Well, dear readers, these notes should be up in seven minutes so let’s see how fast I can write them – if I succeed these will be seven-minute notes. Go.
I had another really rough night. I made the stupid mistake of not shutting the heat off and it just killed me – I woke up with kind of a sore throat and was congested, plus I only slept about six hours. Once up, I answered e-mails then was on my way to rehearsal.
We did our first day of staging. That’s always daunting for me, but I just dove in and did it. Thankfully, I got the opening image in my head prior to rehearsal. We have our six chairs on wheels so it’s great to work with them and I’m really using them a lot in hopefully clever ways. So, the first thing I staged was the opening number. I went section by section, just getting it on its feet. I stage the way I write – I get it done, then futz and finesse until I’m happy. At the end of about seventy-five minutes it was done and looked great. We’re missing one gal all week and that’s hard and will stop as of today. I did have a body onstage to work with, so that helped, and the missing gal knows she has to come in on Monday knowing all the blocking we’ve done. After the opening number, I just continued on and we actually got almost half of the first act done, which is a good thing. But the last half of the act gets more complicated and one number from the first half of the act we couldn’t stage because the lead in it is the gal who wasn’t with us. I won’t get to that until Tuesday.
After rehearsal, I picked up no packages then went and had a cup of soup and a ham and Swiss on rye. The soup was really helpful, actually, and after I had it my throat finally felt a bit better. So, keep them excellent vibes and xylophones coming so I don’t get sick. Then I came home, did a few things on the computer and then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched two bad motion pictures on Netflix – which was kind of what I wanted as I was able to doze off for about forty-five minutes whilst watching the first one, which was entitled Jack Ryan: Shadow Dancer. Why these idiotic studios feel it necessary to do these ridiculous and bad “reboots” is anyone’s guess. But this film was pitiful all the way through. Kenneth Branagh, who at some point seemed like a promising director, turns in hackwork here, just trying to do what all these terrible “action” directors do – he’s just copying them and it’s just awful to watch. The cast is okay, but no cliché is left unturned and literally everything in this film – EVERYTHING – has been done hundreds of times before in equally bad movies. This one gets a highly not recommended from the likes of me.
Then I watched something called Good People, a Brit film starring two American actors, Kate Hudson and James Franco. Again, every cliché in the book and just awful. And the violence is so ridiculous – it’s like they’re trying to do “clever” deaths a la Friday the 13th or something. It’s just preposterous and this is also highly not recommended by the likes of me. After that I just relaxed but forgot to finish the Kritzerland commentary, so I’ll do that later today.
Today, I’m up early again, we’ll review the opening number as a warm-up and then we’ll continue on from where we were, although I’ll be missing TWO people for the first ninety minutes. After that I’ll only be missing one. I’m hopeful to get close to the end of the act, at least that’s the plan, but unfortunately, the play gets a bit more complicated as the act goes on and there’s less sitting around – the sitting around is what’s my savior right now. Those scenes obviously go very quickly. After rehearsal, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages then eat then write then relax.
Tomorrow I still can’t sleep in because she of the Evil Eye is coming. Then I have a little work session with Sami and then she and her mom and I will eat dinner and celebrate the finishing of the book. I started proofing that yesterday, too. Sunday I have a work session with our musical director for the Kritzerland show, and then next week is all Inside Out rehearsals in the mornings, plus the Kritzerland rehearsals on Tuesday and Friday. There’s a book fair I’ll go to on Saturday, Sunday is our stumble-through and Monday is an Inside Out rehearsal, then sound check and then the show. Whew!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, rehearse, hopefully pick up packages, eat, write and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – haven’t a clew. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, now that these seven-minute notes that actually took fourteen minutes are done.