The week in review
Jan. 14th, 2006 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ghost_lightOtherwise known as The Slacker Report.
It's been rather nice not rehearsing every night for a while. Mark and I watched an unprecidented 3 movies in the last week - Layer Cake and The Machinist from the comfort of our taupe couches. One of our friends recommended Layer Cake to Mark a while ago and I got him the book for Christmas. I enjoyed he movie just as it was, but I had to pause periodically to explain what I thought was going on to Mark to make sure I was catching everything. Mark said that the book is better, as always. The Machinist was stunning. I think it suffered a bit from coming out after Memento and Fight Club. As a viewer, some of the conventions seemed awfully conventional but it still put together a tight story.
Fridayscooterpbakes, kahteeyah and I went to see Back of the Throat. There were some tech problems but the crowed was great and the show cooked. I think it is some of the most intense theatre I've ever seen. They got a great review in the AND too.
Saturday I pretty much spent at work, which was fun. I am directing 2 of the older girls in a pair of scenes to be presented at a conference next week. The group giving the conference has given us funds for scholarships so we want to show off. I gave them a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest and one from Tartuffe. A lot of the rehearsal was offering a Moliere to 2006 translation dictionary. (Yes! Killing yourself is a GREAT idea! I can't believe you didn't think of that before! Exactly how blonde are you, girl?) After that we had auditions for Alexander and the Terrible. Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, I was very pleased with the turn out. We had 2 parents guilted into auditioning by their kids and they were both cast. We only had one little bitty who cried at the prospect of having to sing in front of the director, but once we got her cleaned up and took her mom to the greenroom, the director got her to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with her and she got a part too. After all THAT,scooterpbakes, kahteeyahand I went to see how the weather is done (don't ask), ate my weight in sushi and went to see the Overnighters.
For the uninitiated, the Overnighters is 24 hour theatre. At 8pm on Friday, 4 playwrights were shown a set on the Wendy Williamson Stage, given a cast, a director and until 8am to write a short play. The actors and director then had until 8pm on Saturday to rehearse, memorize, block and tech the show and have it ready for an audience. This is the first time that they used a set for the inspiration and the first time that all 4 playwrights had the same topic. The set was a forest from their production of Into the Woods. The plays were interesting but rather uneven. One was about a pair of scientists who discover all of these mythological creatures living in the world's last forest, (highlights includedmonkofsilence as a satyr and another actor as a bisexual unicorn.) The second was something about loggers and fairys killing each other. scooterpbakes said he figured out what it was about, but then another scene started and he lost the thread again. kahteeyah's assessment was that the script had the vague aroma of punt to it. The third was funny but ran too long. It was an extended joke about peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palistinians being held at Camp David and Bush, being the guy he is, deciding that it should be done as a series of games like a fraternity initiation. The final play was a musical about an Italian family who's moved to the Deep South and featured the crowd pleasing ditty "You Can't Buy Spagetti Sauce at WallMart".
Sunday it was my turn to do Overnighters. I haven't acted in an Overnighter since the very first one. I was pretty nervous. The theme for Sunday was a Japanese-style set that was used for Comedy of Errors last summer. It turns out I didn't need to be worried. Our playwright came back with a really funny show about the world's worst theme park - World World - that features places like Hebrewtopia, Alaska-opolis and, of course, Japan-Land! I played a ninja. Who didn't speak. But I did get to fight with the Samurai (very, very badly), drink tequila and smoke a bong on stage. After lunch I was approached to do another non-speaking role in another play. This time I was going to be a mechanical mermaid in a fish pond. I said yes, of course. At 3 I was asked if I had a costume for said mermaid. Say what? Luckily Alexander auditions were going on, so I was able to send an SOS to the warehouse and ask my friends there to bring anything that might look like a mermaid tail. I picked up with a skin-tight shimmery green skirt but we could not find a top. I ended up raiding my closet and wore the aforementioned skirt with my black backless, strapless "Hello Nurse!" wonderbra under a gold shawl/pancho thing my mom sent me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I got more compliments on the mermaid than for any other show I have ever done.
Tuesday we had dinner atpoisondartfrog and monkofsilence's place. Yummy casserole, baked apples for dessert and Kung Fu Hustle for entertainment. Damn, that was a silly fun movie. We ended up MST3K-ing it in places, which made it all the better. There is nothing like laughing with good friends.
Wednesday we had a game night with friends and played a new game called something like Horror Mall. Basically you are in the mall in a George Romero movie. Every round dice are rolled to determine which shop the zombies will gather outside of and, if there are more zombies than people, the zombies get in. If they get it, then the people have to vote which of them will be sacrificed to the zombie hoard. It was tons of fun.
Thursday.....Thursday featured one of those moments when you realize spousal units are telepathic. Every so often, Mark gets the idea that having a party where we make a boatload of spagetti and watch The Godfather is the best possible way to spend a weekend. He's considering that for his birthday party this year. He had a show Thursday, so I was planning on just coming home and having a tuna sandwich. But all the way home, all I could think about was pasta. Should we make a couple shaped ones or just spaghetti? Do I still have the recipe for the rosemary cream sauce I really like? Should I do that or just a meatless marinara for the vegetarian option? How much can we really cook on our stove? On and on, no thoughts by pasta on the way home and the knowledge that I was still going to eat tune, but I'd be thinking about spaghetti. As soon as I walked in the door I smelled something. Could it be? It was! Mark made pasta for dinner and left the leftovers on the stove for meeee!
Last night I went to the cast party for Back of the Throat with Mark. We had a grand time, I love this cast. I was awfully worn out, though.
Today I'm at ATY with Drama Centers and getting ready to teach my first improv class in just a few minutes. Tonight I'm stage managing Bill Engvall's comedy show at the PAC.
Busy Busy!
It's been rather nice not rehearsing every night for a while. Mark and I watched an unprecidented 3 movies in the last week - Layer Cake and The Machinist from the comfort of our taupe couches. One of our friends recommended Layer Cake to Mark a while ago and I got him the book for Christmas. I enjoyed he movie just as it was, but I had to pause periodically to explain what I thought was going on to Mark to make sure I was catching everything. Mark said that the book is better, as always. The Machinist was stunning. I think it suffered a bit from coming out after Memento and Fight Club. As a viewer, some of the conventions seemed awfully conventional but it still put together a tight story.
Friday
scooterpbakes, kahteeyah and I went to see Back of the Throat. There were some tech problems but the crowed was great and the show cooked. I think it is some of the most intense theatre I've ever seen. They got a great review in the AND too.Saturday I pretty much spent at work, which was fun. I am directing 2 of the older girls in a pair of scenes to be presented at a conference next week. The group giving the conference has given us funds for scholarships so we want to show off. I gave them a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest and one from Tartuffe. A lot of the rehearsal was offering a Moliere to 2006 translation dictionary. (Yes! Killing yourself is a GREAT idea! I can't believe you didn't think of that before! Exactly how blonde are you, girl?) After that we had auditions for Alexander and the Terrible. Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, I was very pleased with the turn out. We had 2 parents guilted into auditioning by their kids and they were both cast. We only had one little bitty who cried at the prospect of having to sing in front of the director, but once we got her cleaned up and took her mom to the greenroom, the director got her to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with her and she got a part too. After all THAT,
scooterpbakes, kahteeyahand I went to see how the weather is done (don't ask), ate my weight in sushi and went to see the Overnighters.For the uninitiated, the Overnighters is 24 hour theatre. At 8pm on Friday, 4 playwrights were shown a set on the Wendy Williamson Stage, given a cast, a director and until 8am to write a short play. The actors and director then had until 8pm on Saturday to rehearse, memorize, block and tech the show and have it ready for an audience. This is the first time that they used a set for the inspiration and the first time that all 4 playwrights had the same topic. The set was a forest from their production of Into the Woods. The plays were interesting but rather uneven. One was about a pair of scientists who discover all of these mythological creatures living in the world's last forest, (highlights included
monkofsilence as a satyr and another actor as a bisexual unicorn.) The second was something about loggers and fairys killing each other. scooterpbakes said he figured out what it was about, but then another scene started and he lost the thread again. kahteeyah's assessment was that the script had the vague aroma of punt to it. The third was funny but ran too long. It was an extended joke about peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palistinians being held at Camp David and Bush, being the guy he is, deciding that it should be done as a series of games like a fraternity initiation. The final play was a musical about an Italian family who's moved to the Deep South and featured the crowd pleasing ditty "You Can't Buy Spagetti Sauce at WallMart".Sunday it was my turn to do Overnighters. I haven't acted in an Overnighter since the very first one. I was pretty nervous. The theme for Sunday was a Japanese-style set that was used for Comedy of Errors last summer. It turns out I didn't need to be worried. Our playwright came back with a really funny show about the world's worst theme park - World World - that features places like Hebrewtopia, Alaska-opolis and, of course, Japan-Land! I played a ninja. Who didn't speak. But I did get to fight with the Samurai (very, very badly), drink tequila and smoke a bong on stage. After lunch I was approached to do another non-speaking role in another play. This time I was going to be a mechanical mermaid in a fish pond. I said yes, of course. At 3 I was asked if I had a costume for said mermaid. Say what? Luckily Alexander auditions were going on, so I was able to send an SOS to the warehouse and ask my friends there to bring anything that might look like a mermaid tail. I picked up with a skin-tight shimmery green skirt but we could not find a top. I ended up raiding my closet and wore the aforementioned skirt with my black backless, strapless "Hello Nurse!" wonderbra under a gold shawl/pancho thing my mom sent me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I got more compliments on the mermaid than for any other show I have ever done.
Tuesday we had dinner at
poisondartfrog and monkofsilence's place. Yummy casserole, baked apples for dessert and Kung Fu Hustle for entertainment. Damn, that was a silly fun movie. We ended up MST3K-ing it in places, which made it all the better. There is nothing like laughing with good friends.Wednesday we had a game night with friends and played a new game called something like Horror Mall. Basically you are in the mall in a George Romero movie. Every round dice are rolled to determine which shop the zombies will gather outside of and, if there are more zombies than people, the zombies get in. If they get it, then the people have to vote which of them will be sacrificed to the zombie hoard. It was tons of fun.
Thursday.....Thursday featured one of those moments when you realize spousal units are telepathic. Every so often, Mark gets the idea that having a party where we make a boatload of spagetti and watch The Godfather is the best possible way to spend a weekend. He's considering that for his birthday party this year. He had a show Thursday, so I was planning on just coming home and having a tuna sandwich. But all the way home, all I could think about was pasta. Should we make a couple shaped ones or just spaghetti? Do I still have the recipe for the rosemary cream sauce I really like? Should I do that or just a meatless marinara for the vegetarian option? How much can we really cook on our stove? On and on, no thoughts by pasta on the way home and the knowledge that I was still going to eat tune, but I'd be thinking about spaghetti. As soon as I walked in the door I smelled something. Could it be? It was! Mark made pasta for dinner and left the leftovers on the stove for meeee!
Last night I went to the cast party for Back of the Throat with Mark. We had a grand time, I love this cast. I was awfully worn out, though.
Today I'm at ATY with Drama Centers and getting ready to teach my first improv class in just a few minutes. Tonight I'm stage managing Bill Engvall's comedy show at the PAC.
Busy Busy!