Disappointment and Decision...

Well, I didn't get it... and now I have to decide if I want to do what I was offered. I knew the odds were there, but I had hoped high. I don't know if I can go and do the show and hear the other people singing the songs I want to be singing and be "happy" with the part I am left with. I have until Boxing Day to let Clyde know. I have just done my "ensemble" time and if I do decide to do the show, the person who has my part had better be FLAWLESS.

Callbacks - Why can't everyone else suck?

Okay, the title says it all. I had a good callback but so did a lot of other people and there are only 3 roles. I figure it is down to me and one other person for Arlene. I can't fault that since we were both strong, but I will be disappointed if I don't get it. This is only because I really want it and I would kick major a$$ in the role. I also want to be in it with my friends and I am not sure if the combination will be what they are looking for. It is all about waiting now and I don't wait well.

AUDITIONS - Finally a REALLY GOOD Musical Audition...

Tonight I auditioned for Baby with ELOPE. I have worked with Marie Nychka, one of the directors, 3 times before but had never met the other director Randy Mueller. I was a little nervous because since moving to Edmonton I have not had the best auditions for musicals. This is because in McMurray I was severely spoiled by having either Mike Eddy or Carol Anderson play for me and they are both geniuses on the piano. Tonight I had the magic - Randy is a genius too! Yay! Anyhow, both songs went beautifully, my monologue rocked and I am called back for Tuesday night. The songs they want me to look at are for the character I am interested in and Randy even said "she has the perfect kind of voice for this show" (yippee!). Even if I don't get it, I will feel good about what I have done. I could not have done better.

Principal punched in face by angry parent...

I periodically surf the yahoo news articles and saw the above headline (or something like that). The article didn't give many details other than a male parent entered the school, was arguing with the female principal and then began hitting her in the face. He is now being charged with assault. This story bothers me because something like this can happen, and what bothered me even more was the "comments" afterwards. Many commenters were appalled but many were applauding the hitter and asking "what did the Principal do to create the situation?" as though that mattered. Sad sad sad.... Many people ask me if I intend to go back to teaching. I don't know. I have had 'scary' parent-teacher interviews where I signalled to the teacher at the next table over to 'rescue' me from an aggressive parent. I have had parent meetings that have caused me to cry later on. I didn't just stop teaching because I wanted to be home with my kids (although that was part of it), but also because I was so tired of dealing with the parents of the children I taught. Not all of them. The majority were amazing, supportive people. However, the terrible few, usually the parents of my most challenging students, made the job not worth going back to. At least not for a while.

So I miss the work. I miss the kids. But I don't miss feeling like with some kids I care more about their learning than their parents. And I don't miss being treated like an idiot by people who have a major teacher-hate thing.

Losing Will... film premiere...

I just got back from seeing Losing Will at Zeidler Hall (Metro Cinema) at the Citadel Theatre. Two of my former students (Arlen Konopaki and Mike Robertson) directed it and were also 2 of the 4 co-writers. There are sections of the scripts that were improvised around a suggested concept so the 3 main actors were technically all writers. Other former students were also involved in the film (from sound design to medical research). They also filmed part of the movie in Fort McMurray though it is not credited as the Fort. I was very impressed with the work done. Some of the acting seems rough and there were some strange bits that got a lot of laughs but could easily leave someone with a "what the?" feeling, however they really tried to tell the story. I loved the soundtrack and the flashbacks that were used. It was hard to believe that they made the film for $3000 (no grants). These young guys took a concept, took their own money, begged many favours from friends and family and made it happen. They didn't wait around for someone to give them the money - they just took the risk. Way to go!

The film shows Sat and Sun at 7 p.m. Go see it.

Panto Pandemonium...

I took Oliver to see Sinbad the Sailor at Walterdale last night. It was a very committed show and there were many fine performances, particularly from the leads. Oliver had a lot of fun until about 10:15 when he just started to feel too tired (I kept him home today because who knows what he would be like at school after last night). The show didn't end until 11:00 p.m.

The funniest part for me (and the best for Oliver) was when Oliver got to go onstage to guess the camel's name. He was by far the "best" for audience particiaption in the first act and apparently the cast LOVED him (we were told this by Wayne Arthurson who went backstage at intermission), so when volunteers were asked for to name the camel Ollie's hand shot up and they literally were already looking right at him to bring him down. He was so excited. They obviously had a plan, the third person to guess would obviously be the "correct" guesser, so Oliver was asked last and he "won" (a nice handful of candy - great...). But then he came back to the seat and told me this: "Mom, I was really worried about guessing, because I usually guess wrong, but that name was really easy." The name he guessed? "Camel".

So the show has many plusses, but it is a mixed bag and there were parts that were well-performed but should have been cut for the sake of the whole piece. It is hard as a director to do that, but you have to make the hard choices. The whole Thriller sequence - cut it --> maybe keep the first verse for the joke, but not the whole thing. Not because it was poorly performed, it just stopped the action and didn't add anything to the plot and it was long. I certainly felt it hit the mark in many places, but if it is for kids it has to be shorter and I don't think the humour of a Panto has enough for just adults.

Busy weekend...

I am still tired from the weekend. I did Midsummer in Spruce Grove on Friday and on Saturday Mark and I went out with friends for his birthday (dinner and karaoke). On Sunday I had rehearsal in the afternoon, dinner at the Next Act and Walterdale Board Meeting in the evening. Then I stopped at the folks house to feed Harriet and check the house and shovel the walk (cooooooold). I am over 40 now. The three late nights in a row are hard to handle.