Toothache, which will lead to the removal of my wisdom teeth in 10 days. Whoohoo!

Daughter gets her first “love note” from a boy. Thrills her father by typing boy a note saying “You’re a nice boy, but I’m not ready for this kind of thing.”

LOST: continues to blow me away this season – so good!

This is a fun thing developing online – a little exploring will take you to a new ongoing online series by my friend Mike.

Coming up soon – Maggie’s 5th grade talent show, Max’s 3rd grade music concert. I LOVE these!

Spring Training is in full swing… which means ACTUAL BASEBALL IS AROUND THE CORNER!!

The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds closed a great run yesterday, and we’re really appreciative of all the support the show was given by audiences and critics.

This was a great week for us at Williamston Theatre.

See, a couple of years ago, when we sat around a table and made plans to start the theatre, a few of the things that we knew we wanted to do were: to do good theatre that moved people, to provide another place for Michigan artists to be employed, to work with up-and-coming generations of theatre artists, and to work on collaborations with other groups.

Well, we’ve managed to do all of those things, but over the last week we had a bunch of those happen all in the span of a few days. A show at Williamston Theatre that involved several MSU students onstage and off, and some faculty designers, closed to full houses and great reviews. A show that I directed at MSU had a great 2 weekend run and the student actors and designers there put in some very fine work. And we began production meetings for the show that we’re co-producing with Tipping Point Theatre in Northville, MI. A show that will have performance runs at both theatres, and give several actors, designers and crew people over 3 months of work.

Now, there are things that could be better. The economy could be better. Overall attendance could be better. The sightlines around the poles in our theatre could be better, and corporate donations could be better.

Still… there are some things that are working quite nicely.

We close Gamma Rays this weekend at Williamston Theatre – it’s been a fabulous run, this whole weekend is almost sold out! AND Hedda Gabler, which I directed at MSU, closes this weekend also! Both casts and crews should be proud and pleased – there was some wonderful work done both shows!

Spring Training has started. Oh, man, do I love listening to those games! 38 days until Opening Day!

This video is beautiful, moving and sad. The Rocky Mountain News is publishing its final edition today, after 149 years. Thanks to Mary919 for the link.

Okay, what would YOU do if someone called you at work and said “Activate your fire suppression system! Good. Now undress.”??? People are amazing.

Juggling sick kids can be tough. (Okay, re-reading that sentence, I’m now imagining trying to keep 3 sneezing, feverish kids in the air all at once.) I should say, it’s amazing how a child home sick from school can cause such an interesting schedule juggle: Which parent stays home, or do they split the day? Does the kid need to go to the doctor’s, because that adds another wrinkle? Does he have homework that needs to be picked up from school? Move the violin lesson? Check. Trip to CVS for Motrin, juice? Check. Does he have books he can spend the day reading on the couch? Check. Trip to Blockbuster so he can watch a movie on the couch, also? Check. This list is getting long for some stuff you need to get done on a Thursday morning…

Of course, having the sick kid home also offers some opportunities: I got to just be in the house with my son for most of a day, which happens far too rarely. I got to see how his yo-yo tricks are progressing (he’s currently obsessed). I made some homemade vegetable soup(which was good except I decided at the last minute that it should have bow-tie noodles also, and I put too many in and they soaked up too much broth). Got a chance to do some work for the theatre while sitting on my computer in my family room without the phones ringing, or other distractions, while my son slept on the couch on the other side of the room. We got to discuss the social relevance of the “Captain Underpants” books, (or we just discussed how they were funny, which may be the same thing…) So, a little change of plans for everyone, but a nice change of routine, also. Sometimes a little sniffle is just what you need to slow down for a day!

This XKCD comic is fabulous!
(Well… if you’re a proud sci-fi geek like me!)

Click HERE for the big version!

If you don’t read XKCD, you should. Sometimes it’s a little Not Safe For Work, but it’s a lot of fun!

I had one of those questions about my job today.

The question: “Now, if I come by on Thursday, you guys probably don’t get in until about 7, right?”
(Variants on this question are:, “That’s your full time job!? But what do you do?”, or “Oh, you’re there during the day… what do you do during the DAY?”, or my favorite, “But what’s your real job?”)

The thing is, most of the time this question comes along and it’s just an honest question – that person just doesn’t know what the hours of a theatre staff are, or what they may be doing during the non-performance hours. That’s fine, I mean – I have no idea what a lot of jobs entail. This question, when asked, can A) excite me and make me want to share what I do, or B) make me get loud and stabby, or C) convince me that there’s no hope for our industry and that I should be a hermit. It all depends on my mood at the time and, even more importantly, the attitude of the person asking it.

Today, the woman was very polite and surprised to find out we were there starting at 10am.

So I was thinking about this, and it occurred to me to list some of the things on my current list of “This is what I do during the day”, just for fun!

THE CURRENT LIFE OF AN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR:

Set up Production Meetings for the next show. (These happen regularly, often weekly, anywhere from 9 to 12 weeks prior to Opening Night. And, since there’s always a ‘next show’, this is non-stop).
Finalize the cast changes for the show AFTER next.
Find a tuxedo place that will loan us a tux for the next show.
Prepare the building for rehearsals to begin on Tuesday for the next show.
Distribute the info about the next couple of productions to the local artists groups, so the art gallery will be full for those shows.
Handle the details of the SOLD artwork from this show.
Get the monitor speaker fixed.
Schedule/organize/staff the set strike (tear down) of the current set, and the construction of the next one.
Sell our old light board.
Write the two letters of recommendation I’ve been asked to write.
Do the union paperwork for the 3 women joining the Equity Membership Candidate program.
Finalize the details of the series of staged readings we’re planning. (Casts, directors, budgets, schedules.)
Plan the next Acting Class for adults. (Schedules, marketing, instructor, cost/budget)
Plan the next Acting Class for young people. (Schedules, marketing, instructor, cost/budget)
Clarify the contract details for our upcoming co-production.
Prepare for my rehearsals that start at the end of March, when I begin directing at another theatre.
Prepare for the 1st production meeting, tomorrow, for the show I’ll be directing at another theatre that begins rehearsals in 5 weeks.
Read the plays on my desk.
Order other plays, to put on my desk, so that I can read them later.
Select next season’s 6 productions.
To do this we must: (I put this behind a link, it’s long)

One more week to go of the Williamston Theatre production of The Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds. Our reviews have been excellent, and we’re playing to great houses!

Some brief quotes from the reviews:
…an excellent show, with plenty of high-quality drama sprinkled with just the right amount of humor.

Williamston’s production is daring and impressive.

…powerfully poignant night of theater.

You know a play is good when you find yourself still talking and thinking about it two days after seeing it.

And, in case you want to see full reviews:
This is a link to the Lansing State Journal review!
This is the Encore Michigan review!
The Lansing City Pulse review is here.
Michigan Entertainment had this to say…

At Williamston Theatre, Gamma Rays is going well – we’ve had good houses, great reviews, and still have one week of shows left!

At Michigan State University, the production of Hedda Gabler that I directed opened last night – the student cast was wonderful, the crew rocked, and the design team made it beautiful! Very happy.

Next up, I start pre-production for The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged), which I’m directing at Tipping Point theatre.

My daughter had a birthday sleepover last night with a bunch of 5th grade girls. Oy. I still can’t believe my little girl is 11. How are the kids getting older, and I’m still so young, good looking and vibrant?!

Wanna help name the new room on the Space Station? NASA wants you to vote on it!

Spring Training has begun! I’m confident that the Tigers are on their way to winning the division, the American League, the World Series, and becoming President Obama’s next Ambassadors To The Galaxy.

I love this graffiti!

Coming up later: Coraline in 3d. Can’t wait.