The Best Thing About This Job is the People

The worst thing about this job is the people... Sometimes they are the very same people. I get to work with so many amazing people. I am lucky in that. Sometimes they are completely unreasonable. I guess that is true anywhere. I let so much slide off my back, I wonder why more people can't do that. One day I am going to freak and it isn't going to be pretty. Be warned.

A Week to Get Stuff Done...

Boys are in camp this week so I have been getting stuff done. I spent time at the theatre (and will spend more this week) sorting and purging Props with Alli and painting the stage floor (what I could get to, anyways - about 4/5 of it). I also took a couple of big bags of clothes to the Goodwill and a box of baby toys. I will continue to do more of this kind of thing tomorrow. My sis and her husband come to visit Friday and this weekend has birthday events for my niece and my eldest son so I will be busy with family stuff from Friday on. I have to get some birthday presents and a cake...

I am thinking about Camp for the boys for another week since I feel like I am working hard but still have so much more I would like to get done that I haven't gotten to...

Updating my Resume...

No, I am not looking for work, but it is always good to periodically add things before you forget what you did. I was also contacted about teaching a Drama camp at the Zoo this summer so they need my resume on file so I had to make sure it was up to date. I was amazed by how much theatre stuff I have done since I moved to Edmonton. Last year I worked on 7 Productions - primarily in prominent roles (Director, playwright, actor). I have already racked up 4 projects this year and it is only 1/2 way over. I think that will be it for this year, except I will start work on Rabbit Hole before the end of the year. I will also be at the University and continuing with the ADship so it will not be like I am sitting on my butt.

I looked into what was required for me to return to teaching, but I think if I do I would just be a substitute because it is hard to deal with child care and running around for the store if I am also working full-time. But it is nice to know that everything is in place if I wanted to do it. I think I would like a year or two to get the house in order. I keep saying I am going to do it, but I only seem to get to it in piecemeal. There is so much stuff (baby toys, clothes, books) that I should be purging from the house. I have started, but I need more time!

Countdown...

I always say this to myself: once this is done, I will have so much more time, and I always hope that it will be true. Let's hope I stick to my resolve to not audition for any Fringe thing and to just be the audience this summer. I am looking forward to seeing Uncle Robert's Funeral, Kiss Within a Kiss and Sea of Green onstage and I am also looking forward to them being done so that I can focus on Whorehouse exclusively. I have found a way to compartmentalize so that I feel I am in the right place both physically and mentally. So anyhow, I am in countdown again for one thing or another - juggling parenthood and theatre and writing and ADing and all that stuff, knowing that there will always be the next thing and the countdown is completely a way to fool myself!

Today I looked into what I need to do to return to work as a teacher in the Fall if I so choose. I am not sure what I want to do as I am busy as it is, but it might be good to have the option to sub and get back in there that way. I know that there are not a lot of people who have my bag of tricks with regards to subjects who are subbing so I might be able to book some work here and there and maybe that would be good OR there might be a part-time position that would work nicely for us. I don't know - it's early days.

Troubled

I have a issues that is bothering me and I have written 3 Blog posts and not posted them because I realized I wasn't really sure if I wanted to 'air the dirty laundry' that way. So it may seem that I haven't posted for a while.

There's a lot that has happened since the last posted post. I now have my 2010-2011 Season approved and I am working on the rights. I am very early compared to last year and because I have been through it all once before and I was determined to feel ahead of the game. It should feel better for the rest of the season too because I know what has to happen with media and feel better about understanding that process and what I should expect. Last year that whole process was so new to me that I didn't really know what to expect. This year I expect more and I think we have a system/plan in place to get that. The whole Season thing is agonizing. I don't think people realize that. It is like casting a show but on a grander scale. You know that most people are not going to be 100% happy with whatever you choose. You have to strive for balance that serves as many as you can. I think I did that. You also have to provide opportunities for new directors, and old directors and find directors that can service the work appropriately. There are a lot of judgement calls involved and reference hunting and the like and again, like casting, there are people that you will leave out... not fun.

I have also started working with the entire team on The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (TBLWIT). I had worked with individuals on the team (design meetings, etc...) one on one as early as September but now it feels like we are almost there. Yee Haw!

I also took on directing/dramatuging a staged reading for the One Acts. I had another person in mind for this, but she was unable to commit to the time and my back-up had similar issues because she got cast in a show, so I took on the task myself. I feel strongly about not putting the wrong person in place just to put them in place, especially with the new works so I felt I had to step in. It is a staged reading and we are likely to have only 5-6 rehearsals prior to handing it over to the techies so it isn't a major time commitment. The important thing to me is to have someone the playwright can trust to work with their script. Since this one was an addition and didn't have the benefit of one of the professional dramaturges and I have been through this process (both as playwright and dramaturge) I felt the best solution was to take it on myself. I am happy that next season I have a plan for mentoring the directors for One Acts. I would have had it for this year, but there were a lot of new things for me this year and I wanted to get one year under my belt before instituting changes. Now to find Director Mentors! Oh, I can wait a little on that...

Auditions for TBLWIT are coming up in April! Yay! I do need more men, but I anticipate once the other two shows in the town are cast I will hear from some people. Also, some people wait until the last minute. I have had several tell me they are planning on auditioning, but they just haven't booked a time so I will gently nudge them closer to the date.

As to the issue bothering me, I have determined to not let it bother me. One part of this job is that people will criticize you, however unfairly, I will just keep working as hard as I have been and know that I am not going to make everyone happy and that it not necessarily the best way to do this job, in any case. We are here to make good theatre as a community and that is what I will focus on.

Keeping My Head Above Water...

Remind me not to pick up another project outside of Walterdale during my tenure as Artistic Director... What was I thinking? Don't worry, the show will be good and the theatre is in good hands. It is just a matter of how thin I stretch myself. I have my own self to blame for it, I guess.

On a more positive note, the first night of auditions for Lend Me a Tenor went swimmingly. We had so many wonderful actors come out. I read with quite a few (filling in) and was suddenly wishing I were auditioning too, but I can't do that time slot again. Besides, I'd really want to play Tito, and that's a little out of the question! Whoever is cast, this will be a very fun show!

Just a few things...

1. Wonderful to hear the band with the voices on Sunday. Cathy and Jamie sound so good and when you add violins, and guitar, and the coolness that a bass just is, it all gets better. Somewhat sad I had to leave before they made it through the whole show, but I will hear it again (and again, and again). The Last Five Years, People! March 12-14th! Be there!

2. Good meeting tonight with the directors of the Reading for he Footlights Festival. We have a plan for casting both shows that should be fair and manageable. A bit of a challenge to sort it all out from names and numbers and some resumes, but we do have a plan. Both the ladies are sharp and keen and enthusiastic and working for the good of the script. That's what I like to hear! I feel good about this.

3. Spent a lot of time working for Revenue Canada today and I am glad that is done for another year. When you only do the monumental task once a year it is always a steep learning curve come February!

4. Great fun at the library with Gibson today. If I paid attention to what he actually said I would know everything there is to know about Mario.

How Do You Keep It Up?

Finding it very hard to count points this week and last. Was up this past weigh in and the heat has produced this incredible emotional inertia. I know I need to write it down, but I am tired of it. I need some renewal. I need some reward. It is so exhausting to do the work some days.

Away From Home...

I am away from home, at the Best Western in Olds, Alberta. I don't do the best outside my own home. Well, I am not suffering, but I do find that when I am in certain situations I really WANT to be home. I get thrown off sometimes because I feel like I do not know the rules. I try to participate and then I usually feel like I made a mis-step. It stresses me out a bit. I also get stressed out managing my children on the road. There are all these other people you have to "worry" about. As their mother, I recognize that they are tired and off their schedule, so my instinct is to cut them a little slack, however, I get the impression that other people are not so forgiving. It pumps the stress even higher when these other people start trying to "manage" your children for you, even though you are in the room. I see them do exactly the WRONG thing with the oldest one all the time. I also get a little insulted because their "stepping in" suggests to me that they don't think I am doing the work right. Imagine if you had to do your work in a new place with none of your usual tools and then you had someone come and evaluate your performance and literally start taking over your work. That's what it feels like.

Singing and Sweating

Well, last night was my 3rd night singing with Chanteuses. I felt much better after the practice last night than previously nights. I think because I was really working hard and I felt that my practicing had helped. I do find singing Sop 1 a bit of a challenge right now. It is not because I can't do it, but because I haven't been singing up there in so long that the muscles are out of practice. It is good for me because I may actually get more of a comfort zone up there if I work it. Perhaps one day I will even feel comfortable soloing up there. Who knows. I know I didn't audition for Hello Dolly because of the whole range thing. It is not because I can't sing up there, it is because I am not comfortable contemplating a solo with too many notes above a "C" (the one in FACE). I want to sound my best at all times and I tend to think i sound best in my belt. Ohhhhh. The challenge with this group is also that I feel I have to work harder, and because nobody knows me I can't ride on my reputation and I have to prove myself to "me". I feel like I have to be as good as I think I can be.

Anyhow, I am enjoying singing on a regular basis and I loved going to supper with AM beforehand. It was great to get a visit!

I can't believe I wrote the whole thing....

Okay, so that lastest play took me 3 days from starting to finish and that was only a couple of hours each day. I can't believe it. It is so satisfaying to finish even a part of a play, but to actually finish a whole one so quickly makes me feel really good! Yay! I keep this up and I may have plays coming out of my... ears! I do find that I do better with a specific assignment. The plays in progress that I have partially written (and have had for months to years) are all my own, with no indicated audience and no parameters set by someone else. I think that is what holds me up. The task is far more daunting because I don't know the guidelines of the assignment. I have always been good at homework --> I think I need to define my own homework assignment with the criteria required if I am ever going to complete those works. What do you think?

Off to the Movies then home to finish my play...

Hey Y'all! Sometimes all I need is to start. I have thought and thought about the competition for Storybook theatre in Calgary and did a little research and mapped out some ideas for about 2 weeks, but nothing was written down. I kept leaving it and did other things. You know, games, they will kill me for taking up my time when I should be more productive. Anyhow, last night I got down to it. I looked at the calendar and realized that I have 11 days if I wanted to get it done so I had better start. I actually wrote about 15 pages last night. I figure I can really push tonight and get to about 20-25. It is hard to judge length on it because of the physical stuff in the script, but I am trying to imagine and guesstimate. In any case, I did a dramatic amount of work just by pushing through it. Plus it isn't half bad. I thought about it and decided that if I wrote "crap" I could always edit it out later. The main thing was to write it in the first place!

So now we are off to a movie, thanks to Grandma Strand and then I will try and finish the script tonight so I can send it out to my lovely "readers" who always help me when I send them things to read and comment on!