Well, dear readers, the holidays are officially over. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, the holidays are officially over. However, let us endeavor to make every day a holiday here at haineshisway.com, and by that I mean a celebration, not a cause for hainsies/kimlets to be errant and truant. I, for one, had a lovelier than lovely final holiday day yesterday. I, for one, got up at about eight-thirty, to heavy rain and slate-gray skies. I did a few things, then got back into bed and finished a bedroom DVD I’ve been watching for the last few nights, about which more later. Then I, for one, got up again, got dressed, and did some things that needed doing around the home environment. I answered e-mails, I had several long telephonic conversations, and I ate some foodstuffs and the last of dear reader Jane’s marvelously marvelous fudge. I then toddled off to rehearsal. First, I made my usual stop at Dairy Queen, where I ordered my usual soft vanilla cone. Unfortunately, the soft vanilla cone machine spurted and behaved poorly. The machine had to be reloaded (or whatever it is they do to the machine), and it spurted and behaved poorly again. About ten minutes later, the employee was able to get it to work, and I got my usual soft vanilla cone. I took a leisurely walk back to our rehearsal space, but one lick of the soft vanilla told me that something had gone awry somewhere – it was bitter-tasting and quite yuckilicious, and I tossed it immediately. Rehearsal was fun. For the first time, we had our stage manager and our assistant stage manager present, and my usual assistant was back, too. Act one went very well – good pace, and the performances really beginning to lock in and grow. Some line problems and some low energy problems, but they were minor compared to the good work I was seeing. Best of all, lines that should get laughs got laughs and things that should get shocked reactions definitely got shocked reactions. I gave the act one notes directly after we finished the act (I do this until we start tech – I find it’s best to give the notes for the act right afterwards, while things are still fresh in the actor’s heads), and then we took a break. Act two was not such a happy event as act one. The actors seemed at sea, were constantly searching for their lines, and the pace was off. Afterwards, I gave very specific and very strong notes about almost everything, and I think things should get better at tonight’s run-through. If things don’t sufficiently improve, then I’m going to bring in the actors early tomorrow to work through it again slowly. We also have to tape two more short video segments tomorrow – the actor involved in both segments still is not secure in his lines and I told him the two speeches have to be letter-perfect by today. So, we have a lot of work to do on act two, and I feel that act one is well on its way to being very good. And that is the Monday evening post mortem.
Yesterday, I completed watching a motion picture on DVD entitled The Tamarind Affair, starring Miss Julie Andrews, Mr. Omar Sharif, Mr. Anthony Quayle, and Mr. Dan O’Herlihy.
The film was directed by Mr. Blake Edwards, during a period when he couldn’t seem to make a hit film. The Tamarind Seed is beautifully photographed and very well-directed, but it’s very talky, very long, and more than a little convoluted. Still, it’s entertaining, and you just don’t see films like this anymore. This film was one of only two or three which didn’t use Mr. Edwards’ usual composer, Mr. Henry Mancini. Here, the score is by John Barry, and it’s a real beauty, I must say. If you like big, glossy, soap opera spy movies, then The Tamarind Seed fits the bill, despite its problems.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I, for one, feel that it’s the only thing to do.
It will be so nice to have mail today – I’m due several packages and am hoping they all arrive today, because I, for one, would like to have them.
What is all this I, for one, stuff? Why can’t we have I, for two, or I for ten? Why is it always I, for one? Damn them, damn them all to hell.
Today I must ship some orders that came in over the weekend, including another nice amazon.com order. I must also eat some interesting foodstuffs, and I must also do some writing, and I, for one, must also have a meeting with the folks at the El Portal Theater. After the meeting, I may get a bite to eat, and then go directly to the theater to work with the actors who can be there early. We’re also not constrained to leave at ten anymore, so that’s good – we can now work as late as we like.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, run amok like a gazelle in boy shorts, I must ship, I must write, I must meet, I must eat, and then I, for one, must rehearse. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could take our haineshisway.com Time Machine back to any century in time, which century would you choose and what one event in that century would you like to view? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and I, for one, will be reading each and every posting.