Tag Archives: rehearsal

Maybe I Should Have Rehearsed My Blog Post

The operative thing to do one a busy week is to write blog posts ahead of time.  I say this merely as an observation.  I am not offering advice to fellow bloggers nor yet outlining a plan I am capable of following myself.  As the expression goes, I’m just saying.

Theatre loving people such as myself tend, by and large, to be too busy.  If we’re not too busy, we are often looking for some project or other to busy ourselves with.  I feel a little silly even talking about it, because there are other theatre people who are way busier than I am.  I don’t know how they do it, although I suspect, for one factor, they get far less sleep than I do.  And I don’t get as much sleep as I would like.

I suspect some readers are nodding their heads wisely, saying, “Ah yes, this is me, too.”  Others are shaking their heads in a superior fashion, saying, “Well, duh.  Do you think you could find something more obvious to state?”  Guess which one is the critic that lives in my head.

That is what I wrote while on a break at work today.  Then I went back to studying my lines for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  Second dress rehearsal is tonight.  I have a whole new roster of costumes, which I think will work better.  One advantage will be if I actually remember all of them.  Funny story:  Sunday night I dreamed I got to rehearsal and had forgotten the off-white blouse for Act I, Scene 1. Monday night I made damn sure I remembered that blouse!  When I got to rehearsal I realized I had forgotten the jeans and sneakers for Act I, Scene 2.  As I say to others when they make mistakes, this is why we have rehearsals.

So this is my Tired Tuesday post.  I must soon hurry to rehearsal.  I put most of my costume pieces on the same hanger or in the same bag.  This will work!  And if it doesn’t, I’ll have something else to write about tomorrow. Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

One Of These Plays…

You know, like “One of these days…”  I thought it was an acceptable play on words.  What else can I do on Wuss-out Wednesday but play a little bit with words?  Yes, Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday as inevitably as… as inevitably as I begin a simile and can’t think of a good way to finish it.

I tried to write a blog post while at work today, but it was only another I Can’t Write a Post post, and I thought, why am I writing such a thing in advance?  Should I not be composing at the keyboard at such times?  So that is what I am doing.

We are doing complete run-through on Steel Magnolias, last night, tonight and tomorrow.  We must be in full costume by Monday, but the director would be delighted to see costumes any time between now and then. With that in mind, I put on the skirt I think will do for me in Act I Scene 1.  I purchased a jacket I think will coordinate with it last Saturday at New 2 You Consignment Shop in Ilion (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

Regarding the rest of my costumes… I’m working on them.  Quite frankly, I thought I had more stuff than I in fact do.  Oh dear, I suppose some of my cast-mates might read this and they will look sternly at me when they see me in.. yikes, less than an hour!  At least I looked over my lines today.  And other people’s.  I learn my own lines first, so for the first couple of rehearsals off book I sometimes say them at the wrong time.  How embarrassing.  Other actors learn their lines and where those lines go at the same time.  I’ll have to try that one of these plays.

 

Wrist to Ruby’s and Beyond

It is a later than usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday post, and I really do face a dilemma as I contemplate the upcoming week.  That is, should this blog become All Steel Magnolias All The Time for the next two weeks, or should I first indulge in a week of All Rubbed Out at Ruby’s All The Time or do a weird hybrid such as All Steel Ruby All The Time?

We just got home from another rehearsal for Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the interactive murder mystery to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls, NY.  I can report that it is looking good, especially considering the costumes people wore or brought.   I think it will be a great deal of fun.  I only hope I can remember everything.  It’s not my lines I’m worried about.  I don’t have that many lines; it’s mostly improvised.  But I don’t want to forget a prop or costume piece.  I’m so scatterbrained these days!

I have not thought much about Steel Magnolias today; that is, the next production at Ilion Little Theatre, to be presented the first two weekends in March.  This means I must do some serious looking at lines tomorrow.  I hope I don’t forget to bring my script to work with me (see earlier line about being scatterbrained these days).

And what about the other murder mysteries I’m working on?  Well, I’ll bring my notebook to work with me, too.  Write, study lines, I can do it all, why not?  And if the stress gets to me, I guess I’ll just have a Wrist to Forehead Monday, too.  I hope everybody is having a nice end of their weekend.

 

A Slice of My Life

Sometimes I am too ill to write a blog post. Does it count if I am too depressed? I feel so self-indulgent even considering such a thing. Ooh, maybe this is a good lead.

That is what I just now posted on Facebook.  Almost before I had copied and pasted it here, a friend had commented that depression IS an illness.  I suppose I feel it counts for everybody but me.  You know, that thing many of us do that we treat our loved ones way better than we treat ourselves.  I know, a lot of people do the opposite, especially with physical indulgences.  However, I know a great many people who will put themselves down using terms they would NEVER employ when talking to a friend.  Just saying.

Where was I?  Ah yes, trying to make a Non-Sequitur Thursday post before I hurriedly get ready for rehearsal for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  This is what I posted on Facebook earlier:

Here’s the problem: I have so much to do, I not only keep thinking I’m forgetting something, I keep forgetting what it was I was just about to do. Making a list does not help. I not only forget to put stuff on the list, I forget where I put the list!

To make this a true Non-Sequitur Thursday post, I should make a catchy headline that has little or nothing to do with the post.  What is this post about, anyways?  Not much, as is par for the course when I am involved in a show.  Right now I am involved in two shows and need to finish writing two more to begin working on them within the next two weeks.  Yikes!  Why do I do these things to myself?  Ah yes, refer to an earlier paragraph about treating others better than I treat myself.  And I’m not all that freaking nice to others, either!  Happy Thursday, everyone.

 

Too Much Theatre?

It’s that moment when you are pondering what, oh what, to make a blog post about and you’ve got just about enough time to do it, and you find out your rehearsal is at 6 not 6:30.  Oh NO!  I can’t handle it! (Said in a dramatic tone of voice, posing with my wrist to my forehead).  Incidentally, it is rehearsal for Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre, which will be presented the first two weekends in March.

I’m thinking it’s Wuss-out Wednesday, but given that last parenthetical comment, perhaps it is Wrist to Forehead Wednesday.  The sad thing is my husband had just started to tell me a story about his past.  I may have heard it before, but I do not mind a re-run.  That is one of the secrets to a happy marriage (not a very well-kept secret). (A lesser known secret is to have a husband that tells good stories). I guess he’ll have to tell me later.

AND we are watching WKTV News at five, where I believe there is to be a NewsTalk about Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the murder mystery to be presented by LiFT Theatre Company at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls. DVR to the rescue!

You may have noticed that I am a little stressed lately.  I have mysteries to write, costumes to find, lines to learn and blog posts to make.  And who’s fault is it that I have too much on my plate?  That’s right, the overriding problem in my life is ALWAYS Operator Error.  Maybe I can get caught up on the weekend.  But don’t count on it.  Happy Wednesday, everyone.

 

Holding On Till The Next Hot Flash

Welcome to another Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I did not get much done today, although I tried.  I don’t know why I thought I could get anything done.  Hope springs eternal, I suppose.

It has been a cold weekend in the Mohawk Valley.  I know, it’s February, what can I expect?  As a matter of fact, I did expect it to be cold.  And I did not expect to enjoy it.  However, I will admit to feeling… not good, but as if the cold was doing me good as I walked through the Hannaford parking lot after picking up a few groceries.  You know, like an ice pack or a cold shower is sometimes just what you need.  I couldn’t pinpoint for you exactly what about me I felt needed icing at at time, but I decided to go with it.

The cold did not continue to do me good (or feel as if it was doing me good, I guess), but you’ll have that.  As usual, I just tried to hold on till the next hot flash.

We had another rehearsal for “Rubbed Out at Ruby’s,” the 1920’s murder mystery LiFT Theatre Company will present at the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls.  This week I positively will write a full blog post about it.  In the meantime, I’ll try to find a link you can click for more information.  You can also go to the Overlook’s or LiFT’s Facebook pages.

 

Off the Cuff and On to Rehearsal!

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.

 

Remember Those Donuts?

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.

 

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Yes, it is another Slacker Saturday post.  I decided this after I typed in four or eight possible leads (who was counting?) and immediately backspaced over them.  Don’t judge me.

Our dear little doggy, Spunky, got us up prior to 5:30 this morning.  That was at least later than our usual 4:30 rising time, so I counted my blessings and put on my running clothes.  After accompanying Spunkman (as Steven likes to call him) on his morning business meeting, I went for a run.  It was not as long a run as I have taken, but I petted two dogs, went up something of a hill, and reached the I Can Rock This stage, although briefly.

I had rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing at 10 a.m. in Little Falls.  That’s always fun.  I just love community theatre.  You meet the nicest people.  Also, I am an incurable ham (get it?  Because ham is a cured meat?  Well, I thought it was a play on words).

After rehearsal, Steven and I had some discussion of what to do, but eventually we went out to lunch at Cucina Berto in Frankfort, and grocery shopping at Hannaford in Herkimer.  When we got home, we took our doggy for a walk around the block (that is usually about as far as our little friend wants to go). Now we are wondering what to watch on television, if anything.

As you can see, I have indulged in a number of bloggable activities today: run, rehearsal, lunch, shopping, walk.  I could even write about How I Can’t Write a Post Today, given the number of starts I erased before I started.  Instead, I offer… what I just wrote.  Happy Saturday, everyone.

P.S.  Steven suggested the title.

 

Me and the Bard

Well, it has been  while since I made a flying post before hurrying off to a rehearsal, hasn’t it?  If I wasn’t such a theatre junky, it would be longer yet.  What the blankety-blank was I thinking, saying I would be in a play?  Oh yeah, I like to be in a play.  And it is so flattering to be asked.  And I really, truly have a difficult time saying no.

Be all that as it may, I am sitting in my living room, typing on the laptop and sipping iced coffee, and debating what best to do.  To update anybody just tuning in, or regular readers who have forgotten, I am to play the Friar in Little Falls Theatre Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing.  The first rehearsal for my character is tonight.  I have been learning my lines from a Yale Shakespeare copy of the play.  I had been going to use my Complete Works of Shakespeare, but I foolishly misplaced it.  How does one misplace a large yellow book, you may ask.  What can I say, I have unusual talents.

Two friends came to my rescue when I lamented the loss on Facebook.  One sent me a link to the Complete Works online.  The other had a collection of the plays, each play its own little volume, that she no longer wanted.  While we made arrangements for me to get the books, I logged onto the link and got started.  I have been looking at the lines almost every day since.

As I feared, learning Shakespeare is not as easy as learning other lines.  For one reason, a couple of my speeches run a little long.  For another reason, well, you know, Shakespeare.  I love Shakespeare.  When I read a Shakespeare play, my brain (or is it my soul?) gives in a little sigh of contentment.  But memorizing it is just a trifle more difficult than regular old dialogue.  I say this not in a complaining spirit but in a little embarrassment that I do not yet know my lines.  I like to learn my lines right away.

It really is no matter though.  Also, it is no matter than I have been out in the sunshine all day having Mohawk Valley adventures.  Tired?  Ha!  No brain for learning lines?  Ha!  The show must go on!  Rehearsal will be fun!  And I have written a blog post.  I am not entirely satisfied with my title, but then again, this is Non-Sequitur Thursday.  It will have to do.