If I fell in love with you, or Would you fall in love with me?

If I fell in love with you
would you tell me what to do?
Could I play with other boys?
Would you tell me "No more noise,
no more sound?"
Would you always be around,
or would you leave?
Would you fall in love with me?
If I fell in love with you,
I would never be so blue...
Would we dance in the rain?
Would you promise no more pain
so I'd never need to cry.
And together we would fly,
or sail the sea....
Would you fall in love with me?
If I fell in love with you,
after all that we've been through,
could I hold your hand?
Would you help me stand?
Would we always be together,
come sun or stormy weather?
We could do as we please...
Would you then fall in love with me?

Watch out world... We've just fueled the fire...

Last night, the fabulous Josh and I ventured up I-270 yesterday evening to watch Bread and Circus Theatre Company's production of Macbeth.
My dearest friends Danielle and Manny (From Lear) played the insatiable and insane Macbeth's.
The play was set in the deep south Bayou country, in the 1920's.
The majority of the cast did a really great job using their skill of cajun and creole accents to go along with the story.
FABULOUS because I find that accent to be quite attractive when coming from the right lips.
Apparently, part of the director's vision was to accentuate the weird sisters' presence in the production, which I can respect.
But, I was slightly disappointed by two things where these characters were concerned.
1.) I found their presence onstage to be a bit...
excessive?
They were onstage moreso than I am personally used to....
2.) The Voodoo sisters were... white.
As in Caucasian...
I was expecting a bit more realistic voodoo soul....
Call me a purist...
I will say they did a good job at their roles and worked off of each other well.
And Kudos to the director, Mony, for thinking outside the box.

"Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Macbeth Quote (Act V, Scene V).

Not fun.

Last night....
Somebody gave me their Rhino Virus/cold/not funness....
I woke up miserable and ache-y.
The shower helped but I'm totally nasal-y and I feel bleh.....
Now I'm gulping down Green Tea with Emergen-C and praying it helps....
I have to go to work....
Bleh....

Theatre craziness.....

After five years with RTP, I have noticed a couple of trends within our little community.
1.)A lot of the same actors are used in almost every production.
2.)A LOT of people notice the same thing.
3.)A LOT of people complain about it.
Having been involved with Rosebriar Shakespeare Co. and Wagnalls as well, I get the feeling this is common in community theatre in general.
Now, I'm not going to totally complain about this.
As I see it, this issue is twofold:
-Certain Directors cast the same people.
-The same people are the ONLY people who audition.
VERY frustrating.
So, who is to blame????
..........
I hate to hear any of the groups with which I am involved called a "club" or a "clique."
I blame those who come to the shows, complain about the shows/actors, yet do nothing.
Don't like see me in 3 or 4 shows out of our season?
COME AUDITION.
Submit a show you'd like to direct.
Get involved.
Don't sit at in the middle of a restaurant with your friends and complain, complain, complain.
I complain about theatre stuff from time to time, but then I really try to fix it.
We cast 32 actors in Treasure Island.
A couple of the actors we cast are brand new, and we wanted to give them a chance to really learn about being onstage and theatre in general.
Some of them were cast so that they would be forced to take direction and learn to take their role seriously.

Some of my actors are individuals about whom I've heard complains before, whether it be their frequency or their capabilities as a performer.
For one or two of them, I cast them because I wanted to get my hands on them and direct the crap out of them so they'd be forced to actually act, instead of getting onstage and doing the same character they do with every performance: THEMSELVES.
NOT happening in my show.
I dubbed this idea KILLING THE ACTOR.
We may have cast John Doe in the role of Clyde Whatever, but, come production time, you aren't going to see John Doe on that stage.
It's 100% Clyde Whatever.
I firmly believe it is important to allow the actor to create and grow, but they have to grow into their character.
I don't think their goal should be "Take this character and make it YOU."
It should be "Become this character."

Blablablah...
Come March 27th, we'll see how it all works out.
For now, I must finish gettig all the scripts ready for this week.
I'm also on the hunt for a show to submit for next year's season.....
argh.

(Little Johnny Jones finished today....)

Yay VD!

Happy Single Awareness Day.
This year's Valentine's Day will consist of Tahrea going to work til around 4, then babysitting the girls from 6 to whenever.
THEN, I'm going to bed.
The best Valentine's Day ever.

Another night of blocking.....

Tonight is the second of a multitude of nights for blocking.
Last night went really well, though it was slightly boring.
Ah, blocking.
The bane of my existence.
I had an idea last night, though, that my relieve my blocking woes.
After two nights of blocking these scenes, Wednesdays are basically covering all of Monday and Tuesday.
SOooooooo....
I had the charming notion that Wednesdays could be days of direction and emoting...
Fabulous, right?
Because I can't stand to watch these kids NOT have motivation or direction for these scenes.
I'll go nuts.

Onto night two....

Each morning I wake up I die a little... Can't bear to stand on my feet...

Every morning I wake up only to begrudge any activity I have after work which would hinder my coming back home and hopping back inside that wonderful bed.....
This morning, after my initial hatred of the world, I realized today's evening hinderance was, after going to the dance studio and harrassing Ryan's Irish step students, TREASURE ISLAND'S first rehearsal.
The angry voice in my head was softened by the small dose of logic in which this notion injected.
yay....
But, after a bowl of cereal, and a blueberry muffin (which I baked last night), I have been able to rouse a few more joyous feelings about the occasion.
Now I have to suffer through that morning fatigue as I trudge through work and share innocuous conversations with strangers and faces I recognize without names with which to pair them...
Then home.
Then the bank.
Then to the dance studio.
THEN to the theatre.
Sometime today I am going to get chinese food...
It is going to happen.

... 'til there was you.....

Sometimes I love technology.
Sometimes it doesn't love me.
Today...
We have a mutual love and respect for one another....
We purchased a new printer today.
Not because we needed to replace our old standard but hearty printer, but because we discovered we have growing needs that it couldn't fullfill.
Needs like copying.
And scanning...
And, perhaps, even faxing.
After rushing out of the theatre and a third day of theatre duties, I went to the wonderful MART of WAL with my dear mother to get a few groceries and our newest piece of technology.
Despite the myriad of unhelpful employees, mom and I were able to successfully whittle our choices down to a Lexmark model.
Simple enough, it is exactly what we needed.
I wanted a machine that had a control panel, but it had to be easy enough so mom would wig out everytime she had to scan something....
LOL.
Once we got it home I almost instantly pulled it out of the box and started the installation.
After 25 minutes of waiting for the disc with all the answers, bells, and whistles to decide to upload, I was able to connect the printer to the computer.
Voila!
It's fabulous!
I've been scanning paper like crazy for the past hour and half.
I have a new love.
And it's a printer/scanner/copier...

Blocking.... the bane of my existence....

Little Johnny Jones opened last night.
All I'm going to say is that it lived up to all the expectations I had gained through peeping in on rehearsals...
Yep.

So Treasure Island rehearsals start on Monday.
How amazing is that????
I am excited to get started just so we can get the blocking over and DONE with.
Ugh.
I don't think anyone really likes blocking....
It is so tedious.
Plus, everytime we've done blocking in the past (as an assistant Director), I couldn't give real notes.
AND I HATE THAT!
I want them to start thinking about volume and emotion always!
However...
I know they have get the blocking first.
THEN, the REAL acting can begin...
UGH.
We'll be blocked by the end of February...
That may change depending on how these first two weeks go....
And by change I mean we may be blocked sooner than that and have moved on to doing rehearsals act by act...
We WILL be COMPLETELY blocked by the end of the month.
My actors will know their blocking by the end of this month.
Hopefully they will know their lines too.....
One might think that is pushing it a bit, but I know for a fact it can be done.
I had to memorize 120 lines in a two week span to fill in for Junia a few years ago.
And last year, I had to learn a part in Pinocchio.
I found out Tuesday and had to do the character Friday.
It can be done!
And I'm going to work with all of them to learn their lines.
These people will either love me or hate me...
Then, as soon as Little Johnny Jones is finished, I'm going to tear that theatre apart looking for costumes, props, and set pieces.
I really want to be prepard ahead of time so the actors can get used to using their props and working around a set.
I'm even planning on making/building a camp fire.
AUGH!
It's going to rock if I can get it just right.

Another thing I need to learn is DELEGATION.
I'm going to be very hands on with everything, but I need to remember that I have a lot of people willing to help.
Plus, James will need stuff to do.
lol
I'm going to ask him to find Pirate-y music to play during before and after the show, and during intermission.
I've already to everybody that we're all getting together on the 28th for set building and painting.
That's going to be fun.

It starts.....

Tonight is opening night for Little Johnny Jones.
FINALLY.
I say that because we wanted to take the girls to see it last week, and had to postpone.
That is the worst thing in the world to me, cancelling or postponing plans with Madison and Grace.
Because they NEVER forget...
Ugh.
BUT, I think we're going to take them this Sunday.
YAY!
Another reason I'm pleased that the show is starting is the sooner they get started and over with, the soooooooooner I can really dive into Treasure Island!
THAT will be thrilling.
I'm going to go nuts with costuming and everything right away.
Oh yeah.
We're going to get EVERYTHING done early.
THEN, everyone is going to get together on the 28th and we're going to build the set and start painting.
And when everyone leaves, I'm going to paint the stage.
I'll probably have someone like mom with me just because I don't fancy staying by my lonesome in the theatre....
It can sometimes prove to be a little spooky....
BUT that's another story entirely.
Now, I'm off to the Tuscan Table with an ability to convince strangers that I love it when they call me Ma'am, and a pocket full of dreams....