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December 1, 2019:

AND NOW – DECEMBER!

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I can hardly believe it and yet I must believe it for it is true: Today is December.  Yes, you heard it here dear readers, today is December and it is my fervent hope and prayer that December will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.  Where on EARTH did this year go?  Not only is this the final month of 2019 but the final month of this  DECADE.  Holy moley on rye.  In any case, December is my birthday month, a holiday month, a time of good cheer, and, of course, the month we open The Man Who Came to Dinner.   We had a good run-through of the show last night, complete with lights and sound.  It’s the smoothest run we’ve had, despite being without our Beverley Carlton, who was out due to some health issues.  He’s fine and will be back with us today.  The lights are very nice, and the way in which we get into each act is fun – the timing still isn’t quite right, but it’s coming along.  The cast really stepped up their game, so that was fun to watch.  I took less notes than usual.  I blocked the curtain call – other than knowing who was coming out when I kind of did it on the fly, and now will go back and fix stuff and reposition the first people on, as there are twenty-six people and you have to therefore move some of them back to positions in the rear.  I tried a bit with the wheelchair, which was cute but not worth the effort, so that will go.  Before the run-through, we’d basically done a cue-to-cue and worked on the opening sequence until I felt it was sharp and fast enough – when it’s cooking it’s really fun, visually speaking.  And I worked two scenes in act one before anyone got there, and then worked the big mummy case scene quite a bit – the timing there is absolutely precise.

Prior to that, I’m guessing I got about six-and-a-half hours of sleep due to Active Brain Syndrome (ABS).  Once up, I had to do everything quickly – shaved, showered, and then stopped at the mail place and picked up one little package, then moseyed over to the theater to work on stuff.

On our dinner break, Barry and I went to Dino’s Pizza.  He likes them to it really thin crust, which I really don’t care for – their normal way is a thicker crust – not much – but the flavor is just much better.  So, I only had three very small pieces and some chopped salad.  We had our usual fun yakking.

After the run and staging the curtain call, I just gave a couple of general notes, then came home.  Once home, I began sending people their notes, which I’ll be doing for another hour or so after I post these here notes.  I’ll try to be in bed by two or so.

Today, I can sleep until eleven, then I’ll do the usual morning things.  I don’t have to get to the theater until around two.  We do our first run-through at three sharp.  I’ll give a few general notes, we’ll have a break, and then do our second run-through.  People will wear any costumes that are ready to wear.  I’m hoping after the two runs, the motor of the show will be on its way to being well-oiled, so that we can begin to find consistency.  We’re doing a little photo shoot, too, and I’ve built in thirty minutes so we can run any problem areas.

Tomorrow is our day off and boy can I use it and boy am I looking forward to it.  Then on Tuesday, we have our final dress rehearsal and we’ll have a few people in to see it, as the cast really needs to hear laughs at this point, and it will help me see what’s not landing properly, so I can adjust those things.  Wednesday evening is our first preview, show time 8:00 and I’d actually like to fill both previews with as many folks as possible.  Thursday is our second preview.  And then we open on Friday night and play our weekend performances.  But I also have to get everything ready for our Kritzerland rehearsals and I’ve done zero work on that – so that’s a bunch of my days this week, as we have our Kritzerland rehearsals on the following Monday.  And, of course, I will be a new age a week from today.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep until eleven, do the usual morning things, mosey on over to the theater, do run-through one, take a little break, and then do run-through two, then do some photo set-ups.  Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them.  So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a much better run-through of our show.

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