The Return From Somewhere Else

Wow, it's been awhile! The show in December went very well. And then the season opening musical at "my" theatre needed a stage manager. Three weeks before opening--4 weekend run--and no one had stepped up. So I did. I hadn't stage managed a musical before. Luckily, it had a 4 person cast, so no huge amounts of people to keep track of. I didn't call the cues, but I whipped the backstage area into shape. 20 scenes, 6 tables, 16 chairs, misc other furniture....and each scene stood on its own. Meaning constant set changes and costume changes. With only myself and my ASM (and assisted by the 4 cast members whenever possible) to get things done. Whew! I taped up set diagrams on both sides backstage to keep us all sane....even the cast were saying "What's next?"

My ASMs were awesome! I had one each show--ASM 1 couldn't work the entire run, so another woman who often SMs volunteered to work the shows the first one couldn't. I was nervous about someone who usually SMs and is used to being the one in control being an ASM but it worked out great! ASM 2 watched the show once, then stepped in with no rehearsal. I did walk her through everything beforehand, but she just followed my lead and did everything perfectly. And after seeing my work on the previous show in September, her SMing mentor told her he'd taught her everything he could and she needed to work with me to learn more! So now I have a protege. :-) And a very capable one at that!

I was asked to run for the board of directors as recording secretary....and I was elected...although I'm not sure elected is the correct word, as no one was running against me. And I ended up chairing the hospitality committee (the entire committee had been vacant for at least a year--each show's producer had taken on the duties), so now I find members to staff the front-of-house duties. And 5 people joined the committee--so I've got help. Yay!

As for stitching, I did do a small amount of backstitching on the Mini Mandala a few weeks ago. I've been knitting a lot....I finished my gray scarf, and I've been working on a pink one for DD. I'll take/post pictures sometime. I just got black yarn to make a scarf for DH (he borrowed my blue one once when snowblowing the driveway and was impressed with how warm it was!) and gray yarn for a hat for me.

I'm still here!

I know, I know, my poor blog has been neglected. I've been busy.....not stitching, but with the theatrical side of my life! I've gotten involved with a community theatre, and they pulled me right in--asking me to stage manage their September show. So much fun! It felt really good to walk into a theatre and have a job to do.

I was innocently reading the paper one Sunday and saw an audition notice for another theatre....and on a whim I decided to audition.....and I got cast. Yippee!!! I have my first read through tonight. The show is in December, and it's already mid October....a month and a half to memorize lines! Ack!!!

I guess I need to change that former actress bit in my info...... :-)

Pictures!

My sidebar and Stitching Albums are updated! Thank you DH! And here's my first and only happy dance for 2007--Blackwork for the Bewildered by Linn Skinner.

I also took the opportunity to photograph some puppets I made many years ago. I'd helped build puppets before these, but always with instruction/guidance from other people. And I'd repaired many puppets that had normal wear and tear from performances/touring. But these were the first puppets I made completely by myself, from designing to building. They are Bunraku/rod puppets. The characters are from Rapunzel--the Prince, the Witch, and Rapunzel. If anyone would like details on how I made them or what they're made of, please let me know.

I am a creative person

I've been thinking a lot lately about creativity. From about age 4 or 5 until about 3 years ago, (around age 30) I was involved somehow with being onstage. Dancing, singing, piano recitals, silk line in a marching band, acting, puppetry, box jumping (magician's assistant). Or backstage--choreographer, stage manager, dresser, light board op, director, producer....the list goes on. A good friend recently told me that he believes people are only truly happy when they can create. We need to express ourselves and share that with other people....and if we don't, we die a little.

And I think he's right. My only creative outlet recently has been my stitching. And I don't get to do that very often. So, in a sense, I've been dying, little by little, over the last 3 years. The last time I was onstage was for a magic show. I drifted away from the community theatre I belonged to, partly because I didn't like the atmosphere there anymore and partly because DH was discouraging me ("rehearsal again?") Then I got pregnant, had DD, and we moved. That theatre is no longer a viable option, since it's now too far away. There is a theatre about 5 minutes away from our new house, but I'd still have to put up with DH's comments. Plus, I gotta worry if he'll be home in time from work to watch DD while I go to rehearsals/performances......sigh. I want so badly to get back into it.....I really want to do something puppetry related, but there's nothing around here that doesn't involve a bit of traveling. Which DH would definately frown upon. Even if I could stitch more, I don't think that it would be an entirely acceptible substitution for performing. With performing, there's instant gratification--the audience's reaction. I don't get that with stitching--if I do show off my progress to DH I get a ho-hum "That's nice."

I want to get my creative self back. I feel like some vital part of me has been missing, and it hurts. I am not myself anymore......

Looking to the past

I came across a photo album from college a few weeks ago. Pictures of friends, roommates, shows I did, puppetry tours I went on. All of the pictures make me smile, some more than others. Some brought back memories of people I haven't thought of in years. Some are of people that I still think of from time to time and I'm still in contact with, even though we're spread out across the country. I graduated in 1996, and most of these people I haven't seen since then. I've seen recent pictures of some of them, and it's funny how much has changed, and how much hasn't. Some of us are married, some have kids, some are divorced, some have never married. Our lives intersected for a few brief years and then spun off in different directions. Some of the friendship bonds are still tight, and some have broken.

One of my favorite pictures was taken Christmas Eve 1993. I was on a puppet tour at a resort hotel, and we were enjoying some down time in a sitting area. KC, M, J, and I are sitting on a sofa, with tiny D laying across our laps. We visited this resort every Easter and Christmas, doing puppet shows and holding puppet building workshops for the guests' children. And for poor college kids.....a room at a 5-star resort and breakfast and dinner for a few days were more than enough payment for a few shows and workshops. While I was growing up, Christmas Eve was when my family gathered for the big dinner. So this picture, taken on Christmas Eve, after we'd had a lovely dinner and performed our show for the evening, represents another kind of family in a way.....

There's pics of SC, my roomie and friend, with whom I had so many adventures...getting lost in Pittsburgh, getting lost in Baltimore, getting lost in Maryland....actually Virginia--we went the wrong way around the DC beltway! Pictures of SP and C, more roomies and friends. Pictures of J, the first person I met at college and still a very good friend. Pictures of KS, J's roomie and another friend. I have fond memories of the 6 of us watching lots of movies on the weekends....Each of these people challenged me in different ways, forced me to grow....put me on the path to become who I am today. And I hope I did the same for them.

So I look at these photographs, these snapshots of the past, and realize that what once was, is no longer.....things change, people change, but it's nice to revisit the past, see where we were, who we were. And remember the good times we had. And maybe someday we'll all be in the same place again and have new memories to add to the collection.

Getting out of the house

DH has a new position at work, and his office is now located at a closer facility to home. This means I could possibly get involved with a local community theatre....and there's one maybe 10 minutes (or less?) away. I haven't checked it out other than "I know it's there", so I'm planning on seeing a show sometime to see if it's somewhere I'd like to get involved. The last theatre I joined had "clique*" problems, and I no longer live near that one anyway. I've heard that there's a person from theatre #1 that is involved with theatre #2, so it'll be interesting to see if theatre #2 is clique-y too.

I'm itching to get back into theatre, and I need something to get me out of the house without DD--of course I love her, but right now it's like a 24-7 work schedule with no time off. DH does relieve me some when he's home, and he will keep her on the weekend and let me go out shopping or something, but as much as I love shopping, weekends are not the best time to go--traffic extreme. And since the point is for me to relax, and there's no way to relax stuck in traffic....I end up just staying home.

*Clique problems: Just one example--A show, in mid-run, was shorthanded backstage. I signed up to work a few nights. The stage manager would not assign me any jobs--they'd gotten used to working shorthanded I guess. So I just stood around, and tried to jump in when it looked like people were struggling. And they wonder why no one wants to work backstage--there's about 3-4 people that do it regularly (every show, every play) and they work out a routine that works for them, and aren't willing to adjust when other people do show up, but complain when no one does.