Well, dear readers, the Day of Reckoning has passed and we have reckoned, oh, yes, we have reckoned. It was a rather tumultuous day yesterday. I got up early, jogged, did some stuff around the home environment, and then headed down to LACC for a noon rehearsal. We started with act two and got through it pretty well. Before beginning act one, I cleaned up some stuff, and tried to tighten things (a couple of my actors read very slowly). We then ran act one and I was pleased that it ran what I wanted it to run, time-wise. Both acts were sloppy, but we did get through them. I then broke everybody for lunch and we came back at four and began our only run-through at four-fifteen. Act one lasted one hour, and act two clocked in about fifty minutes. And that was that. Still sloppy at times, and my one real problem fellow was just not getting it at all – a shame, since he plays the title character. I had a talk with him and he seemed to understand what I was saying. The kids went off to put on their show clothes and we got the theater ready for the show (audience was onstage with us). I don’t know exactly how many seats we had up, but they were all filled. I had a pep talk with everyone and then made my speech to the audience, which included the entire Wechter clan (David being the show’s co-writer). Also in attendance were cousins Dee Dee and Alan, and our very own Alet Taylor. We began the show, and the first two gags got big laughs, so that was a nice way to begin. The rest of the act went pretty well, with some very hearty laughs, nice applause for the numbers, and everyone seemingly interested in the show. Despite my entreaties that all actors have their scripts open when onstage and to read their lines so they don’t screw them up, the problem actor came onstage for his first entrance with his script closed, said his first line, and promptly forgot his second line, which is his first joke of the evening. He got through other parts okay, but was still not picking up cues promptly and just zoning off in general. One of the other leading actors simply doesn’t have the ability to read a line the way it’s written, despite holding and looking at the script – so he lost practically every laugh he has in the show because he inverts words, adds words, or just completely fumfers lines so that they’re unintelligible. Still, I was very pleased we got through it without stopping or any major disasters. The second act was better and had three numbers that got huge applause. Again, problem actor forgot lines and didn’t pick up cues – it’s almost as if he has a death wish, frankly. The little audience participation bit at the beginning of the act went really well, and the new song I wrote for the male alien, All About Men, stopped the show. The actor who’s playing that role has really come into his own this last week, and he’s doing a great, great job, and with very little direction, as I never had the time to really do what I always do to hone performances. Tammy did well, as did her friend Lauren. And the ensemble people did well, too. So, we’re meeting tonight at six, to run the most problematic bits so we can hopefully get those sections smoother and tighter. There were lots of wonderful comments from audience members and the evening was pretty successful, especially given all the horse manure that went on for the past week. Now, it’s on to tonight’s performance.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have a visitor coming pretty early in the morning, so I must try to get a decent night’s sleep.
Today, after my visitor, I must really catch up or, at the very least, ketchup on all the things I’ve let slide. I have some shipping to do, some bills to pay, and I’m also hoping to get a teeny bit of relaxation in. And, I’m canceling class tomorrow so that I can have a day off to recuperate. Then, our final class will meet on Thursday. I’ll rehearse the cast for an hour tonight, and then we’ll hopefully have another good audience and show.
Everyone has noticed how much weight I’ve lost, and I do feel so much better without my big fat stomach. I still would like to lose another ten pounds, but we’ll see how it goes. I ate a huge dinner last night after the show, because I hadn’t eaten anything during the day, and the day before I’d only had 600 calories – and I’ve jogged every day as well – so, I’m hoping I won’t gain anything back. Certainly, in one of those stupid weight things, I didn’t lose from eating only 600 calories – so maybe I’ll even lose a pound tomorrow. I think if I can keep jogging consistently that I’ll keep losing weight.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a plethora of things before I head over to LACC later this afternoon, I must jog, I must hopefully pick up a package I’m waiting for, I must meet and I must eat, not necessarily in that order. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite cheesy and sleazy science fiction and horror films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we ready ourselves for tonight’s performance.