“If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time”
Chinese Proverb

“I get bored at the theatrea lot because I notice that there’s not always a connection between the actors. They may be technically proficient, but they’re not surprising each other. I’m thrilled by actors who make choices that are surprising.”
Lusia Strus

“The theater is a job you have to do. You have no time to indulge because you are making, quote, “art,” end quote. Show up on time, get the work done. That’s a huge thing to learn.”
Hal Prince

So far we’ve gotten a couple of reviews for An Infinite Ache, they can be found HERE and HERE.

Overall, they’ve been very positive – phrases like “Gribble and Rivera are marvelous”, “No excuses to miss this one!”, and “Heart-wrenching punch”.

Hopefully they’ll help sell some tickets, that’s a challenge all over with the economy the way it is!

(Incidentally, the EncoreMichigan review, while being very positive about the production, did say some things about one of the actors that I completely disagree with – I’m thrilled with the performances in this show, and have watched the audiences both laugh and weep from the strength of those performances – so, like most reviews, you have to just accept that they’re one person’s opinion, respect the fact that everyone’s entitled to their opinion, and move on to the next project! )

This show strikes an interesting chord with audiences, as well – we’re getting a lot of feedback early in the run of this production, with things like “Hauntingly wonderful” and “Flawlessly beautiful” being said or emailed or posted! I like that the audiences are going with the show, following the journey and being able to really relate to it, and the fact that they’re taking the time to tell us how it’s moving them is a nice sign that A) it IS moving them, and B) we’re continuing to grow the connection between the company and our audience. This last one is really, really important to us – I love that our paying regulars now feel comfortable enough to really let us know what they’re feeling!

So there it is – the 4th season is underway!

Last night a spectre with a pumpkin for a head outshot me with a crossbow.
While drinking from a glass of blood with an eyeball floating in it.

It’s a spooky time of year!

The kids created a haunted house for us in the basement last night, and it was wonderful!

We knew what they were up to, because they asked if they could unpack the Halloween decorations and use them, then disappeared into the basement. They spent almost 2 hours decorating and setting up, and then a very scary, short version of the killer from “Scream” showed up at the doorway to the family room.

Come With Me, Mortals!, proclaimed the creepy little cloaked figure.

So we did. (I mean, who argues with creepy little cloaked figures?)

Slowly we made our way down the stairs (or The Hall Of Skulls, as we were informed by our guide as he pointed out the many skulls newly adorning the walls). Fighting our way through the giant cobwebs that had appeared at the bottom of our staircase, we wound our way through the dark streamers blocking our way, and aimed for the spooky orange and purple glow around the corner.

Reaching our destination, Jeanne and I were greeted by a much taller cloaked figure, this one with a big pumpkin for a head.

The pumpkinhead showed us the highlights of the Haunted House, which included a fun game of “Toss The M&M Into The Cup” (complete with prizes!), a game of “Link’s Crossbow Challenge” on the Wii, and refreshments. The refreshments were the highlight, with edible eyeballs (marshmallows with chocolate chips for pupils), glasses of “blood” with floating plastic eyeballs in them, and a beer for me… specifically, a “Blood Light”. 🙂

After the refreshments we sat on the floor and played the Wii, having a fun time with “Crossbow Target Practice”! At first I did well, but the pumpkinhead and the creepy little cloaked figure wound up outscoring me in the end…

Normally I think I’d be able to win against a couple of ghouls like that, but, well, what can I say…

I was pretty distracted by the eyeballs floating in the blood.

(Click the Pic to see the big version)

Williamston Brings Another Hit to Its Intimate Stage
by Jim Fordyce, www.mientertainment.biz

Oct 10, 2009 at 04:12 PM

It is hard to believe it has been four years since the Williamston Theater opened in a converted store front in the small town just east of Lansing. Since then, the professional theater has given us some very good plays and the season opener is no exception. “An Infinite Ache” is a delightful play about a couple we meet on their first date. While it is painfully obvious it is not going very well, we are immediately whisked away on a journey that shows us “what if?”

PS. Tuesday Night October 13 is going to be a fun night at The Red Cedar Grill in Williamston. There will be a Fund Raiser for the Williamston Theater. There will be musical guests, acts a plenty and my pal Deb Hart from WMMQ will be the Emcee. 20% of your tab will go to the Theater. (so eat a lot)

The weekend of previews for An Infinite Ache went well! Some more tweaking this week in rehearsals and a final preview, then the official Opening Night on Friday!

Saw this on the internet, it was listed as “The Coolest Picture You’ll See All Day”… and I agree!

Wil Wheaton posted this in his blog, click here to read more about it!

Tomorrow the Tigers play the Twins in a one-game playoff to determine the American League Central Champs. Totally disappointed that the Tigers let it come down to this, they should have played better baseball this week. Of course, it wasn’t all their fault, despite all of the ridiculous claims of “Choke! The Tigers choked!” – the Twins also did something they haven’t done all season – they went 16-4 in a span of 20 games in order to catch the Tigers. That’s pretty impressive, and you have to give them credit. Now I’m hoping they forget how to play baseball for a couple of days, and the Tigers remember!

Saw Zombieland – lots of fun, Woody Harrelson is great, and so is the young guy in it (despite the fact that I can’t remember his name right now!) A hilarious cameo in it was also pretty darned fun… but I won’t give it away!

Sunday was a great day – we took the whole family for a walk at Hudson Mills MetroPark, which is only about 15 minutes from our house. It’s just beautiful, and we had a great long morning walk with the dogs. (Oh, I guess I should say “We took the whole family, except the gerbil, for a walk”) While we were there happened to be a fundraiser/rally/walk-a-thon to support research for Juvenile Diabetes, and so the place was packed with people walking with kids and other dogs. A great way to start the day!

Just posted some thoughts on the theatre’s “Rehearsal Blog”:

We’ve had First Preview for An Infinite Ache!

I was really happy to see the audience enjoy the show – I find this script charming, funny and moving, and it was great to see that others did too.

It’s a challenge, though, I’ll admit that. The structure of the piece is unique: Without giving away too many spoilers, I’ll say this – After a short scene that establishes that a couple on their first date have come back to his tiny studio apartment, time stops working normally. Suddenly we’re catapulting forward through time, seeing what their relationship could be (or WILL be? Or IS in an alternate universe? You decide.) With leaps in time happening constantly, the play takes us and our couple from their mid-20’s through their Golden Years, with some leaps happening after only a few lines of dialogue!

It’s an exciting structure, one that’s fun to stage and fun to watch, and the challenge (like it is in so many things) is BALANCE. Balancing how blatantly we hit the audience over the head with a hammer and show “THIS IS A TIME JUMP”, versus how simply we play the moment and just trust that the moment is clear and the audience is following the story.

Ultimately our job is to tell the story in a moving, clear, engaging method. Some plays make that simple. Some make it a challenge.

We’re having fun tackling the challenge with this one.

I hope you’ll come out and see it, and let me know what you think!

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Sleepy, but a little mind-racey from a busy, productive and exciting day.

Great Dress Rehearsal tonight for An Infinite Ache. Looking forward to previews a LOT with this show, very excited to get an audience’s reaction and continue polishing.

The Tigers can win the American League Central with a win tomorrow afternoon. I may have to take a long lunch at any bar with a TV.

Re-named the LiveJournal blog: “Tony101” was something randomly chosen years ago, and it was time for it to go. Now it’s just tonycaselli.livejournal.com instead of tony101.livejournal.com. I also like it because it’s a better name-match with my website, tonycaselli.com. Of course, Tony101 will continue pointing there, so folks can still access it. And it’s always clickable from tonycaselli.com, too, so there’s that. (Now that I’m typing this, I’m realizing tonycaselli.com is probably due for some updating, too!)

South Beach Diet still continues to go well – I’m sort of amazed that I don’t find myself craving bread and sugar and pasta, but I don’t! I’m also amazed to find myself fully satisfying a “sweets craving” by having one sugar-free pudding!

Started looking at plays for next season…then stopped. Decided my little brain couldn’t really do that until I got this show open.

Hey, Michigan is officially shut down right now. The State Government failed to pass a budget before midnight, so the whole state could be screwed for a while (even worse than we’ve already been lately). Well, things just keep getting exciting. I’m gonna wait until tomorrow to really wonder how much the State Government shutting down is going to mess up my month, I’m just too sleepy.

The renovations at the Williamston Theatre (new bathrooms, foyer painting, new seating arrangement) are just wonderful.

There’s a FROST ADVISORY tonight?! Wow.

Rehearsals have been keeping me on a schedule OPPOSITE that of my family lately, so the kids and Jeanne and I made a play-date for Saturday morning! Not sure what we’ll be doing yet, but I can’t wait! 🙂

Looking forward to the premiere of Stargate Universe on Friday! And I enjoyed FlashForward last week, hoping that turns out to be a good show.

********

Okay, The Sleep… it’s calling to me.

I think I’d better listen to it.

Various time-related thoughts bouncing around in my head this week…

“Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends.”
William Shakespeare

Time. So much lately has dealt with that topic. The show I’m directing right now deals with it a lot. In addition I’ve been, as always, working hard to keep a balance in how I spend MY time! Family -vs- Work is always the big balance, plus you throw in a few miscellaneous things like, oh, the rest of life, and it’s the same struggle we all deal with.

This past weekend my wife and kids went up vacationing in the woods with a bunch of our family. My son said to me on Thursday as I was tucking him into bed, “Dad! Can we bring our mitts and play baseball while we’re Up North?” I had to say “Buddy, I’d love to, but I’m not going, remember? I have to work. But Mom and Maggie and your Uncles and Cousins will play with you!”

His reply? A big sigh. Then in a sad and loving voice, “You know, I’m really glad you started the theatre, and I love it ‘cuz it’s cool, and ‘cuz you love it and you’re good at it… but sometimes it takes up a lot of family time.”

*sigh* And there went THAT little piece of my soul…

Sure, I know, like Jeanne said: “9 year-olds say stuff! – Let it go!” Easier said than done, no?

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
-Steve Jobs

Balance.
Time.

How much time do we sell to strangers that we should be giving away to the people we love?

Strangers may not be the right word… but it’s close enough to make the question relevant in my head.

We make commitments. We pursue dreams. We balance.
Or, we try to. Some days it works. Some days… you just resolve to try harder.

“We don’t deserve to be old and sitting on a porch – you have to earn that.” – Hope
(from David Schulner’s “An Infinite Ache”)