Well, dear readers, once again it is late and once again I must write these here notes in a hurry so once again I will. That is what is known as a statement of fact. Not fiction, mind you, but a statement of fact. Facts are the enemy of fiction and fiction is the enemy of the triple lutz. The triple lutz is the enemy of guacamole and guacamole is the enemy of France. So it is written, so it shall be done. What the HELL am I talking about? Don’t I have late notes to write? Yes. And that, dear readers, is a statement of fact.
Yesterday was yet another non-stop day of e-mails and phone calls as well as phone calls and e-mails. I only got about seven hours of sleep. We made some minor changes to the show order for the ALS benefit and it should all be set in stone now. Just before our work session, I met Sami and mom at Casa Vega for a meal. Sami loves the tortilla soup there and I swear to you she ate an entire basket of chips and salsa all by herself. I had a beef taco and one cheese enchilada. We had a little bit of drama but it was over quickly and then we had fun.
Then we came back and began our read and sing-through of the entire show, start to finish, with no stopping. It was illuminating, in a good way. First of all, the flow of the show seemed to really work, with the musical numbers all seeming to be correctly placed. There is a lot of humor, the songs all feel right and best of all, it ran eighty-two minutes, and that’s without any pausing or staging, and there is one number where there will be at least a two-minute dance section – I think when all is said and done we’ll have an eight-five to ninety-minute show in one act – that’s kind of what I was hoping for. It never felt long to me, either. I really hate having to play the piano for these work sessions and after today I don’t think I will be anymore. That will enable me to take proper notes, give direction and work on the details. I realized a little ways into the reading that it’s not a good idea to have a meal before, so we’ll now do our meals after the rehearsals. So, we have a week to whip this thing into shape for our private reading and we whip we will. I feel strongly there is the potential for something very special here, and Sami will be wonderful in it – it’s just not easy to get there, but get there we will. I want it to be a fun journey, but I also have to be very strong when things aren’t working or correct notes aren’t being sung. I’ve explained repeatedly that any note I may give, no matter how strongly given, always comes from a good and positive and never negative place. The endgame here is to make Sami the best she’s ever been and she’s been pretty damn good. Then they left and I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched episode two of The Missing – it’s quite good and quite compelling, and once one gets used to its style of jumping back and forth between two years – the year in which a young boy went missing and the current year, then it’s really interesting watching how characters are introduced and how they pay off at some point during the episodes. Looking forward to a couple more today.
After that, I went and had a little chopped salad – just veggies – and I only put a couple of drops of oil on it and a lot of red wine vinegar. It was just right. Then I came back home and made several changes to the Sami script, notes I’d made as we ran it. Those changes included cutting words or a sentence here and there, adding words or a sentence here and there, and moving a few things around, and then a couple of deletions and new additions. That won’t change now until after the reading, should there be any adjustments to do.
Today will be, I’m sure, more e-mail volleys, I’ll eat something light, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, you’ll hopefully send some more excellent vibes and xylophones for miracles needed, and I’ll 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 – CD, nada. Blu and Ray, The Missing. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, which is, of course, a statement of fact.