Well, dear readers, you know what I say? Of course you don’t as I haven’t said it yet. But do you know what I say? I say stop the madness – I want to get off. I mean, honestly, is Jupiter in Mars or is Venus in Uranus or something? Is Pluto messing with my mind? Is Mercury boiling over? What the HELL is going on? Because something is surely going on and I need it to stop and I need serenity, peace, calm, and a bagel, not necessarily in that order.
Yesterday was day of tumult and a few other things. First off, I got nine hours of sleep because the damn alarm didn’t go off and I didn’t get up until after noon. That threw my timetable for the day way off. I had a long telephonic conversation, then another, then another, along with e-mail flurries and also flurries of e-mails. Thankfully I had some nice Music to Bliss Out By, by Arthur Bliss, a wonderful composer of wonderful music that is quite blissful. At around two-thirty I went and had a Cobb salad and no bagel, and then I picked up some packages and came home.
There were more e-mails, more telephonic conversations, and then it was time to mosey on over to the theater to meet with a performer to see what, if anything, could be worked out. In the end, we came to a compromise that, while not ideal, is something we could live with, so hopefully that will end all of that drama. When the cast was finally all convened we began our run-through, which was, of course, a bit rough, but not as many calls for lines as the other night, and no stopping, so that was good. I think we shaved five minutes off the running time. I took a LOT of notes and after a brief break, gave them. Some were general, many were very specific. And then we ran a few things for vacuuming purposes.
We’re still without one actress and it’s just crazymaking. We have a designer run-through tomorrow and we’ll be missing that key person AND our swing, so I’m not at all sure how we’re going to do anything that’s going to make much sense but at least the designers will see what takes place where and how. We have asks out to several more actresses – we shall see.
After that, I stopped at Gelson’s for some snacks – nuts and some McConnell’s ice cream. I used by PayPal debit card, which was declined – twice. So I had to use a card I don’t like using. The PayPal card was declined the other day, too, when I tried to make an overseas purchase. When I got home I immediately went to the PayPal site and it was exactly as I knew it would be – plenty of dough in there. They’re not available by phone outside of working hours, but boy are they going to get a phone call in the morning that’s not going to be pleasant. If there was some worry or they thought something looked suspicious then I should think it’s their job to alert me rather than just decline the card, which is disgusting AND embarrassing. I cannot wait to place that call.
Then it was yet another long telephonic conversation, had some nuts and a little ice cream, broke a dish, and then blissed out on more Bliss. There’s a wonderful little cheap box set on EMI – five CDs of Bliss music, very worthwhile and all the major pieces. Not every performance is definitive but they’re all very good and in good sound.
Today, I must get up by ten, call PayPal and give them a good haranguing, and continue our actress search. We did have one bright spot yesterday – we did find our Kritzerland performer replacement, so that’s a load off. I’ll eat, hopefully pick up some packages, then Kay Cole works her two numbers for an hour, whilst I work in the lobby with other folks. Then at eight, since we’re missing an actress, I’ll start at the top of the show and really work sequences and transitions as well as work on energy and pace. I’d like our designer run to be as smooth as possible, but it’s really only our third run-through and I’ll be letting everyone know that before we begin.
Tomorrow, I have to write the little bit of patter for the Kritzerland show, then we’ll have our designer run at six and do vacuuming work after. We have a longer rehearsal on Saturday, and a Sunday evening rehearsal, as our set is being built and assembled over the weekend. Then we work on Monday and Tuesday and have Halloween night off. Since I had to work on Halloween last year, it will be nice to give out candy this year, although I doubt it will be crazy like Studio City was crazy.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, call PayPal and let them have it, I must eat, I must hopefully pick up packages, then we have our rehearsal. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your worst work horror stories? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping we can stop the madness very soon, like now, this minute.