If you find yourself thinking you have too much time on your hands, or think you are bored and there's nothing to do.... Get involved with your local theatre company. Once you get wrapped up in the kind of rehearsal schedule that a musical requires.... you'll never think you have too much time on your hands again. Not that I'm complaining mind you, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I auditioned. I knew back in December that if I accepted a part (or parts as it turns out) in Evita, every free minute of my time would be spent in one kind of rehearsal or another, and the ones that weren't would be spent practicing all the stuff we'd just rehearsed on my own.
Thankfully we are in the home stretch, the entire company has finally taken possession of the Imperial theatre and moved out of the wretchedly cold rehearsal area we were using above the pool hall. Thursday is opening night, so if anyone on the cast thought their time was at premium up until now they haven't seen anything yet.
Tonight is the dreaded Cue to cue rehearsal, I say Dreaded because it is when all the technical people who will be working on the show learn their cues, which means.... the actors are basically bags of flesh that stand here and there while they set up lights, and reset lights, and spike entrances, and props, and set pieces, and we enter a couple hundred times, and exit a couple hundred more, then sit(close at hand in case we're needed suddenly) for an eternity. The Cue to Cue will more than likely start at 6 and go until about midnight, and then it's back to work tomorrow morning bright and early....... the scariest thing about all that is that I actually am smiling while I type this, and in a weirdly sadistic way am looking forward to it, if for no other reason we will get a feel for what the stage is really going to look like for the show. Plus There's just something about backstage at the Imperial Theatre that I find comforting... it's a little like visiting a great-grandparent... it isn't quite home, but it sure is comfy.
That being said it is now Quarter to six and I must get my butt in gear to get to said Cue to Cue.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Finally a Day to Myself.
For some reason known only to the muses today's scheduled Evita rehearsals have been cancelled and my costume fitting has also been changed. That coupled with the fact it is Sunday, and Darrell is off with Mike playing with the companies new Jib have conspired to give me a day all to myself. (with the exception of the dogs.) Considering my recent schedule , it will most certainly not be a leisurely day to myself but more a catch up day to tend to those tasks that have fallen by the wayside through lack of time.
I think I may even get extremely adventurous and totally junk out the bathroom. We aren't due to move until the 30th of March, but if I do a super heavy duty cleaning on a few rooms now, I'll only have to give them the most superficial wipe down when we move. It could be a real work saver later if I can muster up the enthusiam to get started, and not be distracted by the few remaining chapters in the novel I am so close to finishing.
I also have to get to all those mundane chores I've been neglecting, like Laundry, dishes, and my poor plants. (my life is so damn glamorous I could just puke...:) )
Musical theatre is a super fun hobby, but it can really suck up your free time. Especially when you get involved with a project that is as big as Evita. It isn't like a lot of musicals where there is dialog then a catchy tune and a dance number. For all intents and purposes it's an opera, I think there are maybe three or four spoken lines in the entire show. Since every word is sung, it puts a huge pressure on the performers to make sure each word in the song comes out really clearly, because there is no dialog outside of it to tell the story to the audience. There are also only Four major identifiable and defined characters... the rest are part of the "company", and have to find their motivations and actions from somewhere other than the script in hand. In short it is a tonne of very draining work, but once you are in the atmosphere of it, and enjoying the comradery of your fellow castmates, you don't even notice how hard or how draining it is.
On Friday night we had a cast Karaoke party at the Sommerset Pub. Due to the flue circulating around, only about a dozen people from the cast actually made it, but it was really fun. What struck me immediately, was that we have been rehearsing this musical since the beginning of January, but the Karaoke party was the first time I'd actually heard most of the cast members really sing. Of course we've all heard each other singing our parts together in groups etc, but I mean pick a song you love and stand up by yourself and belt it out.... really sing. It was a real eye opener as to the true extent of the talent of my fellow performers. I can quite honestly say I was extremely impressed... well worth the fuzzy brain the next day.
Well, writting in my weblog is not getting many chores done, but it is quite relaxing and enjoyable so I might endeavor to make a habit of it. For now an enormous pile of laundy and a filthy bathroom are calling to me so I'd best answer the call.
I think I may even get extremely adventurous and totally junk out the bathroom. We aren't due to move until the 30th of March, but if I do a super heavy duty cleaning on a few rooms now, I'll only have to give them the most superficial wipe down when we move. It could be a real work saver later if I can muster up the enthusiam to get started, and not be distracted by the few remaining chapters in the novel I am so close to finishing.
I also have to get to all those mundane chores I've been neglecting, like Laundry, dishes, and my poor plants. (my life is so damn glamorous I could just puke...:) )
Musical theatre is a super fun hobby, but it can really suck up your free time. Especially when you get involved with a project that is as big as Evita. It isn't like a lot of musicals where there is dialog then a catchy tune and a dance number. For all intents and purposes it's an opera, I think there are maybe three or four spoken lines in the entire show. Since every word is sung, it puts a huge pressure on the performers to make sure each word in the song comes out really clearly, because there is no dialog outside of it to tell the story to the audience. There are also only Four major identifiable and defined characters... the rest are part of the "company", and have to find their motivations and actions from somewhere other than the script in hand. In short it is a tonne of very draining work, but once you are in the atmosphere of it, and enjoying the comradery of your fellow castmates, you don't even notice how hard or how draining it is.
On Friday night we had a cast Karaoke party at the Sommerset Pub. Due to the flue circulating around, only about a dozen people from the cast actually made it, but it was really fun. What struck me immediately, was that we have been rehearsing this musical since the beginning of January, but the Karaoke party was the first time I'd actually heard most of the cast members really sing. Of course we've all heard each other singing our parts together in groups etc, but I mean pick a song you love and stand up by yourself and belt it out.... really sing. It was a real eye opener as to the true extent of the talent of my fellow performers. I can quite honestly say I was extremely impressed... well worth the fuzzy brain the next day.
Well, writting in my weblog is not getting many chores done, but it is quite relaxing and enjoyable so I might endeavor to make a habit of it. For now an enormous pile of laundy and a filthy bathroom are calling to me so I'd best answer the call.
Friday, February 25, 2005
How did I end up with this Spot???
How on Earth did I end up with a blog spot? It's actually a pretty simple and complicated explanation at the same time.
I've been on a bit of a mixed emotional whirl for the past week. My partner and I are in the process of buying a house, so that is all very exciting, and I have been rehearsing with Saint John Theatre Company for their upcoming performance of Evita. The show open on the 17th of March so rehearsals have kicked into over drive. Then something terrible got thrown into the swirl of excited emotions, when I learned that a very good friend who I've known since kindergarten passed away on Friday. Tracy Tweadie has been part of my life in one capassity or another for 27 years now, and while we live on oposite Coasts and haven't actually seen each other in person in a little over a decade, we have stayed in touch. I even had an e-mail from her a week or two before she died to ask me how I got involved with Saint John Theatre because she was thinking of getting involved with the group in Abotsford (British Columbia for anyone who doesn't know). Tracy was a flight attendant with Air Canada and often told me about all the cool places she'd been, she was only 33 when she passed away in her sleep on a lay over in Calgary. She is formost in my thoughts today since her memorial service is this afternoon. I called out last night to see how everyone was holding up and they are doing as well as can be expected. (what else can I say?)
Tracey's passsing in and of itself didn't lead to the Blog spot mind you, but it did set the wheels in motion. It got me feeling nostalgic for old friends and good times past. That's when I started googling people's names to see who I might find, and I googled Christa Giles. ( you should too she has a fantastic little web site that shows off her beuatiful creations.) Of course finding Christa's website led to e-mailing her to say "Hi.. Remember me?" (of course I didn't actually say that, I was pretty sure she'd remember who I was.) The last time I saw Christa she was in a bar called the Oddessy in Vancouver. I was living on Vancouver Island at the time (probably in Nanaimo) and singing in a Country band, and a friend and I had hopped the ferry to party for an evening in the City. Again that is about ten years ago... it would have to be since I moved to New Brunswick seven years ago.... I honestly can't believe I am already old enough to speak in terms of decades. ( You know you're getting old when all the music you loved as a kid is in the Bargain bin and called "Classic Rock") How Bowling for Sue is that?
So I e-mailed Christa and she e-mailed back, I had also asked her to say hi to her sister Heather (who I was also close too for quite some time) and she sent me the link to both of their blogs. So now we're getting to how this little area came into being. In order to post a message out of the blue for Heather I had to sign up for this site.... no anonamous posting.
What the hey... I've heard Blogging is all the rage these days, so I just might give it a go. An online journal as such, except instead of being a private repository for your inner most thoughts it's public to the extreme.
Well, that is my first post to "My Blog" will there be others? That remains to be seen.
I've been on a bit of a mixed emotional whirl for the past week. My partner and I are in the process of buying a house, so that is all very exciting, and I have been rehearsing with Saint John Theatre Company for their upcoming performance of Evita. The show open on the 17th of March so rehearsals have kicked into over drive. Then something terrible got thrown into the swirl of excited emotions, when I learned that a very good friend who I've known since kindergarten passed away on Friday. Tracy Tweadie has been part of my life in one capassity or another for 27 years now, and while we live on oposite Coasts and haven't actually seen each other in person in a little over a decade, we have stayed in touch. I even had an e-mail from her a week or two before she died to ask me how I got involved with Saint John Theatre because she was thinking of getting involved with the group in Abotsford (British Columbia for anyone who doesn't know). Tracy was a flight attendant with Air Canada and often told me about all the cool places she'd been, she was only 33 when she passed away in her sleep on a lay over in Calgary. She is formost in my thoughts today since her memorial service is this afternoon. I called out last night to see how everyone was holding up and they are doing as well as can be expected. (what else can I say?)
Tracey's passsing in and of itself didn't lead to the Blog spot mind you, but it did set the wheels in motion. It got me feeling nostalgic for old friends and good times past. That's when I started googling people's names to see who I might find, and I googled Christa Giles. ( you should too she has a fantastic little web site that shows off her beuatiful creations.) Of course finding Christa's website led to e-mailing her to say "Hi.. Remember me?" (of course I didn't actually say that, I was pretty sure she'd remember who I was.) The last time I saw Christa she was in a bar called the Oddessy in Vancouver. I was living on Vancouver Island at the time (probably in Nanaimo) and singing in a Country band, and a friend and I had hopped the ferry to party for an evening in the City. Again that is about ten years ago... it would have to be since I moved to New Brunswick seven years ago.... I honestly can't believe I am already old enough to speak in terms of decades. ( You know you're getting old when all the music you loved as a kid is in the Bargain bin and called "Classic Rock") How Bowling for Sue is that?
So I e-mailed Christa and she e-mailed back, I had also asked her to say hi to her sister Heather (who I was also close too for quite some time) and she sent me the link to both of their blogs. So now we're getting to how this little area came into being. In order to post a message out of the blue for Heather I had to sign up for this site.... no anonamous posting.
What the hey... I've heard Blogging is all the rage these days, so I just might give it a go. An online journal as such, except instead of being a private repository for your inner most thoughts it's public to the extreme.
Well, that is my first post to "My Blog" will there be others? That remains to be seen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
