Dark!

This is a first - we open in two days, yet the show is so well in hand that the cast has tonight off! Good thing, too - by the time I got home from last night's dress rehearsal, got a nosh and something to drink (I emptied my water bottle early), scraped off the make-up and got to bed, it was 1:30. Yet I woke up at 7:30 this morning when TW came back to bed, having decided not to go into work after all. Methinks I'll be retiring early tonight, no matter how many trick-or-treaters come knocking!

For a first rehearsal w/ orchestra and costumes, it went remarkably well. I think this was the first time I've not seen at least one major train wreck w/ the orchestra, either because an audio cue sounds different on a different instrument (I know I missed one because it sounded so different played by a flute instead of the rehearsal piano) or because the orchestra is having problems with an awkward page turn, a tricky tempo change, or something similar. We had a few places where the MD stopped the action to fix something, but nothing worrisome.

The costumes are remarkably well along, considering the costumers still have today & tomorrow to work on them (I had one show where I didn't have my complete costume until opening night) and while it looks like I'll be getting a gold dress instead of the purple one I was fitted for, I like the gold one, or at least the base I wore last night - flows beautifully, and despite its floor-length, full skirt, it never once got in my way or underfoot! The "aesthetic" dresses that are completed look just wonderful - classic, graceful, elegant, rich colors. The men's uniforms are shaping up nicely, too - the jackets are actually built for the wearers, not refitted costumes, the helmets look great (though the men all complain that they're too small, which apparently makes them unstable) and resemble this sort of thing, and they're getting good at controlling their swords so they don't hit anyone during the dance in the Act II finale. Learned last night that the ladies are wearing gloves w/ their Finale costumes; not enough to go around last night, so I went on with bare hands. Later found a pair of men's gloves at my station; they're a bit big, though, so I'll probably go with a pair of my own.

The set is lovely - beautifully painted, with a good-looking, sturdy gazebo, a real gazing ball, and a "swan boat" that works quite smoothly even when loaded with 2 or 3 people and a folk harp. Hope I can get pictures of that.

So today & tomorrow are for little things - getting my theater kit sorted with only the make-up I need, making sure I've got clean tights & gloves in my bag, henna-ing my hair, and giving candy to trick-or-treaters.

Getting better

Yesterday I was feeling better, but still not 100% (still on that boring, protein-free BRAT diet). TW, however, seems to have gotten the same bug that bit me, as he woke up nauseated, was afraid to eat anything, was getting chills. Yep, he had the same low-grade fever I'd had on Friday. He did manage to start a huge batch of applesauce to use up the apples he'd bought a coupla weeks ago (used both our soup pots!), but the bug really started getting its hooks into him by mid-afternoon, so I ended up finishing the applesauce and putting him to bed before leaving for rehearsal.

Today I finally feel fully human again, though I'm introducing "real" food very carefully - I don't want to overdo and find myself tied to the bathroom again. Though still feeling crummy, TW's better too - he's eaten a little without having to run to the bathroom to get rid of it. The fever's down and he's feeling well enough to be bored & fidgety.

It's funny - when I had the bug, it was annoying, irritating and inconvenient and I was impatient to get it over with, but when TW came down with it, it was frustrating and worrying to listen to him moaning in pain and not be able to make him all better.

"Once more into the breach!"

Tonight begins my first Tech Week in nearly a year and a half; can't wait! There's something special about the first run-through on the set - seeing where the actual furniture, "doors" and so on actually are, how the stairs change timing and stage pictures, learning just how far that cross really is, and of course actually seeing the set that will become our little world until Strike.

Another thing I'm looking forward to: costumes! One of the things I love about theater is getting to play dress-up; seeing us transformed from our workaday selves into (in this case) Heavy Dragoons, Rapturous Maidens, a milkmaid and a couple of poets will be fun. And then there's the fun of doing all this with the orchesta instead of a rehearsal pianist.

I haven't heard the orchestra yet; I had to miss the Sitzprobe Friday night because I was home all day w/ a GI bug. Which I'm still fighting, unfortunately. The fever only lasted through Friday, but my system is still being extremely particular about what it'll let me eat. Now, I don't mind rice, pretzels and applesauce, but they do get pretty darn boring after 2 or 3 days. Not to mention that I need to get a bit of protein if I'm going to survive the rigors of Tech Week and still have energy left for Opening Night come Thursday. Hope I can get over this thing mucho pronto!

It's been that kind of week at work

(and yes, I realize it's only Wednesday) that I found this funnier than I otherwise might (you'll need the sound on). NB: It might not be a great idea to read this at work; depends on whether you have the office to yourself for a minute or two.

We've been short-handed, we had a brush-fire to put out on Friday that meant an 11-hour day, this week's also been nothing but long days, I've got a few things I've been putting aside for days now while tending to more urgent matters - it's gotten so I'm really looking forward to Tech Week next week. The theater types among you must be thinking, "What, is she crazy?!?" Crazy like a fox - as soon as I was cast, I put in to take off all of Tech Week and the Monday after our last performance. So if I can just survive until Friday, that's it for another 10 days!

I started arranging to take off work during Tech Week a few years ago, when I had leave I had to use up or else I'd lose it. I decided that being able to sleep in every morning after getting to bed at midnight or 1 a.m., not to mention having time to do last-minute costume construction or repairs, was a good idea - going into Opening Night when you've had enough sleep! is a wonderful experience! And I knew from previous shows with this particular company that, with all 5 performances crammed into 4 days, I'm going to be totally fried by the time we strike after the Sunday matinee. Too fried to be worth much at work the next day, so instead I'll sleep in (oooh, two lovely words!) and take my own sweet time about washing all the gel & hairspray outta my hair and the make-up outta my skin, maybe pop a movie into the DVD player. Oh, and start studying up in earnest for the wave of auditions coming up the next 3 weekends. ;)

OK, I think we've got a handle on this business.

Spent my entire voice lesson today sorting out what to use to audition for shows in very different styles (G&S, Cole Porter, and Sondheim). The G&S is easy; I'll take 2 differing G&S pieces and either do a verse of each or let the panel choose which one they want. The Cole Porter wasn't too hard, either; I've auditioned w/ "I Hate Men" before so we'll dust that off, and add "Why Can't You Behave" to show off the bottom of my range. And I do mean bottom - lowest note is F# below middle C. And with "I Hate Men" topping out at the E at the top of the staff, well, that's close enough to 2 octaves as makes no difference.

The Sondheim is the tough one; I have no Sondheim songs in my repertory and in fact, don't really know his stuff very well. I loathe "Send in the Clowns", so I'm not about to audition with that, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" requires a belt voice, which I don't have, and with all these auditions on successive weekends, I don't have time to work up a new piece. So next week I'll take to my lesson a piece we've been working on but which I haven't auditioned with yet and another, obscure piece to see if it would work. If all else fails, I'll offer the panel their choice of the 2 Kiss Me Kate pieces. And that MD is so conversant with the Broadway repertoire, I'm hoping he'd be impressed that I'd be prepared to do songs covering such a wide vocal range.

"Welcome to the world, baby girl!"

I have a new niece! Little Brigid was born shortly after noon today, bringing the niece/granddaughter total to 4. Happy birthday, little one, and happy birthday, Dad/Granddad! Congratulations, proud parents and grandparents!

It occurs to me that these two - Brigid & her big sister - are the only ones of my nieces & nephews to start out w/ a full set of grandparents. My sister the new mom is the only one of the 5 of us to marry someone with both parents still living.

Make that several auditions

I've been working on rebuilding my 2006-07 season audition spreadsheet and see that several shows I'm interested in are auditioning next month (one company will be having one set of auditions for their next 3 shows). That means I'd be auditioning for as many as 4 different companies (depending on timing of casting offers or "thanks but no thanks" calls) and 6 shows. That could fill up the rest of my season very quickly indeed!

Out of 19 shows on the list at the moment, only 4 are straight plays. Having done only 1 straight play since I started doing community theater 14 (!) years ago, the thought of having lines to learn without the "crutch" of their being set to music makes me nervous. I'm sure I could do the performing, it's just the line learning that I'd worry about. Of course, that one non-musical was Shakespeare, not contemporary language, which presented unique challenges. I did it, and did manage to get pretty comfortable by opening night, but it was definitely harder than learning songs.

Lots of meaty roles out there this season - now to see how much of that meat directors are willing to offer me...

Another audition on the horizon

Ah yes, fall, when the auditions start coming thick and fast. The next show I want to do, Ruddigore, auditions the weekend after Patience closes - how convenient. It'll be a challenge deciding what to audition with, though - one piece that's been successful for me is from this show, by one of the 2 characters I want to audition for. I've heard some pretty strong arguments against auditioning with a piece sung by the character you're going for (unless specified in the audition notice), so I'm a bit nervous about using it. A further complication is that I've only been using the 2nd verse, not the 1st verse and not the preceding recitative. That recit has some pretty funky chromatics and will be "interesting" to get audition-ready because I don't have a recording to work from. I'll just have to get a "karaoke" tape to work from at my next voice lesson, and maybe work with the MIDI available from the G&S Archive.

Home again

And looking forward to seeing TW when he gets home from work. Those old commercials notwithstanding, long distance is not "the next best thing to being there".

I'm glad I went, and glad I was able to spend nearly a week with my folks. It did me good to see for myself how much better Dad's getting around with his new knee and that Mom isn't nearly as gaunt and exhausted as I'd feared. Despite the hair loss (getting obvious - she'll be wearing that "cranial prosthesis" shortly), she looks pretty darned good, despite having gone thru 2 rounds of chemo now. Minimal nausea, fatigue not as bad as after the first round - she's doing better than I'd expected, and is stubborn enough and still has enough energy that she let me do only some of the dinner prep while I was home.

And I only missed one rehearsal while I was gone. I've been told by 2 of the other women that I didn't miss much, especially as several people were absent from that rehearsal, so I'm hoping it'll be a cinch to pick up the choreography I missed. That sorta thing comes easily to me, so I'm not so much worried that I won't be able to pick it up as sorry that I missed a chance to do it.

So far, so good

Dad's moving around with his new knee much better than he was doing back in early July. It still needs to be babied sometimes - he had to put it up and ice it this afternoon - but he's doing well. What's better, at least for him, is that last week the doc OKed him to start driving again. After 6 weeks of neither Mom nor Dad being able to drive, this is a huge freedom regained!

Mom's doing better than I'd expected, and apparently better than she was even a week or two ago. Her energy had been so low she couldn't walk from the kitchen to the living room unaided, and from what my sister had told me about how little she was eating, I'd braced myself to find Mom looking rather gaunt. She's lost weight since I saw her last, but her appetite's better now, so she's regained much of what she lost and her energy is better.

Her attitude is certainly good: Saturday morning I was sitting on their bed while she brushed her hair. She started laughing, as her hair was coming out in small clumps as she brushed. She just kept on, brushing and laughing, and showed me her brush and her other hand when she finished - both were fairly full of hair. She already has her "cranial prosthesis" and at this rate, she won't be the least surprised if she needs to start wearing it by this weekend.

Today was the 1st day of her 2nd round of chemo. This was the long day - Dad & I left her at the cancer center at 10 and picked her up around 2. She'd eaten most of the lunch she packed and finished the rest of it in the car on the way home. Once we got back, she had some fruit with her tea, and ate most of her dinner. She's not sure how much she'll feel like eating over the next few days, once the chemo starts kicking in. Last time she felt a bit nauseated the day after the 2nd chemo day, but the doc told her today how to adjust her anti-nausea med to prepare for that. She also said that she felt much less tired and had a better appetite today than she did after Day 1 of her first chemo round. We're hoping that's a good sign.

The doc also said that, while she's in stage 3, that's because there's "involvement" both above & below her diaphragm. However, because the tumor is localized, he seemed optimistic about Mom's prognosis. I like this doctor!

Tomorrow I take Mom back for Day 2, which is much shorter; only 2 hours last time.

I'm glad I came out - it's very reassuring to see how well Dad is doing, and it's been good for my peace of mind to be able to do things for Mom, to see how she's eating, and so on. I think it helps my siblings to know that I'm here too, to keep an eye on things, try to keep either Mom or Dad from doing too much (we're such worrywarts), run errands, and just keep them company.

In other news: my youngest sister is scheduled for a C-section on the 18th, our dad's birthday. (He likes to tease her, asking how "my birthday present" is doing.) However, she was having some contractions today while she was in the grocery store. This little one might not wait for Dad's birthday; Baby might come on my birthday on the 14th, or perhaps earlier. And if Little Bit should decide to arrive before I leave town Friday morning, well, I wouldn't mind in the least if I were "forced" to meet my new nephew or niece in the neonate unit. ;)

Does this mean I'm officially old?

Or at least middle-aged, I guess. Went to the doctor the other day because I'd been having repeated stabbing pains in my knee throughout the day on Tuesday. The NP felt all around the joint, made me move it this way & that, even sent me to x-ray to have pictures taken. Turns out I've got a coupla teeny bone spurs on the bones - arthritis! So now I'm on a 10-day course of mega-Motrin (Rx strength), with knee exercises to do and an ace wrap for the bad days.

I guess I'd suspected arthritis, and I suppose it's good to have an official diagnosis so I know what the problem is, but did I really want to know I've got arthritis? Hmm; maybe not. Denial was a lot easier before the diagnosis. ;)

Gotta think healthy thoughts

... because I have to stay healthy to go visit my folks. After all, with Mom on chemo, I can not go out there if I have so much as a sniffle! Not that I anticipate getting sick, but last week's fever (I never get fevers!), combined w/ allergies that are acting up, has made me a bit nervous. I really want to go out and see my folks, if only for my own peace of mind, and I can only do that if I'm healthy.

When I talked to Mom after her appointment w/ the radiology oncologist, she gave me her new schedule - she finishes chemo the last week of this month, gets November "off", then goes for daily (M-F) radiation the first 3 weeks of December. Then they reassess how the cancer's doing and decide what else they need to do, if anything.

Our next door neighbor just got home the other day after her own cancer surgery. They found cancer in one breast but, because breast cancer killed her mother, our neighbor decided to go for the double mastectomy rather than worry about when she was gonna find cancer in the other breast. Only in her mid-40s, too, poor thing. TW hasn't been over yet, and I only stopped by to take over a florist delivery and make sure she and the friend staying with her have our phone numbers and e-mail addresses in case they need anything. Tomorrow or Wednesday I'll pick up a few things at the grocery store and make some things they can keep in the freezer.

When I was a kid, I never understood why, when there was a death or serious illness in a family, people would always take food. Now I understand, and am only too happy to do it for others, knowing full well that my turn will come around again.

Yippee!

TW called me at work today to let me know he's coming home tonight instead of tomorrow night - yippee! However. Wouldn't ya know it, the weather is all stormy - thunderstorm watch for the entire area until 10 p.m., which is just about guaranteed to screw up his arrival time. But hey, as long as he makes it in, that's OK. :)

Who?

Who are all these people? I've only heard of three of 'em, including the dead guy. Looking at the celebs this software picked, I'm thinking it must be picking up on the chin (and, in Ms. Moore's case, the freckles).

Tickets are booked

... and I'm heading out to take care of Mom through her next round of chemo. I feel better already, knowing I'll be seeing her in just a week or two, and can check up on both her & Dad. And I think all my siblings will sleep better knowing there's someone else in the apartment overnight when Mom's just had her chemo and might have a reaction to it.

The only down side is that TW can't come with me; can't get the time off. I don't relish the thought of haring off and leaving him for a week, especially because he's gone all this week, but I really need to check up on my folks, if only for my own peace of mind. Now to start deciding what books to take for Mom & me to read while she's getting her drips (the first day is 6 hours!)...

What is it with these deer?

Like most urban areas, I suppose, we have so many deer that they've become garden pests and traffic hazards. They're also attractive beasties, very picturesque as they take a roadside repast on a lightly-forested median or graze in a neighborhood park. But can anyone explain why it is that, nearly every time I've seen them grazing, they all seem to have their tails toward me? Are they being rude, or do they just think that's their best side? :)

Very cool home video

Found this link on Dubheach's blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVQx1RkVtV4

You can quibble with the more theatrical aspects of the fight choreography (they'd never win a bar fight), and you can see the influences, but the choreography itself is very well done and the storyline and the few special effects are remarkably good for an amateur video.

Any day that starts w/ a migraine just has to get better

Made it to church barely 10 minutes before Mass (instead of 45 mins early to help set up and go over the music) because I was waiting for the Imitrex to kick in. (Waking up after too little sleep is bad enough; waking up with a migraine is adding insult to injury!) Then as we were in the middle of the Communion song, one of the phrases just hit me and I had to go to the back and start crying. A friend came looking for me and let me soak her shoulder for a bit. "Is it your mom?" Oh yeah, and Dad, and work, and TW being gone this week and preparing to be gone for 6 months, and I hadn't gotten anything like enough sleep all week, and... So my friend invited me to their house for dinner tonight, since they'd have plenty.

I still felt rocky when I left for rehearsal this afternoon (my eyes still hurt, for some reason), but it was nice to be able to forget everything for a few hours and immerse myself in G&S silliness. We also acquired 3 more men for the chorus, which made it much easier to run those parts of the Act I finale which included them. Even though setting blocking is my least favorite part of the rehearsal process because it involves so much waiting around while the director tells everyone else what they're doing, that meant the ladies got a chance to chat a little while the men got their blocking, and this really does seem to be a congenial bunch. (And some of my fellow cast members have quite a wicked sense of humor!)

Dinner w/ my friends was nice and low-key. Her dad was there too, for his birthday, but he's so VERY low-key that you would never have known this was for his b-day. It was nice to sit around the table with them all, talk about inconsequential things like the 8-yr-old's cub scout pack providing a color guard for a recent baseball game, and generally relax in good company.

I may yet end up going to visit my folks over Columbus Day weekend and staying for Mom's chemo, if her sked doesn't change. I'll have to call the airline and see whether I'd be able to change my return flight if Mom's chemo schedule changes after I've already bought the tickets.

I think we'll be doing this again...

Last night the company with which I started my G&S "career" had its first-ever gala fundraiser - silent auction, donated G&S-themed baskets for raffling, live auction, and of course, MUSIC! All of this at the theater where the company performs, which has a nice-looking lobby and recently rehabbed theater seating.

We started with an hour of G&S selections, chosen by audience members who returned polls included in the programs of the last show or two the company did. That music was fairly informal - soloists and ensemble members standing near the piano, sometimes with a score, singing selections grouped by opera (a "Princess Ida" set, a "Mikado" set, and so on). This while the patrons came in and collected their packets (program for the evening, items for the live auction, auction number), examined the gift baskets and silent auction items, and enjoyed the hors d'oeuvres and beverages.

After an hour or so, things moved into the theater for more G&S selections - the audience's top 12 or 15 choices. These were semi-staged, with either orchestra or piano, and performed with the singers in evening wear and the occasional prop (character hats, the occasional "weapon", etc.). As the announcer commented after When a Felon's Not Engaged in His Employment, "I like the idea of a police force in tuxes!"

People then returned to the lobby to collect their silent auction items (I was lucky enough to be the only bidder on a lovely dichroic-glass hair barrette - bright & sparkly, just my kinda thing!), witness the drawing for the various baskets, and attend the live auction. I didn't stay for the latter, but it seemed to be going well.

The event drew what seemed to be a good crowd, though it was hard to tell, given that it's a relatively small lobby, the tables for the auction & raffle items took up a fair bit of space, and there were a LOT of performers in the lobby along w/ the patrons. However, I heard the company sold at least 70 or 80 tickets (we needed to sell at least 60 or 65 to cover expenses) and of course everything raffled or auctioned was donated. I think even some of the food and drinks were donations. I'm expecting that means the company did well enough to put us comfortably in the black, instead of hovering on the verge of operating in the red. I fully expect this will become an annual event and now that we've done one, the next one will be a little easier.

I chatted briefly with one patron who, with his wife, had attended every performance since learning about the company from a friend 3 years ago. He told me they had enjoyed everything they'd seen and were looking forward to the next season.

Dress code for those of us working or performing was tuxes for the men and cocktail dresses for the ladies. I have a gorgeous beaded dress that might have worked, but I've, um, "outgrown" it, so I had to go shopping. Precious few cocktail dresses out there - mostly I found ballgowns, prom dresses and "mother of the bride" dresses, and lots and lots of black! I wanted non-black - after all, I wasn't going to a funeral, and pace the "basic black" dictum - but about the only other alternative was dark brown, which makes me look like death wouldn't have me. I ended up with a pair of plain black trousers in a sparkly knit (no pockets and much too long, but very comfortable) and a tank top w/ matching jacket, both of which had an all-over pattern in silver glitter. I dug out lots of big, flashy rhinestone jewelry to wear with them, including a funny headpiece of loops of rhinestones which I pinned on top of a bun. I even painted my toenails silver w/glitter to go w/ the silver sandals I wore. If I couldn't have color, I was gonna have LOTS of sparkle! :D

Several of my friends in the company teased me about all the flash or commented on the jewelry. I even had a couple of patrons come up to me and comment on the end result. The lady and I had a brief but pleasant chat about "basic black" versus color, but the funniest was the older gentleman who came up to me and said "You look tremendous!", then turned and walked away again.

Me, distracted and preoccupied?!?

Whew, survived that! I've been trying to get certified to teach a coupla technical writing courses at work. I was scheduled to "team teach" one of them starting Tuesday this week, the last or next-to-last thing I needed for certification. However. I realized last Friday that I didn't know a) what I needed to do to prepare, b) how to get a copy of the instructor's manual, or even c) who was teaching the course! I finally got that last bit of info late Monday, but because the instructor was out of the office all day, I couldn't reach him (although he did see my e-mail Tuesday morning).

And why did I wait so long to realize I needed all this info? Hmm, let's see - Aug. 24th, Dad goes into hospital for knee replacement. Aug. 28th, Mom goes for doctor's appointment, is whisked off to the hospital (not the same one Dad's in), which I don't learn until the 29th. On the 29th, as I'm preparing for an audition, I first get a phone call telling me Mom was in the hospital and then, 45 minutes later, my sister calls back to tell me they'd just learned Mom's got cancer. Aug 30th was Mom's biopsy, with no results at all for nearly a week! Then Mom goes home that Saturday, Dad pushes himself (and we worry that he might push too hard) in his PT and gets "sprung" the following Saturday.

Oh, and my immediate supervisor left mid-day on the 29th for a 4-month assignment elsewhere, and guess who's acting in his stead until his return? I've mostly managed to avoid jobs with a heavy supervisory role, but looks like the odds have finally caught up with me. Almost immediately, I had to deal with little things like attending meetings (no big deal, but it means I have to schedule around them), prioritizing the work and picking up customer requests, but I've also started seeing the sausage being made, most notably in the form of a sticky personnel problem that has refused to respond to the usual treatments and required more drastic measures.

Maybe that's why the 9/11 anniversary didn't phase me this year. I was too preoccupied with other things to think much about that day or the days thereafter, when I was working in the Pentagon.

So yeah, I'm just glad I got thru this class intact. I think I'd better do one more round of team-teaching, though, and this time I'll make sure I've got a copy of the course materials ahead of time, touch base w/ the primary instructor to see if he or she will let me do most of the instruction (I only did about half of the 2nd day; the primary did all of Day 1 and the review before the test), and actually be prepared to teach.