Friday was One of Those "I LOVE MY JOB!" Days!

Sometimes I feel like I am unusual, because I generally wake up very happy to go to my job.  It's a terrific fit for me.  I work at the Citadel Theatre in the Marketing Department, so right off the bat you have me working in a theatre, and I love that. It's also a theatre that produces a wide variety of work and at a very high level so that's a super double bonus.  For the actual work I do, it's a great fit for me in that it uses my organization skills, my people skills, my problem-solving skills and I get to work with a lot of fun people.  It's also busy, and while some people are not as fond of that, I do like a fast pace, and there are periodic lulls to recharge when you need to.

Anyhow, I really like my job, but on Friday I had one of those I LOVE MY JOB days.  We had a photo shoot for the upcoming ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS which stars John Ullyatt and for a couple of hours in the afternoon we were entertained my his antics in front of the camera.  He kept us giggling the whole time with his contortions, ad-libs and improvising with the various props.  I was there to take behind the scenes shots and it was the most fun couple of hours anyone ever got paid for!

Homestretch! Feels Like We Need An Audience!

The ensemble cleaning arms for I Speak Six Languages (featured in picture: Kelly Webber and Meredith Honda) 

So, there are only two more rehearsals for Spelling Bee before we install in the space on Monday.  We have Sitz Probe tonight.  This is where we add the other instruments to the music with the cast.  It can be complicated because very often a note played on piano will sound very different played on a Cello and it is nice to have a rehearsal solely devoted to the music at this stage.  We know all the parts, we need to put them together.  I am excited to hear the sound with the orchestra! Usually I do a theme night for Sitz Probe because it is a great cast/orchestra bonding time.  I like Pyjama day, but it is too warm for my Snuggie, so we are going with "Beach Party"!

Then on Sunday night we have a run through and then we are in the space! A big shift for me after doing Walterdale shows.  My fabulous Stage Manager, Kim, and I have meticulously planned out the time on Monday so that we maximize what we get to do in the space before Opening Night. It's crunch time, but there isn't much crunchy about the show so I am far more relaxed than I expected to be.  All the fixes required are tiny tweaks.  It is great for me to see the actors still playing and keeping it present and real.

Here are a few more rehearsal pictures from the amazing Janine Hodder:

Amanda Neufeld as Rona Lisa Perretti

Nadien Veroba as Olive and Curtis Knecht as Barfee

Nadine Veroba, Curtis Knecht, Meredith Honda, John Evans, Kristin Johnston and Mark Sinongco as the Spellers!

What Has Been Keeping Me Busy - #1 - Spelling Bee!

So, I have mentioned that I have been very busy lately.  This is because I have a couple of projects on the go.  The biggest one is that I am directing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for ELOPE Theatre.  I am working with Sally Hunt as Music Director and Jake Hastey as Choreographer and it is coming along wonderfully!  Last week I had my good friend Janine Hodder come in and take some photos of rehearsal and I thought I would share a few of them with you so you can see some of the terrific images I get to see at each rehearsal.

There are many more photos and as we enter this last couple of weeks of rehearsal, I might be regaling you with a few more stories about the process and I will share some of the others shots then! But enjoy these for now!

Totally not Typecast... and I have the pictures to prove it... Media Call for The Misanthrope...

Just take a look.  These pictures tell a story.  They also tell you that I am gifted in the art of facial expressions... no really, they do... Can you guess what my character is like?

Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up..

Making a move (see my hand?)...

No over-acting here...

I think this is my favorite 'face'...

Stirring up trouble!

* all photos by Douglas Dollars Stewart.  For the full set check out this link.

Media Call Tonight...

Media Call tonight!  Yikes! It's not even noon and I have already started on the hair and make-up... I hope it survives the afternoon.

Since I am in a show, I get hard pressed to make it to everything so I wanted to comment on some shows that I have been hearing about that I wish I could get to.  I haven't seen them and unfortunately I am unlikely to be able to because I shall be on stage myself for the next 3 weeks, but I wish I could:

Attempts on Her Life

MacEwan University Theatre Arts - Nov 28-Dec 2

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

U of A Studio Theatre - Nov 29-Dec 9

The List

FTA (Theatre Yes and Theatre of the New Heart) - Nov 29-Dec 9

There is also A Christmas Carol at The Citadel starting in previews on November 30th and running to December 23rd, but I will be able to get to that.  I am hoping to catch one of the above on my dark day, but I might need my sleep so we shall see.

Have a great few weeks.  Hopefully you can get to some of these and, of course, The Misanthrope at Walterdale Theatre (we open December 5th!).

Media Call - I call it Nervous Day...

Well, I survived another media call!  For me, media call is the most nerve wracking day of the whole show experience, but it went quite well.  I was running from interviewer to interviewer and also trying to set up the scenes for shots so it flew by.  I think I sounded articulate and intelligent, so hopefully that will come across in the interviews. It was actually quite fun because there was a variety in the kinds of questions asked so I got the opportunity to talk about the different things I have researched and read up on for this show.  I spoke about the set, the source material 8 1/2, Salvador Dali and surrealism, pole dancing, the shift from reality to imagination to memory, religion, theatre arts training programs, the Edmonton theatre community, and music. It is a bit of a blur.

The pictures from our wonderful photographer, Douglas Stewart, are online.  You can check them out here.

Photo below of Erika Noot as Carla and Cory Christensen as Guido.

Another Pieces Photo...

Young Joan (Lindsey Walker) and Ben (Justin Deveau) plan for the future. Photo by Janine Hodder.

Pieces Pictures... a couple of media photos to share...

We took photos for media purposes at our Pieces rehearsal the other night. I am blessed to have Janine in the cast, in that she is not only a great actress who always gives 110% to her work, but she is also a phenomenal photographer. Here is a sample...

In the above photo, Diane (Anne Marie Szucs) calms and comforts her mother Joan (Francie-Goodwin-Davies) who suffers from dementia. Photo by Janine Hodder.