•The woman who lives inside my iPhone is French? Today when I used the voice command to call my friend Spencer, I said "Call Spencer" – Spencer’s last name is Lyons, pronounced like the animal: Lions. The woman who lives inside my iPhone scanned my contacts list and repeated my command back to me: "Calling Spencer Lee-ohn". I’m unsure why she decided to try and prove how much more worldly she was than me, with her big accent, but at least she got the number right.

•33 guys spent 69 days trapped underground in a collapsed mine, and today they all got out. Amazing.  The engineers who made that rescue happen are true heroes.

•We still have 5 performances left of Blue Door, a show that critics raved about, and tickets are selling nicely. It’s a change of pace from our normal offerings, but audiences are loving it, and leaving the theatre entertained, moved, and thoughtful. People keep saying to me "It’s a risk, that show, with your demographic", and maybe it is, but it’s a beautiful, moving, theatrical story and one I’m very proud to have on our stage – I’m very pleased that people are enjoying it.

•We launch into a ridiculously fun show next week – rehearsals start for Greater Tuna, and I’m really looking forward to this rehearsal process! Working with two of my favorite actors on a fun, fun play full of laughs and challenges – what job is better than that?!

•My daughter had curlers in her hair tonight. Tomorrow is "Formal Day" at school, everyone dresses up – so tonight she was checking out her outfit, and came out with a beautiful dress, hair in curlers, wearing these little high-heels. *sigh* I am unprepared for my little girl to grow up, and I’m not ashamed to admit that with my huge pride comes a huge wish to hug and squeeze her and make her stay my little girl forever!

•I am a big fan of how Hell’s Kitchen is doing two hours per week this season. I love that stupid show. I don’t know what it is, but I love watching them cook the food and either make it all work or crash and burn. Maybe watching them go through the process each service is just similar enough to a condensed version of a rehearsal process that it resonates with me? I dunno. Maybe I just like the chef’s jackets… Either way, I really want to eat a well cooked beef wellington.

•Soon I’ll get to start working with the Otterbein University MFA Senior Class on their Senior Showcase.  I’m looking forward to it!  I’ve been honored to work with them for the last two years, as well, and it’s an exciting project.  

•Big rainstorm today – with the leaves falling, and Autumn all around, the air smelled absolutely fantastic.  I love this season.  

“It seems to me that people have vast potential. Most people can do extraordinary things if they have the confidence or take the risks. Yet most people don’t. They sit in front of the telly and treat life as if it goes on forever.”
Philip Adams

“I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true.”
Walt Disney (1901 – 1966)

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
e e cummings
US poet (1894 – 1962)

I can’t decide if this is awesome…or a sign of the upcoming robotic revolt that will leave us all as servants to our waffle irons…

This is GREAT! How nice to see a decision made by a big studio that’s about making the picture better, instead of giving in to a lousy fad to make a buck!

GOOD THINGS!!

•iPad owners:  The Pulse News app is fabulous.  It’s a really great way of having all your favorite news sources, blogs and websites gathered together in one place.  It lets you easily post any article that you read about, and it’s extremely user friendly.  It’s become one of my most used apps.  Check it out!

•Williamston Theatre got two more great reviews today for Blue Door.   I have to say, I’m really proud of the work the whole company did on this show – we are telling a moving, important story, and telling it well.  Audiences are moved, we got 5 fantastic reviews, and we are continuing to build a reputation for doing good work.  See the reviews HERE and, also…. over HERE!

•One of my favorite quotes from today’s reviews:  "Like all Williamston shows, Blue Door sends its audiences home with much to ponder and discuss."   That’s an awfully nice thing to read, and I hope it continues to be true.  

•Saw the Performance Network’s production of Sonia Flew this evening – what a beautiful show!  Some wonderful moments, great performances, and a beautiful story… or two!  

•GREAT production meeting for Greater Tuna this afternoon.  Karen Kangas-Preston is making me laugh with costume designs already, and we don’t start rehearsals for another 10 days!  This show is going to be fun!

•I think our dogs had a long day:

Oh man, I want to see this!

Williamston Theatre’s “Blue Door” is an intensely quiet and deeply moving play, one that stills and startles the audience into an unexpected opportunity for personal reflection and self examination…

The Lansing City Pulse has published Tom Helma’s wonderful review of Blue Door – click here to see what he has to say about the production.

Then CLICK HERE to visit the Williamston Theatre website and find out how to get tickets! Only 2 weeks left!

So far in WT Season 5:
2 reviews published, both wonderful.
2 weeks of performances, fabulous feedback from our patrons.
Go team!

•First – Opening Night of Blue Door at the Williamston Theatre went wonderfully.  We got our first review, and it’s great:  "BLUE DOOR Opens To Reveal A Perfect Performance". 

•And, the closing performance of The American Clock at MSU was also wonderful, as was the whole run – congrats to all those folks.  I’m really proud of the work the students and production team did.  My daughter and I went to see the final show today, so I got to spend a great afternoon hanging out with her, which was really fun.

•There are a couple of new Encore Live Podcasts up on EncoreMichigan: 
Season 2, ep. 4:   Bart, Don and Jen interview David Leddy, creator of Susurrus.  This really interesting, innovative piece is a bit of theatre, a bit of performance art, a bit audiobook, and a bit walk-in-the-garden.  It just closed after a nice run at the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor – Jeanne and I went last weekend, and enjoyed it.  I do think I enjoyed the experience and production of the event a bit more than I did the story itself, but that’s nitpicky, because I would jump at the chance to see another one of Leddy’s pieces if the opportunity arose!

Season 2, ep. 5:  I interviewed veteran actor Wayne David Parker (AKA: Daba), known to audiences all over Michigan for his stage and voice work.  This was a fun interview, since Daba and I are good friends who’ve known each other and worked together often for 18 years (Holy Wha – 18 years?!).  We chatted about how he approaches the craft, and some other fun stuff.  Go listen, let me know what you think!

•TV Talk: Okay, The Amazing Race is back, and I still love it.  Warehouse 13 is on hiatus, I’m hoping to hear that it’s picked up for a 3rd season.  Chuck is back and I still love it, and Stargate Universe is back, and I’m still iffy on it.  I’ve had a bunch of folks tell me I should watch Fringe, and I may – but not for a bit, because I’d have to rent the first 2 seasons on DVD, and there’s not a chance that will happen in my schedule for another few months.  I have watched the first two episodes of The Event, and am pretty bored by it so far. 

•So the MLB regular season is over.  The Tigers managed, after a pretty good first half, to implode over the second half and finish with an even 81-81 record.  They’ve got a ton of money coming off the books to spend in the off-season, let’s hope they do it wisely and give us a good team for next season! 

Okay, this is pretty cool! 🙂

Found: An Earthlike Planet at Last – TIME