Tag Archives: rehearsal

What Would Clara Bow Have Done?

Posted on October 5, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was about to title this one Post Rehearsal Post, but then I thought it might be a Non-Sequitur Thursday, in which case, the title ought not directly reflect the content of the post.  Oh the conundrums of the daily blogger!

I just returned from the first rehearsal for A Trivial Murder, the murder mystery we are putting on to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.  It will be Saturday, Nov. 3, 6 p.m. (doors open at 5), at the Ilion Moose Lodge.   The cost is $25.00/person. To purchase tickets, stop by the Society, Monday-Friday, 10-4, or send a check in the mail and they’ll send your tickets to you – HCHS, 400 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY 13350. For more information, call 315-866-6413.

I brought my Tablet to take a couple of pictures, but neglected to actually take any.  Instead, I offer a picture of a previous murder mystery for the Historical Society.

That was a fun cast, yes, but this one will be great, too!

Before rehearsal, my friend Kim and I went up to the costume rooms at Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) looking for a 1920’s costume for me for the Ritz and Ragtime at Rutger Park fundraiser on Saturday.  We and a other members of LiFT (Little Falls Theatre Company) are volunteering and must look the part.  I did not want to wear the dress I wore last year (also borrowed from ILT) (and returned); I wanted to wear the dress worn by another character in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s (a murder mystery presented by LiFT last year).

This is what I wore last year; some people thought I looked pretty fine.

 

I was looking for the black dress on the girl sitting next to me who is NOT strangling me.

However, after looking for a while, I just wanted to find ANYTHING that worked.  Eventually I found a black velvet gown that will do. Alas, it does not look like a flapper dress.  Maybe I’m a little too old to be a flapper.  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!  After rehearsal (which went pretty well), I went home and sought out accessories to make the gown 1920’s ready.

So this is my Non-Sequitur Thursday post.  At least I plugged two upcoming local events, and included a couple of pictures.  I call that respectable.  Happy Thursday, everybody.

Oh crap, I still have to think of a title.

 

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Getting Ready to Kill!

Posted on September 16, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Just when I thought I was going to have to make a fast, foolish post before getting ready for our show tonight, I checked my email and found pictures!  My friend Matt  took these pictures at last night’s rehearsal.  Now I can talk some more about Donate to Murder.  This will be great!

Donate to Murder, regular readers may recall, is the murder mystery LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company, is presenting at the Herkimer Elks Lodge tonight.  I really need to be showering and getting ready, but of course blog posts must be made (or else they are not blog posts).  So here are the pictures and a few brief comments by me.

Now when a woman has a flower in her teeth, they say it’s sexy.

This is Renwick Spaulding, a lover of bugs.  When I gave him a rolling cockroach I just happened to have (a relic of another murder mystery), he immediately adopted it as his best friend, Edward.  Now Edward is my favorite character in the play.  Good playwrights are not resistant to script changes.

Personally, I think plaid is sexy.

My husband, Steven, is also featured as Dudley Turnbull, a lover of dogs but hater of dog poo.  My character, Miss Phoebe Larkspur, cringes when he mentions “poop” instead of saying the dogs “do their business.”  The other lady is Flora Fertenza, a kind of a flower child.

It’s a dramatic moment. Take my word for it.

 

I have a little hostility towards Flora at first.

Yes, one of these people is a murderer.

Here is the whole crew: Phoebe Larkspur, Meryl Barrymore, Flora Fertenza, Harold Greene, Dudley Turnbull, and Renwick Spaulding.

And now I have to jump in the shower.  Crap, I hope I can remember my lines!

 

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Blog Post to Murder?

Posted on August 30, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

So we just had our first rehearsal for Donation to Murder.  At least, I think that is the title we agreed on.  How embarrassing that I do not know for sure, and how really embarrassing that I did not have a definite title when I wrote it.  Titles are hard.  Some writers know all about titles.  I know one fellow who told me that everything he ever wrote had a specific title that had a special meaning. Then again, I never read anything he wrote and have reason to believe he was NOT as good a writer as he believed himself to be.  That is neither here nor there.

As a matter of fact, I still do not have a lot of details on the murder mystery that will be presented at Herkimer Elks Lodge on Sept. 15, 2018.  I thought I would find out some stuff at today’s rehearsal, but we were so busy talking about our characters, costumes, props, and the script, that other details just kind of got lost.  These things happen, I suppose

In the meantime, it is Wuss-out Wednesday, so I guess this is my wuss out post.  I had fun at rehearsal and am mostly looking forward to less humidity tomorrow, which several meteorologists have promised me.  Meteorologists have disappointed me before.  Maybe next I shall write a murder mystery about a blogger who murders a weather predictor.

 

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Thank Goodness It’s a Blog Post!

Posted on August 29, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Actually, I had no pleasant delusion today about it being any day but Tuesday.

You knew I was going to have a Tired Tuesday post, didn’t you?  Any local readers might have guessed it based on the level of heat and humidity we all were dealing with here in the Mohawk Valley (YES, I’m whining about it and will probably continue to do so, if you do not want to listen, just move on!).

More astute readers may guess by that parenthetical comment that I am a little sensitive these days to accusations of whining.  A work friend kept yelling at me to quit my whining and I didn’t think I WAS whining but merely observing some unpleasant circumstances.  I have not spoken to him for two days, because I figured I would actually whine.

Where was I?  Ah yes, whining.  I always say, go with your strengths. No, no, I don’t want to whine but rather to make a respectable blog post.  I am making it before rehearsal tonight.  There is more costume work to be done!  Pieces to be looked for, stuff to be put away, people to talk to, plans to be made.  I was telling another work friend about going to rehearsal and he said, “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”  No, I cannot.

I found this on Facebook just now.

At the risk of repeating what is on the above graphic:  performance dates for Shattered Angel are Sept. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 16 and 23 at 2 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre, 13 Remington Ave, Ilion, NY (directly behind Remington Arms).  Tickets are $15 general admission, $10 for students and can be purchased by mail by sending a check to: Herkimer Historical Society, 400 N. Main Street, Herkimer, NY 13350, or by calling 315-866-6413 or by stopping by the historical society during their hours of operation, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.  PLEASE NOTE: “Shattered Angel” is a special, additional production in conjunction with the Herkimer County Historical Society and is NOT part of the regular 2018-2019 theatrical season. Thus, subscriptions and memberships are not accepted for these performances.

Tomorrow I have rehearsal for my as yet untitled murder mystery, which will be presented at the Herkimer Elks Lodge on Sept. 15 (another reason I could not audition for Angel).  I’ll have more information on that production soon.

In the meantime, I shall close with a monster picture I could have used yesterday.  In a comment, Pouring My Art Out said Great White Sharks were monsters too. I agree.

How would you like to brush his teeth?

 

 

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Shattered Post with Monsters

Posted on August 28, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I don’t know that you would call us monsters…

This is a fast Monstrous Monday post, because I want to go to bed!  Yes, I am old and I am tired.  Anyways, I led with this picture, because my friend, Kim, is strangling me. It seemed appropriate since SHE kept me out this late!  Just kidding, it wasn’t her fault.  We were at rehearsal for Shattered Angel, the play the Herkimer County Historical Society is presenting in cooperation with Ilion Little Theatre.  Kim and I are helping with the costumes.  Actually, she is doing most of the work. She is SO ORGANIZED!  I should take a lesson.

In the meantime, that doesn’t make this a very monstrous post, does it?  Let me find us some monsters.

I don’t think this lady got her full night of beauty rest, either.

Here’s a picture from Nosferatu I haven’t used so many times.  Regular readers know he is my favorite guy.  He’s scary.

“Was somebody looking for a monster?”

Here’s a more cheerful-looking monster for us.  I’m not sure where this guy is; I don’t even remember where I found the picture.  Still, a smiling Godzilla, what’s not to like?

He looks a little disgusted by the whole exercise, doesn’t he?

And we end with the iconic Frankenstein’s Monster.  Yes, it’s been a dumb post, but I’m tired.  In my defense, before rehearsal I was finishing the script on my murder mystery.  More on that and on Shattered Angel in subsequent posts.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Getting Ready for Cheese

Posted on July 14, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just got back from rehearsal for Where’s the Cheesecake?, the play LiFT Theatre Company is presenting tomorrow at Little Falls Cheese Festival. I brought along my Tablet to take some pictures for this post.

We do a lot in a small space!

The set is quite simple, because it is a radio play.  We sit in the chairs, then get up and say our lines into the microphones.  It’s actually a little awkward acting that way, but us actors are always up for a challenge.

There are always a lot of laughs at rehearsal

Here are two of my castmates.  Full Disclosure: I told them to act like they were consulting over something in the script.  Actors are really good at these posed candid shots.

I didn’t tell him to smile.

This is an actual candid shot of a cast member.

Can you tell Matt has a cheese and Angela has a microphone?

I also wanted a shot of our writer and director, so we did another posed candid.  Angela Harris wrote the script, and Matt Powers directed.  They, as well as the cast, are excellent to work with.

Alas, I did not get a shot of Oscar Stivala, The Man with the Horn.  He adds atmosphere and mood with his music.  He is also playing later in the day at the Cheese Festival.  I hope to stick around long enough to hear him.  A number of other musical acts are also featured.  You can check out the line-up on the Cheese Festival’s Facebook page.

The Cheese Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Main Street in Little Falls.  The play will be in The Shop at 11:30 a.m.  Come on out!  But in case you miss it, I’ll try to write a blog post and tell you how it was.

 

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Looking for a New Throwback on Non-Sequitur Thursday

Posted on April 27, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

So last week I did a Throw Back Thursday with Non-Sequitur overtones.  Then I realized I had used the same photos together in a previous post.  I suppose these things happen, but I hope to avoid such a thing today.  I am posting in haste (posthaste is a word you don’t here much these days, but I like it).  I have rehearsal for Spring Into Murder later, and I am doing laundry now.  You know, that murder mystery we are doing at Morning Star Methodist Church on Saturday, April 28.  I wonder if any tickets are still available.  I should share the Facebook event again, in case local readers are interested (see what I did there?).

“I don’t always do Shakespeare plays, but when I do, it’s with LiFT.”

This is Tucker just before a performance of The Tempest last summer with LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company.  Tucker is in Spring Into Murder as the trophy husband of Holland Mills, CEO of Two Lips Cosmetics.

“Whoooo says Cindy can’t write a blog post?”

This cute little owl caught my eye.  As I type this, I see part of the title of the book he’s sitting on:  I Hated, Hated, HATED This Movie! by Roger Ebert.  I just love reading unflattering reviews, although I disagree with Ebert on some of his assessments.

Here’s to hasty blog posts!

I end with a shot of Steven and me doing what we do best:  hanging out and having a good old time!  My sister, Cheryl, took this picture at Woodland Farm Brewery in Utica, NY.

Well, three pictures and over 250 words, I call that good enough for a pre-rehearsal post.  I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday!

 

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Murderous Mental Meanderings.

Posted on April 24, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I do not think it is any too early for this blog to become All Spring Into Murder All The Time.  I have six days to get my act together!  AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!  OK, got that out of my system.  I have just time for a fast Monday Mental Meanderings post before rehearsal.  And I just thought of my headline. I bet I’ve used it before.  Well, these things happen.  We must make the best of them.

I just walked to the library to print out a sort of a program for Saturday night’s performance.  I say a sort of, because it only lists the character’s names with a short identifying phrase.  No actors’ names, not even the title.  After all, WE don’t know there is going to be a murder.  It is always a little disconcerting when an audience member says, “So there’s going to be a murder tonight”  or, worse yet, “We’ve never been to one of these before, what are we supposed to do?”  I don’t want to break character (as we actors say), but I also don’t want to leave people in the dark and/or rudely not answer their questions.  We find ways of dealing with these things.  That is part of the fun of live, interactive theatre.

Yes, I am tired and definitely feeling Monday.  Luckily, I am not driving to rehearsal but bumming a ride from my friend, Kim.  She is very tired too, but I hope to keep her awake enough to drive with chitchat.  I am rarely too tired to chat.

The murder mystery, once again, is Spring Into Murder, at Morning Star Methodist Church at 36 Second St., Ilion, NY, 5 p.m. Saturday, April 28.  $20 includes a delicious roast pork dinner (I know this, because they feed the actors and this will be the third one we’ve done there).  Advance tickets must be purchased by Thursday by calling 315-894-4093.  You can go to the Facebook Event for more information.

 

 

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Fast Post on a Sunday

Posted on April 23, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Every Sunday it is the same thing.  I start the day thinking I’ll get all sorts of stuff done. Sometimes I even do a thing or two.  But at some point, I remember, because my body reminds me:  there is no point in trying to get anything done on a Sunday.  I had rehearsal for Spring Into Murder (MUST write an entire blog post about that!).  Steven and I have a dinner date later.  Having gotten a couple of things done but feeling inclined to accomplish nothing further, I thought, “I’ll do my blog post.  Easy, fun, and useful.”  Of course the usefulness can be debated, but you may discuss that among yourselves if you are so inclined.

To make a long story longer (I bet you thought I was going to say, “make a long story short,” and you were taking a breath to say, “Too late!”  Gotcha!), I could not do a blog post earlier. I just sat there scrolling up and down Facebook and watching the clock till it was time to go to rehearsal.

Rehearsal went pretty good, by the way.  We discussed costumes.  I had brought what I intend to wear:  loud purple pants and a louder jacket.  Actually I had two colorful jackets to choose between, and one cast member insisted I must wear the louder one.  I agreed.  Kim had brought every glamorous black dress in her wardrobe for our inspection.  Oh come on, like none of you has more than one glamorous black dress?  I personally have none, but I’m weird. We all know that.  I am unusual among women in that I do not long for the elusive little black dress.  Be that as it may, Kim has some wonderful frocks, and we all enjoyed voicing our opinions.

More importantly, we ran the scripted part of the show a couple of times.  I think it is coming together nicely.  We discussed the black tulips, which are so important to the plot. We discussed the next rehearsal.

The murder mystery, Spring Into Murder, will be presented next Saturday, April 28, at Morning Star Methodist Church, 36 Second St., Ilion, NY, at 5 p.m.  $20 tickets include a roast pork dinner and must be purchased in advance by calling the church at 315-864-4093.

Now I must get changed for our dinner date.  Perhaps I will wear black, but not a little black dress.

 

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Spring Into Wuss-Out Wednesday

Posted on April 19, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

Let’s see if I can finish my Wuss-out Wednesday post before my ride to rehearsal gets here.  Rehearsal is for Spring Into Murder, the interactive murder mystery dinner theatre at Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion, NY on Saturday, April 28.  I’ll try to get a number for tickets, in case any local readers are interested.  In the meantime, I thought I would write about spring.

WHAT SPRING????  you may well ask.  I ask it too.  My thermostat said it was 41 degrees out this afternoon.  I am in desperate need of exercise, so I went for a walk.  I love to walk and thought I might be able to write a decent Pedestrian Post about it, but I’m afraid it was a depressing walk.  Everything was brown and crappy-looking.  We are over half-way through April, for heavens’ sake.  Would a few flowers, maybe some green spouts, buds on the trees be too much to ask for?  Apparently so.  Additionally, I have some things on my mind which I will not bore you with (Freudian typo:  I started to put “now bore you with,” which tells me it is boring of me to mention them at all, so sorry).

When I got home, I thought I saw a tiny flash of yellow in my back yard.  Was it… could it be… it WAS!  A crocus!  I rejoiced. Then I got my Tablet and took a picture:

Note the brown grass. Tsk, tsk.

Then I took a better picture:

It does my heart good.

I went out front, to see if there were any more crocuses.  There were not, but I saw some green stuff that might eventually be tulips and lilies of the valley.

I think this is the tulip.

I think these are lilies of the valley.

As you can also see, I have some yard work to do.  There are lots of last year’s leaves still to be raked, and some garbage to be picked up.  It isn’t my garbage; it blew there in one of the recent wind storms.  At least nobody came along and dropped a house on me.

While I was out front, I took a picture of what the sidewalk plow did to us, and to almost everybody else in the village.  I had wanted a “before” picture of that, so when I fix it I can see what a good job I did (or not, let’s be honest).

You know, I think those are new cracks in the sidewalk as well. Damn!

Look at me, I’m over 400 words!  I think that’s fine for a Wuss-out Wednesday!  Now I’d better get ready for rehearsal.  There is nothing like a little murder to perk things up midway through the week.

 

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