Monday, August 31, 2009

From the frying pan...

So now that "Dinner with Friends" is done, I can concentrate on "Showtime at First Baptist," the MLT show that I'm stage managing. Whee?

Am I a glutton for punishment or what?? Luckily, when this show is done, I'll have a couple of weeks off before I start anything new. I think. I hope.

I need to finish unpacking.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

A little more detail

"Dinner with Friends" was awesome. It felt amazing. Well, the evening show did. The afternoon show... well... can I blame a small and somewhat confused audience for that?

Yesterday was a long day. We had our tech rehearsal (sort of) on Friday night. Our lighting designer was supposed to come out to Dublin that night to get all of our lighting sorted, but called at 10 to let me know that she couldn't make it after all. Hmm. So we did the best we could, and I don't think it was half-bad, considering that I'd never used that sort of light board before. Luckily, with all of the stage managing I've done, I'm not totally unfamiliar with lighting.

After we finished with that (very late!), the cast and I piled into David's car and headed out for our cast sleep-over. It was a long ride, and we were all very tired - and that resulted in some very interesting conversation on the way. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that we drove through clouds and now all have CareBear names.

Saturday morning came far too early, and I baked two cakes for the show. I've got to say, I love a show where the actors constantly eat and drink. I think I'm going to make actors eat and drink in every show I can. The dress rehearsal wasn't bad... but it started REALLY late, and my stress level was through the roof by the time it was time to get ready for the first show. The house staff didn't bother showing up on time, and I had to take tickets and money and deal with things that I didn't have any idea about, which was frustrating. But hey, it happens sometimes.

By the time the evening show rolled around, I was feeling better. Tired, but better. And the evening show felt GREAT! The cast knew what they were doing, and even though they wandered off from the script a few times, they brought it all back and I don't think the audience noticed at all.

My favourite part? Getting the actors drunk. See, in "Dinner with Friends," everyone is eating and drinking. Of the seven scenes, the actors are drinking wine in four. By intermission, a couple of them were looking, well, a little flushed :) Of course, they're both light-weights ;) But it definitely kept them from stressing as much as I was afraid that they would. Like I said, I'm going to try to have my actors drinking in as many shows as I can! (Caveat: It depends on the actors, of course. I trusted this group to stay professional, because I've seen them all drink before.)

So my first directorial experience was a good one, if stressful. I've learned a lot of things. The most important? Twenty-four days from read-through to opening is enough time to manage, but not enough time if you want to do things like eat and sleep! But I loved it, and I can't wait to do it again!

Chris, Colby, David, and Lizzie - you were AWESOME! I'm so proud of all four of you, and I had a blast working with you, even with all of the headaches and insanity of the last three weeks. I couldn't have asked for a better cast. I love you guys!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

*ahem*

I am now a successful director! (Successful in that I directed a show, it had its run, no one died, and no one walked out in the middle of it) There is more, much more to say, but as it is FREAKING LATE, I will go to bed and tell you all about it tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Friday, August 28, 2009

21

Twenty-one hours to go until curtain on my directorial debut.

Shit merde fuck tabernac.

Don't expect coherence today. And if you're near Dublin, get your ass to One21 tomorrow!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

First time

For the first time, I really just didn't want to blog tonight.

It's an odd feeling, because although there is always a sense of obligation, and occasionally a sense of resignation, when I sit down to blog, this is the first time I have not had any desire to blog. I couldn't think of anything to blog about that wasn't incredibly personal - and while I appreciate that many of the people who read this are actually my real-life friends and family, I also know that there are going to be random people reading this, and I don't necessarily want them to know all sorts of intimate details about my life.

There's been a lot going on for me lately, and I'm keeping very, very, VERY busy. But on the bright side, by blogging tonight, even though I didn't want to, I have proven to myself that I can indeed manage to write every day. And honestly, that's why I made the resolution to blog every day. If I don't write for one day, it's going to be awfully easy to skip another day. And another. Hell, go check out the last date on my Take Five blog - it's been several days of 'just one day off.' I keep telling myself that, once my life calms down, I'll be able to blog more, or better. Then I look at the calendar for the next, oh, six months, and I don't see any sign of things calming down. So I'll settle for telling myself that, even though some of these posts may be complete and utter crap, I'm still writing, dammit, and if I'm ever going to be a successful writer, that's what I have to do - write, dammit.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Sing along time

I've been in a singing mood this week. Today, my iPod apparently agreed with my decision. Every musical song in my playlist seemed to come on consecutively as I drove around to and from work and the theatre today - and no, I didn't have any sort of selection by genre going on. It was just set to full playlist, on random.

So yay! Now my throat's a bit raw, though... But totally worth it!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tuesday? How is it Tuesday?

I've been horrible at keeping track of days this month. I could have sworn that today was a Thursday, because it felt like a Thursday. It definitely did not feel like a Tuesday. On the bright side, it also did not feel like a Monday.

I've been crazy-busy since, well, February, really. And I think it's finally starting to rot my brain. Huh. Fire bad. Tree pretty.

Monday, August 24, 2009

My cast rocks my face.

We are doing such a classy play... this really is a series of lines from it.

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*giggle giggle*

I've been giggly. All day. All week. I'm sure that I'm driving people insane. I really don't care, though.

It doesn't help that my cast is also giggly. And distracted. And spelling out things with scraps of styrofoam cups. Once I figure out how to post photos from my phone without making a whole new post out of them, I will update with photos... Until you see them, it might not totally make sense.

I've also been feeling insanely creative this week, but I've had no real time to sit down and write, which is unfortunate. I'm hoping that, later this week, I'll have more time.

Wow. I just reread that last sentence, and it made me laugh. A lot. Maybe in three weeks, I'll have more time. Later this week, I'll just steal some time at work ;) I'd direct you over to Take Five, but there's nothing new to look at there, sadly. But you can look anyways! And I'll have SOMETHING added there by the end of the week. I hope.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Feeling good

"Dinner with Friends" is making me less nervous now. Rehearsals have been going well without my presence (from what I've heard), and today, we worked in the new performance space. "New?" you ask. Yes, that's right. With less than two weeks to go, we've switched venues. The show had originally been scheduled to take place at Theatre Dublin, which has about 300 seats. There was no way we'd sell that out. We've now moved to One21, which holds 75-100, depending on the arrangement of seats, and there's a much better chance of us selling out. Even better, we can actually have alcohol present... and given the number of scenes with half-full wineglasses, this is a good thing. Nobody was really looking forward to sipping at something that looks like wine but tastes like, well, coloured water.

And I managed to make everyone laugh (again) with the no-nonsense way I speak when I call for a mid-scene start. Tonight's favourite call? "Let's take it from 'Prick, bitch (spit) ballbreaker' again, please." That's also my Facebook status. :)

Friday, August 21, 2009

I made stuff!

I made stuff tonight, and it was awesome. Hmm... how vague. I hosted a Stampin' Up party tonight, and while there were few in attendance, it was still a good time, and things were made. More importantly, after the party, Heather stuck around and made more stuff. Stuff is good. I like stuff.

And even more importantly, I watched "Evil Dead: The Musical" again, and am now party to some plotting... it must be produced!

In other news, I've slept for a total of 18 hours since Sunday. This might explain some of my recent incoherence. I'm hoping to increase the number of hours spent sleeping in the upcoming week.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A bit of romance

(Because I'm a girl, and sometimes, I have to remind myself of that)

The sunlight came from behind him, almost blinding her. He stepped to the side, casting a shadow on her face as he grinned. "Better?"

"Better," she affirmed, her voice soft as she smiled up at him. His features were harder to make out at this angle, but she knew those blue eyes well, and they could make her melt.

"Good." He studied her face as she studied his, and she could feel that familiar sensation in her chest - a tingling, fuzzy feeling that started below her breastbone and radiated upwards, until even her teeth tingled. She knew what was going to happen next, and she found herself holding her breath. He leaned forward slightly, and she found herself rising to her tiptoes to meet him halfway. Their lips met, and for a moment, the whole world stopped spinning.

All of those moments earlier in the day, when it seemed that time was conspiring against them, making an hour seem like minutes, were balanced out in that instant. Nothing else mattered - she was no longer aware of the traffic alongside them, the pedestrians giving them sidelong glances. She was simply in his arms, kissing him. Her arms wrapped around his waist of their own accord, and his returned the favor. The world melted away, until it was just the two of them, wrapped in a warm ball of sunlight.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Shiny

Some words are just awesome.

I love the word 'shiny.' I blame Joss Whedon for this. If you've watched Firefly, you know what I'm talking about. But it's an awesome word. It's got the standard connotations and definitions - an object that gleams or has a lustrous finish. But it can also mean, well, awesome. It can be used an exclamation on its own, or as part of an adjective.

Also, I like 'blargh,' an expression of frustration. Don't confuse it with 'blergh,' an expression of disgust.


Monday, August 17, 2009

Creepy

The street that I live on is a dark country-ish road. At 11 pm, there's no light at the far end. No street lights, no house lights, nothing.

Until you come around the bend. As you come around the corner of this dark, vaguely creepy road, there's a cross. In the daylight, it's just a cross. At night, though...

For some reason, someone thought that it would be a good idea to wrap the whole cross in red rope lights. Because that doesn't freak out a person coming around the corner in the middle of the night! Even blue rope lights would be less creepy, people!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

What an awesome weekend!

I wish all of my weekends could be like this... I've been busy, yes, but I've been having a blast.

And can I just say, my cast is wonderful? I might have mentioned this before, but they ROCK! Tonight, our rehearsal was mostly to get them to learn their lines, so that they can be off book by Saturday. About two hours in, we got a little goofy. Suddenly, everyone was inflecting their lines differently - it became very, very dirty. Very. And we laughed so hard, I thought I would fall out of my chair. But it helped them get the words, so I won't complain. They are all working their asses off, and it's going much better than I was afraid it might.

The rest of my weekend - the little bit that wasn't busy with any theatre! - was also kick-ass. Love it. I want every weekend to be this good. Please?

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Wired

I'm feeling totally giddy and happy today, and it's a wonderful feeling! Life's been crazy lately, and it's great to have a good day. I woke up early and went to work for a bit (okay, not so great, but hey, it had to be done), then did some shopping and got diapers for my dog (now she can sleep in my bed again!), then had an AWESOME meeting with my critique group, and a fun rehearsal. And I'm going out for food tomorrow!

So yeah, it's been a great day. And I can't wait for tomorrow!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Angry sex scene? No problem!

I did it! I blocked and directed my way through the second love scene in the show (which is actually first, chronologically, but the second to be completed)!

It wasn't bad at all, actually. It'll be better once the actors are reading their own lines and not being coached through, but this was their first time doing the scene, and we had two others reading the lines so that the two in the scene could concentrate on the physicality. It worked really well, and I'm happy with it. The big problem is that we don't have a bed, so that makes it awkward when one climbs onto the bed and straddles the other. But once we got past that, the fighting looked good, the kiss looked awesome, and the unbuckling of the belt was great.

Best of all? All of the couples have done their kiss at least once, so they've got past the awkward 'should we do this or just mark it?' place. YAY!

And now I'm the only one not getting a kiss at rehearsal. :(

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Still working on yesterday

Can I just say, yesterday was a rollercoaster? It was craziness in both good and bad (very bad) ways. But I know some awesome people who have stepped up and stepped in and are rocking my world. Chris, Colby, David, and Elizabeth - YOU ARE AMAZING! I love you all, and thank you for everything.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A quiet night

A lot happened tonight. A lot. I need to digest my evening, so the blog loses out. I hope you weren't expecting greatness.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

More on love

Okay, so last night, I directed my way through a love scene. We touched on it briefly the day before in rehearsal, but after much conversation with one of the actresses, decided that, last night, they'd have to just go ahead and do it. We did the rest of the scene several times, then I let the rest of the cast go for the night, and we worked on it.

I've got to say, it's weird. Directing a kiss is hard, because you've got to be aware of whether or not it's actually believable and 'hot', but at the same time, you have to be all technical and analytical and worry about whether or not the audience can see everything they need to see. It's also got this voyeuristic tinge to it, which is both good and awkward. I mean, I got to watch these two people kiss for the first time ever. I HAD to watch them kiss for the first time ever. And then I had to tell them what looked good about it and what needed to change.

The good thing was that these two actors have really good chemistry, so the kiss looked good. It looked hot. It looked believable. So all I had to do, once they finally got over the initial "uhh... we have to kiss... uhh... I guess we should go ahead... uh..." awkwardness was work on the technical aspects - how does he need to turn her so the audience can see the kiss, how should she put her arms so nothing is blocked, how can we get her up onto the counter without stopping and getting awkward? I'm really happy with the end result, and I'm hoping that they can remember all the blocking!

Now I've just got one more 'love scene' to finish blocking, but I don't want to do that until I actually get the bed. Yes, it's on a bed. We're calling it 'the angry sex scene' - there's no actual sex, but the couple has a fight, and the scene ends with an angry kiss and her unfastening his pants. I've got some ideas about how to do it, but we really do need the bed to establish some physical boundaries - I don't want to block something that's going to make someone fall off of the bed when they try it!

Monday, August 10, 2009

You've heard of calling in a performance... Well, I'm texting in a blog. Whee! The char limit sucks, but I'll try to write haiku for the next one.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Directing love

I'm loving this directing thing. Chris, you were TOTALLY right! I'm hoping that I'm doing an okay job of it, but I definitely like it! It helps that my cast totally kicks ass - we've managed to block all but one scene in two rehearsals - only four hours!

There is one bit, though, that's a little... sensitive. Love scenes. The play I'm working on, "Dinner with Friends," is about two married couples. They do what married couples do - they kiss and have sex. No, there's no sex on stage. But there's definitely some steaminess, and that's hard to direct without feeling like you're directing, well, porn.

So on the way home from rehearsal tonight, there was much discussion about it, and I've decided that, as awkward as it might sound, I'm going to have to find a way to verbalize exactly what I want to see. I think that's tonight's project. I'm going to sit down, and, like the writer I am, write out explicitly what I want the actors to do. That might help. I hope.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

The power!

I tell people what I want them to do, and they do it! No questions, no whining, they just do it! I tell them where I want furniture to go, and it's there! I tell them when to show up, they do! I can feel the power rushing through my veins! It's warm and delicious...

I mean... my first rehearsal as a director went very well. I look forward to the next one.

Ahem.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Loooooooong week

That is all. It has been a loooooooooong week.

Again, if you want more substance (more being a relative term - literally!), go visit Take Five.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

I'll tell you when we're in too deep

Three weeks and two days to put on a show? No problem.

No lighting designer? No problem!

No idea what sort of set we can create? No problem!

Are we in too deep? Nah! I'll tell you when we're in too deep!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

New ideas, no time

I dreamt my next plot! Last night, I dreamed an entire play. It was awesome. I want to write it. I NEED to write it. But I have no time!

Just so I don't forget, the working title is 'Always a Bridesmaid' and there's one MC, and several supporting characters who come in and out. The MC speaks directly to the audience a lot, but then interacts with the others who come on.

If I can manage, between everything else I have going on, I'm going to write an outline sometime this week. I love notepad... a script and coding can look identical to anyone walking past!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

WTF?

Holy crap holy crap holy crap!

So my directorial debut will not be in November with "Burn This" by Lanford Wilson.

It will be later this month, with "Dinner with Friends" by Donald Margulies.

EEEEEEP!!!!!

WTF? Seriously? Holy crap!

(If you want anything remotely more coherent, wait till tomorrow or visit Take Five.)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Clearly not a Southern girl...

I enjoy the South. I've been having fun here. But there are some things that just, well, throw me off. Things I'm not used to.

Tonight, I was at a rehearsal for "Showtime at First Baptist," and one of the characters has a monologue about how she's having a hard time adapting to the South, and I totally identified with her. I've only had grits once (they were okay, I guess), and I've still managed to avoid okra and butter beans.

At the end of rehearsal, everyone formed a prayer circle. I've never done this before. Especially in a theatre. And with strangers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to prayer. I'm just not used to public, group prayer outside of a religious setting. And the informality of it was strange to me, too. If I'm praying with a group of people, it's probably a group from church (or at church), and the praying generally starts with a more formal prayer, like "Our Father" or "Hail Mary."

It's just something I'll have to adjust to, but I felt awkward and out-of-place. And, although it may sound odd, I'm going to pray about it. Huh.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Carpe Demon

Even the title of the book made me grin when I saw it in the bookstore. Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner was an awesome book.

I picked it up on a whim yesterday while I was at the bookstore. I had a gift card, and I figured, why not? It sounded interesting - one of the reviews described it as what would have happened if Buffy grew up, retired, and didn't tell anyone that she used to be a vampire slayer. I'm a Buffy fan, so I was intrigued.

The MC, Kate Connor, is a very believable character, despite all of the demon-hunting stuff going on in her life. And snarky! I love the snark and the sarcasm. I'm not generally a fan of novels written in first person, but I liked this one. It really felt like Kate was telling me her story.

I can't decide if this is a good thing, but it's the first book of a series... Hmm... Because I totally need another series to get hooked on, right? However, this book has a definite ending, and it looks like the next one is a different adventure. I'll probably pick up the next one in a month or so, and hopefully, it will also have an ending, so I don't have to rush right out and get the next. I think the fourth one in the series is still in trade size, so I'll have to wait a bit for it to come out in the same format, and I hate waiting when the story isn't over.

So if you're looking for a good, funny, demon-slaying story, go read Carpe Demon!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Thwarted!

I wanted to exercise a bit today, so I pulled out my big ol' exercise ball, thinking that I would do some sit-ups and planks and whatnot - you know, working on the core muscles. It was a good idea.

I sat on the ball and rolled into position, ready to do a sit-up. I sat up, I relaxed back down, and a dog materialized in my lap. She then crawled up and laid down on my chest. Apparently, she doesn't think I need to exercise today.

After a few minutes, she got up, and I tried another. She materialized again.

So I'm giving up for now. I'll see if she supports my attempts at fitness later this evening. And if she doesn't, she may go sleep in the kitchen for a while, because I'm very close to fitting into my summer shorts. Don't say anything about how far into summer we are.