Clearing the brain so it keeps working
Posts tagged community theater
Mid May? Really?
May 12th
Take 2?
Cool weather for mid-May, and I have a fire going in the fireplace. I have had no other heat since the some time in April and I will start a fire in the evening if needed. The cool damp weather calls for that fire.
Started the fire a bit later than I normally would since I had to rehearse today. I just found out that the Dinner theater I am in on the Weekend of the 22nd is sold out. A week and a half before the show. Wow!! It has been a while since I’ve been involved in a sold out show. Should be fun.
I also found out that the last show I was in is destined to go to regional contest. I’m not sure about this. I liked the characters, but I was ready to let the show go when it was over. Can’t really say I am looking forward to this. That is two years in a row that a show I was in was elected to go to our regional contest. Last year I had a good excuse not to go. I don’t think there are any weddings planned for this year’s contest (there better not be…) But maybe a family party? Something that I could use? Is that the weekend my youngest has to move home from College? Hmmm.
Oh well, the fire needs another log tossed on it.
Finding a way
Apr 7th
I’m involved with another theatrical production, as I’ve stated earlier. I’ve only been to a few rehearsals, and I’m tired of it. I don’t think it is the show, or the actors in the show. I have a good time when I am there, but before I get there and after I leave I experience a feeling numbness. I’m just tired of the whole thing. I really wish I would have stayed on my theater break. I don’t want to study lines, learn blocking or any of the other things needed for this show. I have other things I feel like doing instead.
I wonder how long this feeling will last. I need to learn how to say no. I need to focus on projects I am really interested in and ignore the ones that I have just a passing interest in.
Oh well, the show must go on, and I will soldier through.
You’re doing what?
Mar 29th
Well, I received an email last Friday. It was a request for my ‘acting’ ability. I have been on a self imposed hiatus from theater, so I didn’t think I would be doing any sort of acting in the near future. I was wrong. I will be the understudy for one of the actors. He can’t do all of the performances, so I will do the one he will miss. I’m just lucky it is a small role with very easy dialog. I get to be a love struck honeymooner. I’ve done that role once in real life, I think I can handle it. I played that role for 20 years.
This will be a little different. It is a dinner theater with audience participation. I’m looking forward to it. The audience will be sitting around and in the middle of our acting. Should be fun. The character I have doesn’t have too much interaction with the audience, but I do have to be aware of where they are located during my various scenes.
I will have to get some information as to the cost of the performances. Should be interesting.
Finally cleaned up another problem.
Mar 24th
I’ve been complaining that my laptop is broken for some time now, but I never used that opportunity to fix my Power Box. I’ve had stuff to do on it for a couple of years now, but it just wouldn’t boot up properly after I installed a new hard drive. I thought I knew what the problem was, but I never undertook the job of actually looking at it. So today I did.
Yes, the problem was exactly what I thought it was. It was trying to boot from the old disk drive. Unfortunately, this drive no longer had any operating system on it. It was still formated as a bootable drive, but there was nothing to boot to. Quick spin through the bios, and that drive is no longer on the boot list. YEAH.
Now I just have to find all of the stuff I needed to do and finish it up. Yes, there may be a Godspell video in there somewhere. I guess I’ll have to stop blogging after my software updates from more than 1 year of inactivity.
More work for me. I’m glad I took a break from theater for a while… 
A special place in ‘MY’ acting hall of fame
Feb 15th
One line in a response pushed me to write this post. I don’t think I’ve written about it before, but I remember telling a friend or two, so if you’ve heard it before, just be patient with me.
Way back in 1997, somebody asked me for suggestions on shows for the play house to do. I was a rank newbie to the theater, but I gave a suggestion or two. The play at the top of my list was “Harvey”. It seems that the playhouse did this show before, and they were not ready to do it again. Year after year, I suggested that show. Finally, after a lot of persuasion, and maybe just to shut me up, the show was scheduled for some time in 2006. I tried out for the show and was given the lead role of Elwood Dowd. A dream come true for me. I would have done anything on that show just to be able to watch it, but I was able to be in it. I was thrilled.
One thing did put a damper on that. My lovely wife died in 2003 and would not be by my side during the rehearsals and production of this show. This was a bit of a stress for me during the early rehearsals of the show. Finally something changed. I needed some props for the show. One was the cards that Elwood was so fond of passing out, another a notebook of his favorite watering holes. And the third an billfold with some cash and other peoples calling cards. The little notebook, and many of the ‘calling’ cards belonged to my late wife. From that time on, I had a little bit of her on stage with me.
Then came my largest discovery. I was able to think of Harvey as my lovely wife standing on the footstool in the kitchen. This would have put her at the exact height needed for Harvey. So from the time of that thought, until the end of the run, every time I looked at Harvey on stage, I was peering into the eyes of my wife.
Many times she said she never wanted to be on stage. She never wanted any recognition for anything she did for the theater. She wanted to remain anonymous. Well except for in my eyes, she was never on the stage. Her name was not listed in the bios, but she was on stage with me for every performance. I gave my all to that show. I pushed myself farther than I ever thought I could. And every night I looked into the eyes of my wife, shared a drink or two and was finally able to say “Where have you been, I’ve been looking all over for you.”
No matter what comes after that show, all things pale when in that light.
