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Tag Archives: theatre

Still Shooting (for an On-Time Blog Post)

Before this blog at last segues out of All Shooting at the Grange All The Time,  I would like to use up the last four pictures I took on Saturday.  For a late Tired Tuesday Post, I thought it would beat whining about how tired I am (more than is warranted, I feel) (both my tiredness and my whining).

One actor is blurry; I am nobody’s idea of a good photographer.

This shot shows the stage, which we only used briefly.  The actors thought it would be better to stay amidst the audience, and I agreed.  We have a lot of Actor’s Choice in my murder mysteries, although I reserve the right to all final decisions.

Another blurry actor, but what a fabulous outfit she has on!

As I said before, it was very uncomfortable for me to watch the mingling without participating.  To me it is the most fun part of the shows.

You wouldn’t believe this was the guy with the bugs in Donate to Murder.

One of the other fun parts of these shows is seeing actors play different roles.  Tucker, for example, was the dashing leading man on Saturday but previously played the creepy Renwick Spaulding.  I was thinking about writing a mystery called Renwick’s Revenge (preview of coming attractions).

A better view of the fabulous outfit, including the boots.

The actor on the right (as you may have noticed, I do the thing of referring to both male and females as actors) is new to my murder mysteries.  She came on Tucker’s recommendation, and a good recommendation it was!  The other two, a mother/daughter team) participated last November in He Laughed Himself to Death.  I was delighted to work with them again.

So I have gone a whole two days without definitely committing to another murder mystery, although I know a few groups who would like one.  Well, perhaps with no commitments or definite plans to actually perform it, I might just start writing a few notes on Renwick’s Revenge. No promises.

 

 

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About That Murder Mystery…

Regular readers may be anxious to know how our murder mystery turned out, and I kept them in suspense by neglecting to post either Saturday or Sunday.  Or perhaps I flatter myself.  For anybody just tuning in, I refer to Shooting at the Grange, which we presented to benefit Salisbury Grange on April 29.

She welcomes you to my blog post.

I foolishly did not get pictures of each character, but I did take a few shots while the actors mingled with the audience before the scripted part of the performance.

They got a big crowd.

Everybody seemed to be having a fine time.  For my part, I was a little uncomfortable, because I am usually one of the actors.  I wanted to be out there interacting with the audience, dropping clues and dissing the other characters!

The Grange volunteers were very sweet.

They served pulled pork, corn, potatoes, cole slaw and rolls.  The actors and I ate after the performance.  It was delicious!

I should have gotten a closer shot of that glamorous character.

The whole thing went pretty well.  The audience seemed to enjoy it.  The actors did a good job.  The Grange people are hoping we will return with another murder mystery,  perhaps this fall.

I personally need to take a break.  When I mentioned this to a co-worker on Friday (incidentally, I had named the victim after this particular co-worker), he said, “Then on Monday, you’ll say, ‘I have an opportunity to write another murder mystery.’ ”

Who, me? Write another murder mystery?

 

Love’s Memories Not Lost

I want to have a Theatre Throwback Thursday Post and I do not care if I have thrown back to these memories many times before.  I saw some pictures yesterday when I was looking through the pictures in my Tablet, and I enjoyed them very much, if briefly.  I would like to enjoy a few of them some more today, and I hope my reader’s will enjoy them too.

Nice lunge, Tucker!

This is a rehearsal shot from Love’s Labour’s Lost, which was presented by LiFT,  Little Falls Theatre Company last summer.  I hope LiFT strikes again this summer (wouldn’t that make a great blog post title, “LiFT Strikes Again”?) (of course “strike” also means to take down a set, and we didn’t exactly have a set).

She’s not having any of it.

These were two of my favorite characters in the show.  Then again, I loved all the characters.

A mysterious lover!

This is one of my all time favorite pictures.  I think we should carry fans as accessories more often.

 

A most amusing pair.

I wanted to include a picture with costumes.  Well, maybe more than one.

 

Several cast members.

 

And here’s me.

I do love being in plays.

 

Memories of Murder

How about a Throwback Thursday Post?  I make it a question, because I am not sure I will be able to actually make the post.  I make it to work these days.  Beyond that,  no promises.

We’ve seen this suspicious bunch before.

I wanted to throw back to murder mysteries, because I was working on another one today.  The above picture is from A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, which we presented a few years ago to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.  It was a very fun show.

Another shot from that show.

I realized the first picture did not include our friend Jim, who had a pivotal role in the show.  I guess all the roles were pivotal; I just like to use that word to describe acting roles.

A dramatic moment.

Here is a rehearsal shot from another murder mystery, whose title escapes me.  How embarrassing! Then again, I can’t remember everything.

Don’t we all look pretty?

I remember the title of this one: Fabulous and Fatal.  It will always be one of my favorite scripts.

It was a work in progress.

This is a shot from a read-through for Donate to Murder, which also benefited Herkimer County Historical Society.  Eventually.  This picture was taken in March 2020, right before the COVID shit hit the fan.  The show was postponed and had a different cast when it was finally performed.

Regular readers will notice my late husband, Steve, in a few of these pictures.  I so loved working with him. Treasured memories.  I hope it made for a good blog post.

 

Making with the Memories

If I make a Throwback Thursday Post a day late, that just means I am throwing back by one more day.  Another thing one may judge me on:  I am not going to worry about sharing pictures I have shared before.  For one reason (some may call it a rationalization, but I decline to enter into any such argument), some readers may not have seen the particular pictures I choose or they may enjoy seeing them again.

What a long introduction.  Perhaps I should go back to writing my blog posts in advance and doing a little more editing.  For right now, I’d better make with the pictures.

I’m not taking any of his nonsense.

Here is a throwback to 2012 and the Ilion Little Theatre production of Harvey.  I played Veda.  My husband, Steven, was Dr. Chumley.  How I loved being on stage with my husband!

Again, I was not putting up with his nonsense.

Here we are on stage together again, in Splitting Issues, again at Ilion Little Theatre.  I forget the year and am too lazy to look it up.

I dished out the nonsense in this show.

I was actually looking for a different murder mystery picture, but this is a great theatre memory,  A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, presented at Mohawk American Legion to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.  That reminds me, I’d better get writing on my upcoming productions.  Off to make more memories!

 

Is It Too Late for a Throwback Thursday?

I guess late posts are a thing with me, so here I am on Friday morning making a Throwback Thursday Post.   I like these posts where I troll my Media Library for pictures and think of things to say about them.  It’s fun.

“Whooo doesn’t like Throwback Thursday Post?”

How about some seasonal cuteness?  We used to decorate for Thanksgiving.  It was an easy transition from Halloween, since many of the decorations could just stand.

These can count for both Halloween and Thanksgiving!

Here is a little group I always loved.  See, the bigger scarecrows are boyfriend and girlfriend, and the smaller one is the boy scarecrow’s little brother.  The girl scarecrow thinks the little brother is adorable so is happy to see him.  The boy scarecrow is less thrilled, because he wants to kiss.  Yes, I make up stories about anything and everything.

I’m afraid it’s hard to see the details.

I had to make this a Theatre Throwback as well, by using a picture that includes the lobby poster from Leading Ladies, the play I directed at Ilion Little Theatre.  You can also see we kept a little Halloween, including some skeletons.

I love Thanksgiving and feel a little sad that it kind of gets lost by the wayside, as so many people want to jump right into Christmas.  Some of them can’t even wait till after Halloween!  But let me not get into a rant about slowing down about and enjoying ourselves.  For one reason, I am over 200 words.  I need to get on with my Friday.

 

What Kind of Post? It’s a Mystery!

This is a Post-Rehearsal Post, a Throwback Thursday Post, and still under the heading of All He Laughed Himself to Death All The Time.  Hey, that makes this a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post as well!  Or am I spreading myself too thin?  Oh yeah, like I could ever be thin!  Maybe if I go back on the South Beach Diet for a LONG time!  But never mind that, on with the post!

We had an excellent rehearsal for He Laughed Himself to Death, the murder mystery we are putting on to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society in a mere two days.  I think it will be a lot of fun.

A suspicious bunch, to say the least!

Since I once again neglected to take any pictures at tonight’s rehearsal, I thought I would pep up the post with a picture from a previous murder mystery.  This was the cast of A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, which we presented a few years ago, also to benefit the historical society.  You see, this is where Throwback Thursday comes in.

A dramatic moment, captured on film.

Here is a rehearsal shot from another murder mystery, whose title escapes me.  How embarrassing.  All I can really think about, though, is how much better I liked my hair in that ultra-short ‘do (I am the one on the far left).

Be all that as it may, I repeat for the benefit of local readers that He Laughed Himself to Death will be presented Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Herkimer Elks Club, 124 Mary St., Herkimer, NY.  Doors open at 5:30 p.m.  Tickets are $35 and are available at the Herkimer County Historical Society, 315-866-6413.

 

Will I Have the Last Laugh?

I meant to make a post using more pictures taken on a recent walk, but those pictures are on my phone and here I am on my Tablet.  Still, the phone is on the coffee table.  I could pick it up and look…

Or not.  My only purpose now is to make a Post-Rehearsal Post.  And I might even eat an ice cream cone out of the freezer before I do so.

It is not actually chocolate running down this head.

I put in an unrelated picture to show the passage of time while I ate ice cream.  I do not remember if I actually used this picture to give a shout-out to Yettys Pizza and Pasta of Herkimer, NY.  I must look at my past posts and make sure I have done so.

Did somebody say murder mystery?

I scrolled through my Media Library till I found a picture of a murder mystery, because the rehearsal I was at was for a murder mystery: He Laughed Himself to Death.  It will be presented on Saturday, Nov. 5, at Herkimer Elks Lodge, to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.

I just now copied this from Facebook.

Now I have given a proper shout-out to the murder mystery.   I am going to bill this as a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post,  because I have been a little all over the place.  If only I could think of a sufficiently random headline, my life would be perfect.

 

I Haven’t Murdered Anybody in a While

Who knew I would be doing a Post-Rehearsal Post again so soon (and don’t bother saying YOU knew, because I will not believe you) (you know who you are, and that’s all you know) (but I digress).  It is not a full-on play, like Love’s Labour’s Lost, but an interactive murder mystery, such as I love to write and perform.

Full disclosure: it is a previously performed script.  We have less lead time than usual, so the best I could do was revive one previously done for another venue.  I had some re-writing to do, though, because we have two fewer actors to work with.  This accomplished, some excellent actors recruited, and we are on our way.

The mystery is He Laughed Himself to Death, which we originally presented in 2017.  Goodness, that was five years ago.  How the time flies.  Anyways, we had our first meeting tonight.  We read through the script, talked about characters and clues, and set the rest of our rehearsals.  Alas, I did not take any pictures.

I feel like poo when I don’t have any pictures!

I found a previous illustration of some fake poo used in the original production.  I still have it and, surprisingly enough, know where it is, so it will make a repeat appearance.  The bigger poo was also featured in Donate to Murder, to great comic effect (I do not exaggerate; it was very funny).

He Laughed Himself to Death will be presented to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society on Saturday,  Nov. 1, 5:30 p.m. at Herkimer Elks Lodge.  For more information,  contact the society at 315-866-6413.