Well, dear readers, the crazy week continues. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, the crazy week continues. It continues unabated. For example, yesterday the crazy week continued, just like that, willy-nilly and also nilly-willy. There is no stopping a crazy week when it decides to continue unabated. And the same holds true for these here notes. Once begin, they continue unabated, just like that, willy-nilly and also nilly-willy.
Yesterday, I actually managed to get eight-and-a-half hours of blessed sleep. I woke up exactly one minute before the alarm was scheduled to go off. How’s that for timing? How’s that for being prescient? Once up, I did the usual things – answered e-mails, had a telephonic conversation, and then went for some food, said food consisting of one turkey sandwich with some bacon on it, and no fries or onion rings or other food diversions. Then I came home, did some work on the computer, had to answer some questions for a Broadway World article about Welcome to My World, and then got ready to go to the theater.
I arrived at three and met the man who runs it, who saw that the previous tenants had not restored the lighting to the house plot, which they are required to do (thanks a lot, previous entitled tenants). When I arrived I was delighted to see the floor painted and the set looking very, very cute. It’s still missing the projection screen, which will hang at an angle up center and will have a fun, colorful frame around it, and the two side cube things aren’t finished yet, but I just love the colors and the look of it. Alby Potts, our MD, arrived and we got him situated and put spike tape where his keyboard lives. We also spiked all the cube things once I was absolutely certain things were exactly where they needed to be. Sami arrived and loved it from the minute she saw it – she really didn’t have much of an idea of what it was going to look like. Our set designer, Rei Yamamoto, did a great job on it. He’s kind of a treasure. Sami warmed up a little and then we began with some cleaning up of stuff – just running a few things that have been not sharp enough. We did that for about thirty minutes, and then we began the run-through.
It’s the first time I’ve actually taken notes during a run-through. I must say, most of it was really good – Sami is getting more and more assured, she’s holding the stage, has the pacing down, and is really getting the comedy now, which has taken a while to get to. It’s really fun when she lands a new laugh and it tickles me both pink and green. There are still a handful of fumfers, usually in the same places, but she’ll get them. But overall, I do believe we’re in very good shape. I did have specific notes, which I gave when we were done. Just subtle stuff to work on and Sami types them into her phone as I give them, and we run a few things just to make sure we’re on the same wavelength. I added one more playoff to cover an awkward cross to begin a new monologue. I think that’s it for that stuff. And I think I added one more tiny bit for Sami and Alby. Their stuff is really amusing, I think. We’re now at the place where I’m going to ask for certain things to get locked in, while we continue to find other new things. I want to lock up the stuff that’s consistently working well, so we don’t stray from that. Even with notes, we were done by eight, so Sami got to go home an hour early, which makes her school stuff easier. I stayed a bit longer until our lighting guy arrived. We had a brief conversation, then the guy who runs the theater returned and I think they were going to restore the lights to the house plot.
I stopped at Gelson’s and got a little seafood salad for my evening snack, as well as some melon balls. I came home and ate it all up, then did a late-night jog. I also haven’t mentioned the motion picture I saw on the Flix of Net the night before. It was entitled Survivor, and starred Mila Jovovich, Pierce Brosnan and others. It’s one of those thriller things, poorly written and directed in paint by numbers style, the style being the Bourne films and a million other bad neo-thrillers. That said, I always watch them right through to the end, because most of them are so bad they don’t even get a proper release so they’re mostly very short, this one only about eighty-eight minutes if you don’t count the end credits. The CGI stuff was very cheesy in this film.
Today, I have work to do in the morning, then I’ll eat something, jog, and then go to the theater. Barry Pearl will be meeting me there for a little photo thing, and then we’ll work some stuff, then do a full-out run-through again, followed by notes.
Thursday, we have our second Kritzerland rehearsal and it’s a long one because it’s the entire cast of players and we’re not starting until four. So, we don’t finish until around seven-thirty or so. Then I may go down to the theater to see how our lighting guy is doing, and see the full set. Friday, I have a breakfast at eleven, then I go straight to the theater to work with the lighting director as he “writes” the show. Then we’ll do a full-out run-through with lights – we won’t stop for missed cues or anything, but after we’ll fix whatever was wrong. Saturday we’re in by eleven, and then at noon-thirty we begin our full-out tech run-through. Depending on how that goes will determine whether we’ll be back at five. Then we come to my house and do the Kritzerland stumble-through, then we’ll either be done and grab a bite to eat, or we’ll return to the theater to work. Sunday, we’ll have another full-out tech run-through at around one (we’ll come in earlier than that and probably do a cue-to-cue for the stage manager if she needs us to). Once through, I’ll give notes, then we go directly to The Federal for our sound check and then show.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora or the mambo, because today is the birthday of our very own dear reader Ron Pulliam. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own dear reader Ron Pulliam. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN DEAR READER RON PULLIAM!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, do a jog, hopefully pick up some packages, and then do a run-through. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as the crazy week continues.