A Busy Weekend

My Act I wig that Susan H, from the Times Dispatch called "silly". Yes - I am alone in the dressing room so I have lots of time to take pictures of myself. Now that is silly! Anyway - it made me laugh - clearly it looks better in these shots than it probably does on stage but -come on- there must have been a better word than silly. Now the "poop hat" was silly - don't make me post that picture again!

Well, little MuffinFace has been hard at work y'all.

Due to bad weather delaying the building of the Shirley Valentine set - the opening was postponed until Sunday. I was still at the theatre rehearsing nightly and we continued to add technical elements all weekend long. It was fun and hard and (every time I pictured the house full) very, very scary. The set designers, Terrie and David Powers, worked tirelessly and their final product is beautiful. Andrew, my stage manager, was thrown so many new things and he juggled everything (plus managing me) very well. Amy Berlin, my director, was calm and cool under pressure and always managed to say just the right thing to help calm my nerves.

Friday night I asked my friend, Scott to come watch just to have someone new in the audience and get his reaction. It was great to hear someone laughing and responding to Shirley.

Later that night Cheenon played at Poe's Pub!! That was so much fun - after a crazy day - it sure was nice to relax and watch Steve O and the other talented boys play.

Saturday I was lucky enough to have Robert and Lisa and Paul come to watch. They were a great house too but I fear they saw a nervous Shirley.

Of course I woke up Sunday and just felt sick to my stomach. The day had finally arrived. I had to do this play in front of lots and lots of people. They will be watching me, judging me or maybe just taking a nap - as long as they are quiet about it I don't mind. Would I remember all the technical things that were thrown at me in the last couple days? Would I remember anything I had learned and studied over the past few weeks.

The show started and I was about a minute into the first scene by the time I realized I was OK -the energy in the room was so great I felt this rush of calmness come over me and from then on I was just OK. I thought the show went well, The audience was scream laughing so much I had to stand there a bunch of times just while they calmed down - I have never had so much fun on stage. I could tell by the audience reactions that they were gladly coming along with me on this journey. They were even screaming things out at me once in a while - and we aren't talking about kids - this audience had a medium age of 60. It was great fun. I even got a standing ovation.

Then yesterday the review in the Times Dispatch came out. Was it positive? Sure - could she have maybe picked more exciting, interesting ways to describe the play? perhaps. I met Susan when I moderated a Critics talk back and she was lovely - I am not just saying that either - she was interesting to meet and talk with - so, of course, just like a review - this comment is not "personal" and in the review she said nice things about me which I appreciate but she called the play dated which I do not agree with. Calling something dated is something I hear from Reviewers and maybe Dave can answer this for me -what is the criteria for calling something dated? - it was written in the 80's but the themes are absolutely still relevant today - that is evident by the reaction I got from the audience. Would you call Shakespeare dated? Or any other period piece?

OK - this ain't Shakespeare but it also isn't Doonesbury the Musical...now that is dated - I have no problem seeing that. It is a musical full of 80/ Reagan political humor.

When I see a comment like that it just makes me wonder what makes it dated to them and not a period piece. Is there a 20 year rule - like classic cars?

My BFF recently returned from a wonderful directing experience with Company of Fools in Idaho. Do you know they have NO reviewers there? Hmmm - Picture it - a community that shows up at everything - very supportive, a company of actors that work for the love of the craft. There is lots of other publicity for the shows...just no reviewers. Now - before you all get your panties in a bunch, I am not saying that reviewers have no purpose or that I would even like them to go away. I love me some reviewers. After all, I have been very lucky (if that is the right word for it) with reviewers. They have helped out greatly as I have produced shows. I have seen audience numbers rise and good word of mouth buzz increase with a positive review. I just found it interesting to hear that in this particular place - they have none - And I wonder how that effects the process of a production- if at all.

Anyhow, My BFF had a great time there and maybe I can twist his arm and get him to write a blog post about the whole experience. The pictures I have seen of the city are breathtaking and I am thrilled he had the opportunity and I am sure they feel lucky to have had him there- but I am damn glad he is back.

So- busy week - busy weekend and the show is up and running. Please come see it if you get the chance - if for no other reason - come see the silly wig.

And if you haven't ranked the Golden Girls yet - what are you waiting for??