My schedule was really busy last week, and I wasn’t home much.
I sent flowers to the family (one to each of them) at home, telling them I missed ’em.
I got this sweet voicemail from Maggie in return! She’s the sweetest kid ever!

Previews are going well! We open on Friday!

I just thought I’d post this, cuz I really love the logo!

*laughing*

Yep, I’m a big ol’ dork!

We’ve just finished our first weekend of previews for Music From A Sparkling Planet.

Great audience responses – this was our most well attended preview weekend of the season, which is very encouraging!

We learned a few good lessons: some sightline things, some timing/clarity things in a couple of tough overlapping sections, stuff like that. We also learned that the story is being very clearly told, and that audiences are really enjoying it. Suzi is doing a great job directing the piece, and the cast members are all doing wonderful work. A handful more hours of rehearsal this week, and we’ll be Opening officially on Friday.

This show has been a big challenge for us – it’s our most technically difficult so far, as well as our most expensive so far. We have a couple of challenges left to solve; a couple of costume things, some squeaky doors, some little detail stuff. It’ll all be ready for Opening, and I can’t wait. Suzi and the design team and production staff have all done a great job of using our small budgets and small resources to make a beautiful show. There’s a moment, at the end of the play, where the whole room fills with stars…it’s just tremendous. The design and construction teams all deserve a big hand – we’ve had audience members gasp when it happens during the show, and the effect combined with the wonderful stuff being done by the actors at that moment…it really makes me proud of this company.

Check out some info about it at our website!

My 6 year old had his first soccer game this weekend.

It’s the first organized sports that my kids have done. Well…that’s not exactly right – they’re both in karate lessons, and love it. That’s a little more of an individual thing, though. This is Max’s first team.

It’s a fun and silly league – they only had one practice, where they worked on some kicking and passing drills. Then they had their first game a few days later. Boy, was he excited. His team name is The Wizards, which he’s decided is the coolest name ever.

So Saturday morning, the whole family went to the school, where there were a bunch of games going on. Lots of parents sitting in lawn chairs along the sidelines, cheering for their teams, their kids. We found our spot, and joined in, enjoying an absolutely gorgeous Spring morning. When it was our team’s turn, we cheered and clapped and yelled “Go BLUE!!”.

Max is fast. That was plain to see early on – he could get to the ball as quick or quicker than most of the kids. However, like most of the kids, he was a little afraid of getting kicked by another player, or of having the ball hit him! Just kicking it was a joy for every one of them, though – didn’t matter that half the time it was the wrong direction, or to the other team, or out of bounds. He did wonderfully and even though his team lost he wasn’t a bit sad. To be honest, I’m a little unsure if he even realized they lost – his whole team was having so much fun it was hard to tell!

And I’m sitting there, watching, thinking “Here’s another one.” One more step in his life. One more milestone…it’s amazing to realize how many there have been, and even more amazing to think about how many more there are coming up for him.

How quickly our lives go.

I watched him, at the end of the game, run with the rest of the team to the center of the field. They lined up and high-fived the other team, the traditional “good game” being echoed up and down both lines as the tired, sweaty 6 and 7 year olds laughed and slapped hands.

Watching this, I was struck by the image of all the generations who came before theirs. All the boys who, for years, kept up the tradition of the “good game lineup” that teams do: a “congratulations, you got us” for one team, and a “nice effort, better luck next time” consolation for the other. Here he was, my son, taking his part in that long standing ritual. And I thought of me, years ago, doing it on a little league baseball field. And I thought of my son’s son, years from now, doing it with his team as Max watched proudly.

“Good game, good game, good game…”

Then he came running back, all out of breath and rumpled hair, and held out his fist to me. “Secret Handshake”, he said. And we did our secret handshake.

“Good game, buddy!”
“Thanks, Dad!”

And as the four of us held hands and headed for home I heard the phrase being repeated around the field.

“Good game, good game, good game…”

And they were right. It was a good game.

For all sorts of reasons.

Swiped this from a couple people on my F-List! Let’s see who you are!

32 Questions about YOU!

1. Can you cook?

2. What was your dream growing up?

3. What talent do you wish you had?

4. Favorite place?

5. Favorite vegetable?

6. What was the last book you read?

7. What zodiac sign are you?

8. Any tattoos and/or piercings? (Describe)

9. Worst habit?

10. Do we know each other outside of lj?

11. What is your favorite sport?

12. Negative or optimistic attitude?

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?

15. Tell me one weird fact about you:

16. Do you have any pets?

17. Do you know how to do the macarena?

18. What time is it where you are now?

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?

22. What color eyes do you have?

23. Ever been arrested?

24. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?

25. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?

26. What’s your favorite bar to hang at?

27. Do you believe in ghosts?

28. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

29. Do you swear a lot?

30. Biggest pet peeve?

31. In one word, how would you describe yourself?

32. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

Fun!

Hey, only 4 wrong! Not bad!

(Although this quiz was fun, this is the second time in a row that I’ve had trouble posting something like this. When I copy and paste the results, and try to post it, it comes up as a blank entry. I had to delete the first 7 or 8 lines of stuff to finally get this to post. Is it because I’m on a Mac, or is something weird going on?!)

I believe in it, and I trust it too and treasure it above everything, the personal, the personal, the personal! I put my faith in it not only as the source, the ground of meaning in art, in life, but as the meaning itself.

-Eudora Welty

I always find it…oh, maybe “inspiring” is the word I want…when people who don’t do theatre come in and are amazed at the amount of time, work and detail that goes into what we do.

So, because I think it’s interesting, here’s the schedule for the theatre for this week, the week leading to our First Preview of MUSIC FROM A SPARKLING PLANET.

Does anybody else have days where you just feel like there’s not enough time, and if there was you’re still not sure it’d matter anyway.

I’m taking it on faith that in high-stress times it’s normal to bounce between those kind of days and the wildly motivated, energized days I seem to be having every other day lately.

This is good, though… I think. In a lot of ways it’s like rehearsing a play: some days you just don’t feel creative, but you find a way to make the day productive anyway. That’s how I’m getting through this particular challenge in The Adventures Of Starting A Theatre!

A ridiculously busy day at work, but a good day. We’re starting Tech Week for the show and, although it’s our biggest challenge yet, it’s going to be great. A nice day. A day filled with hope as both paid staff and volunteers worked to make Williamston Theatre a better place.

Then, home to sit and snuggle with my family and watch a little Tigers Baseball, talk about everyone’s day and read some bedtime stories. Another nice part of a nice day – this part filled with a different kind of hope for the future, but still hope.

And the whole day also filled with a love for the now. A very clear feeling of enjoying the time spent together, the companionship, enjoying just “being”.

A nice day.