Wedding and a Road Trip...

This past weekend I had company visit from afar and long ago and we took a little road trip back home to Fort McMurray for another long-time friend's wedding.  My best friend from my high school days, Tina, flew in from Toronto and the two of us loaded up the van and heading up the highway to see our wonderful friend Tammy marry Bryce.  It was a great day for a wedding and it was a lovely casual affair filled with friendship, great food, and a sing-a-long around the fire pit.  They also had fireworks and a very cool balloon release of wishes for the couple.  The best though, was seeing Tammy so obviously happy and full of joy.

The trip to McMurray was fascinating.  It has been a few year since I have been there, I think four, and a lot has changed.  I think Tina was even more blown away as it had been much longer for her so there were many more changes to absorb.  We didn't have a lot of time to explore but Mac Island was incredible and the proliferation of new development in Timberlea and up on the top of Confederation Way was hard to wrap my head around.  We didn't really check out the areas that had been flooded as we had a lot of territory to cover to do that too, but I was really impressed with the new facilities.  I hope the people there appreciate it and use it.  There is no excuse for saying there is nothing to do there. 

Tina and I headed home on the 881 after a breakfast in Anzac (where Tammy lives) and I think this was a less stressful drive home, although I have to admit 63 wasn't too bad on the way up. We had a nice weekend catching up on things from the far past and recent events.  Stories of our kids and our work and what we still wanted to accomplish.  It was a good weekend.

Road Trip...

Tomorrow I leave for Fort McMurray for Interplay. I spent this morning photocopying leaflets and programs. I am unsure as to how many to make. I made 280 leaflets and 300 programs. If we need more programs we will photocopy more there. If we sell 300 tickets I will be delighted! We will also ask people to recycle, so hopefully they will. Nothing bugs me more than wasted paper and if you aren't going to use the thing again, then recycle it! I am looking forward to seeing all my old friends and the old haunts and I hope to see them at the show and at the Interplay site. I just hope we don' t forget anything!

I just did an interview with the Fort McMurray Today on the play and coming back to McMurray and aside from Gibson crying non-stop in the background it went really well. I hope we get a nice article from it!

These last two weeks have been crazy!

I am off to A Grand Night For Singing (the ELOPE show) tonight. I worked Box Office on Tuesday and Thursday. I was at the Membership Round Table on Monday Night. That was coming off the trip to Fort McMurray and the Staged Readings on Sunday Night. Tomorrow I have Marissa and Kreg's wedding and the 2nd edition of the Staged Readings. I thought June would eases up but I am getting emails about meetings for contracts and Zachary and stuff! Plus I have some birthday parties and it never seems to quiet down.

I am up to 9 on the Waiting List for Fringe and potentially 6 by the end of the week. I feel closer but not close enough. I am going to propose the Interplay idea so the work is useful now.

Two Plays in One Day - Lucky Me!

Yesterday I got to go to two theatrical events. It was a good day. It wasn't stressful. It wasn't even pre-planned, so that was really nice.

First I went to a workshop of Hwy63: the Fort Mac Play. I will tell you honestly, as a long-time resident of Fort McMurray there is no way I would ever be completely objective about this piece. I did try very hard to be so. It was also a workshop, so it is still in development so I think it hasn't quite found it's groove or purpose. Right now the whole environmental thing is very prominent in the script. An oft repeated phrase, "What's your agenda?" (something the playwrights were asked frequently when they went up there) was interesting, because I certainly found an agenda in the script. I was also disappointed when I recognized people I knew and I felt they were slightly mocking in their portrayal of them. Now, I did stick around and talk to one of the playwrights and she was very interested in what I had to say. I felt she was sincere in her response to me and she respected where I was coming from and she also said she was glad I shared my comments with her. I am glad for that. I do not want to dictate what someone else's play will be, but this is a topic close to my heart and I felt I should say something.

I also went to Doubt at the Citadel. The Production value was up the wazoo. Gorgeous set, costumes, lighting, etc... all you would except from the Citadel for decoration and atmosphere. I was very Impressed with Karen Robinson (the boy's mother, Mrs. Muller). She was a stand out. Lally Cadeaux (Sr. Aloysius) was very good, and John Ullyat (Fr. Flynn) was also quite good although he is so charismatic and charming that it is hard to truly doubt him. The weak link in the show was Clarice Eckford (Sr. James). I just found her performance to be flat and pre-planned. Nothing seemed organic with her performance and her voice was so one-dimensional. I have talked to others about this show and they seem to agree with me on it. I enjoyed the show overall, but I felt it could be better. The script also has a few false notes, but you are pretty much stuck with that.