Provided the weather doesn’t cause TOO many cancellations, we’ll have Opening Night for Art tonight at Williamston Theatre!

It’s been a great rehearsal process – the actors are wonderful. Also, on this show we did a collaboration with MSU, and I had a great time with the faculty designers and students who handled the crew duties on this project! A great way for some students to get a bit of hands-on experience and college credit, while we get the benefit of their youth and energy! 🙂 The folks at MSU have already talked to us about continuing this collaborative exchange on a project next season, which is a wonderful thing!

So – previews have gone well. Lighter houses than we’d like, but it’s the middle of a Michigan winter, so that’s something that every theatre in the state struggles with.

Once we get this opened, I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks before we start rehearsals for the next one! The next 14 days will be my chance to see a bunch of the other shows going on right now – Murderers at Boarsead, Souvenir at Performance Network, Vino Veritas at Purple Rose, Rabbit Hole at Meadow Brook. (I also want to get down to see Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and Almost, Maine, and fortunately they have longer runs.) And there’s more good stuff going on that my schedule probably won’t allow me to see, sadly – like Blackbird’s Angels in America staged readings – I may have to rearrange some stuff!

Geez, looking back at that list – some great options in the middle of this Michigan winter!

Yesterday morning, I had an audition.

It was with my son.

For his 2nd grade talent show. (They call them auditions, but it’s mostly a “Show the organizer your bit so they can see it before you do it in front of the whole school” thing.)

He’s doing a skit, called The Amazing Enlarging Machine. I’m doing a guest-spot. In it, there’s a big machine (OR a big refrigerator box jazzed up to LOOK like a machine) in the middle of the stage. Max introduces himself, and says that he’s “invented a machine that makes stuff bigger.”, then he demonstrates by putting a small doll in one side and pushing some “buttons” on the machine, then I (hidden safely inside) throw out a bigger doll to him. “TADA!”, he shows the audience.

He does this with two more items, but the last one gets stuck! As he jimmies with the machine to unstick it, he gets pulled in. Much shaking and hollering, and then I pop out, dressed just like he was. I look around, yell “Oh NO! I GOT BIGGER!! I got a BEARD! Aww…I got kinda chubby, too! Still…I feel REALLY good lookin’! But OH NO! Mrs. Slater won’t let me come to class looking like this! I gotta change myself back!” Then I push a bunch of buttons, jump in, more obligatory shaking and hollering, Max pops back out and says “Whew!! I’m back! I’m little and skinny again! Man, I’m gonna have to watch the sweets!” Then with a wave and a “That’s my show! Thanks!” he jogs offstage (ostensibly to begin a healthy eating regimen that will last him through his 30’s.).

SO, the “audition” went great, and now we’ve got about a month to fine tune, make the machine itself look super cool, and rehearse!

Watched The Princess Bride tonight with the family. I gave Jeanne the 20th Anniversary DVD for Christmas. It’s amazing how much fun that movie is, and how much I still love it after 20 years. There’s a wonderful couple of featurettes on it, including interviews with a lot of the stars, that talk about the making of the film and it’s inconceivably long lasting appeal. 😉

Um…an 11 year old boy who everyone thought was deaf in one ear…got better….Because the thing that no one had found jammed in his ear FOR 9 YEARS fell out! What?!

We got our first review for Art! Most reviewers wait until Opening Night, but Jim Fordyce, a reviewer in Lansing, likes to sneak in on first preview. In his short review he praises the show and, although he had a couple of issues with the script, also said: The play features a trio of the finest actors Michigan has to offer, John Lepard, Paul Hopper and Bruce Bennett. Under the excellent direction of Tony Caselli, these three actors do a fine job in the simple set that serves as three apartments. The set is another fine example of how this theater’s creative people wisely use the limited space they have available in their intimate theater. So, that’s nice! Hopefully folks will read it and buy tickets! 🙂

My cousin Lori has had her book published! It’s called Sex Before Suicide, and it’s available at Amazon or you can check it out at her own website! It’s a memoir about…well, read this description from her website: As the dawn of my personal half-century mark draws nearer, I find myself looking ahead to second half of this life. However, before you can go forward, you have to look back. I have zig-zagged through these past 50 years; and now seems like the perfect time to find closure and look back at the boys/men who have shaped who I have become today. The “diary” of my adventures has been published; “Sex Before Suicide”, is available here & on Amazon.com. You, or someone you know, may be a part of my collection of short stories! Sounds funny, honest and sweet – can’t wait to read it!

A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and propulsion and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday. Neat!! Hope it finds someplace uninhabited!

What a week. About a million things running through my head tonight, as I sit with some wine and relax…

I can’t drink Starbucks Mochas anymore. They’re just too rich. This is a change, because I used to be addicted to them. Over the last year or so, I’ve tried to switch my coffee habit to black coffee with sugar, and that’s it. It’s worked. Every once in a while I’ll have a Vanilla Latte, or something, but that’s it. The other night, I ordered a vanilla latte, and the barista accidentally made me a vanilla mocha. I was in a hurry, so said “That’s okay, I’ll take it, no prob!” and left, but got about 1/2 way thru and had to pitch it.

And…on the subject of coffee…I’ve lately gotten BACK into the habit of drinking caffeinated coffee several times a week. I need to get out of this habit quick!

This is an odd little thing…for you Star Trek fans, anyway!

Previews for Art are going really well at Williamston Theatre. We have some work to do on a handful of moments, we’ll polish those up this week. It’s been nice getting good, useful feedback from the previews for this production! Very helpful! Looking forward to getting this one open on Friday…and then in a still-questionable scheduling decision, I will have exactly 11 days before I start rehearsals for the next show! (Maybe this ISN’T the right time to go off caffeine again…)

I have an eclectic taste in music. I’ll surf the radio dial and stop at classical, hip-hop, country, blues, rap, whatever catches my attention. Because of this, I’ve recently found myself falling under the spell of the song Stealing Cinderella, by Chuck Wicks. Like many country songs, it’s DESIGNED to tug at your heart strings…and I’ve succumbed. It’s about a young man asking a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage, and…well, you know how I am about kids and family stuff. As a dad with a young daughter, this song absolutely slays me – I’m not afraid to admit that I become a blubbering dork every time I hear it! Yes, yes, laugh if you will – I can take it! 🙂

Tonight, my son very nearly beat my butt in Crimson Skies – what the HECK?! When did that become a possibility? *laughing* At no point should my son be able to blow my plane out of the sky, darn it!!

Well, my birthday is over, and I made it through another one! Thanks to everyone who emailed, posted or called and wished me Happy Birthday! Now I’m on the countdown…only 364 days to the big 4-Oh! 🙂

For my birthday, I got to A) Get pounced on by my wife and kids at 7:00 in the morning before they went off to school, and given lots of hugs and kisses. Then B), I got to be at work all day, as it was First Preview for Art! (If I couldn’t be with my family, making a play is a pretty good way to spend my birthday!) Then, after first preview, my co-workers all took me to the bar for drinks and snacks. Yay snacks! 🙂

First Preview went well! Very good responses from the audience during the show, and some very useful feedback during the talkback afterwards. I can’t remember if I’ve ever journalled about the talkbacks – the first week of performances on most of our shows are “previews”. They’re full performances, everything is ready and complete, but we use them to fine tune the show. (This is done a lot in theatres all over!) I love them because we get to do talkbacks with the audience after the show, where I will go out (along with the director, if it’s not me) and have a seat onstage immediately after the curtain call. I’ll get feedback from the audience, asking some questions (did you get bored ever? Did you get confused and never recover? What pulled you OUT of the world of the play? Could you HEAR everything okay?) And I’ll also open it up for general comments about what worked and what didn’t. It’s a GREAT process, and we get to fine tune the show with a handful of hours of rehearsal during this week and early next week, leading up to the Official Opening Night. Polishing and tweaking the production, sometimes working/changing large moments and sometimes spending 30 minutes of rehearsal to make a 3 second bit work, is one of my favorite parts of the rehearsal process.

So, last night we started that process with Art, and had a great time doing it! We’ll do it again tonight, and I’m looking forward to it. Also looking forward to Saturday morning, when I get several hours of quality family time (and I’ve been promised a performance of a play that my kids have been working on just for my birthday. These are usually incredibly silly and cute performances, so I can’t wait!)

No more typing. Showering and leaving for work!

Happy Friday!

So we begin previews for Art tonight! I’m excited to see how audiences respond to this one. It’s got a lot of humor, but it’s also a serious exploration into the disintegration of a friendship.

Unfortunately this slot in the season is always hard for theatres to sell – right after the new year, people are recovering from spending all their money on the holidays, and it’s 9 degrees out (-9 with wind chill!). So, tickets are selling slowly. I’m hoping they pick up. A) The 3 actors are working their tails off, and deserve to be seen, and B) We need to get some money in the bank!

Not much time to type this morning – but since we’re talking about theatre and acting, I had to share this clip that my friend Candace Platt pointed me toward: It looks like it’s been on YouTube for about 6 months, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it, and it is absolutely HILARIOUS!!

You know how sometimes you have those weeks where the whole week has gone by, and you look around and ask “What the?! Where did that week go?!”?

This has been one of those.

And so, in lieu of a long talky post, I will present This nifty link, which is to the first photo of the new Starship Enterprise, from the upcoming film!

A sad day for many of us in Michigan…

This morning we lost a wonderful man: Jim Posante passed away. A good friend, a talented director/actor/choreographer, a gifted and beloved teacher, Jim will be missed by many.

Yesterday morning, Jim suffered a stroke. Word went out through the grapevine and networks that he was in a coma, and wouldn’t be coming out of it. Then, an amazing thing happened: the hospital waiting room filled up with people. And so did the hallway. Some came and stayed for hours, some for a few minutes – people came and went all day long – students and families from the school where he tought and directed plays, and from all the theatres in the area, actors and directors, stage managers and technicians, dancers and singers – dozens and dozens of people of all ages and backgrounds, all of these people came, with love in their hearts, to say their goodbyes.

It was a beautiful, sad, amazing thing. Jim had such a good soul, and it was obvious that he meant a great deal to a great many people.

I first worked with Jim in 1992 – there we became friends, working together occasionally, and it was a few years ago that I had to take over a show that he was directing because he suffered a heart attack. He made a great recovery and, as his partner Charlie remarked yesterday, the last few years were some of his happiest and most productive. Over the years, Jim and I – both of us short, about 5’3″ – would joke that one day we’d have to stage The Hobbit, with us as the Hobbits. In fact, when we accepted the award for Take Me Out being the best directed show of that season, we joked at the podium, thanking “everyone back in the Shire”.

On my keyring, there is a small gift that Jim gave me as thanks for bringing that show to completion – because of our long running joke, it meant a lot. It’s a replica of The One Ring, from The Hobbit.

Jim was a wonderful guy, and an inspiration: he loved what he did, and the people he did it with, and he loved life. I, like all who knew him, will think of him often, and miss him dearly.

“There is more in you of good than you know, child…some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world…”
-“The Hobbit” (Chapter XVIII: The Return Journey)

In a tent, in the backyard. Temp hovering around freezing, I think. Had a campfire a while ago: hot dogs, marshmallows and even a few apple slices were roasted.

Now, though, bundled up in sleeping bags, blankets, stocking caps. While listening to the light patter of a small freezing rain hit the tent I told some fun, silly ghost stories. After much giggling, both kids are, as I type this on my phone, snuggled up on either side of me, fast asleep.

Tomorrow I’ll be sore from sleeping on the ground…but it’ll be worth it. 🙂

It’s winter campout night! If you need me, I’ll be in the backyard, with the kids, in the tent!