We closed Every Christmas Story Ever Told a couple of days ago, and were very very happy with the result of the 4 week run! (Sadly, we had some cancellations on the last two days because of weather, and ruined a potentially sold-out weekend! Ah, well – Michigan weather!) It was a great run, and it’s been fun having that show 3 seasons in a row! Let’s hope we’re as lucky with whatever “Holiday Show” we do next year! 🙂

Randy Godwin’s funeral was beautiful. Sad, as you’d expect, but also very heartwarming and lovely – so many good memories, hilarious stories, and a wonderful, bittersweet reminder of how one life can impact so very many others.

I had to have “The Talk” with my son. You know, the “Where do babies come from?” talk. He’s almost 9, and had been asking all the right questions and hearing all the wrong things from friends, so it was time. (For upcoming parents: The book “Where Did I Come From?” is a fabulous tool for this!)

Favorite quote from my son after aforementioned talk: “That… is gross.”

Currently, as I type this, my iTunes has been on shuffle. I just went from a song by Cake (Short Skirt/Long Jacket) to a recording of crickets. I think I’m listening to crickets for the next 40 minutes.

I’m driving a rental car. My car is in the body shop – they’re repairing the damage done by a deer who ran full speed out of the woods, directly into the SIDE of my car. Why the deer attacked me in this way is unknown: I think it was some kind of hazing that he was prompted to do by other deer who were hiding in the woods. His attempt to knock me out of my lane resulted in A) Him crushing in my drivers door and quarter panel, B) His little kamikaze-Bambi face smashing up against my drivers window and scaring the *#$%# out of me, C) Me screaming like a little girl shouting manly profanities at the top of my lungs. I was unharmed, the deer bounced off my car and ran back into the woods, presumably to high-five his frat brothers and shotgun a beer.

There’s a sadness spreading through the Michigan theatre community today…
We’ve lost our friend, Randy Godwin.

I’m still in a little shock, I suppose – I think most of the people I’ve spoken with today have been. Spent the day with my kids, helping them do their Christmas shopping, but had a hard time staying focused. Kept thinking about different events from the years I knew Randy… and thinking about friends I’ve not spoken with lately and how I should.

I directed Randy in a few shows, stage managed him in a bunch, did a bunch of other projects and shared a lot of beers with him. In all of that, one memory sticks out that’s always made me laugh – and I’m grateful to have it:

Years ago, Randy and I went to a baseball game at Tiger Stadium. It was 1997, and the Tigers were horrible. Randy and I were one of a VERY few people in the stadium, and we were in seats in center field, right on the railing overlooking the field (right where the “Couch Potato Couch” was, for those who remember!). We were, literally, the only two in the section. We were leaning over the railing, drinking beers, and right below us was Bobby Bonilla – the Florida Marlins player. (At Tiger Stadium’s double deck, you were VERY close to the field – Bonilla was directly below and very close!) As we watched, an issue arose on the field – the scoreboard said one out, but there were two, and there was confusion. The stadium was so empty we could HEAR the players yelling to each other! In the midst of it, Randy yelled down to the centerfielder “Hey! Bobby! There’s TWO outs, right?!” – to our surprise Bobby Bonilla, without turning around, answered Randy by holding up two fingers outstretched toward us! We gasped, looked at each other like two 8 year old kids who’d had Mean Joe Greene’s jersey thrown at them, and I yelled “Thanks Bobby!!”, to which Bobby Bonilla did the fist bump wave as a “You’re welcome”!

We cheered for Bobby Bonilla the rest of the game.

It was one of the neatest, most unique moments I’ve had in a ballpark, and Rand and I talked about how cool it was for years after.

Rest in peace, pal.

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I’ve often said that I enjoyed directing comedies because I like making people laugh – and that’s certainly true. However, one of my favorite things is to direct plays that mix comedy and… other (I hate to use the word “Drama” in this contex… there’s more to it than that). And yet, in truth, a few of my favorite plays have been hard-hitting-smack-you-around “DRAMAS”.

I had an “Oh Yeah” moment yesterday: This weekend, I got to see a wonderful script, Defiance by John Patrick Shanley, at the beautiful Detroit Repertory Theatre. I had a great time – and yes, there was some comedy mixed in, but it was largely not meant to be funny, it was a pointed, dramatic piece with a nice mix of humor and deadly serious issues. On the flipside of that, I also saw Woodland Wonderland at the Detroit Institue of the Arts, performed by the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit. Their show was wonderful, some absolutely beautiful singing mixed with some wonderfully done scenes and stories all about Christmas in Detroit. It had more comedy built into the piece but, like Defiance, it was a mix of laughter and serious. Different ratio of one to the other, but they both existed.

Seeing these shows back to back reminded me of one of the basic storytelling axioms: The best comedies have serious moments, the best dramas have moments of comedy. I’m about to direct Hedda Gabler at Michigan State University… and it’s not a play known for being hilariously funny. Also, at Wiliamston Theatre, our next show is The Effect of Gamma Rays On Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds – a play even more serious than Hedda. Still, this weekend’s viewings were a nice reminder to use everything you’ve got to tell the story well – and although I’d not forgotten that, it was nice to see such a clear example of it this weekend!

So, in the spirit of my “Oh Yeah” moment from this weekend, some quotes about laughter:

“The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.”
Bennett Cerf

“Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease for pain.”
Charlie Chaplin

“The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.”
Mark Twain

.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m getting to see some shows! I can’t wait – it’s the curse of all of us who work in the theatre: finding the time to SEE it!

Thankfully, I have a bit of time coming up, and I’ll be taking my family to see a show or two, my wife and I might get a date night soon, and I’ll probably catch a couple of shows by myself.

It’s always invigorating to see shows – especially shows I know nothing about. I love the experience of going into a theatre, watching the house lights go down, and being transported to a whole new place, having a whole new adventure in another director or company’s version of a “Night Of Theatre”! Sometimes the experience awes, sometimes it shocks, angers, amazes, impresses, disappoints, thrills… but it always, always inspires me to re-examine my own work – and I’m always grateful for that.

Which is why I’m excited about the next few weeks!

Okay, if you’ve not seen this Time/CNN series “The Top 10 Everything of 2008”, it’s really fascinating.

One of the best Top 10 lists of 2008 they’ve made is the “Top 10 Viral Videos” – there’s some wonderful stuff here! I was surprised that I’d only seen about 1/2 of them!

Click HERE to check them out – you’ll be glad you did!

The story – from Rumplestiltskin to War and Peace – is one of the basic tools invented by the human mind, for the purpose of understanding. There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.
-Ursula K. LeGuin

Okay, I’ve been getting grayer and grayer. I’m okay with that, I wear it with pride.
Yes, I’ve also been getting softer around the middle… and there’s been more of it!

But now my kids can outdance me.

Tonight, we played a game that they’ve been hooked on the last few days: Twister Dance – The DVD Game

It plays like this: On the TV is a woman (a cartoon of a woman) who instructs you in Dance steps. You stand on dance mats and try to match her dance steps. It’s like the old game of Simon, except… you’re dancing instead of just hitting little light up squares.

It’s fun, physical, silly and a good time. But my kids have been playing for days, and I just started (plus I’m still coughing like crazy, stupid flubug or whatever it is)… so they kicked my butt.

Eventually, I gave up and just started shaking my bootie and doing the white man’s overbite. (When Harry Met Sally fans, you’re welcome.) This provided an excellent opportunity to A) make my kids and wife laugh, and B) Distract them from the fact that I was failing miserably to follow the little cartoon woman’s lead. Sadly, only plan A worked…

“Dad! It’s blue, red, arm, arm, home, home! It’s easy! Now just add the shoulders, hips, knee pops and bends in!”
And then they were Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers…

For a fleeting second, I thought about practicing tomorrow. I mean, my manly pride (please don’t laugh at that, it hurts me. Thanks).. My manly pride says “Don’t let them beat you, wimp!!”
But my manly pride has another voice, that says “Seriously? You’re thinking about playing this by yourself when no one is home, just so you can get as good as the kids? Don’t you have… a job or… something?”

Still… a little cardio workout wouldn’t hurt….

Okay, anyone out there who reads this: A Question…

What’s your favorite play?

Doesn’t matter if you’ve seen a lot of plays, or just a few. What’s your favorite play?