So Much for a Lull...

Well, I have been saying that there is a lull in my theatre life between September and April (basically between A Little Night Music and Nine), however, I have managed to fill some of that time up this week. In addition to working a couple of casinos (Shadow Theatre and Theatre Yes) I also auditioned for the Drama 483 midterms and was cast in one of them, as well, I interviewed for and received an offer to direct for New Works at the U of A. The 483 scene is for the play Mrs. Packard. I do not know which role I will be playing at this point. I will find out Sunday. And the New Works script is also a mystery. I have my fingers crossed for one in particular but will be happy to work on whatever they want me to! I am excited. I think I should pause now before auditioning for anything else. At this point the time is filling up. Since I am also Master Painter for Wyrd Sisters at Walterdale I am running out of free time. But it is parcelled out nicely.

I also wanted to mentioned I am working on a scene from Marion Bridge by Daniel MacIvor for my Drama 257 scene. This makes me happy as I really connect to the writing and the characters in the piece. I only wish we were presenting after Playworks Ink when the experience of actually hearing MacIvor speak would potentially enrich the project.

It always comes at precisely the wrong times...

This was a not-so-good weekend. Don't get me wrong, I got a lot accomplished, but I am now very tired and I had to deal with a lot of unanticipated stuff so I am not in a great frame of mind. It started off well. Much Ado About Nothing opened and I thought it was lovely. I had saved the Second Act for Opening Night (I saw the First Act twice before then - but I wanted a surprise) and I was quite happy with the show as a whole. This was amplified by a fabulous review on the SEE Magazine Blog and pretty good attendance for the first weekend. However, there were issues arising with the production and no one was fixing them so I was called in to help. An already busy weekend because much busier. I was set to work Box Office on Friday Night and then scurry off to work the Walterdale Casino right after my shift, but in order to help with the problems on the show I went in early. There were also a flurry of desperate emails and frantic phone calls. It was stressful. Saturday the stress continued. I had worked the casino late the night before but because the boys have Drama on Saturday morning I was unable to sleep in and had to be "fun ol' Mom" when I really wasn't feeling it. The boys didn't seem to notice my exhaustion, so that's good. They did their final presentations and I enjoyed those, then a text message sent me hurtling to the theatre. An Angel of the theatre, Geri, was there helping with the ongoing issue. That made me feel better and she and I devised a plan to deal with any more arising issues. Off to supper with my boys and Mark and then home where I hastily composed more emails to put the plan in place and then to fall exhausted into bed, where I slept for 12 hours straight. I missed a party, but I could not have driven there and I needed that sleep. Sunday rolled around and I headed off to rehearsal for Rabbit Hole and then to the Threepenny Opera auditions. I thought I survived the weekend.

Then today, I check my emails and there is an absolutely foul and insulting email from a member who feels hard done by. I count up all the hours I put in this week and weekend and they certainly do not feel rewarded by the email. I wanted to cry. My stomach is upset. I do not know what I will do when I see this member. I want him to never darken the Walterdale doors again. The worst thing, is that he sent it not only to me, but to two other members. I hope that his rudeness does not alienate these members from returning to Walterdale. He certainly does not represent the whole of our organization. I get so frustrated that I am dealing with 'supposed' adults and they pull this kind of crap. I don't do this for the kudos, but I certainly do not expect to have my time rewarded with insults and harassment.

I know I should think of the many people who cheerfully worked the casino, and the actors onstage giving their all to Shakespeare and the lovely, lovely Geri who came in, and the earnest actors who sang their hearts out at their auditions last night, but it's hard in the face of this.

How to lose $55.00 in less than 1/2 an hour...

Had fun tonight at the Century Casino. We went there to celebrate Magnolia's 30th birthday. It was nice to get dressed up and go out like grown-ups. It was also great to see other grown-ups, especially a couple of the Steel Ladies! So how do you lose $55.00 in less than 1/2 an hour? First you waste $15.00 in slot machines --> that will take about 5 minutes. Then lose $30.00 at Caribbean Stud Poker. I don't' even know quite how that game worked. That will take another 5 minutes. Then take the remaining $10.00 to the Blackjack tables and you will likely get about 20 minutes of play. I was "schooled" on how to properly signal for a hit or hold. The dealer didn't like my technique, but he was funny about it. Anyhow, Casinos are sad and surreal. Most of the people didn't look very happy, but we were!