Well, dear readers, I hope everyone here had a nice relaxing Labor Day without too much Labor. Or should we be laboring on a day called Labor Day. It’s very confusing. However, it’s done so I shan’t dwell on it further. Conversely, I shan’t further dwell on it. I, myself, had a day with some labor, but it wasn’t real labor, like lifting bricks or demolishing the Annette house.
First of all, I got ten hours of blessed sleep. Once up, I was told to be at the theater by one to go over all the lighting notes. At our first tech, I’d felt that we needed a few more lighting instruments, and I felt that there were cues that weren’t working for me. So, I moseyed on down to the theater at one, where I joined our lighting guy and our stage manager. He’d just finished hanging some additional lighting instruments, and then we began at the beginning and just went through every cue – finessing things, adding in the new instruments, which really helped give the stage some depth, and adjusting all the cues I thought needed work. I now think everything should look fine. Our stage manager walked the show so I could see how it all looked. Then the lighting guy masked some light bleed coming from the video projector we use in the show, so now there’s no bleed on the back black wall, which also gives a feeling of wonderful depth.
Then we had some costume drama, and that all got resolved, but we really should have seen costumes on Sunday and we’re not seeing them until this evening. There are two really quick changes – they have to be done in less than six seconds – so we’ll work those repeatedly until Sami is comfortable with them and it’s second nature to her. That will happen before we do our dress/tech. After all that, I went and had a turkey sandwich and a little cup of chili for my meal o’ the day. Then I came home, did work on the computer and at the piano, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on the Flix of Net entitled White God. It’s a 2014 motion picture from Budapest, Hungary. It’s kind of a quirky little film – a fable, a thriller, a little The Birds – it’s about a thirteen-year-old girl, whose mother is going away for three months, and who has to live with her father. She has her dog Hagen with her and the father isn’t thrilled about it. An obnoxious woman in their building threatens the father, because there are rules about having mixed breeds in apartments. Sure enough, the woman reports them, and a man shows up at their door to collect the mandatory tax for having a mixed breed. The father, who is not used to having his daughter there, refuses to pay and says he’s going to take the dog to the pound. The girl brings the dog to band practice and she’s thrown out. The father again is ready to take the dog to the pound, but instead just drags it out of the car and leaves it on the street. Thus begins a journey for the dog – who is subjected to every kind of awful thing you can imagine, including being sold to a hideous man who provides dogs for dog fights. He beats the dog and drugs it and gets it ready to fight. To cut to the chase, much drama ensues (the girl is distraught, of course), and the mistreated dog ends up freeing hundreds of dogs from the pound and they then go on a spree of revenge, killing all the people who harmed Hagen. The girl’s father has realized he was behaving like a jerk and they reconcile. I won’t tell you the ending, but it’s visually striking. In fact, the opening and the closing of the film are stunning. I quite liked the film – it isn’t always easy to watch, but the performances from the canines, especially the two dogs who play Hagen, are unbelievable. The little girl is very good, and I really liked the movie.
After that, I had a few too many almonds, relaxed, and then began writing these here notes.
Today, I have some errands and whatnot to do, I’ll eat, I’ll jog, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, and then I’ll mosey on over to the theater. We’ll begin with the costume changes. Then we’ll work through the notes I gave the other day, and then we do a full out dress/tech starting at seven. Our production photographer will be there, taking photos throughout.
Tomorrow we have an invited dress rehearsal and we’re desperately trying to get some people to attend so that Sami has folks to play to – she is so ready for that and I really want her to have it before the first preview. Thursday is our first preview, Friday our second, and then we have our opening night on Saturday. If LA dear readers would like to come to any of the performances, just e-mail me and I’ll arrange for that to happen. We have a matinee on Sunday, and that evening all Jews will celebrate the New Year.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, eat, and do a dress rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite movies and TV shows featuring canine performers? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have done only a little labor on Labor Day.