I just wrote a decent post - not great or anything, but decent. I hit save. It seemed to save. But each time I hit publish, nothing happened - well, not what was supposed to happen. So I hit save again and then left the page to see if I could figure out what was going on. Well, I figured out what wasn't going on. My post wasn't being saved. Sigh. So, let's start again, shall we? Joy and Rapture.
I haven't been able to focus on much except for the opera just now. It is very time consuming, enervating and takes over my life a bit. As does any show, actually. I think it is hard on my mom when I am away as much as I need to be for this production. I am not in her head, but I get the feeling that she feels extra special lonely when she remembers that I am out of the house. I basically drop in a few times a day and then go to bed.
Here is a fairly typical day: starts with rehearsal at 10 which goes until 12. Then when I manage to extricate myself, I head home to create lunch for mom. At 2 rehearsal starts again, so back to the rehearsal space. Rehearsal generally stops at 5. Then I have to zip home again - usually with a shopping trip to Wegman's being required - to make dinner. When I am home I try to give my mom some quality time. Doesn't usually work, but I try. Then around 7 I am supposed to be back at the theatre. Optimally, I would be earlier to each of the rehearsal sessions. But I am also picking up one of my staff - and there is travel time and parking time and such that eats into the time. Suffice it to say that I feel like I have little time for mom or for me recently. Rehearsal ends at 10. Actors may not be called or they might be let out early, I get to go to every rehearsal and stay till the end. Yippee! It makes for a long day.
Mom asks me what I do during all of that time. Not an easy answer, really. In this show I am the stage manager/tech liaison and general dog's body for Al the director. Let's look at today for example - I fixed a piece of furniture, moved a lot of furniture, raised and lowered a lot of drops, helped hang a set piece, unknotted a coil of fishing line, photocopied a prop for the show, and tried to pay attention to what was happening on the stage. Physically demanding, mind tiring, and all around intense work, interspersed with times of doing little. And things change from day to day. Luckily, I really do enjoy doing just about anything related to theatre. My favoritist thing, as I have probably said many times, is direct. Maybe again one day...
One of the upsides to this production, this year I am actually hanging out with some people from the opera after rehearsal. I don't get a lot of adult companionship most of the time here in Geneva. Not that these are dates or anything. Just getting together for a beer and talk. Yay!
All of this is to explain why my brain is tired and I haven't been blogging as awesomefully as I normally do. Your understanding and patience is appreciated!
Showing posts with label directing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label directing. Show all posts
Monday, July 15, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Mid Week Madness!
From the title, one might be thinking that something exciting or crazy or at least midly interesting and out of the ordinary might have occurred. Well, nope, that just isn't the case. Just had to put something there...As long time readers of this blog know, my life is, well, not that over the top right now in terms of thrills. Still, it wasn't a bad day. Few are.
I had thought I was going to spend the afternoon and evening in rehearsal for the opera. But that didn't happen. As I was starting to pack up (I take my laptop) to go to afternoon rehearsal, I noticed a call from the director - Al - saying that they were taking the afternoon off. Yippee! The next rehearsal segment was at 7, which was fine by me.
At 5, there was a "volunteer appreciation" event at the Smith Opera House. I was surprised at how many people there were! I hadn't really realized just how many volunteers there are who help out around the place. A lot of familiar faces were in attendance. There was yummy food, from Club 86 I think I heard someone say, of which I had a decent amount. I even had a piece of cake! Awards were given out, speeches were made. Apparently I am going to take over for David as Technical Director or Production Coordinator or some such thing after he leaves as I was introduced to the volunteers as such. Not sure what all that entails at this point, but I do hope to find out sometime.
I didn't get out of there as early as I had thought I might. That, combined with me being full-ish from grazing at the party, made me reconsider my food plans for the evening. Not in a huge way - I just decided to give mom some leftover salmon for her protein rather than a pre-cooked chicken from Wegman's. I think I will do that tonight instead. I still got veggies and some other things at the grocery store and hurried home to prepare them for her before heading to rehearsal.
The opera is progressing nicely. I love rehearsals. I really hope that I will do some directing in the not too distant future. How that will work with the time I need to devote to mom, I don't have a clue. After rehearsal, Al and I roughed out the rehearsal/production schedule for the next few days. I love making schedules!
I had thought I was going to spend the afternoon and evening in rehearsal for the opera. But that didn't happen. As I was starting to pack up (I take my laptop) to go to afternoon rehearsal, I noticed a call from the director - Al - saying that they were taking the afternoon off. Yippee! The next rehearsal segment was at 7, which was fine by me.
At 5, there was a "volunteer appreciation" event at the Smith Opera House. I was surprised at how many people there were! I hadn't really realized just how many volunteers there are who help out around the place. A lot of familiar faces were in attendance. There was yummy food, from Club 86 I think I heard someone say, of which I had a decent amount. I even had a piece of cake! Awards were given out, speeches were made. Apparently I am going to take over for David as Technical Director or Production Coordinator or some such thing after he leaves as I was introduced to the volunteers as such. Not sure what all that entails at this point, but I do hope to find out sometime.
I didn't get out of there as early as I had thought I might. That, combined with me being full-ish from grazing at the party, made me reconsider my food plans for the evening. Not in a huge way - I just decided to give mom some leftover salmon for her protein rather than a pre-cooked chicken from Wegman's. I think I will do that tonight instead. I still got veggies and some other things at the grocery store and hurried home to prepare them for her before heading to rehearsal.
The opera is progressing nicely. I love rehearsals. I really hope that I will do some directing in the not too distant future. How that will work with the time I need to devote to mom, I don't have a clue. After rehearsal, Al and I roughed out the rehearsal/production schedule for the next few days. I love making schedules!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Uncertainty Rules!
There are rules for uncertainty, aren't there?
First, a quick catch-up from Monday. Nothing too exciting or out of the way to write about. Jenny, mom's aide, did not come, which was a mixed blessing. Mom was not eager for a shower - which is nothing new. I called the service provider and discovered that they somehow thought our being away for a week meant we were still away two weeks later. I know, working with a calendar can be challenging. I also know that I could have called them last week to tell them we were back. But I didn't. Because I thought we had an understanding. Which we apparently didn't. Which is not surprising. Nor exciting. But it is uncertain...
I also spent part of the day watching rehearsal for the Opera at the Smith. Don Pasquale has a fairly straightforward Commedia plot - young lovers thwarted by Pantalone (Don Pasquale) who are aided by Dottore in this case (who is more like a Harlequin character than a Dottore). Rah. I could direct this. Heck, I could direct anything. I miss directing. Sigh. Maybe I will get back to it one day.
Meanwhile, back at the homestead, two papers I was looking for turned up in exactly the place they were supposed to be. I am not the most organized person on the planet. I hope for either a helper or for stripping my life waaaaaay down so I don't have too much to keep organized. I don't really want a stripper (combination of stripping and helper...) - though that might not be a bad thing...
Which brings to me to this morning's contemplation: what will the future - the larger future - have in store for me. I wish we could shop for our futures. Sigh. Anyway, I do think about it once in a while. At this point, my options are pretty much unlimited in terms of choice. Sure, I doubt I will choose to become a concert pianist or an opera singer. Both are possible, both are pretty unlikely. My thoughts vacillate between sticking it out here in Geneva - trying to cobble together a life and livelihood - or taking to the road either here in the US - buy an energy efficient/alternate energy vehicle of some kind - preferably a Type whatever the small type of RV is - and drive around a lot - or head abroad - I have never been to South America and I must admit to a fascination with Brazilians - what better place to find Brazilians than Brazil...Or maybe a trip to Asia - Russia and India are both high on my list of places I wouldn't mind visiting/living a bit before I exit the world. Yippee and yay for possibilities!
Today is another day, apparently.
First, a quick catch-up from Monday. Nothing too exciting or out of the way to write about. Jenny, mom's aide, did not come, which was a mixed blessing. Mom was not eager for a shower - which is nothing new. I called the service provider and discovered that they somehow thought our being away for a week meant we were still away two weeks later. I know, working with a calendar can be challenging. I also know that I could have called them last week to tell them we were back. But I didn't. Because I thought we had an understanding. Which we apparently didn't. Which is not surprising. Nor exciting. But it is uncertain...
I also spent part of the day watching rehearsal for the Opera at the Smith. Don Pasquale has a fairly straightforward Commedia plot - young lovers thwarted by Pantalone (Don Pasquale) who are aided by Dottore in this case (who is more like a Harlequin character than a Dottore). Rah. I could direct this. Heck, I could direct anything. I miss directing. Sigh. Maybe I will get back to it one day.
Meanwhile, back at the homestead, two papers I was looking for turned up in exactly the place they were supposed to be. I am not the most organized person on the planet. I hope for either a helper or for stripping my life waaaaaay down so I don't have too much to keep organized. I don't really want a stripper (combination of stripping and helper...) - though that might not be a bad thing...
Which brings to me to this morning's contemplation: what will the future - the larger future - have in store for me. I wish we could shop for our futures. Sigh. Anyway, I do think about it once in a while. At this point, my options are pretty much unlimited in terms of choice. Sure, I doubt I will choose to become a concert pianist or an opera singer. Both are possible, both are pretty unlikely. My thoughts vacillate between sticking it out here in Geneva - trying to cobble together a life and livelihood - or taking to the road either here in the US - buy an energy efficient/alternate energy vehicle of some kind - preferably a Type whatever the small type of RV is - and drive around a lot - or head abroad - I have never been to South America and I must admit to a fascination with Brazilians - what better place to find Brazilians than Brazil...Or maybe a trip to Asia - Russia and India are both high on my list of places I wouldn't mind visiting/living a bit before I exit the world. Yippee and yay for possibilities!
Today is another day, apparently.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A bit of a control freak
Not a truly huge control freak. I have done a good job of letting go of control wherever and whenever possible. I don't like butting my head against an immovable object. Just not fun.
The other day, I did a teeny bit of a workshop on directing. Sadly, the people who organized the event didn't understand directing, so it was presented almost last. What? Directing comes first - without directing, none of the other stuff is going to happen. How many shows does a director walk into and the lighting designer says "So, this is what is going to happen. I am going to give you a light blue cyc with some pink light from the front. Go ahead and direct your scene using that light." Um, never. Or the sound guy goes "I am setting up six mics. Your performers are going to stand right in front of them at all times. Got it?" Right. Doesn't happen. It will never happen. Directing is before all of that stuff. That being said of course, many performances/productions etc. happen without a director, but when a director is involved, it is best to include her or him early in the process. Like the very beginning. Whatever.
Going in, I didn't really have much of a game plan. I didn't know who the students were or what their expectations were. Turns out they were four teenagers who were not very focused. I tried to give them a bit of a lecture about what a director does, but that went over like a lead balloon. So I created a quick scene and let them each take a turn at doing some directing. That worked out really well. The kids got engaged and had fun with it. Good to know!
The other area where I am trying to control as little as possible is with my mom. She, as you all probably know, is in the moderate stage of Alzheimer's - in other words, she is getting worse. I control her pill intake - not letting her self medicate if at all possible. Though I do currently let her use eye drops by herself. I have never been good at giving people eye drops. Even myself. I read a terrible story of a woman with AD (the common shorthand for Alzheimer's) who tried to drink hand sanitizer! Eeek! Anyway, I try to keep on top of everything she ingests, at least in the way of pills. Like head ache pills and laxatives. Joy and rapture! In other aspects of her life, I try to give her choices and options. In the early stage of AD, that sometimes worked. In this stage, it rarely does. In fact, she often walks to the bathroom and asks me what she is supposed to do there. Sigh.
Letting go of control works for me, most of the time. Sometimes, well, I just have to take charge. Yippee.
The other day, I did a teeny bit of a workshop on directing. Sadly, the people who organized the event didn't understand directing, so it was presented almost last. What? Directing comes first - without directing, none of the other stuff is going to happen. How many shows does a director walk into and the lighting designer says "So, this is what is going to happen. I am going to give you a light blue cyc with some pink light from the front. Go ahead and direct your scene using that light." Um, never. Or the sound guy goes "I am setting up six mics. Your performers are going to stand right in front of them at all times. Got it?" Right. Doesn't happen. It will never happen. Directing is before all of that stuff. That being said of course, many performances/productions etc. happen without a director, but when a director is involved, it is best to include her or him early in the process. Like the very beginning. Whatever.
Going in, I didn't really have much of a game plan. I didn't know who the students were or what their expectations were. Turns out they were four teenagers who were not very focused. I tried to give them a bit of a lecture about what a director does, but that went over like a lead balloon. So I created a quick scene and let them each take a turn at doing some directing. That worked out really well. The kids got engaged and had fun with it. Good to know!
The other area where I am trying to control as little as possible is with my mom. She, as you all probably know, is in the moderate stage of Alzheimer's - in other words, she is getting worse. I control her pill intake - not letting her self medicate if at all possible. Though I do currently let her use eye drops by herself. I have never been good at giving people eye drops. Even myself. I read a terrible story of a woman with AD (the common shorthand for Alzheimer's) who tried to drink hand sanitizer! Eeek! Anyway, I try to keep on top of everything she ingests, at least in the way of pills. Like head ache pills and laxatives. Joy and rapture! In other aspects of her life, I try to give her choices and options. In the early stage of AD, that sometimes worked. In this stage, it rarely does. In fact, she often walks to the bathroom and asks me what she is supposed to do there. Sigh.
Letting go of control works for me, most of the time. Sometimes, well, I just have to take charge. Yippee.
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