Thursday! A day of producing – I love being able to say “We did that”, and today was a nice bunch of that! Accomplishing things for the show in rehearsal. A few things for later in the season, and some discussions about next season. The to-do list got shorter while we put out the daily fires.
A nice productive day at work.
Now, some QFT as I hang out at my son’s first basketball practice!
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Some time off for the holidays had been a wonderful thing.
I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time with my family, both immediate and extended. Spent some nice time with friends, hope to do more of that soon. Got a little bit of work done, as well – some schedules, some reading, a bit of research. (and some family related work, too, like moving my parents out of their house! If anyone asks whether emptying and cleaning a garage in 20 degree weather can be fun, the answer is a surprising YES!)
Between seeing Orson and Me, and listening to the Christopher Plummer interview on NPR, and reading a Laurence Olivier biography as well as Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton, I’m finding myself really inspired to increase my output of work, particularly new creative writing and producing projects. So I’m putting into motion a few things that may pan out, or not, but I like the forward momentum feeling!
Hard to believe it was four years ago this week that we signed the lease on 122 South Putnam Street to create the home for the Williamston Theatre. What a gift it’s been, in so many ways.
And, for fun, here are a few photos of things from the last couple weeks – mostly for my own purposes: I’d like to remember this break!
John Lepard and The Williamston Theatre go 3 for 3 thanks to the Lansing State Journal’s glowing review of This Wonderful Life:
I’m thrilled that audiences and critics are both enjoying this show!
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Max made this snack for Jeanne last night, because she wasn’t feeling well.
Yes, that’s banana, Oreos, grapefruit and mini-marshmallows all gently nestled under artful swirls of caramel and strawberry syrup ice-cream toppings.
And, if you look closely, he spelled out MOM in the middle. With caramel.
I love that kid.
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I’m sleeping on the couch tonight.
Well, not the couch, really, but the sofa-bed.
It’s been a long week. Tech week for a show, Jeanne and the kids have been busy with their projects, and we haven’t had much QFT*. I got home from rehearsal tonight and chatted with my beautiful wife (who was getting ready for bed.) After she went to sleep, I sat down to watch TV and have a snack. A few minutes later, my son appeared in the family room doorway!
“Dad? I woke up and heard the tv. I thought it might be you!”
I turned the tv off as he sleepily jumped onto the couch to snuggle up and put his head in the crook of my arm.
“Did I wake you up, buddy? You should be sleeping!”
“I know, but I didn’t see you much the last few days and when I heard the tv I thought maybe… Can I just sleep here with you? I mean, maybe we can both sleep out here?”
You bet your ass we can.
So now the sofa-bed is pulled out, my little boy is sleeping curled up next to me with one arm thrown over my chest, and I’m wishing there was enough light in here to take a picture so I could preserve this moment. There’s not, so I thought I’d write it down instead.
Of course, typing this on my iPhone is tough, because there’s a 9-year old laying on my right arm.
I don’t mind, though…
Tonight I’m sleeping on the couch.
*Quality Family Time
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Yep – an awesome evening with my son!
First, homework! That was followed by:
Orange chicken, his favorite, at the Chinese place.
Making a shopping/Christmas/birthday-money-spending list at EB Games as we browse games for the Wii and NintendoDS.
Continuing the listmaking at Borders, where we browsed many excellent books.
Scouting possible Christmas presents for the women in our lives.
Ice Age 3 at the dollar movies, complete with popcorn.
Best part?
Hanging out and charting with my son.
Nice.
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I just bought a pair of jeans. A pair of jeans 2 sizes smaller than the ones I wore before going on my diet.
Sweet.
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“Art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to your moments as they pass.”
Walter H. Pater
I love this quote.
Yep, there’s always a nice debate about “meaning”, or “message” in plays. Sure, there’s often a big deep message, some important themes. Sometimes there isn’t, and it’s just a distraction – escapism to let us be somewhere else for a while. I personally like both kinds, and I really believe that a mixture of the two is the best. Who wants CONSTANT introspection? And who wants nothing but frothy silliness? Not me.
Still, no matter where your preferences may be in that debate, I believe that the quote above applies to ALL types of theatre. Whether the show is there to help you reconnect with a part of you that needs a nudge, or whether it tackles giant sociopolitical-economic issues, or whether it just gives you the opportunity to smile and forget your world for a couple hours, the sentiment behind the quote works. It’s a sentiment that lays down a challenge, too: don’t let your art be just good – make it Very Good. Highest Quality.
After all, all of our moments ARE passing – shouldn’t we fill them with worthwhile, joyful things?
Yes. Yes, we should.
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At The Williamston Theatre, when you enter the theatre from the front lobby, normally you’re Stage Left and looking over and past the stage, to the Stage Right seating bank.
Right now, when you enter the theatre, what you see is this:
That’s the big sheet of plastic that the construction guys have put up, to protect the theatre space and the rest of the seating banks. (You can see a couple of our red theatre seats of the front row/center section on the bottom left of the picture!)
The plastic is necessary, because the seating bank that WAS Stage Right, along with the women’s restroom that used to be the reason that we could only have two rows of seats there, now look like this:
Yep, the restroom and old seating bank are GONE! Neat! The shot above is taken from the door of the Light Booth, looking straight out. The sheet of plastic and the rest of the theatre is off to the right.
Below is a shot from directly across from where the above pic was taken.
This shot is looking directly toward the light booth, from Upstage to Downstage, where the new and improved stage right seating bank will soon be located. If I took this shot in a week, it’d be looking over a whole bunch of beautiful red theatre seats!
It may not be much to look at right now but, in a few days, it’s going to be fantastic!
I had a box of Kleenex in the backseat of my car. (I have two kids – tissues are ALWAYS handy.)
One of the kids sat on the box recently, flattening and ripping it. Since it was ruined, they did the natural thing: put the big pile of tissues that used to live in the box into a nice stack in the rear-window ledge of my car.
This morning, alone on my nice long drive, I opened my window to enjoy some fresh air.
The pile of tissues immediately began swirling around my car, blowing EVERYWHERE, just riding the wind!
It was totally cool.
I drove for a minute, completely enjoying it. Eventually I had to stop and gather them, and throw them away, but I now know EXACTLY what it would be like to drive inside a snowglobe.
Awesome.
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Tony Caselli 