.  It's a poignant story about his connection to his companion Mary (Monica Maddaford) and what happens on this one particular day.  Ralph is not an altogether pleasant person.  I appreciated Anderako's embracing of Ralph's flaws.  I think the play was trying to humanize the homeless, as we sometimes do enter a world of out-of-sight-out-of-mind when it comes to them, but I really had a hard time with the overall portrayal of the police, the church and the media. The play seemed to suggest that we, as a society, should just leave the homeless alone, and that strategies to help them were unwanted and unneeded, or that we should let them sleep wherever they want - on public and private property.  Maybe it wasn't trying to provide answers... I get a little caught up in that... maybe it was just supposed to make us think more about it. But I did really dislike the way the police were portrayed.  Probably because I still feel angry about that from Pig Girl.  I just know that it doesn't reflect the majority of the police officers I know. Still, it was great to see a new work onstage.  I am so glad that Walterdale puts resource behind the development of new work. This is a well-crafted, thought-provoking script and it is not easy for a new playwright to get their work produced and to do so with the support of dramaturgy and a theatre is a phenomenal thing.

Up to My Waist in Theatre!

I was lucky enough to catch three shows last weekend.  This week is proving to be equally theatre-steeped, but in a different way.  I started rehearsals for both of my FinallySauces Fringe shows on Monday and Tuesday night. CRACK by Anne Marie Szucs lifted off on Monday and I started my own script, LITTLE MONSTERS, tonight.  Both rehearsals felt good and it was great to stretch those directing muscles.  Just like riding a bike!

The rest of the week is quite saturated with arts - just the way I like it.  Wednesday I will be experiencing Oliver's Grade 7 Band Concert.  I am very excited to see and hear this. It has been very fun for me to watch him apply himself to the Trombone.  He likes it! He really likes it!  All the arts-brainwashing I have done over his life has paid off! Woo hoo!  Thursday is the Opening Night of Make Mine Love at the Citadel.  I feel so much anticipation about finally seeing this show.  I couldn't go to the dress rehearsal because I had the Yeggies that same night, so I find myself quite anxious to see it!  When I read the script I was blown away by the requirements and I am so curious to see how our amazing production team has achieved the special effects.  I got a peek of a little bit of the show today at the Media Call and it has only whetted my appetite for more.

Friday will see me at Shadow Theatre for Mistakes Were Made.  I have heard great things, but I will admit I am most thrilled to see Erika Conway onstage!  She's a Walterdale alumnus and proof that there are very talented people coming from that pool!  Speaking of Walterdale, Saturday will see me at Closing Night of Starless, a new work by Eric Rice developed as part of the From Cradle to Stage program.  I painted the set so I am looking forward to finally seeing the show!  Better late than never!

All in all and tremendously arts-packed week! Good thing it's a long weekend... I will need the rest!

My Harshest Critic... Me

Well, we wrapped up From Cradle to Stage for another year.  Overall things went really well.  I think the playwrights were happy with their plays and from the feedback from the rest of the production team everything ran very smoothly.  We finished up with a super fast strike and had a great turnout in terms of audience.  And then today, as a finishing touch to the festival, in conjunction with APN, Walterdale hosted a playwriting workshop facilitated by Tracy Carroll that ran smoothly and was very well received by the participants.  I am also extremely confident that we are well under budget which is never a bad thing! There were several times in the months leading up to this festival that I wondered if I could get it all done. Luckily I had a great team who understood my time situation who rose to the occasion and did the work fabulously. So I am glad that I did not resign months ago, when it could have meant a much less stressful season for me.

So, as I drove home, why couldn't I just enjoy it?  Why? Because my mind was running through the 4-5 things I forgot or didn't do as well as I wished. Instead of being content and happy about all the success of the production and festival,  I was thinking of the three people I forgot to offer comps to and the prop that I realized was still at the theatre that needed to be returned to the person who lent it to us.  I was thinking about the branches I never actually put on the trees on the set. I was dwelling on the stereo I forgot to lock up and turn off and the incomplete cleaning job we did because I felt the incoming group was in a rush to get in the space since they moved in 20 minutes earlier than I expected. I know.  I should be thinking about the kudos and thank yous, and those good things are definitely there, but I also was thinking about a couple negative emails I received from people who should have been working to help me not criticize me, and things beyond my control like a website that with wrong times and emails sent out to the membership with limited and incorrect information. Things I had no control over, but that I felt responsible for.  I constantly go over in my mind - how could I have prevented this or that? Sometimes there is nothing I could have done, but it still bugs me.

Theatre is one of the places in my life where I consistently have this desire to be perfect and yet never feel I am.  I'd like to get over it... Maybe someday.  But maybe not. Maybe it's what pushes me to do better work.

I don't think I am alone in this.  I think a lot of people over-assess things.  I also know that one of the reasons I have grown to feel this way is because very often the only time people give any feedback is to report something gone wrong, and perhaps they are not always the kindest or most diplomatic about it.  So now I sit, waiting for the feedback about the things that weren't perfect... Things I have already accounted for in my mind.

Over Halfway Through Hell Month! And it's not so bad...

Well, I have made it through the toughest part of the month... having both shows Open and up and running.  Spelling Bee is a resounding success so far with audiences leaving with aching ribs from laughing so hard.  I have gotten so many wonderful comments from people on the show.  I hope that you all find the time to make it out to the last part of the run (May 29th - June 1st).  It's an extremely high caliber show in terms of the talent onstage and even if you are not a musical theatre fan, I dare you not to enjoy it.  The script itself is so smart and sharp and funny. From what I have heard tickets are going fast for the remainder of the run so I would advise people to pick them up sooner rather than later. For me it's a weird feeling to be in the middle of a run but technically on a break from a show.  I miss them all!

Last Night From Cradle to Stage opened on Walterdale's stage.  All the pieces were in place and the shows themselves ran very smoothly.  It was great to have an audience there reacting and laughing.  I hadn't realized how funny the second show was until the audience came in.  But to be honest, I was worrying about my set and props and other details of the production.  The best thing for me was to see these brand new works up on our stage.  Because one play was written by three playwrights, that meant we actually helped four young playwrights get their work onstage!  It remains a point of pride for me that Walterdale continues to foster new, local playwrights in this way.  The Festival just started and there are 5 more shows (we run to Saturday, May 25th) and for those of you who wanted to know more about playwriting, there is a Playwriting Workshop on Sunday, May 26th that is free to all Walterdale Members ($25 for anyone else and we throw in a membership!).

But the hardest part of this was getting to Opening Night.  It's opened and it was well received and now I can relax a bit before Strike and the next Opening of Spelling Bee! I don't know if I will pile as much into one month again, but it is nice to know I can handle it!

Another Opening!

From Cradle to Stage opens tonight at Walterdale.  I encourage you to come out and see these two lovely new works by emerging Alberta playwrights.  I also designed and painted the sets so I am very excited to show those off! I am quite happy with how the sets turned out and I love how they work with their respective shows! It was a challenge to design two sets - one indoor and one outdoor - for the same space.

After the show tonight there is a nice reception upstairs to mix and mingle with the cast and crew and the other members of the audience! It's a great way to round off your holiday weekend.

Final Dress for Cradle to Stage and a Flight Around Europe with a Viscount... All in a Saturday's Work!

I had a take a break from the Bee to handle some things at Walterdale as we had our last Dress Rehearsal and Theatre Clean before Preview and Opening for From Cradle to Stage. Things went remarkably smoothly and the only thing I didn't like was that it meant I had to find parking in the area on a Saturday.  For those of you who know the Strathcona Farmer's Market traffic situation you know why this was irksome.  I made it work and it only cost me $4.00! I have been so happy with how things have gone with Cradle this year.  I was upfront with the level of my busyness so I did a tonne of work to try and be super organized and everyone stepped up to the plate and we are in great shape with very low stress! Huzzah!  Today is the Artist's/Director's/Students' Preview and it will be nice to show the work to some people outside the team. Show is at 2 p.m. and students with ID can see it for FREE! We open tomorrow night at 8 p.m. The shows this year are lovely and strangely thematically linked.  Each deals with seeking healing and forgiveness after a traumatic event and coincidence/fate causes the people to meet the right people to allow that to happen. Some nice, strong work from these new playwrights.  After we ran the dress we cleaned the theatre and then celebrated with pizza! It's a nice group of people and it was great to visit with them all in a more social atmosphere.

Following the pizza I took my friend Heather to see Flight of the Viscount by David Belke at Shadow Theatre. The show was tonnes of fun as we followed the escaping Viscount James Westerly (Jamie Cavanaugh) across Europe as he is pursued by the relentless maid Maggie (Caley Suliak).  Along the way we encounter many strange and hilarious locals all played with much hilarity by Nathan Cuckow. Cuckow was a delight to watch, his accents more outrageously funny than strictly accurate and a variety in facial hair that added greatly to the comedy.  Cavanaugh and Suliak were fun to watch, playing off each other deftly.  I was fascinated by the main set piece which became a myriad of items in a Rubiks Cube-like fashion, but I was disappointed with the projections which provided the backbone of setting the scene.  I liked the use of maps, but to use a projection to represent so much, it meant that some of the other lighting was compromised and there were many a dark spot here and there on the remainder of the deck. I am being picky, but I have a pet peeve with projections in theatre - I only like them when they work perfectly. However, It was a nice light evening full of laughter and I did enjoy myself.  I think they close today, so if you want to catch this fun show you have to act fast!

So today, I return to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at La Cite.  We have a matinee today, then we pack up for a week and return on May 29th for four more shows. I missed it last night so I am excited to see it again and see what today's audience does with it!

Pieces Falling Into Place... Walterdale One Acts and ELOPE Spelling Bee...

Both of the productions that I am working on are getting close.  I like this time, for the most part, especially when things are running smoothly. This afternoon, I watched the rehearsal for both of the One Acts in Walterdale's From Cradle to Stage today so I could see what the set looked like under the lights to check on colours and such and I was delighted on more than one front.  First, the way lighting designer, Brad Melrose, has lit both shows really works to transform the space into two distinct environments.  This is not easy when one place takes place outside in a wooded ravine and the other is inside a mental health facility.  I was very happy with what he did.  I was also so pleased to see where each of the shows were at in terms of the acting and such.  I think that the playwrights will be pleased with how the directors have served their work.  I haven't had any contact with the shows since the first read through, although I have spoken to the directors with regards to set and props, so it was great to see that the plays were clearly in good hands!

In the evening we had a  cleaning and spacing rehearsal for Spelling Bee.  Choreographer Jake Hastey was back with us to see where we were at with the dance numbers.  I was very happy that we were able to show him some really clean numbers that he didnt' have to do much more with.  I always want the dance in my shows to be top-notch, so I made sure that we worked them a lot in Jake's absence.  Kudos to our two Dance Captains, Kelly Webber and Cleo Halls, for leading that over the last few weeks.  I was very proud of my cast tonight!

I was also tickled to get a phone call from my Mom, saying she went to Let the Light of Day Through at Theatre Network because she read about it in my blog.  She said she wouldn't have gone if not for the write up I did as she couldn't really tell much about it from the advertisements.  She loved it. So I am glad that I helped get her there.

Photo: Director Eric Rice on the Exposure set... setting lights.

Overlap! Knee deep in two major projects, attending read-thorugh for the next one tonight!

So, despite my desire to slow down this season, I did not... clearly... I am directing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for ELOPE which runs May 16 - June 1 at La Cite Francophone and I am Coordinating and am Production Manager (and set-designing and painting) for Walterdale's Annual From Cradle to Stage festival of new one act plays which runs May 20 - 25 at Walterdale with a Playwright Workshop on the 26th.  So if you look at those dates you can probably figure out why I might get cranky over the next few weeks... So far so good. I think I have managed to hold myself together despite numerous hiccups primarily concerning ridiculous arising scheduling conflicts with the first one and some minor communication issues with the second.  Everything is delightfully on track and barring any further complications I should survive May! With my set painting I am ahead of schedule due to some terrific volunteers who came out to help me and that is very nice as it meant I could do a few other things today instead of going in to the theatre.

Anyhow, tonight I get to dip my toe in the waters of my next project.  I have been asked to direct a Fringe show - Death Comes to Auntie Norma!  Tonight we have a read-through so that I can hear the play aloud and so that the playwright (Zack Siezmagraff) can revisit it before he writes his next draft.  I am looking forward to meeting the entire cast and hearing the play so that I can let it percolate in my brain under the surface before we start really working on it in June. Should be fun!

Building a Fabulous Festival - Audition Time!

Just a quick mention about what I am up to these next few days.  Auditions for From Cradle to Stage 2013 are being held tonight and tomorrow at Walterdale Playhouse.  More information about these can be found here on my other Blog. I am Coordinating and Production Managing this festival and we have created an enthusiastic and talented team to bring the two new works to life on our stage. There is a trickiness to coordinating multiple productions within a festival but having been involved in 5 of the past 7 of them in a variety of roles (actor, playwright, director, etc...) I feel like I understand what is required. Edmonton also does Theatre Festivals well and this is a feature of the Walterdale Season that I am especially proud of. There are still spots open tonight (later in the evening) so feel free to contact me to book one or walk-in and we will fit you in.

Next!

Well, we wrapped up the show this weekend.  It was a great experience overall, with some crunchy bits on the production side.  That came through at the Post Mortem and I am trying to put that crappy night behind me. It's too bad that it had to play out like that. It made me think a lot about my commitment to Walterdale (which is sad) but it is hard to work so hard and feel unappreciated and (worse) resented for the work that you do. I luckily have a little video of a snippet of the show to watch to cheer me up and make me remember what I loved so much about the experience of doing this show.  I made some great connections and have plans to work with some of the cast and team again in the future. I am chairing the From Cradle to Stage One Act Festival, but I am more tentative about it now.

And now, onto the next adventure!  This week is jam packed with Christmas fun!  Two times two Christmas concerts at the boy's school (2 dress rehearsals and 2 evening performances), With Bells On at Theatre Network and the cleaning of my house will take over my life this week.  I have to go shopping in there sometime too. It's a good thing the kids are still in school so I can theoretically get some of this done.

I am also diving headfirst into Spelling Bee.  I hope to reread the script at least 5-10 times before auditions. The audition sign-ups are amazing and I am excited to get to those auditions so I can can this thing.  It's such a terrifically silly and fun show with fabulous music and just looking at the audition sheet makes me giddy.  Such great singer/actors on that page! I am looking forward to asking them to be ridiculous!

At this point I have seen or been involved in 56 Theatrical Events this year, and With Bells On will make it 57.  I also have plans to see some shows at The Snow Globe Festival and Oliver! at Festival Place, so I think I will hit 60. This surpasses my goal of 40 shows, so I am very, very pleased with myself.  I will have to re-evaluate for next year!

New Work at Walterdale - From Cradle to Stage 2012...

This past Saturday and Sunday I checked out the work being presented at Walterdale Theatre for their annual new One Act Festival, From Cradle to Stage.  It is the first year in a while that I have not been involved in the Festival as I had hoped to submit and then didn't and then with Nine on my plate on one end and my University work on my plate on the other end I didn't have time to contribute in another way.  The Festival holds a special place in my heart, as it is one of the few ways that 'late emerging' playwrights can get their work produced.  The formalized system in place to work with dramaturges (Tracy Carroll and Brian Dooley) has also meant that those playwrights selected for production can get real, concrete help with developing their work. It's a fabulous experience (I went through it a few years ago when I submitted Pieces in 2007) and for someone over 30 who doesn't qualify for Nextfest or who might not be ready to self-produce at Fringe, it fills a gap in the development process.

The two produced shows were quite different from each other, as is often the case. The first, Apocalypse, Saskatchewan by Dion Huel, was a funny piece about three elderly men in a small Saskatchewan town who get carried away with the idea that Zombies are attacking. There were many laughs, and although I feel the piece as written was actually a two-act play (it ran at about 95 minutes) it was well-received.  The second, The Carrying by Jennifer Robinson, was a fascinating pieces about two women carrying mysterious bags to an unknown location.  An somewhat abstract piece with movement and intentional repetition, it was well-directed and performed and it was one of those plays that you think a lot about afterwards. I quite liked it.

On the Sunday afternoon, the festival wrapped up with readings of the four other finalists.  There were 6 finalists selected from a pool of 37 entries.  The afternoon demonstrated the wide variety of the submitted plays.  Ostensibly staged readings there was also a wide range in the degree of the staged component.  The four plays ranged from being pieces about relationships (The Loneliest Number and Magpies) to a  modern fable about abuse begetting abuse (Poor Defenseless Creatures) to an historical piece (Mary!).  All in all, they were four works in development that will be interesting to watch for in the future.

* These two events mark #21 and #22 in my theatrical goal for the year 2012

Another Opening... 3 shows in 1!

Last night was the Opening Night of From Cradle to Stage. As Artistic Director of WTA I have had special connection to the One Act Festival. My first show with Walterdale was in Lunatic, a show from the 2006 One Acts (I don't know if it was called From Cradle to Stage that year). I loved the idea of a community theatre producing and investing in new work. My second season at Walterdale, my play, Pieces (which I am currently re-drafting and directing for Fringe 2011) was produced. It was my first 'grown-up' play as my previously produced work was a TYA. I loved the process. I have been involved on some level with the One Acts every year I have been a member of Walterdale. I have assistant directed, coordinated the readings, and directed a staged reading. I will miss working on it. This time around I tried to stay further away so that the people involved could find their own voice. I worried, because I am the type of person who likes to know everything, but my initial instincts proved out last night. All three directors did fine work with the 3 scripts they were given to work with. The three playwrights were happy with the products (yay!). That's all I can ask for. I am debating submitting for next season. I have a couple of scripts I could send in (with work). It would be nice to come full circle. If not, I am sure I will submit in future years.

If you get a chance, check the show(s) out. It runs until May 28th at Walterdale.

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...

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!

Burning the candle at both ends...

This past week I have been out every night for either From Cradle to Stage or Whorehouse. Rehearsals, Production Meetings and Opening night loaded up my nights. I unfortunately combined that with having really full days as well as I supervised field trips for both boys and did Child Check. Monday was free in the day but I had a bit of running around to do - last minute gift buying, some props to acquire, that sort of thing. Anyhow, it all caught up with me and I was so delighted to get to sleep in this morning. I don't feel 100%, but I am getting there. I will know for sure when my left eyelid stops twitching.

In any case, the Opening for From Cradle to Stage went well. I hope that the audiences are what they deserve. It is a strong evening of theatre and I am so pleased with how tight all three pieces are. I know that there will be some people who prefer one show or the other, but I also am confident that it will not all be the same show. I think that speaks to the strength of the evening. Truly there is something for everyone. I am glad I will get to see it again on Closing Night. I look forward to seeing how it has grown.

I am looking forward to disconnecting a bit this weekend. The boys have no piano lesson tomorrow and due to horrible schedules there is no Whorehouse rehearsal on Sunday so I am off duty until Monday night. I shall certainly appreciate the family time.