I Guess I'm Not Dying....

Around Tuesday, I started to feel human again. Only my right hand continued to ache. By Friday, even the hand felt better. Yay! I am so glad I am not dying...

This week has been crazy with my workshop (see more details on On Writing) for Zachary and the Storytelling Stones. Suffice it to say I have written around 7 drafts of the script in one week. Whew!

I did manage to squeeze in (and I mean squeeze) Hamlet (at Walterdale) and Anne of Green Gables (Sherard at Festival Place).

Anne of Green Gables has never been one of my favorite shows. It is a musical based on a very well-known and well-loved book, so it really has to hit the highlights of the book. As a result the story arc is not as finessed as other shows. You can't mess too much with L.M. Montgomery. That being said, I was tentative about seeing it. I have heard that Sherard shows are often uneven with compromised production values that detract from the show. However, I knew several of the cast and felt I should go. I was pleasantly surprised by the show. It was quite nice. Anne was lovely. Not the strongest singer, but she certainly was channelling Meagan Follows and she was a lovely actress and obviously a dancer who could organically incorporate her movement into her performance. The other girls were lovely too. Josie Pye was played by the younger sister of a boy I taught in Fort McMurray. She was very strong. I was also pleased with Judy's performance as Marilla. Judy is a good friend of mine and this was the strongest performance I have ever seen from her. She and Gary (as Matthew) were very strong. The ensemble was earnest, if not even, and everyone contributed to a nice show. Some trouble with the buttons of numbers and the actual ending was thrown away, but it was Opening Night and that may be strengthened over the course of the run.

Struck Down By Illness...

I am still recovering from one of the worst flues that I have ever had. It started Friday with shivers and fever and a total lack of focus. I stumbled through part of the day until I couldn't anymore and then skipped out on a meeting because I really doubted my ability to drive there and home. Instead I went home and slept form 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. and still felt like crap. I woke up several times to medicate and shift and drink water. In the morning on Saturday I was not much better and I napped as I could during the day. I felt a little better on Sunday and went to Hotel For Dogs with Mark and the boys. Immediately upon returning home I fell back in bed. Not better. A long sleep and then I awake Monday morning with a bowling ball sized cold sore upon my lip. What the -?!?! I had never had one before and to be blessed with one that size through me into a tailspin which literally resulted in a 1/2 hour cry and a phone call to Mark for remedy. Since Monday I have been up and down. Feeling somewhat better in some ways and not in others. I ache in different places every few hours. The back of my head and neck have been the worst, but Mark assures me I do not have meningitis. He better be right...



It is a week later. My fingers and right knee are stiff and achey. I can stomach Diet Coke again and my appetite has returned to some degree. I am hoping for a complete recovery by Sunday...

Wiggles and Whining...

That's what the last few days have felt like. Okay, the Wiggles were just on and I liked the alliteration, but the whining has been palpable in the house the last few days. However effective it is to remove the DS from Oliver as a punishment, you still have to put up with the whining when he doesn't have access to it. I am praying for a good day at school today so he earns it back and the whinging stops. Gibson has had his fair share, but that usually only happens when he is tired so I am a little more tolerant of it.

Home for a rest...

This past week I started work on The Last Five Years. I am directing my good friends, Magnolia and El Muchacho (his new title) in this wonderful 2 person musical. I had my first rehearsal with Magnolia on Tuesday and we did a nice chronological track through the script. I love this part. I love the 'mining' and the talking and sorting out what the story is all about for this character. To do this show right, you have to know the separate journeys of the two characters. If you are playing one of them, you have to feel right, even when the character makes mistakes. I can imagine people leaving this show thinking 'she was right/he was wrong' or 'she was wrong/he was right'. I want people to leave thinking they were both right and both wrong. I want no villains and no heroes. I want real people. So, we have a good time walking through.

I was supposed to rehearse Thursday and found I couldn't. I was hit by something. I don't know if I caught whatever Oliver had on Tuesday, or if I just needed to stop for a moment. Because when I thought about it, I realized I had not stopped going, going, going since I can't remember. I thought it was just since before Black Hearts, but then I thought about it and realized I came right into that from the Walterdale Gala, and into that from the Fringe, and into the Fringe from the One Acts and Baby and before that Crimes... Maybe I just needed a few days off? I have to watch that in myself because if I don't watch it I will pile up everything, one thing on top of another. I worry that if I don't do this or don't do that I will miss the opportunity. I have to make myself happy with the bounty I have, because I am by no means sitting on my butt doing nothing.

Anyhow, by Sunday I felt better. I took it easy Thursday, Friday and Saturday and this made it nice to go into rehearsal on Sunday and get some work done. We roughed out 4 of the songs and did more mining and tracking and I feel real good about it. I can't wait to get both of my cast members together and in a month it should feel even more exciting.

Sky's the Limit...

We finished up the 4 show run on Saturday night. Our audience was 9 people, only 4 of whom paid. On the Wednesday we had 5 people in the house. Opening and Friday we had between 20-30 people. It was a great show, with wonderful people to work with, but the lack of promotion by Horizon Players really disappointed me. I did what I could with Facebook and encouraging people I knew to come, but it was a challenge. Most of the students I know could not get out there. I was most disappointed that not all of the Board of Horizon Players came to see the show. The President of the Board never came out to a show. Disappointing.

Anyhow, we wrapped up the event at Elizabeth's lovely house in Stony Plain and we stumbled home at 4 AM. Good practice for the Casino I worked last night!

My Walterdale A.D. Blog...

Because I like to compartmentalize I started a blog dealing strictly with my A.D. Adventures...

http://finster-wallyworld.blogspot.com/

I anticipate plenty of overlap.

It's Official

I am Walterdale Theatre Associates new Artistic Director for the 2009-2011 Seasons. There was an article in the Edmonton Journal with the announcement that called me Karen M. Finlay (a correction was printed today) and the Walterdale January Newsletter announced me, so I have been enjoying the congratulations from well-wishers. I now anxiously await submitted scripts for the season. I will sift and shuffle and try to put together a season that works in many ways since I serve so many masters in this new position. I will also remember to save something good for myself...

I have two more shows for Sky (tonight and tomorrow). We have done 2 very good shows, but to very small audiences (20 the first night and 5 the second night). We have not let the size of the house change our intensity, so that is good. It is just frustrating to put the whole thing together and drive all that way for 5 people... I am a little frustrated with the lack of promotion of the show and I know my director is as well. I hope that we have a bigger house tonight.