Tag Archives: Ilion Little Theatre

Picture This: A Set in Progress

Posted on January 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m really liking the idea of Wordless Wednesday, where I show pictures.  And I have a few pictures that I kind of promised to show soon, of the set for Steel Magnolias.  I showed a couple of walls the first day they were working on it.  I missed a few steps of the work in progress, but I remembered to bring my Tablet to last night’s rehearsal and snapped a couple of shots before we started.

Lots of props and set pieces have been added.  This first shot shows one of the people responsible for making the set look so good, Kim Darling.  She went to a lot of antique and second-hand stores last weekend.  If she had called me to go with her, that would have made a great blog post!  Oh well, I had other stuff I was supposed to be doing.

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She’s placing the Christmas tree. By my standards, that makes this a Christmas play, and I’m sorry we did not do it in December. Oh well, I always say, you can’t have everything.

 

The next picture shows cast member Kelly Stone, who plays M’Lynn.  Imagine my surprise when I found out M’Lynn is short for Mary Lynn.  I used to live next door to a Mary Lynn, roughly a hundred years ago, when I was a wee tot and lived in Oneonta, NY.  But I digress.  I snapped this shot just before we started rehearsal.

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Picture her hair in rollers, to get the complete picture.

 

After taking that shot, I quickly panned to the right (stage left) for one more shot.

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It may seem that the walls are oddly painted, and in fact they are.  I always find that amusing. As any theatre person knows, we like to reduce, reuse, recycle.  Actually, I think it is more along the lines of  “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

I look forward to taking more pictures of the set, and telling you more about the cast and the production, especially a month or so down the road, when this blog becomes All Steel Magnolias All The Time.  In the meantime, Happy Wednesday, everyone, and I’m going to go study my lines.

 

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Off the Cuff and On to Rehearsal!

Posted on January 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I spent my breaks at work studying my lines for Steel Magnolias, the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre.  Production dates are the first two weekends in March.  That makes it just a little early for this blog to become All Steel Magnolias All The Time.  However, I don’t have much else to write about today and I REALLY don’t want to blather on about how I’m having trouble writing, as I have done too many times in the past.

We had rehearsal last night.  You should see how much the set has progressed!  Alas, you cannot, because I did not think to bring my Tablet and snap a couple of pictures.  We have rehearsal again tonight, so perhaps I could remedy the omission in a future post.

And I just this minute remembered something!  I am supposed to have my bio for the program ready by tonight!  Oh no!  Longtime readers may remember that I have a problem with bios.  I think I wrote a blog post about it once.  Oh well, I’ll come up with something off the cuff (what, ME? come up with something off the cuff?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!).

As I was saying, the set is filling in with set pieces and props.  Now we have to learn our lines, so we can drop our scripts and pick up the props.  It is just a bit awkward, script and pencil in one hand (to make notes about blocking), prop in the other.  Then you drop the prop or lose your place in the script… um, not that everybody does that.  Some of my fellow cast-members are most adept.  OK, I’m the big klutz in the bunch, as usual.

Well, this post is not amounting to much, is it?  I guess there is not a whole lot to report about the play.  But I suppose this will have to do on Tired Tuesday, because I have to get ready for rehearsal.  I hope I remember to bring my Tablet.

 

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Mentally Meandering down Memory Lane

Posted on January 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Now I see what I have to do.  I have to write Monday’s post in advance, because I am clearly not capable of writing on a Monday.  That is, if those two sentences don’t count.

However, I do not feel I should have another whiny post about I Can’t Write Today, so I will do the photo trick again.  That was kind of fun last time, wasn’t it?  Let me see what I have downloaded…

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This is one of my favorites.  It is the LiFT Theatre Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, performed last August at the Utica Zoo. That’s me in the green shirt holding a pitchfork, trying to intimidate the big guy.  Me and the guy in the white shirt were the Watch, and we had just uncovered a villainous piece of lechery.  We were pretty pleased with ourselves over that.

 

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Here is the whole cast of that production, at Canal Place in Little Falls, where we presented the play as part of the Canal Days Celebration. It was great fun, and the audiences seemed to like us quite a bit.

 

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OK, this is one of my heroes, Weird Al Yankovich, as a monk on Galivant, an absolutely marvelous show that, alas, is no more.  The reason I include it today is that I had two parts in Much Ado About Nothing (as anybody who read my multiple blog posts about the show may recall).  Unfortunately, I don’t have an pictures of me as Friar Francis.  So I thought I’d stick in a substitute.

So this is my blog post for today.  My Mental Meanderings took me down memory lane to last summer’s theatre adventures.  That is appropriate, as I am posting this before hurrying off to rehearsal for my next theatrical adventure, Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  More about that adventure later.  And more about further adventures with LiFT Theatre Company!  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Is It Worth 3,000 Words?

Posted on January 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I may have run out of things to say about not having anything to say.

I am forcing myself not to backspace and erase that, as I did to at least three other possible leads.  I’m thinking at least one of those leads was better than what I went with, but of course now I can’t remember any of them.

Using a few random pictures seemed to work yesterday.  I wonder if I could get away with it two days in a row.

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He’s telling me what to say, and I’m thinking he’s full of beans.

 

This picture is from the Ilion Little Theatre production of Harvey in 2012.  Steven played Dr. Chumley.  I was Veda.  Perhaps longtime readers remember when this blog was All Harvey All The Time.

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My character is drinking wine, but it is not real wine in the glass, a source of much disappointment to me.

This is a more recent stage appearance: Splitting Issues last October.  I believe I also wrote a couple of blog posts about that.

 

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In jail, where some believe we belong (you know who you are).

 

I don’t have another theatre picture of Steven and me together, so I will show a picture of me in costume with Steven.  This was a Haunted Tour of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners.  I reprised my role (wait a minute; my computer thinks “reprised” is not a word, but apparently “reprise” is. Oh, I can’t worry about that now) of Roxalana Druse, who was hanged behind the 1834 Jail.  I don’t think I did a blog post about that event (the haunted tour, not the hanging, although I never wrote about the hanging either).  How remiss of me.

So this is my Non-Sequitur Thursday post for the week.  I think I’ve jumped around enough to qualify.  If only I could think of a catchy headline, I could head to my Steel Magnolias rehearsal content.

 

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Remember Those Donuts?

Posted on January 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So Tired Tuesday follows Mental Muck Monday, everybody must have seen that coming.  For anyone that was worried (although I don’t imagine anybody was),  my writing abilities seem to have returned.  Um, not that I expect this post will reflect my best efforts, but I did work on my articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.   The deadline is looming; I must make haste.  In the meantime, I need a blog post.

I had thought I would be posting in haste (posthaste, there’s a word you don’t see much anymore) before getting to rehearsal.  First, of course, I had those articles to work on.  As I worked, I could hear the sleet striking my window panes.  Oh dear.  Luckily my rehearsal is not far.  Still, it was not going to be a fun drive.  This is why I don’t like being involved in the March production, but it is useless to repine about that now.  Then the phone rang.  It was the director, cancelling rehearsal.  Cast members who live farther away than I do had phoned him, saying they did not want to drive in this weather.  I didn’t blame them.

I’m sure some readers are thinking, “Well NOW you can write a decent blog post, can’t you?  Can’t you?”  And I’m thinking,”Apparently not.”  However, I do have a few pictures to share.  Not very good pictures.  Perhaps not worth a thousand words.  Then again, my posts don’t usually run to a thousand words.  Who has time to read thousand word blog posts anyways?  Not me!  Let’s look at the pictures.

These were taken Saturday, at the set-building session to which I brought the donuts (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

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Two walls were already up when I arrived. And you see how fast our set-builders were working: this fellow is a blur!

 

 

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There was much discussion about where the window would be.

 

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They are discussing more walls to raise. The walls are there now, but I did not have my tablet with me at rehearsal last night.

Perhaps I can remember to bring my tablet to the next rehearsal and take more pictures of the set in progress.  At least I can hope to post pictures of the completed project.  And I will write many more word about the play itself, especially when the blog becomes All Steel Magnolias All The Time.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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I Brought the Donuts!

Posted on January 8, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a brief shout-out to a local business instead of my usual Scattered Saturday post?  For one reason, I get to talk about donuts.  Mmmmm… donuts.

The director and a few others were going to begin building the set for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre  (ILT) this morning.  I sometimes show up for these sessions in hopes that I can be useful, but I rarely am.  I know how to use a few tools, but I am no hand at carpentry.  However, we all offer our contributions according to our talent.  I thought I would offer moral support by bringing donuts.

Being, as I am, Mohawk Valley Girl, I naturally wanted to go to one of those unique local businesses I treasure.  For set-building donuts, I like the Friendly Bake Shop in Frankfort, NY.  I have several times stopped there for donuts before heading out to ILT.

The first thing I grabbed before the lady waited on me was a loaf of their good Italian bread.  Yum!  I looked at the donuts in the display case while I waited my turn, pondering.   Some might call the decision I reached radical.

“I’m going to make this easy,” I said.  “I’ll take a dozen plain.”  They just looked really good, and they can be less messy than the powdered or filled ones (not to mention the ones that are powdered AND filled) (the frosted ones can get a little messy, too).

The donuts were a big hit at the set-building.  I ate two myself.  The guys appreciated the old-fashioned, crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside cakes.  I brought three home for Steven.

The Friendly Bake Shop is located at  122 E Main St., Frankfort, New York, phone number (315) 894-8861.  they are open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, closed Monday.  You can Like them on Facebook.

 

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No Wine, No Words

Posted on January 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Oh, could I use a couple of pictures today!  Because the words that are currently swirling around in my head are just not  coalescing into a blog post.  And I must make a post soon, because the read-through for Steel Magnolias (you know, the play I’m in a Ilion Little Theatre) is tonight.  Yes, we are heading into another few months of hurried posts before I hurry off to rehearsal or performance.  Yes!  I AM a drama queen!

I am not, unfortunately, a blogger queen.  I typed in the first paragraph and have been sitting here staring at the computer since.

Then I paused to eat supper, bacon and scrambled eggs, made by my husband, Steve.  Yum!  And I keep getting distracted by the Reba re-run on the TV.  That is a largely ignored but very fun little show.  I love Reba McEntire.  I like the rest of the cast as well.  Phew, it’s over now.  Now it’s a show I don’t like.  Watch me get interested in it in spite of myself.  I do that sometimes.  Steven just changed the channel to 20/20 on OWN.  I love true crime shows.

So I guess this is truly a Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  All I have to do now is think of a catchy headline that may or may not have anything to do with this nonsense.

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All Kinds of Drama in 2017!

Posted on January 3, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Welcome to the first Mental Meanderings Monday of 2017.  I hope nobody is expecting brilliance (I know, most of you never had such expectations of me) (OK, me neither),  because I feel tired and stupid.  These are not unfamiliar feelings for me, but I do not repine.  I just have to wait and sooner or later I will feel some other way.  That is how it works.

Where was I?  Ah yes, mentally meandering.  I’m expecting my post-Christmas letdown to continue at least for a few more days, with the occasional relapse as the month wears on.  On Wednesday I have a meeting to talk more about the murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company is doing at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls.  Who could be uncheered by a murder mystery? (That is a paraphrase from Winnie the Pooh, by the way.  I think the real line is, “Nobody could be uncheered by a balloon.”) Thursday I have the read-through for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.

And then I have at least two more murder mysteries to write, in addition to writing articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine and making a blog post every day. Then there is running, finally organizing my house and life, and of course seeking out new Mohawk Valley adventures.  I hope to also find time to crochet, knit, and watch true crime on cable television, as well as the occasional cheesy movie to write a blog post about (I haven’t done one of those posts in a long time!).

I see that I am over 250 words.  Score!  And never once did I whine about my inability to come up with a blog post for today.  That makes me feel a good deal less stupid than I felt when I typed the first paragraph.  You see, I was right:  just wait and I will feel a different way.  Bring on 2017!

 

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Neither Wordless Nor Wuss

Posted on December 29, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was all set to do a Wuss-out Wednesday  post when I remembered that some bloggers do a thing called  Wordless Wednesday.   Not that I am usually wordless, nor do I intend to be entirely Wordless now.  But I do have a couple of pictures to share.  So here are two views of me.

 

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Do you even like my feet?

 

I was hoping for slippers for Christmas.  I quite frankly never pictured these, but I LOVE them.  You can’t imagine how cool it is to look down at your feet and see these big fluffy things.  Unless you have a pair too, in which case,  excellent!

The next was taken last night before Steven and I went out to eat.  I wanted to put on something cute and this is what I came up with .

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Steven said, “Hubba, hubba!”

 

Full disclosure  I purchased the shirt in the late 1980s, when I worked at JC Penney in Potsdam, NY.  I rediscovered them during Leading Ladies (remember?  the show I directed for Ilion Little Theatre), when I wanted to dress fabulously each night to make the curtain speech.  I added the Christmas vest and jewelry last night.

I confess, I thought I looked pretty fine.  So fine, in fact I was the one to say,  “Hey, Steve, take a picture!”

Oh dear, now I’m looking at the picture and seeing my pile of footwear at the bottom of the stairs.  Then again, maybe most people didn’t notice them till I foolishly pointed them out.  Oh well,  these things happen.

 

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I’m Claree!

Posted on December 22, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just imagine everybody is waiting with bated breath to see if I have been cast in Ilion Little Theatre’s upcoming production of Steel Magnolias.  Yes, I know, that’s what I said:  I am just imagining it.  Nevertheless, that is the topic of today’s blog post.

Last night I got a call from the director of the play, offering me the part of Claree.  She is the former first lady of Chinquapin (nobody at auditions knew how to pronounce it either; I’m not even sure I’ve spelled it correctly). I think I read on the back of the script that Claree is an eccentric millionaire with a sweet tooth (I haven’t gotten my script yet, so I can’t double check that).

Full disclosure:  the part I originally had a hankering for was Ouiser, who has the immortal line, “I’m not crazy, I’ve just been in an incredibly bad mood for the past forty years.”  A co-worker described her as “the miserable one” and thought I’d be perfect for the part.

After reading scenes at auditions, I am quite happy with the part of Claree.  I think it will be a very fun role.  Additionally, the actress cast as Ouiser is marvelously talented and a great person to work with (she was my stage manager for Leading Ladies, the play I directed last spring).  I have worked with most of the other cast members as well, and they are awesome.

Another full disclosure:  I kind of wish the play had a few more roles, because some of the ladies who did not get cast would have been great to work with too. As I often say, you can’t have everything (no matter what the positive-thinking Facebook memes say!).

I am looking forward to beginning rehearsals for Steel Magnolias.  Performance dates are the first two weekends in March.  That should give us plenty of posts before this blog becomes All Steel Magnolias All The Time.

 

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