Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
November 17, 2005:

OVERLOAD

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, yesterday I was ovvicially overtired, today I am went on overload. I will tell you why, for to keep such things from you dear readers would be most unseemly, would it not? I am on overload because there are so many things going on, all of which I’ve been mentioning. The things that have put me on overload mostly have to do with the play, and my collaborators, who are simply not doing things the way I want them done. I’m constantly having to double and triple check on things, only to find out they haven’t been done. That is all going to have to change as of tomorrow, because I’ve just got too much going on to have to baby sit people and make sure they’re doing what they’re telling me they’re doing, only to find out that what needs doing isn’t getting done. Shockingly, the show opens in about nine weeks, so all of our lovely lead-time has completely been erased, and that makes me very unhappy indeed, even angry. So, I’m afraid I haven’t been too pleasant to be around in regards to my producers, but I’ve told them that it must work the way I want it to, and hopefully that will start happening now. The other thing that’s putting me on overload is some of the LACC cast members – one of them dropped out today (family problems), and another just cancelled coming to rehearsal at the last minute – I left her a message saying she was either going to be at every rehearsal from now on, or I’m replacing her. Every time someone misses, I have to then spend time that I shouldn’t be spending, blocking them in the number, or teaching them stuff they missed. We don’t have the luxury of a six-week rehearsal schedule – it’s catch as catch can, but I’m a perfectionist and I want my numbers done exactly the way I want them done – so, I’m very tough, but nice about it all, and the kids that are there and are committed are really doing a good job with very short time. I finished the opening number last night, and when it’s sharp, it’s going to look really great. My concept for the number was clear to me even before I put pen to paper – it was that the audience, as they came in the theater and waited for the show to begin, would be seeing the “crew” prepping the stage – no set, flats against the wall, a light pipe down, the ghost light onstage, etc. Then, just before the show actually starts, we have an actress playing a stage manager come on, and there’s about forty seconds of business while the band tunes up, and then she says to a “crew” member (really one of our actors), “Let’s lose the ghost light – at which point a snare drum roll starts, and as he grabs the ghost light and starts pushing it off, the music starts, and the “stage manager” start singing about bringing in the first preset, flying in the curtains, killing the work lights – and during those few lyrics the set flies in. It’s very theatrical, and the number just builds and builds from there. It was fun to stage, but, when you’re dealing with eighteen people it’s always difficult to keep the traffic straight.

So, that is why I am on overload. I think people sensed this even here at haineshisway.com when I apparently inadvertently locked the day’s discussion before going to bed. I remember locking the prior day’s discussion, as I always do, but I must have been so zonked that I locked the current one, too. Pogue called me at nine and told me about the problem – and even then, it took me ten minutes to figure it out. And today I had someone call me that I forgot to call back last week – and I completely forgot who this person was or why this person was calling. It was totally embarrassing. Another reason I am on overload was the four days of DVD scanning that I had to do in preparation of the editing of the LACC celebrity clip reel. I must have gone through forty DVDs, all told, and even then I didn’t have a couple of key titles for a couple of the celebs. We’ll just have to make do when we edit next Tuesday night.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have overloaded this section with my overload.

Today, I must meet Mr. David Wechter at eight o’clock this morning, to hand off the DVDs and tapes for transferring. Then I must ship a few packages, then pick up a few packages, then head over to LACC for a production meeting and a rehearsal with the four teachers who are doing my parody lyric to Everybody Ought To Have A Maid (Everybody Ought To Take A Class). They learned the song yesterday, and I think it’s really going to be funny and a highlight of the show.

One bit of stress that has now gone away is the casting of my play. I’m happy to announce that we have three splendidly splendid actors officially cast: Miss Tammy Minoff, in the play’s only female role. Her two co-stars are Matthew Ashford and Greg Albanese. Matt Ashford has guest-starred on tons of long-running TV shows, and he’s been a Days of Our Lives regular for years (his character, Jack Deveraux, comes and goes). He also was in the movie Billy’s Hollywood Kiss, and has appeared on other soaps like General Hospital, One Life to Live, and Search for Tomorrow. His was the part we were most worried about – it’s a difficult character, and the character is never off the stage once during the entire play. The minute he began reading the opening scene, I knew we had our guy. I really wanted someone with a slight Richard Crenna quality, and he does. Greg Albanese has done quite a lot of theater, as well as many TV guest shots. He’s the actor that I said had a slight Warren Berlinger quality in the way he speaks, which I really thought was fun for the character he’ll be playing.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, try not to be on overload, I must do errands and banking and mailing and driving, and I’ve realized that I just won’t get back to finishing my short story until Thanksgiving Weekend, which I mercifully have off. Today’s topic of discussion: Have you ever gone completely on overload, where you were close to exhaustion and being overwhelmed? What caused it, and how did you deal with it? Let’s have overloads of lovely postings, shall we?

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved