In trying to get last minute additions to our set, I was trying to decorate some torch holders with the lion from the Crest of Henry II.   Very intricate lion for me to cut out.  I’ve never had good sissors skills.   To top it off, I’m trying to make it about  5.5 to 7 inches long.  Hmm that’s not going to work for me.

So what did I do?  I passed this project on to my youngest daughter.  She must have passed the scissors portion of art in Kindergarten.  Since I never went to Kindergarten, I missed that class entirely.

Final projects, line and character touch ups, clean up for the theather are all things we do the week before the play begins.   We need a few additions to our costumes (shoes).  Maybe an addtional knife or two (yes, sharp, pointy, dangerous things).  And of course a heavy helping of vitamins,  cold remedies and anything else you can think of so that the cast remains healthy and able for the entire production.

Chrunch week is here, and all I want to know is:  “Where are my lions?”

GO TO A SHOW!!!

I received an email from my college roomate.  It has been 28 years since we graduated from college, and we still try to stay in touch.  He was a religion and history major in school with an avid interest in music, theater and comic books.  I was a Math/Computer major with an interest in girls and role playing games.   How the two of us ever got along is a mystery to me.  I was on stage once and vowed never to do it again.

Today, I’m a computer nerd (yes, I get paid for that), father and theater geek.  He is a minister in Chicago and hasn’t been on stage since College.   I’ve been in many shows since 1997, and I’m involved in another as I write this.  The email from my roommate today was a surprise for me.  He tried out for a local Chicago production of Cinderella.    He got the role of the King.  He always had a wonderful singing voice and good acting skills.   I may just have to make the trip to Chicago to watch it.

Anyone up for a roadtrip?

There usually is a point during show rehearsals when the cast and directors know they have a show. Sometimes that point doesn’t come until the last dress rehearsal, and there are times it never comes. The show I’m in now had that point twice. Because of our extensive scene changes (they are getting better, and we got more help), we split the show into two nights to work on both acts. Both acts came together this week.

On Sunday, I wasn’t sure if the show was going to be there. There was a problem or two that just had things feeling wrong. The hows and the whys are unimportant, but that was a bad feeling for the show. I’m glad things came together this week. Since our show starts in a little over a week, it is nice to feel good about the whole thing.

I’m actually looking forward to our double tech Sunday. For those not in the know, it is the day we work out most of the last kinks. Technical kinks, wardrobe kinks, and even the acting kinks. We run through the complete show twice. It makes for a very long day, but when the show is going well, it goes by quickly.

First audience will be Wednesday (some school kids I think), and Opening next week Friday. All signs are pointing to an enjoyable show. I hope some of my readers can make it to a show. Check the side bars for the link to the playhouse.

Yesterday was a long and tiring rehearsal. New scene changes, missing actor, multiple acts run again. It was not the best rehearsal.

I was due to be with friends watching the Academy Awards last night. I wasn’t in the mood for any sort of gathering. All I wanted was food, relaxation and then sleep. I was grumpy, crabby, tired and hungry by the end of rehearsal. I was sure I wouldn’t have been the best company while watching an award show. It was actually hard skipping the party, but my body almost demanded it.

After a quick bite to eat with my daughter, we went home and I started a fire in the fireplace. For just I bit I sat down near the fire, and stared at the flames. It had a very calming influence. I went to bed early and actually missed the award show.

Today, I felt a bit bad about not showing up. My grumpy, crabby self was well relaxed and ready to go. I’m sure I would have had fun at the gathering, but I’m also sure I would have paid for it today. Sometimes, I guess, I just need to listen to what my body is telling me. Food, rest and then sleep was definitely called for.

I hope everyone had fun at the party. I had a relaxing evening after a trying afternoon.

I did have a post about Saturday Night in Toledo Ohio a while ago, but tonight I spent my time in Bryan Ohio. First at our theater’s new Weekenders productions. I would recommend these to anyone. It was a fun night. This was my first visit to something that has been going on for a little over a month. It could be comedy, singing or a little acting, but if they are all like tonight, it is a whole lot of fun.

Then a little impromptu visit to a local establishment across from the little theater. Had fun visiting with friends. I’m not one for the bar scene, but we almost had the place to ourselves. Quiet night in Bryan. If it hadn’t been for all the snow, I think the sidewalks would have been rolled up. 😉

For those readers who aren’t regulars of the WCCT, check out the link on this page. A lot of fun things are happening in either Bryan or Montpelier.

Two week count down to opening night for “The Lion in Winter”. I would love to see you there (really).

More Weekenders will be scheduled. More great shows coming up.

It seems that taking a few days off from this blog caused a bit of concern from a couple of friends. I know I hit 50 and it is all downhill from there. 😉

For those who desire to know, I have been spending a bit less time on the computer and working on the lines I need for The Lion in Winter. Last Sunday was the first complete rehearsal without books. I was trying to get all my lines in place before then. I had most of them, but had problems with two scenes. I got through the Sunday rehearsal Ok, so by the start of the show I should be very comfortable. Now that is a bit of a concern for me, because I’ve never been this comfortable with my lines this early. Now, I did know most of the lines for one other show I was in, but because of the role, I was never completely comfortable with them. I really feel comfortable with these lines, that is different and a bit of a worry for me. Really, that is a good thing, I never want to be comfortable in a role. The bit of nervousness gives a role its life.

I am also working on a complete list of my 50 most important life moments. It was much harder than I thought. I’ve had so many important things happen in my life, and it has been difficult to put them in some sort of order.

Back to the lines…

Ok, not quite yet, but soon. To prevent too many facial hair similarities on stage, I volunteered again to shape, shave or grow out my beard. The final decisions by myself and our esteemed directors is for me to have a full goatee. Do I mind? Not really. I tend to view the hair on my head and face as part of the character I present to the audience. I’ve grayed my hair, shaved my beard and even offered to shave my head for one show. Almost anything for the arts. There are a few things I won’t do for community theater, but so far no one has asked me to do any of those things.

My only real concern with shaving of the facial hair is the current temperatures in NW Ohio. I am going to have to remove some of my natural insulation. It is amazing how much more warmth I have with a full beard. Why oh why didn’t I always have it? The answer to that is simple, I couldn’t grow one for many years. My youngest is now 17 and she doesn’t remember too many times when I’ve been beardless. I have what I call a lazy man’s beard. I don’t shave because it saves me time. Plain and simple. Now that I’ve had this beard for most of the last 17 years, I am comfortable with it. I feel more comfortable when I have a beard. It has become part of who I am now. As with the characters on the stage, my beard is part of my character.

When it is shaved and trimmed I may have to share a picture witm my wonderful readers….

As jamiahsh so aptly put in his blog, the talent show last night was exactly as advertised. I won’t say it was too much prayer, since a local church was the host, facilitator, and the final say in all things. It was their show. Also most of the talent was from local church groups, it was bound to be a religious event. That being said the talent supplied a very good show.

My bias to my youngest and her group does not prevent me from saying they were not the best group out there. I do believe one member of the group was the best talent in the event. A wonderful performance on the violin. My musical skills are almost nonexistent. I tend to notice flaws in performances by watching the face of the performer. If this young lady made a mistake while playing, her face and body language never showed it. For me it was a flawless performance.

The young lady who sang the selection from “Phantom of the Opera” also blew me away. I don’t care for that type of music, and really never appreciated the show, so this is saying something. She would have been my second place finisher.

The praise group that performed an inspirational skit to music was also very good. I could acknowledge the hard work and talent that went into the performance, but it did not have the spiritual affect on me that it had on so many others in the audience. A fine performance, surely in my top 5, but not my first place choice at all. Number 3, sure I could see that. They did have home field advantage and I’m very certain that threw them into first place.

This was a mostly entertaining show. I do feel the judges have watched to much reality TV. It was as if they thought more of their commentary than they did of the performance. So many times I was very confused by the commentary and following scores. Like I said, I know very little about music, but I do understand human nature. I feel they wanted to give each performer a sense of worth, but then gave their real feelings with the scores. I can’t help but feel that this confused the performers as much as it did some of the audience.

This was a 3 hour show, and it could have been cut down to two hours without some of the judges banter. Their were family, friends and community members in the audience. I’m sure they really couldn’t have cared less about the judges’ opinions. They wanted to see the performance.

Now one final thing. This was definitely a way to showcase the talent in the area, but it was also a fund raiser. A perfect formula for a fund raiser too. Lots of talented young people of High School age and younger given a chance to appear in a individual showcase of talent. This brings in a lot of family and friends. The auditorium was full. At 6 to 10 dollars a head, this was a very good fund raiser. One suggestion for them in the future. Open up the try outs for a good will offering. Many groups did not get in to the final show. I’m sure many more family members would have wanted to see that.

As for the YouTube… I would need to check on that. Too many minors in the acts. Trying to get permission of the talent and/or parents involved?? We are a small community, and I’m sure many parents would be against having their kids on the internet. If I can talk my youngest into letting me, I can get her vocals on YouTube, but only with her permission.

Fun evening except for the judges…

But a prince ain’t bad either.  First rehearsal after the read through.  It is interesesting how everyone is getting into their characters.  We have a good cast, and we already developing some very intresting personallities.  Should be a lot of fun.   

I have some verly good lines and good interaction with the other actors.  As with all my acting experiences, I hope to learn something in this stage experience.  With the actors on stage and the directors out in front, I’m sure it will happen again.

Now just a bit of trivia, while the line “It’s good to be the king” is not said exactly in this play, the sentiment is there.  This line was said often in a couple of Mel Brooks’ movies and one of his stage plays.  Extra point for any who can name all three and another movie that used the line.

I usually spend Saturday evenings at my oldest daughter’s house.  This is 1 hour away from where I live, so it is a bit of a drive to get home.  We go late into the evening playing all sort of games, the normal game is some sort of ‘role playing’ game.   The games are always fun for me, but that is not the focus of this post.

Nope, the focus is my thoughts on the drive home, and the 45 minutes to an hour I need to spend to ‘unfocus’ from my drive home.  Driving late at night, I push my body awake.  Kind of like a coffee kick without the coffee.  I can just force myself to be alert, unless I’m really very tired.  This comes in very handy on long drives, or other activities that need my full attention.  It is a ‘gift’ I’ve always had.   As with all gifts, there is a downside.  It does take some time to unwind.

Anyway after all this, I was thinking on the drive home about where I am in life.  I am an only parent, but my daughters are  growing up.  Two are married and out of the house, one is engaged to be married soon, the youngest is now a senior in High School, just months from turning 18.  They don’t need their dad as much as they did 5 short years ago.   I’ve been a widower for 5 years, so in most peoples eyes I would be considered single.  I won’t go into the ins and outs of all the differences with this label, but for me, I prefer the widower label to the single label.  I never made the choice to be alone, it was kind of forced on me.  That in and of itself is enough for me.

I now know of some people trying to ‘set me up’.   Dating, while it has crossed my mind, isn’t my main concern.  I’m not out there looking.  If someone falls in my lap, so to speak, I guess I wouldn’t mind.  But looking for someone to be with is not my primary goal right now.  I have good friends, wonderful daughters, somewhat strange, but likable family, and hobbies that keep my mind occupied.  I’ve been busy trying to find out who I am.  For so many years I was part of a well oiled team.  That team got split up, and now I’m a solo act.  I’m just starting to find out what is important to me.  There really hasn’t been any time to spend dating.  I’m not even sure I want to go through the hassle of getting to know someone again.  Never enjoyed that when younger, I’m fairly certain I won’t now.  My wife and I kind of just clicked together.  Not from the first meeting, but within a few dates, it was like we knew each other forever.   Spent 20 years both knowing her and getting to know her better, not a bad way to spend 20 years.   Now, I’m not even sure what I would be looking for, but then again, I wasn’t sure 25+ years ago either.

I was also thinking about my weekly gaming sessions at my daughter’s house.  Does this infringe on the time I should be spending with the two younger daughter still (at least somewhat) in the ‘nest’?   Do they need more of my time, or is this a good use of my time.   I tend to enjoy the gaming, and it does relax me.  Good point in dealing with the day to day troubles/situations my two at home can give me.   I’m thinking I should just talk to the other 2 involved.  Yep, that is the answer there.

Also thinking about how much time I should spend with the theater.  Yes, I’m currently preparing for a show, I’m on the production board, I tend to volunteer for other projects.  Am I spending too much time there?

Do I spend too much time blogging?  Yes, sometimes I do.  (like now)  Could I use time better?  Sure.  Are other interests suffering from this?   You betcha.  But this is the place I clear my head, so I have more room to fit all the other stuff going on.  Doesn’t need to be a daily habit, but the clearing is beneficial.

Yes, all this and more went through my brain on an hour drive.   Now I’ve relaxed and I’m able to get much needed rest.   Read through at the playhouse later this afternoon.