Early Morning

I had to get up this morning at 6 A.M. because I had to go to an interview on Global TV for Kompany! Family Theatre. They are having the competition again for this year's Fringe and they have added some other components to the New Works portion of their mandate, including readings of some of the other scripts. So they asked me, as last year's winner, to go to the interview with Jan Taylor and talk up the company and the competition. It went well, but it was an early morning for me. I watched the interview and realized how huge I am. I should watch that every morning - that will get me on the treadmill! Other than that, the interview went well and I think I sounded okay.

After that I headed off to class where we had a lively discussion about what we all thought the Canadian Cultural Identity is. It was interesting. I am anxious, however, to dive into the plays!

I Guess I'm Not Dying....

Around Tuesday, I started to feel human again. Only my right hand continued to ache. By Friday, even the hand felt better. Yay! I am so glad I am not dying...

This week has been crazy with my workshop (see more details on On Writing) for Zachary and the Storytelling Stones. Suffice it to say I have written around 7 drafts of the script in one week. Whew!

I did manage to squeeze in (and I mean squeeze) Hamlet (at Walterdale) and Anne of Green Gables (Sherard at Festival Place).

Anne of Green Gables has never been one of my favorite shows. It is a musical based on a very well-known and well-loved book, so it really has to hit the highlights of the book. As a result the story arc is not as finessed as other shows. You can't mess too much with L.M. Montgomery. That being said, I was tentative about seeing it. I have heard that Sherard shows are often uneven with compromised production values that detract from the show. However, I knew several of the cast and felt I should go. I was pleasantly surprised by the show. It was quite nice. Anne was lovely. Not the strongest singer, but she certainly was channelling Meagan Follows and she was a lovely actress and obviously a dancer who could organically incorporate her movement into her performance. The other girls were lovely too. Josie Pye was played by the younger sister of a boy I taught in Fort McMurray. She was very strong. I was also pleased with Judy's performance as Marilla. Judy is a good friend of mine and this was the strongest performance I have ever seen from her. She and Gary (as Matthew) were very strong. The ensemble was earnest, if not even, and everyone contributed to a nice show. Some trouble with the buttons of numbers and the actual ending was thrown away, but it was Opening Night and that may be strengthened over the course of the run.