What's wrong with "The Play that Goes Wrong" - MAJOR spoiler alert!

The Chief & I found ourselves in NYC over the weekend and managed to find time to see The Play That Goes Wrong.  I knew people who'd seen and loved it, found it very funny.  We didn't; yes, it had its moments, but a "gut-busting" laugh riot?  No.

Warning:  The rest of this post will be full of spoilers.

The premise is a fairly incompetent college/university dramatic society putting on a murder mystery.  Two of the "stagehands" end up getting pulled into the action, at first reluctantly, but then deciding they like it when the audience applauds for them.  The character playing Cecil is your worst ham, smiling at the audience or repeating a bit if they applaud.  Funny the first time or two, but it can get old.

As you can guess from the title, the whole play is full of one mishap or disaster after another.  In fact, the whole "plot" is merely a vehicle to carry as many actor's and tech's nightmares as possible.  This means you find yourself wondering what's going to go wrong next, and when.  As a result, pretty much every performer on stage has to be good at (sometimes very) physical comedy, which probably left most of them with a whole lotta bruises.  The cast we saw did an excellent job at physical comedy, especially Maggie Weston and Matt Walker (Florence and Cecil).  Maggie got dragged upside-down & sideways through a window in Act I, and Matt took pratfalls, executed somersaults, walked into things face first, and generally made it look as though he'd be black and blue from head to toe by the next morning.

The set includes a platform, appropriately furnished, that represents an upstairs study.  Over the course of the play the downstage end drops a few inches two or three times, while there are people standing on it.  My first thought was "Are they OK?!"  Now of course I know that there is no way such a bit of business was allowed without making completely sure they could pull it off safely.  Still, it would be so easy for something unscripted to go wrong that I couldn't relax, for the performers' sake.

There were a few moments when something would happen or someone would say something and the people on stage would pause, or they would draw out a sight gag, milking it for all it was worth.  I know it was done for comic effect, but I felt that in most cases they let it go on too long.

The performers did do a good job, but they were upstaged by the special effects of the disasters.  Those were so well staged (the shifting platform, a trick floorboard, things falling off walls, and so many more) that it's easy to see why the set won a Tony.  The engineering involved in creating those effects so they could be controlled with exquisite timing was impressive!  (We couldn't help but wonder how long it takes the crew to reset everything for the next performance.)

There were a lot of references to actor's nightmares (e.g., an actor redelivering a line, causing everyone else to repeat a scene) and tech's nightmares (a stagelight sparking as its support falls), but a whole play based almost entirely on stringing them together was a lot funnier to the people coming up with the idea than it was to at least these two members of their audience.

"Wig school" was so much fun!

DePaul University's Theater dept. offers a week-long wig styling & maintenance class, which I attended at the end of June.  There were only 7 of us, plus 2 students who worked in the university wig shop and were assisting the instructors.

I was a little intimidated to learn that I was the only amateur in the class.  Everyone else was a theater professional, most of them in some aspect of costuming (cutter, draper, wardrobe) who wanted or needed to learn about wigs because they sometimes got tapped for "wig duty" for one show or another.  Two of us had also taken the wig-making class taught the week before.  I might consider taking it in some future year, but for now this was plenty.

They showed us SO MUCH!  The size curls you get from different rollers, ways to color a wig (temporarily or permanently), how to wash a wig, how to wear and clean the lace on lace-front wigs, how to do your own wefts, how to do fingerwaves, and so much more.  Most of our time, however, was spent on styling wigs - setting the styles, drying them, brushing them out, then styling them.  I wasn't terribly successful - only got 2 right on my first try - but I took a lot of notes on what I didn't like and how to fix it, which is probably more helpful.

It was very productive, in that sense - we each styled at least 5 wigs in just 5 days' time:  an 18th-century man's wig, a modern man's wig, and at least 3 add'l styles (1940s, 1640s, and pre-Raphaelite for me).  I took so many pictures that I actually maxed out the data usage on my phone, for the first time since I got it 3 years ago.

Now I want to re-do some of the wigs I styled for my spring shows - the 1920s curls would look better, the 1780s "hedgehog" wigs would be bigger, bushier, and generally better.  As for the Duke's buckles, well, my first lesson was to use yak hair instead of the slippery, silky, static-y stuff on the wig I was trying to work with.  (Those side curls were the bane of my existence - I had to reset them for every performance!)

Gimme a period show to style, somebody, please!  I'm itching to use all my newfound knowledge! 😁

Another lovely birthday bash

Several years ago we learned that my former pastor and the Chief both have July birthdays, so we started having joint birthday parties.  Sometimes it was just the 3 of us, sometimes more; sometimes we grilled, or cooked in, and last year we experimented with having an Italian place cater it.  (Not bad, but not as good as we'd hoped.)  This year the Chief decided he wanted to host a group for lunch at the Italian place.

Today 10 of us assembled at noon and filled up a round table, so we could all face each other.  The restaurant serves groups of 8+ family style.  This meant that we chose a salad, an appetizer, 2 pasta dishes, 2 meat dishes, and 2 desserts for the table to share.  They brought out 2 plates of each item, with the salad & appetizer coming out together, and starting around the table.  We quickly found that passing the dishes around, and "who wants the last stuffed mushroom?" or "anyone want more lasagna?" only added to the fun.

Not only were we celebrating the 2 birthdays, but 2 of our number were newlyweds, adding to the fun.  M, who's a talented photographer, got pictures of everyone on her phone, including the plate of pretty little cookies w/ lit tapers anchored in a strawberry, presented to each of the birthday boys.

The service was leisurely, which was just fine - we had a group that didn't get to gather nearly often enough, and the new groom was new to most of us, so we had time to get past introductions.

What a wonderful way to pass nearly 3 hours on a perfect summer afternoon - the day was not too hot, the humidity was (finally) low, and there was a nice breeze.  The Chief is already talking about what he wants to do next year - go back to this restaurant, find a different one, or do something here at the house?

Practicing theatrical owies

The director for this show wants 3 of the characters to look a bit the worse for wear when they make their entrance at the end of Act II (they've been in prison).  To practice that makeup, I gave myself a black eye last night.  Not as realistic as it could be, but not bad for a first effort.

Tools of the trade

You should see the other guy! 😁

What a semester it's been!

It's been a very busy semester musically.  The MT workshop did 2 cabarets and performed at the university's annual "open house" (every department pulls out the stops to entertain and advertise to family, friends, neighbors, and more).  The concert choir sang a world premiere with one orchestra the week before spring break (good thing my boot was "concert black"), then sang with a 2nd orchestra at the end of the semester, including a performance at CARNEGIE HALL!!!

I learned a lot, sang a lot, and generally had a good time.  Good thing I only took those 2 classes or it would have been a lot more stressful.

More crocuses!

Maybe because the winter has been SO wet, my crocuses seem to have generated more new ones than usual this spring.  I even have some yellow "volunteers" in the tomato bed, several yards from where I've had any even last year.  Looks like I'll be doing some separating come fall. 

While I'm at it, I may plant some snowdrops too, so I'll have flowers that much sooner.

New "shoes"

I have new "shoes" as of last week

I've been dealing w/ plantar's fasciitis since at least December, but a coupla weeks ago it was getting worse.  (Dancing a cachucha barefoot in Gondoliers' Act II probably didn't help.)  My GP sent me to a podiatrist, who told me that, in addition to the plantar's fasciitis, I have 3 inflamed metatarsals.  Who knew bones could become inflamed?!?  Anyway, left untreated, the periostitis could become a stress fracture!  He sent me home in the boot on the left. and told me to get the night splint on the right in the pic.  I have to wear the night splint to bed, to keep my foot flexed and stretch the plantar's fascia.  Yes,  it's as uncomfortable as it looks.  I've been wearing it since Friday night, but only last night did I finally get the straps adjusted so they're tight enough to keep the thing on but not so tight they dig into my foot.  Next goal - sleeping through the night.  Wish me luck!

MT workshop has only met twice and I'm already learning a lot

The Musical Theater Workshop I'm taking this semester meets once a week for a 3-hour class period.  We've only met twice so far, but already I'm getting a new perspective on auditioning and performing an audition piece, and about how I need to rethink both.

I've sung in choirs and choruses on and off, but mostly on, since grade school.  That's a LOT of singing, but no instruction on technique.  It wasn't until I was fairly well established in my career, and had done community theater with a lot of excellent singers, that I decided I both wanted and could afford to take voice lessons.  Over the ensuing coupla decades, most of those lessons have been remedial work - unlearning all the bad habits I developed because a choir director doesn't have time to correct singers' vocal production techniques.  Only recently have I gotten to be a singer, not just someone who likes singing.

This class has already shown me that I've spent so much time working and concentrating on my technique that I focus on that when I sing, whether in performance or audition.  They don't care about my technique (unless it's awful, of course); they want to hear me put my heart & soul into what I'm singing, bring it to life.  A pretty voice is all well & good, but directors want to cast someone who inhabits the music.  Now that I realize that, I need to work on trusting my technique to take care of itself while I learn how to really deliver a song.

Cancer, the serial killer, is at it again

Not only is the Chief undergoing treatment for cancer, but a friend's MIL has a stage-4 diagnosis, and another friend at church was recently diagnosed and will soon start chemo.  One of her daughters, also a church friend, lost her husband to cancer just a few years ago, so she's having a particularly difficult time of it.

Last week, a couple we know who for the past decade or more have done fund-raiser bike rides for cancer research came to the show I was teching.  (She's a cancer survivor.)  I shared about how VERY many people the Chief & I know who have had cancer, and how many we've lost to it.  "Kill it with fire!  Bury it with a mouthful of garlic and several stakes through its heart!"

This is the first January in 3 or 4 years when we haven't attended a funeral.  When I start to think of all the people I've known who've dealt with cancer, I keep thinking of more - there are SO MANY.  😢

Wow, it's been a while!

Let's see, what's been keeping me busy?

1. overlapping shows since October
2. the news that the Chief's cancer is back
3. dealing with all his pre-treatment tests and assessments
4. a relatively last-minute decision to host another Christmas open house, once we knew the Chief's medical schedule
5. a quick trip to visit my family over the weekend between Christmas and New Year's
6. a show that loaded in the first weekend in January
7. rehearsal and design work for my late-February show
8. TONS of pre-class homework for my musical theater workshop

Yep, been busy lately.

staying local for Christmas

The Chief and I just decided that, given the schedule for all his medical stuff, we won't be traveling this Christmas.  I'm disappointed - I haven't been home since my aunt's funeral in February - but as I told the Chief, I want to celebrate Christmas with him.

Hellish tech week

Here I am, doing hair & makeup on another community theater play; just 7 performers in this one.  It's been a tough tech week, though; here it is Wednesday, just one rehearsal left, and the cue-to-cue (usually the Sunday before opening) was tonight!  Worse, this was also the first night w/ costumes and only some hair & makeup for the cast.  Kinda hard to see what your makeup looks like under the lights if you aren't wearing any!  This ain't Broadway; you bring your own supplies, and if you forget 'em, well, that's on you.  The backstage masking is terrible, too; too many places where the audience can see backstage, leaving nowhere for cast or crew to hide.

Tomorrow night is our final rehearsal before they do this for an audience.  Here's hoping we can fix all the glitches...

Yamachiche and Village des Caron

Yep, Village des Caron, no S on the end.  Nine sons of Michel Caron, son of pioneer Robert Caron, settled here, hence the name.  The Chemin des Caron, which runs right past where the Village des Caron used to be, is still there.  Now, though, it just runs past a string of small farms and ends in a cul de sac in the middle of a field (or maybe the line between 2 fields; hard to tell, and we didn't want to risk getting mired in mud to find out).

The (ghost) village is just north of Yamachiche, itself a very small town - one church, one school, no grocery store, and the only gas station is where the main street intersects the nearest highway, on the extreme western end of town.  The one sit-down restaurant is attached to a motel by that lone gas station, is open 24 hours, and is along the lines of Big Boy or Denny's. 

Low-end restaurants, in our limited experience, all seem to run to burgers, pizza, at least one or two pasta dishes, and poutine.  They all have poutine, often in different variations.  Even the Greek restaurant where we had dinner tonight had poutine on the menu.

Another thing we've noticed is that only about half the restaurants seem to be licensed to sell alcohol.  The rest all tell you to bring your own wine, which seems to mean there's at least one liquor store nearby where you can buy a bottle to take to dinner.   We haven't noticed anyone bringing beer; don't know whether that's a social custom, preference, or something else.  Makes me wonder how the liquor laws are written here, and whether we'll see many BYOB restaurants when we get to Quebec.

We attended the vigil mass at Notre-Dame-du-Cap, about 2 blocks from our hotel.  It's a basilica, so it's big, though not as big as other basilicas we've seen.  Which is fine; it means the back rows can still see the altar.  The order of service was a little different; for one thing, they only did two readings, not three.  The second half of the eucharistic prayer didn't match the first half in the missalette, many of the prayers weren't even printed in it, and the hymnals only had the lyrics, no musical notation.  They also recited the Apostle's rather than the Nicene creed, but that's a minor matter.  The Chief said he felt like he hadn't really been to mass because he couldn't follow things but also because it seemed like they skipped things.

The Greek restaurant where we ate tonight was not like the ones we're used to in the States.  Spanakopita was only available as an appetizer, the only lamb was chops, and they didn't offer many of the mains that are standard on Greek menus in the US (no pastitsio, moussaka, fish offerings, or roast lamb).  Our dinners were so filling - served on a bed of Greek salad and fries, with a side of garlic bread - we didn't even consider dessert.  This particular place was also very noisy - the Chief and I didn't bother trying to hold a conversation.  To their credit, though, they squeezed us in even though we didn't have a reservation.

More time in the Archives

We got to the Archives about 10:45 this morning and started right in on researching the Chief's family.  They kicked us out for an hour at noon because they close for lunch, so we ate in a nearby cafe.  Ciabatta sandwiches with ham, brie & apple were very good; only change I'd make would be the bread.  We also split a piece of carrot cake, which was nice and carrot-y and not overly sweet.  A man obviously down on his luck came in while we were eating and the Chief acted in typical fashion.  He went up to a cashier, gave her a $20 and told her to use it for whatever the man wanted to eat, then to give the man the change.

We went back to the Archives for another 2 1/2 hours before packing it in for the day.  We thanked the staff for their help, and Eric reminded us that we'll still have account access when we get to the Archives in Quebec.

We stopped at 2 different grocery stores to pick up things for dinner, then took our haul back to the hotel.  We started with happy hour:  wine (for me) and beer (for the Chief) and cheese & crackers on the balcony.  Beautiful day for it - nice and sunny, with a mild breeze.  Dinner was chicken legs and broccoli salad, followed by an oatmeal raisin cookie (with no detectable cinnamon).

Tomorrow we're off to Yamachiche to see if there's anything worth seeing there and to see a few places named for the Chief's ancestors.  Sure hope the weather holds...

Trois-Rivieres, Quebec

The Chief and I took two days to drive up here.  Ten hours on the road the first day, driving in rain pretty much the whole way.  We pushed all the way to Albany before stopping for lunch, by which time we were SO ready to get outta the car!  That was the worst of it, though; we got into Bennington, VT, around 4 for an overnight stop.  The Autumn Inn is an older, mom-and-pop motel.  Not very fancy, but clean and convenient, and they were very anxious to be sure they complied with our "no down bedding request."

Wednesday we left before breakfast at the motel, but we had some pretzel rolls to eat in the car.  We took our time, stopping briefly in Wilmington, VT (very pretty little town) to get some Dunkin coffee for the Chief and to stop into Our Lady of Fatima church because the architecture caught my eye.

More importantly, we stopped at King Arthur Flour in Norwich!  We got a nosh in the cafe, then went into the store.  The Chief opted for a mini-scone pan and scone mix, while I got a few ingredients and a flour-sack dishtowel.  We went into Norwich proper to top up the gas tank and drop a clothing return at the post office.  What a postcard-perfect little town - very New England.

Crossing the border into Canada was almost a non-event.  We gave the guard our passports & second ID, he asked us where we were going and how long we expected to be in Canada, asked if we had any weapons, and that was it. 

We stopped in Sherbrooke looking for the tourist info office.  It was further into town than we could have wished, and there seemed to be roadwork every other block, but we made it.  It's a tiny little building on the Magog River - lovely view.  We picked up a few brochures, then headed on to Trois-Rivieres.  Waze wasn't working - we learned the next day our phones didn't have connectivity in Canada. (My phone now does.) but Gladys got us to our hotel.

L'Auberge Familiale La Veranda is another older place, not a chain, but the woman who checked us in was very nice, gave us a bigger room than we'd booked, at the same price.  The sprinklers are apparently a retrofit - they only run around the perimeter of the room, so there's one in the shower and one above the upper kitchen cabinet in the kitchenette.  The room is a bit on the warm side, so we've been using the ceiling fans to make it more comfortable.  However, the mattress is nice and firm, and we have not just one, but two small fridges and ample storage.

Yesterday we ventured into downtown Trois-Rivieres.  We started at the tourist info office, got a nice lunch, then went to the Archives, the reason we added Trois-Rivieres to our itinerary.  Archivist Eric Lamothe-Cyrenne was very helpful - showed us how to use their database, got us guest accounts for it that are good until we leave Quebec, pulled out some old maps for us to examine, even helped me with a few French terms.  We finished up around 4, then walked around downtown for an hour or so.

We started at the quay, walking along the water and the waterfront park, then venturing into the neighborhoods, admiring the range of architecture and plantings.  Had the prettiest little orange-and-white cat come up to us while we were exploring the Anglican cemetery. For some reason, he decided *I* needed to give him scritches, not the Chief, the one who's not allergic to cats. I gave in - first time in ages I've dared to pet a cat. (Thanks to liberal application of hand sanitizer, I didn't have a reaction.)  Dinner at Moose Grill & Pub, then back to our hotel for the night.  (Where the Chief binge-watched news about the Kavanaugh hearing and I tried to ignore it.)

Just got my first paid wedding gig!

I had auditioned for a temporary church job, didn't get it because the Chief & I will be on vacation for almost half the time they wanted to cover.  However, the email telling me that also asked if I'd be interested in cantoring a wedding next Saturday afternoon.  Sure thing!  Only cantoring, not soloing, but it pays.  Woo-hoo!  I'm gonna be a wedding singer! 😊

Another Sing-Out!

It's that time again!  Every 5 years, the theater company I keep coming back to hosts a marathon Gilbert & Sullivan sing-along over Labor Day weekend.  You sing through all the music (but none of the dialogue) of all 13 surviving G&S shows.  (Their first collaboration, Thespis, or the Gods Grown Old, survives only in fragments.) 

This will be the 3rd sing-out for which the host company will present one of those shows in a semi-staged, concert version, with a full orchestra on stage w/ the singers, and the principals in costume.  The company chose Utopia, Limited and The Grand Duke for these concerts because those two are rarely done.  When we presented Grand Duke for the first concert production 10 years ago, the response was so positive that we ended up staging it in 2010.  The response to Utopia 5 years ago was similarly positive and apparently the company did consider staging it, but Utopia is harder to cast because it requires so many strong male voices - eleven!

The standard format is to break the shows into blocks for which people can register as participants, or buy tickets as audience members.  Friday night opens with the singing of "Hail Poetry" from The Pirates of Penzance - sort of an unofficial G&S "national anthem," if you will.  Three shows follow.  Saturday is the one full day - a 3-show block in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and the concert production and one other show after dinner.  Sunday wraps up with the remaining 3 shows, traditionally closing with The Gondoliers because the finale lyrics "leave you with feelings of pleasure."

Attendees come from up and down the eastern United States, the Midwest, the South, and sometimes even from Canada and the UK.  You get hardcore G&S scholars and fans, people who are completely new to G&S and the way the "veterans" quote from the shows, and everyone in between.  We have second-generation attendees, couples who met doing one G&S show or another, and people who've built long-distance friendships over Savoynet, the Gilbert & Sullivan Archive, or the International G&S Festival in England (first in Buxton, now in Harrogate).  Knowing a little G&S can serve as a connection when visiting or moving to new places (that's certainly been my experience), even if you've never had an opportunity to perform.  These sing-alongs are a sort of "family reunion" of G&S fans, of course, but also of opera and music lovers, fans of choral music (Sullivan wrote some rich, rewarding ensemble music for his performers), and those who enjoy wordplay of the sort Gilbert did so well.

I've already loaded my scores (including a few duplicates, just in case) into the cart I'll use for Saturday's marathon, got a hotel room booked near the theater, and am looking forward to singing my brains out this weekend! 😁💓🎵🎶🎵

Instagram 001, anyone?

I created an Instagram account a few weeks ago so I could see the makeup creations of someone George Takei posted about, but didn't touch the account again until this morning.  To my surprise, I've got 15 followers!  They must be disappointed in me; I have no clue how to use Instagram and haven't posted a thing.  Guess I'll hafta do an online search to find an Instagram how-to, or reach out to one of those followers for some instruction. 😊

My Facebook friends are all over the map

While the bulk of my FB friends tend left and are anti-Trump, I also have some Trump supporters in the mix.  Many of my more liberal FB friends have been relishing the recent legal problems of so many of Trump's people (Manafort and Cohen being only the most recent), but one of my pro-Trump friends obviously sees it all as a witch hunt, because that person just shared this:

When I started reading, I thought it was going to be a joke; not so.  It'll be interesting to see how things play out as the Mueller probe continues.  What will we all be thinking a year from now - will we still see things so differently, or will conversations finally become more nuanced?

A first - NOT cooking for a dinner party!

We had our annual July birthday party last month; we're now up to three honorees (the Chief and two clergy friends).  The Chief decided he wanted a larger group, of a dozen or so, and didn't want me killing myself in the kitchen.  As a result, we had an Italian restaurant cater the food.  We ordered 2 packages for 8, so we ended up with 2 kinds of salad, 2 pastas, 2 entrees, ciabatta bread, and a tray of single-serving desserts.

It felt so weird to do NO cooking AT ALL for a party.  We did still have dishes to do afterwards,  because sterling, crystal and good china DO NOT go in the dishwasher, but no dishes to do before guests arrived.  That meant we spent more time decluttering the house and generally getting it ready for company.

The woman who brought the food was very efficient in setting up, and easy to work with.  We're glad we have such a big kitchen island - plenty of room for 3 warming-pan racks, both salad varieties, and the tray of mini-desserts.  (The bread went on the table.)  Everyone loved the food, and the company was convivial as always, so the experiment was mostly a success.

I say "mostly" a success because the Chief & I decided that most of the food we ordered didn't keep too well in the warming pans; several things got dried out or rubbery (although the mushroom ravioli was very good).  We also weren't crazy about most of the desserts.  The chocolate things (chocolate-coated cake?) were popular, but I didn't love them; I liked the mini-cheesecakes and cremes brulees, but the Chief didn't; and the little apple pastries were better heated than room temperature.

The restaurant did a good job - had plenty of sturdy plasticware, deluxe paper napkins, at least 2 red-and-white-checked plastic tablecloths (which we declined), and the salads arrived in plastic bowls with fitted lids, not just plastic wrap.  However, because of the warming pan issue, we decided that next time we'd just make big pots of pasta and sauce and a big vat of salad; no need to have dozens of different offerings.

I love bulbs!

Back this spring I bought several pots of spring flowers - 2 pots of mini-daffodils, 1 of small pink tulips, and 2 of larger tulips, also pink.  This morning I planted the bulbs (didn't want to wait until fall).  To my delight, not only had the daffs multiplied, but the tulip bulbs had "sidecar" bulbs too.  I randomized daffs and tulips in the front of the square patch and planted the bulk of the tulips in the corner by the front door.

I also had some seed-looking things from the dried-up tulips, which I planted in front of the hellebore.  Now to wait until next April to see whether they actually produce anything.

I also did a little weeding.  My lone lavender is loving this crazy weather (record heat for 2 weeks, followed by a week of monsoons).  It produces more leaves than flowers, but the flowers have a lovely, if subtle, fragrance.  I may yet plant more next year.

So much for sleeping in...

The 6th Great Gilbert & Sullivan Sing-Out will be held Labor Day weekend.  Sunday morning is scheduled to start with Utopia, Limited, not one of my favorites, followed by Iolanthe and Gondoliers, which are two of my favorites.  I had planned to skip Utopia and sleep in a little; not going to happen.  The joke's on me.  It turns out I'll be singing the lead contralto in Utopia.  That means that not only do I not get to sleep in, but I'll want to get up a little earlier than I otherwise might, to make sure my voice is awake for Lady Sophy. 😵

Called that one wrong

It seems my Grand Duke audition didn't go nearly as well as I thought.  Not only did I not get the Baroness, but I wasn't even offered one of the comprimario roles.  Ah well, chorus will be easy, given that I've sung the show before.  Not getting a role in Grand Duke means I'm still in the running, at least theoretically, for a role in the Sing-Out.  That announcement will be published sometime Wednesday.

FINALLY starting to nail this singing thing

I've gotten a lot of very encouraging feedback on my singing lately.  First was this semester's jury - the panel's comments were generally very positive.

When I sang my jury pieces for a friend who's a professional singer and voice teacher, he was very complimentary about my musicality, breath, line, and more - all the things I've been working on so hard lately.  He capped it with "You were someone who likes to sing.  Now you're someone who sings."  Coming from him, a person who doesn't give compliments lightly, that means A LOT!  I still do a happy dance when I think of it. 😄

I had an audition the other night and used my Handel jury piece, even though I was auditioning for a G&S show, just to show them what I can do nowadays.  The MD got this look on his face that I chose to interpret as "Wouldya look at what she can do!"  The director hadn't heard me in 7 years and commented on how much "fuller" my voice is now.  I told her I'd been working on it and she said, "It shows."

This morning I led the responsorial psalm at mass and had at least 4 people tell me how beautiful it sounded.

I still have a lot of work to do, getting all my technical stuff to be more automatic and "hard-wired," but I'm finally at the point where the years of voice lessons are starting to pay off.

Recipe - modified rapture

While the Strawberry Cream on Shortbread didn't work out - I'll have to come up with something else to give the new neighbors - the berry trifle I took to this evening's party was a big success.  The cream filling was too thick to work down into the cake (layers were cake/filling/berries, repeat), so the cake was a bit dry.  However, it tasted good, and people were ridiculously impressed with how pretty it looked.  I actually had at least 2 people ask if I measured or used a ruler to place the strawberries!  No, I just placed 'em individually instead of throwing 'em in any old how, the way I did with the berries that don't show. 😄

KAF, you failed me!

Today I tried the King Arthur Flour recipe for Strawberry Cream on Shortbread.  The recipe reviews were quite favorable, with no warnings about the filling.

To my disappointment, the berry puree never set up, so when I folded in the whipped cream, the filling thickened but never solidified, even after 3 or 4 hours in the fridge.  I had made it in a springform pan, but didn't dare release it or I'd've had strawberry glop all over the place.  At the Chief's suggestion, I put it in the freezer before we left for a Fourth party at friends'.  When we came back, nearly 4 hours later, the filling was still a bit soupy in the middle!  I have no idea how long the gelatin had been sitting in the pantry; can gelatin lose its effectiveness?

It also didn't have as strong a strawberry taste as we'd expected.  Maybe it needed a bit more sugar; the recipe gave a range on the sugar amount and I went with the lower amount.

I've tried dozens of KAF recipes over the years and have usually been very happy with them.  Unless I can figure out why the filling never set, though, this one falls into the "don't make again" category. 😕

Design calendar filling up

Just in the past month or so, I've added a few shows to my designer's calendar.  The company for which I'm a board member has me doing their July production.  That one should be easy, as the director & costumer are going for a basic, contemporary look - no special effects of any sort.

A local company I've been trying to get in with has asked me to design their January show.  That one should be easy too - only 4 actors, who will be doing their own hair & makeup.  The only thing special I might need to do will be to show 2 of them how to do age makeup.  Like next month's show, once the actors know what to do, I can step back & enjoy the process.  (Not like Patience, which required special attention every night for a few of the cast members.)

In February I'll be doing The Gondoliers for the one company that actually pays me a design fee.  The only possible problem with that one is that I want to audition for it and I learned from The Merry Widow that designing for a show I'm also in can be something of a juggling act.  Ah well, first I'll audition and see whether I'm cast; then I'll worry about the juggling.

The show I'm most looking forward to working on, though, is for a community theater company with a reputation for high standards.  The play includes a couple of special effects that involve blood.  This will be the first time I've worked with stage blood since my stage makeup class 3 years ago.  More, I'll have to come up with a way for someone to bleed onstage that a) won't make a mess and b) won't stain costumes.  This is gonna be a fun challenge!

Census of this year's garden

We went a little crazy with the plants this year.  The Chief decided to turn our rusted-out grill into a planter, so we filled it with dirt and:
- 3 angelwing begonias
- 3 double impatiens in different colors
- 2 browallias (new to me but suggested by someone on the nursery's staff)
- a variegated ivy
- 2 colors of torenia

I put "medium dark red" geraniums (this color's a keeper!) and a fuchsia Rising Star superbell in the railing planter w/ the annuals.  It's only just getting hot enough for the geraniums so it's too soon to tell whether I'll want to use the same combination next year.

The Chief also repurposed one of the clothesline poles into a trellis.  I just planted a Westerplatte clematis (burgundy) on the east side of it and a Ramona clematis (dark lavender) on the west side.

 

He also spent way too much time assembling our new grill (Kingsford, you need to fire or at least retrain the person writing the assembly manual!) and we got the umbrella "planted" in our patio table, so we're all ready for our first cookout of the season.

Out of the 21 ice plants (delosperma) I put in the front yard, only about 14 or 15 are growing or at least hanging in there.  Fortunately, the nursery will let me return the dead ones!  I do have to dig 'em up and take them back w/ the receipt, but they'll refund the purchase price.  My first choice would be to buy more ice plants; here's hoping they still have some.

What is it with January?!?

The Chief's BIL died of his cancer in mid-January and his widow, the Chief's sister, was put on hospice for hers at about the same time. This is 3 years running that we've had loved ones die, nearly all of them from cancer, in January.  And the Chief's mother got her terminal diagnosis in January.  T.S. Eliot was wrong: April isn't the cruelest month; January is, at least for us.

This year's garden

Our neighbor to the south had to take down a big maple that was between our driveways.  We were hoping that would mean more sun on the tomato bed, but it doesn't look like that'll be the case.  Oh well, I put in 5 tomato plants anyway:  2 Sweet 100s, 1 golden (something), a Steakhouse, and another larger variety.  I also planted an onion that had sprouted; we'll see if it actually grows.

No purslane or sunflowers this year; instead, I've got lantana in the pot I used for lantana last year, and 2 other colors of lantana in the majolica planters that had sunflowers last year.  I'm looking forward to LOTS of butterflies and hummingbirds this year! 😊

I'm putting just 4 pots on the front steps this year.  One pair has angelonia, a tall white flower; melampodium, a short yellow one, and a "quartz mix" verbena that I hope will sort of split the difference between the angelonia and melampodium.  The other pair of flower pots has marigolds from last year's seeds.  I was delighted (and relieved) to see that the seeds started sprouting just a few days after planting.  I'm looking forward to seeing how they do.  One thing's for sure; as long as I keep harvesting seeds and am happy with the varieties I've got, I'll never have to buy marigolds again.

The biggest project so far was digging up a considerable section of the front corner of the yard next to the driveway and a smaller corner by the front door and putting in 21 ice plants (3 or 4 different varieties).  Eventually I want to have the whole patch planted with ice plant so it doesn't need mowing, but that's going to take a few years.  Buying enough plants for the whole patch -  as many as 100 bedding plants! - is more than I want to tackle (or spend) in a single year!

I have two pots of citronella, sold as "mosquito plant".  Maybe it'll keep 'em away, maybe not, but if they don't, at least I'll have 2 pretty plants that smell nice.  I also have some herbs.  My established oregano came back even after it got deadheaded last fall, and I also got a tiny seedling of a syrian variety of it from the local listserv.  I'm trying rosemary yet again, in the same spot as last year.  (I'm ever the optimist.)  In addition, I've got 2 curly parsley plants, 2 basil plants, some thyme, and I want to get some mint to replace the spearmint, which didn't come back this year.

The newest garden project was the Chief's idea.  The grill was so badly rusted out that we had to buy a new one.  We hadn't gotten as far as figuring out what to do with the old one when the Chief saw the flat of bedding plants I had set on the shelf of the old grill and decided to turn the old grill into a planter.  He got some sheet metal to reinforce the bottom and cover the rusted-out places that would be below the dirt line, chose purple for the paint, and is leaving it to me to decide what to plant.  Because he wants to leave the grill in a spot n the backyard that gets shade most of the day, I'll probably go with some combination of begonias, impatiens, coleus, maybe some torenia or asparagus fern.

When you're retired...

Oh, the joys of retirement.  The Chief had his one-year post-op checkup today, after which we stopped for a nice, leisurely lunch.  SO nice to be able to do that sort of thing without having to take time off work. 😊

Kid with a new toy :)

The Chief asked me what I wanted for a graduation/Christmas present and I decided on a food processor.  I found that clean-up wasn't as bad as I'd feared, and we managed to find space to store the thing, but what really converted me was when I made salmon spread for our Christmas party.  (The Chief let me open my present early so I could use it for party prep.)  It takes a long time and a lot of elbow grease to mix the salmon & cream cheese thoroughly by hand.  My new Cuisinart did a more thorough job, and did it in 30 seconds, if that!  It also did a nice job on cookie dough.

Earlier this week I used it to shred cabbage for unstuffed cabbage rolls (I like to make batches of this to have in the freezer for lunches), and today I used it to shred carrots and sweet potatoes for orange soup and sweet potato-black bean chili (more "freezer food" - I'm restocking the freezer this week now that the semester has begun).  I know I've barely scratched the surface of what I can use my food processor for, but I'm beginning to realize why so many people swear by theirs.

Orange soup is something I made up, named for its color, not because there's any citrus in it.  I don't us a recipe so much as instructions:  Sautee onion and garlic in some evoo, add butternut or any other winter squash (I like to use the frozen pureed stuff because it's both easier & cheaper than the cut-up stuff in the store, which goes for $5.99/lb!), a can of pumpkin, a carrot or few, and a sweet potato or two.  I throw in 1/2 tsp of garam masala, let it simmer for a coupla hours, puree it, and freeze in single-serving containers.  When I want some protein, I throw in some thawed salad shrimp for the last minute or two of heating.  Yum, yum, yum!

Wig laundry

I'm designing hair & makeup for The Merry Widow, set in 1895.  Almost none of the women in the cast have hair long enough to approximate 1895 styles, which means wigs for the rest of us.  Fortunately, the company has dozens.  After spending a few hours going through them all, I found 7 that might work.  However, you can tell they've been stored in a non-climate-controlled space (musty at best), which means I wanted to wash them before making anyone wear them.  Here's a kitchen sink full of wigs:

And here are 6 of them, set out to dry:

Final semester as an undergrad (this time)

I graduate with my 2 BA in just a few weeks!  Yesterday I got an email from my department asking me to speak at the department's graduation ceremony!  They'd nominated me for an award which I didn't get (but I was the Theater department's nominee, which was a nice surprise), so maybe this is their way of singling me out.  I've joked about being their oldest undergrad (heck, I'm probably their oldest student, undergrad or graduate, now that J received her MFA this spring), so I'm already a little different from their usual student speakers.  Now to come up with something to talk about that won't put my audience to sleep or make them roll their eyes... 😉

Been a busy semester

I realized earlier this week that the reason I'm more exhausted than usual this close to finals is that I've had very few free evenings.  First it was Antigone - rehearsals 5 nights a week from the first day of classes until tech, then the run - 9 performances in 8 days!  That closed the night before my birthday.  Then, on Halloween, I started crewing for the next show, with strike the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  The Sunday after Thanksgiving started "tech" for the Mozart Requiem concerts, which wrap up tomorrow.  Oh, and Merry Widow rehearsals started up the weekend before Thanksgiving.

All this contributed to my nearly entirely dropping the ball on one of my assignments, and has me behind on my 2 term papers and prepping for my voice jury.  Fortunately, the term papers only have to be about 6 pages.  One of those is a history paper, so the hardest thing about that one will be deciding what information makes the cut to be included.  The other is a lot more subjective, but I also have a few more days for that one, so I'm not too worried about it.

2017 continues to pile on

Let's see -

• neighbor & friend lost to cancer about 4 days apart in January
• Chief's brother, sister and her husband all dealing with various cancers
• Chief diagnosed w/ cancer at end of March, surgery at end of May
• two friends widowed very suddenly, about a month apart
• cousin diagnosed w/ cancer, died 3 weeks later!
• SIL and her husband both having to keep going after their cancers, which don't want to stay treated.

I think we could be forgiven for feeling like the universe is sorta piling on lately, and wondering "Who's next?"

Happy birthday, Chief!

Today the Chief marks another trip around the sun.  Here's to many more! 💖

Garden notes to remember for 2018

This year I planted lantana and purslane in the biggest pot, in the yellow plant stand.  I was delighted to learn that hummingbirds like lantana!  I'm indebted to the woman at the nursery who suggested I plant it.  The purslane is pretty, but the flowers don't stay open very long - they're usually closed tight again by noon or so.  I'll definitely plant lantana again, but maybe pair it with portulaca instead.

The Chief bought me a pair of fancy ceramic planters, which I used for sunflowers.  The sunflowers aren't doing very well.  I really oughta read up on them to see if it's too little water, too much water, or something else.

I put 6 pots of various flowers on the front steps.  The verbena isn't doing too well; hanging in there, but no flowers after the first ones dropped.  The snapdragons and marigolds are doing well.  I'm collecting marigold seeds for next year; let's see if I remember where I stash them in time to start them next spring.   Several of the seeds I dropped back into the pots have already sprouted; can't wait to see how they do.  The 6th pot was an attempt at red, white and blue.  The lobelia is doing well, and the geranium is hanging in there, though not flowering very happily.  (The one in back is doing better.)  The white flower, though, died pretty quickly, poor thing.  It looked like some kind of tiny daisy.  I didn't save the little label, of course, so I have no idea what it used to be.  That pot is also on the top step, so it doesn't get as much rain as the others.  Maybe next year I'll just put out 4 pots - 2 each on the 2nd & 3rd steps.

I tried rosemary in a new spot this year, next to the deck steps.  The oregano has been happy on that side of the deck, so maybe the rosemary will last more than a year or two.

Planted 5 tomato plants this year, no peppers.  Three sweet 100 plants at the far end and two beefier varieties at the near end.  Time to get out the wildlife mesh; no sooner did some of the beefy tomatoes start to ripen than some varmint started snacking on them. 😠  So far we've gotten 3 cherry tomatoes; I'm hoping for lots more.  Oddly, the plant closest to the bird feeders has all the leaves stripped off the topmost few "branches".  That's not a problem we've had before, so I have no idea what's eating it.

Wow - it's been longer than I realized.

It's been an eventful coupla months in Lake Wobegon.  Let's see; where to start?  Think I'll break this up into separate posts...

The Lighting homework that ate my day

BOY, is lighting design time-consuming!  First there are image searches, which take hours to yield a few useful images for "design inspiration."  Then you have to apply your ideas to actual lights.  One of our final projects is to create a lighting design for West Side Story and go into the light lab - essentially a tiny black-box "theater" with a slew of lights and accessories to experiment with - to apply that design to one of the songs from the show.  We're all paired off, chiefly for efficiency (e.g., one can stand in a focus point while the other focuses a light) and safety (that 20-foot ladder is definitely a 2-person lift).  My partner met me this morning for our 8-noon block in the light lab.  He left for class afterwards, but I stayed to keep working.  I finally left around 6 pm to go home for dinner, then went back for another hour and a half.  For those keeping score, I left for campus about 7:30 this morning, stayed till 6 pm (I did allow myself a lunch break) to have dinner with the Chief, then went back to finish up.  I got home to stay around 10 pm. 

Even subtracting a couple of hours for trouble-shooting, I spent nearly 10 hours writing cues for a song that's all of about 2:34 minutes long!

More bad news

Just learned of someone's inoperable, stage-4 cancer diagnosis.  What IS it with this year?!?

Happy anniversary?

We started our anniversary (Happy Sweet 16, Chief!) with a trip to the 2nd surgeon.  The Chief had fun cracking wise with the nurses who took his vitals and his health history, and we finally got a date for his surgery, at a hospital 20 miles closer than where the first surgeon works.  The wonder woman at the front desk got all the Chief's pre-op testing scheduled back to back on a single day.  She also corrected the referral record, which was written for Radiology, for some inexplicable reason.

I had a noon acupuncture appointment and snoozed a bit on the table.  My juggling coaching got cancelled because my classmate had to cancel, which was fine with me.  As early as we got up to get to that 8 am doctor's appointment, I probably would have been dropping balls right, left, and center.

Shortly before we were going to leave for dinner at our favorite Greek restaurant, it started pouring like crazy, with nickel-sized hail into the bargain!  The Chief glanced outside and noticed someone huddled under a tree out front, so he urged him inside to wait out the storm.  He'd been playing soccer at the park down the street and was heading home when the heavens opened.  We ended up giving him a ride home once the hail stopped and the rain backed off to a more reasonable rate.  (He only lives 2 blocks away.)

Dinner was delicious - eggplant dip with plenty of garlic, and the Chief got what he always gets - lamb.  We even indulged in a dessert each instead of splitting one.  Decadent, but I expect to work it off tomorrow in the garden.

And I'm in!

Got an email the other day telling me that I've been cast in this fall's Antigone - 2nd Attendant, Chorus, and Eurydice understudy.  The director said at auditions that she plans to incorporate a lot of movement - we have a choreographer - and maybe some music too.  I'm looking forward to it!  Too bad rehearsals don't start until the first week of classes, in August.

The director is the person who taught my Voice for the Actor class last semester, which I really enjoyed.  She often closed class with a 2- or 3-part song, different groups of us singing each part, all at the same time.  We all loved that; I hope she plans to build a little of that into Antigone.

I played Eurydice in a different translation of this play several years ago.  It'll be interesting to dig out my old script and compare it to this one once we get it, and to see how much this version will differ from that one.

This is why I would never make it as a designer

We're starting on our final Lighting Design project of the semester.  Tomorrow we're supposed to bring in our initial concept & research for West Side Story.  Sounds easy, yes?  Except that I have NO idea for a concept.  I researched 1950s NYC, fire escapes, spotlights (for the dance, when Tony & Maria see each other that first time).  All well & good, and all pretty predictable.  I suppose I'll come up with something eventually; I just hope that "eventually" happens in time for tomorrow morning's class.

Bad news can do that to you.

Sunday morning, just days after we got the Chief's diagnosis, a friend posted on Facebook that her husband had died suddenly during the night.  Needless to say, Sunday was a write-off.  Getting picked apart at that audition felt that much worse because of it, my continuing "juggle struggle" the same - it seems the tears are just plain closer to the surface while I digest all this bad news.  I haven't been sleeping as well, either, which makes me a bit crabby; poor Chief!

We'll get past it, of course - we've both survived worse - but oh, it's exhausting in the meantime.  Pray for our sanity as the Chief & I weather this latest storm.

Called back!

Well, that was a bit of a surprise.  After the way my auditions went for a couple of fall classes (alternate for 1, didn't get into the one I wrote about - no surprises), I had no hopes for Tuesday's audition for the fall season.  I wasn't too sanguine about how I did, partly because I tried to change a few things based on last week's feedback, partly because I was still a bit bummed to realize that I've been doing it all wrong all these years, and partly because I was exhausted after the recent spate of bad news.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I checked my email to find one telling me I was called back for Antigone!  They called back 45 people, which might be everyone who auditioned (shades of last semester's season auditions), but given that they've announced that they plan to cast 20, including the Greek chorus, I suppose that number makes sense.  I've already printed my "sides" (side = excerpt from the play), which I'll start looking at today or tomorrow.

Callbacks are Saturday morning, and finish up right around the time my partner & I have our slot the light lab to work on our latest lighting design project.  That means I'll be in the building from 10 till 5, unless we finish our project early (not likely!).  As I told the Chief as I was leaving for class this morning, guess I'll just pack for the day.

My nephew the Eagle Scout!

After years of work, one of my nephews just became the family's FIRST EAGLE SCOUT!!!  Yes, I'm shouting - that achievement represents YEARS of hard work, and we're all very proud of him.  I don't blame him for smiling that big - I would too, with an accomplishment like that under my belt.  (I wonder how much of it is relief that it's all finally finished. 😉)

Doctor, roofers, utilities, oh my...

What a day!  It started out w/ an 8 a.m. appointment with the Chief's urologist to discuss his diagnosis.  They caught it early, thank God!  Doc gave us a sheaf of paperwork with the clinical details and a lengthy list of links and citations for research and support groups.  Lots of "homework" to do before we meet with the surgeon in a couple of weeks.  I treated the Chief to coffee and scones afterward, then he dropped me off for class.

Got to my grad-student voice lesson to find she was fighting off a nasty migraine.  She soldiered through it; we just made do with natural light, and she leaned on the piano a lot.  Fortunately for her, the meds were kicking in by the time we finished.

We've got roofers overhead and in the yard, making noise and a big mess.  I'd forgotten (or blocked out) what a nuisance it is to get a new roof.  Every so often they drop something heavy, making a huge THUMP.  Makes it challenging to concentrate on homework.

And then there's the utility work.  The power company has our street blocked off while they replace a few utility poles.  There's nothing quite like pulling onto your one-way street (they moved a couple of cones to let us in) to see two enormous utility trucks on either side of the road, both facing the wrong way.  The power went out for about 10 minutes while they transferred the connection from the old pole to the new one.  Fortunately, the only clocks that need to be reset are those on the oven and microwave.

On the plus side, I got mostly positive feedback on my first lighting plot, my voice lesson went pretty well despite my teacher's migraine, and I was able to find a practice room beforehand so I could warm up before my lesson, which always makes for a better lesson.

Humbling but eye-opening

Yesterday afternoon I auditioned for Character Development, a performance class I'm interested in taking in the fall.  The instructor really picked apart how I did my monologue; basically, I wasn't living it, I was performing it.  I was having trouble embodying the changes she was suggesting, so no telling whether I'll get into the class.

I was pretty demoralized after that, but today, after sleeping on it, I've realized something important.  All those years in community theater may have done me a disservice.  As with all my years and years of choral experience, no one ever told me I was doing it wrong or tried to give me any advice, so I kept doing the same things, year after year.  Now I've got a coupla decades' worth of bad habits that I need to unlearn.  (This realization is SO apropos of my Alexander Technique class!)  Now that I know that it needs to happen, though, it can happen.  (Because of course I can't fix a problem I don't know about.)

If I don't get into the class, I have a few excellent training options in town.  If I do get into it, I can look forward to a semester of being taken apart and, hopefully, being put back together again but better.  If my voice lesson experience is any indication, it'll be excruciating at times and there will almost certainly be tears of frustration, but this professor has SO much to teach that it would be well worth it.

This semester's butt-kicking class

... is Intro to Lighting Design.  I did want to get a little familiarity with the basics of lighting design, not because I have any delusions about becoming a lighting designer, but so I can at least talk intelligently with lighting designers when I'm doing community theater.  I also wanted to develop a better idea of what I'm looking at in that respect when I go to see a show.

I'm developing a very healthy respect for what lighting designers do!  After finishing the latest homework assignment, I told the grad student teaching the course that lighting designers must be part engineer.  All the technical details—how many lights you can put where without tripping a circuit breaker, making sure the lights are positioned so that you have no "dark spots" or funky shadows on stage, angling the lights to highlight actors' faces but not blind them or the audience, ...—are rather intimidating in their numbers and complexity.

Part of our homework consists of attending the university's four main-stage productions this semester and at least one professional production and doing a write-up of the lighting design for each one.  My first write-up was pretty thin, partly because it was right at the beginning of the semester, when I was still learning what to write about, and partly because I was an understudy in the show, so when I attended, I was paying more attention to the person I was understudying than to the lighting.  I've since done two more, which I think were rather better.  The third one was on a professional production.  The lighting for that one was so dramatic that even the Chief noticed a lot of the things the designer did.  That one just about wrote itself.

We still haven't gone into detail about how to decide which instrument (that's what the lights are called) to use, but I imagine that'll come.  There's SO MUCH to know about lighting design that I can well believe that it's impossible to cover it all in an introductory class like this one.

Doing the most recent homework, I couldn't help thinking Dad would be so proud to see me using my scale ruler like a pro.  Here in the US, we use architectural (english) rather than engineering (metric) scale for theater, but you read them both the same way.

The beauty of being a second-year senior

.. is that I'm at the point where I can pretty much take what I want.  I just need 2 "supporting" classes at the 300 or 400 level, one 400-level theater history class, and one last practicum credit - 10 credits.

I just had my advising session for the fall semester.  I told Susan (who's a marvel - she obviously loves her job) that I want to take 2 classes this summer that will count for my supporting classes.  One is Jane Austen: Novels, Films & Adaptations, the other is Hair & Wigs for the Theater.  You may remember I signed up for the latter class last summer, but it was canceled for under-enrollment.  It's the same instructor, so I'm assuming I'd be able to use the textbook I ordered last year, before the class was canceled.  I'm crossing my fingers that they get enough students to run the class this time.

That would leave me with only the history class & practicum to take in the fall.  However, I've already signed up to audition for Character Development and Contemporary Musical Theater.  The second one is self-explanatory, but the other one would be a unique performance opportunity.  Apparently you spend the semester "getting inside" an actual historical figure whose portrait or statue is in a local museum.  Toward the end of the semester, you reenact that person at the museum for actual museum patrons.  For example, if I were doing Eleanor Roosevelt, I'd interact with museum-goers as Eleanor Roosevelt, clothing, accent and all.

I'll also continue with the Vocal Minor program in the fall (assuming I audition successfully) and sing in one of the choruses.  Gotta get my music fix, after all. 😉

This is the "problem" with having my advising appointment so much before the next semester - we're just going into spring break and I'm already looking ahead to my next classes.

It's that time of year again...

The Chief's phone started ringing last week - clients calling to bring over their tax information.  He's already met with 2 or 3 clients, has appointments set up with a few more later this week, and picked up a couple new clients this year.  He even turned down one client, who had a rather complicated small business - not only is that not his area of expertise, but it would have been so complicated and time-consuming that he would have had to charge $1500 to do the return (and that was probably a lowball figure).

He may complain occasionally about the work, but he does enjoy researching deductions for his clients and giving them tax planning advice as part of the package at no extra charge.  (He's such a mother hen. 😊).

This is his time of year - he'll be busy until at least mid-April, possibly into May in the event someone wants to file for an extension.  He's good at it, very conscientious (pays the penalty himself if he makes a mistake and has to do a correction).  Can you tell I'm proud of him? 😉

Not the response I was expecting...

One of my classmates got a call from the campus police during our Alexander Technique class this morning.  Someone had found her wallet and turned it in to them and they wanted to deliver it to her.  The professor had us all go down with her, and did a little instruction outside while P went over to the police car & got her wallet back.  (It's a gorgeous, 70-degree day today - in February!)  P came back to the group devastated.  Her ID and credit cards were there, but her cash - ALL her cash, apparently - was gone.  Gotta love these small theater classes - everyone tried to reassure her, someone mentioned taking up a collection, and if we'd had our wallets with us, she'd probably have had every penny back in the time it took for us to pull out those wallets.

Anyway, I saw her in the atrium shortly after class, with several other theater folks.  I tried to give her a little bit of cash, which she refused, insisting that "I'm good."  One of the others, also a classmate, told me "You're so cute!"  Cute?  Um, okay.

Sometimes being so much older than my classmates makes me wonder - what would the reaction have been were I their age, and not the age of their parents?

RIP, Leta

Today was the memorial service for Leta, friend to many.  The reverend even commented on how full the church was; "It doesn't look like this on Sunday!"  What a testament to her spirit - unfailingly sunny, kind, generous, supportive...  The list goes on and on.

I called her my theater mentor because when I got started in community theater, I could always count on her for encouragement as I spread my wings and tried new things.  She would send me the occasional audition notice until I got a handle on where to find them myself.  She called me once about sewing body bags for a show she was directing (Incorruptible).  That was an interesting conversation, and funny because we were so matter-of-fact about it.  "How tall are the people?"  "Oh, most of these aren't for real people; just for fake bodies."  And so on.  Ah, the nuts and bolts of bringing a show to the stage. 😊

Leta was like that for so many people - among other things, she wrote and directed plays for young people, encouraging them in their love of anything and everything theater-related.  On stage, off stage - didn't matter.  Leta was delighted to support them.

Her father recounted a Facebook entry Leta posted back in November which he called "Leta's creed."  He felt so strongly about it that he had copies printed out for people to pick up at the memorial service.  I'll enter it in a separate post.

Pushing my comfort zone again this spring

Got my spring classes all lined up.  One is in lighting design, which is going to push me to learn the technical, hands-on aspects as well as the theoretical and design aspects of the craft.   The other class that I expect to push me is Alexander Technique, because one of the items on the syllabus is learning to juggle!  I'm gonna be one of those folks out in the atrium chasing lacrosse balls around as I try to learn to juggle them.  (The prof specified that we get LAX balls for juggling; something about the size, weight and firmness, apparently.)

So much for my 4.0 GPA...

As I'd expected, this fall was the semester my GPA dropped below a 4.0.  As a result of that one A-, in Rendering for Theater, I'm now carrying a 3.97.  Still pretty respectable, though; I'll take it!

Having a lot of trouble getting motivated to learn lines

I've been cast as understudy of one of the roles in the campus production of The Importance of Being Earnest.  As I understand it, there's an "understudy run" which is essentially a tech rehearsal on the set, with no costumes or only bits (e.g., skirts).  We don't get an actual performance, and I don't even know how much rehearsal we'll get before that run.  We're all supposed to be off book (i.e., have all our lines memorized) by Thursday, but I'm finding it really hard to make myself work on my lines when I haven't been to a rehearsal since the read-through (which I wasn't even required to attend).  For all that I'm getting the daily emails, I don't feel like I'm part of the production; it feels very weird.

Cancer is a murdering serial killer!

Cancer is a murdering SOB.  The list of people I've lost to it, or people near & dear to me have lost to it, is lengthy:  Both my grandmothers; the little brother of 2 high school friends (while we were still in HS); the Chief's younger sister (and his older sister is now battling it); parents of too many friends; the Chief's mom; my mom; Mom's older brother; a friend last year; a neighbor earlier this week; and now The Flibbertigibbet.  She went suddenly (she was only diagnosed last month), and much too young.  She was the heart & soul of the local community theater world; odds are excellent that if you never worked on a show with her, you worked with someone who did, and everyone who's ever worked with her loved her.

I had to call a couple of out-of-town friends last night to let them know. The first one immediately asked about the Chief's and my health and ordered us to "stay healthy!"  I'd share that advice with you - please, for the sake of those who love you, take good care of yourself so you'll be around for a good, long time.

Our first holiday party

Since the Chief and I didn't travel for Christmas this year, we actually decorated (our first Christmas tree in years!) and even had a party Friday night.  I hadn't expected so many people (anyone, really) to bring gifts of wine - we started the evening with 7 bottles of red wine, for example, and ended up with 12!  This despite people actually drinking the wine we had on offer.  We could have at least 2 more parties without having to buy a single bottle!  Very little beer was drunk, either; the Chief had bought a goodly variety, very little of which was consumed.

Leftover food was easier; the cookies went to friends' house the next day (they were having a holiday brunch w/ optional cookie exchange), and we didn't have all that much left of the savory stuff - maybe 1 cup of dill dip, no more than 2 cups of hummus, and enough salmon spread and salsa for a nice Christmas Eve dinner. 😊  Some of the veggies got sauteed to accompany our Christmas lamb chops, and most of the rest went into a big pot of veggie-beef soup I made last night.

Next time we won't have to spend nearly as much on party supplies - we won't have to buy anything but food, as we have MORE than enough alcohol for at least one more party, maybe 2 or 3.

No opera chorus next semester

Back at the end of October, I learned they were looking for a few folks to fill out the chorus for next semester's operas (Orfeo and Orphee aux Enfers).  I was surprised that they just posted a sign-up sheet instead of holding auditions, but of course we all had to audition for our various choruses, so maybe they went from that.  I was the first to sign up as one of the mezzo volunteers, which meant I had that much longer to wait.  Yesterday 2 other mezzo volunteers and I finally got the "thanks but no thanks" email.

I'm a little disappointed, of course, but only a little, because the rehearsal schedule would be a pain - Fridays 4-6 pm, adding in Saturday morning rehearsals as you get closer to production. I'm also not very surprised - given the quality of the voices around me in chorus, the competition was pretty stiff.  And of course now I'll get to enjoy it from the audience. 😃

Thanksgiving experiments

No, I didn't get all wild & crazy and cook up something I've never even tasted.  (I've done that; shirin polo, anyone?)  I did play a little with how I cooked the turkey, and with the pumpkin pie recipe.

I had seen something on line suggesting using carrots, celery ribs, and quartered onions for a rack on which to roast the turkey.  Sounded like a good idea, so that's what I did.

That's Mom's turkey roaster, which she gave me for (birthday? Christmas?) several years ago.  It's seen many a turkey, most of them twice the size of the little 11-pounder we were roasting for the two of us.  Here's that turkey on its veggie bed:

And here's that turkey after a few hours in the oven, on its bed of veggies which are now full of turkey juices:

Doesn't that look pretty?  Tasted good, too - good and moist, because I roasted it breast down.

In case you're wondering, we've already had the first turkey sandwiches (I had to buy bread and lettuce), much of the remaining meat is off the bone (turkey tetrazzini coming up later this week), and the carcass is in a pot with those "roasting rack" veggies, making soup.  That's one experiment that was a complete success - veggies make a great roasting rack!

The other experiment was to tinker with the pumpkin pie.  First, I decided to try a no-roll pie crust recipe.  I got it from the King Arthur Flour site, which rarely steers me wrong.  The crust was OK, but not particularly flaky, a bit on the dense side, and in general not one I'll use again.  I had to use canned pumpkin because I never got a chance to buy a pumpkin to cook and freeze for baking.  My grandmother's recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin, but of course a 15-oz can holds more like 1 3/4 cups.  I decided to use the whole can; not a bad choice, but I prefer the 2-1 half-and-half-to-pumpkin ratio of the recipe.  I also added 1/4 tsp of garam masala to the cinnamon and ginger the recipe calls for.  That was a bit too spicy that evening, but by the next day the spice had moderated, so I may do that again.

Instead of regular mashed potatoes, I tried the Hungry Girl mashies recipe.  (I made a triple batch in order to use the entire head of cauliflower.)  The results were runny (next time I'll use half the water) but delicious!  When we go through what's in the fridge and I have to pull out the half batch I put in the freezer, I'll find out how well it freezes.  Potatoes and cauliflower tend to freeze well, but the light sour cream and cream cheese might not.

Testing my sight-singing skills

This was the 3rd Sunday running that I've covered a Methodist church gig for a colleague who had to leave town to be with her dying mother.  (What could I say when she asked but "Yes, of course!")  This morning the lead tenor tapped me to join him in the pulpit to lead the offertory hymns.  The first one was an old favorite, but the second one was one I'd never heard before.  Just imagine - I'm up there in front of God and everybody, with a mic 12" from my mouth as I sight-sing a hymn I was completely  unfamiliar with!

Two things saved me - Ian was singing the melody loud and strong, and it was a 19th-century hymn, so I could do a lot of successful guessing.  Naturally, I had to tease Ian about it in the choir room afterwards.  😄

I never thought much of my sight-singing skills, but maybe I'm better at it than I thought.  Not on a par with the music majors I rub shoulders with at school, but perhaps not as bad at it as I think I am.

The dream isn't dead after all; at least not yet

It turns out that, because I'm taking voice lessons with a grad student in the School of Music, the pre-screening audition requirement is waived!  I wish I'd known that before I paid for an accompanist, but that's secondary to the main point - this means it doesn't matter that none of the recordings were usable!  Wahoo!  Now I can fill out my application, attach the recording waiver video they sent me, and schedule my live audition for sometime in January.  Two more months to get my audition pieces and my technique whipped into shape - pray for me!

Callbacks (mooooo)

Tonight they had the callbacks for the first of next semester's main-stage productions.  I learned from a classmate who works in the production office that they called back everyone who auditioned.  No wonder the numbers were so huge!  There were 47 of us tonight, and 53 for the other show for which I'm called back.  I'll probably bow out of consideration for that other one; it's too close to the end of the semester, with papers to write and exams to study for.

They told us before they started having us read that we'd have to do a British accent.  Sure woulda been nice to know that earlier, but oh well.  At least all but one of us (a British exchange student) are in the same boat in that respect.  I have no idea how I did relative to anyone else being considered for the same role, though I don't think I read badly.  Now the waiting begins; I hope they're able to post the cast list soon.  As Rose Maybud would say, "leave no one in unnecessary suspense."

So much for being a music major

I was less than thrilled with how I sang last night.  This evening I got the first file of 4 (2 takes of each of my two pieces); I couldn't bear to listen to the whole thing.  SO many things I didn't like about it; there's no way they'd want to hear me in person.

Disappointing & discouraging, but...  First of all, that means I'll graduate next December instead of 2019 or later, saving me a buncha money.  There are other places I can study music theory and take piano lessons, with none of the pressure of an academic setting.  The only problem is, I'll have to figure out that much sooner what I'm gonna do with myself all day. :D

Good voice lesson, right before another big audition

Later this afternoon I'll record another music school pre-screening audition.  Yesterday's voice lesson was surprisingly productive.  I'd gone in feeling a bit cruddy (ah, seasonal allergies), but C assured me I was doing well - in good voice, breathing well, good energy.

I had an "aha!" moment when she had me working an exercise to loosen the root of my tongue (because tension anywhere in the vocal production tract is killer!).  I realized that my tongue was tensing up upon my inhalation unless I remembered my back breathing (i.e., expanding my full rib cage on the inhalation).  Another reason to do that back breathing!

Coincidentally, my Voice for the Actor prof had just introduced tongue exercises on Wednesday, including one to release tongue tension.  I love it when my various classes dovetail!  It's like I'm triangulating on good technique, reinforcing it from multiple angles.

Similarly, what both C andd my TA voice teacher have said about sustaining energy through a vocal line just got a boost from the energy exercises my Voice teacher had us do in class on Monday, to sustain energy through and past the end of a line.  All good!

C got a call from her mother during my lesson that she had to take.  Once she got off the phone, she explained that there was a completely unacceptable situation in her mother's building that the family was addressing.  When she explained the situation, I was livid for her mother's sake.  We then joked about "OK, now caress your lover's pillow" as I prepared to run through my other song.  Maybe it was having my blood boiling, but boy, was my energy good for that song! :D  I may have to use that trick this afternoon.

I'm trying not to get too worked up about this.  I need to relax (hah - as if!), breathe, remember the main technical points I've worked on since I did this last year, breathe some more, and, most importantly, enjoy the music.  After all, I picked these pieces because I liked them and knew I could live with them for months (or, in the case of one, over a year).  Now they're old friends; I need to sing them with that love.

If nothing else, I'm bound to do better than last year.  That was discouraging - back to singing only a week after taking about 3 weeks off because those blasted seasonal allergies were making singing actually painful.  This year I'm healthy (knock wood), and I've got an additional year of technical work, practice, and coaching under my belt.

I plan to get to campus early, find a practice room, and review all the technical and textual points I want to perform, do some loosening-up exercises, and maybe even get myself to relax a bit so I can enjoy singing these pieces.