I'm Back!

Finally, a few minutes to jot down a post. It's my day off and the kids are at school. Instead of rushing around trying to get everything done, I'm picking one or two things to do and then relaxing - haven't had too much of that lately. I'm not good at being busy; I am fabulous, however, at doing nothing.

We finally opened The History Boys last Wednesday. Tech was difficult for this show because it's so big. We have 22 transitions that all have music set to them. For the week prior to opening, we rehearsed all day and then ran the show at night. It's not a short show so it made for a very long day. Here's the Assistant Director's take on tech, as told in haiku.

The day after opening, my daughter filmed a television commercial; her first one. She's been interested in acting and modeling so we signed up with an agency. I'm not sure how far she'll go with it. Anyway, the agency had called me a week earlier to say that this commercial was a possibility. They e mailed me the information but sent it to the wrong e mail address so I never got it. The agency never bothered to call me to see if I received it. So the morning after opening, I received an irate phone call from the production company asking where my daughter was. I had gone back to bed because I was up late the night before celebrating opening. I threw some clothes on, took my daughter out of school and drove off to spend the day at the commercial shoot. My daughter loved it. I was just glad that I hadn't had too much to drink the night before. Being tired is one thing. Being tired and hungover just sucks!

Needless to say I gave the agency a piece of my mind. I also spoke with the production company after and they assured me they blamed the agency as well. It was just one more thing to deal with.

On Friday, I took the train into Philly to protest the Arts Tax. Can you believe the state government wanted impose a tax on all performing arts and cultural institutions in order to balance the budget? Not chewing tobacco or cigars but the performing arts! Seriously, what did the performing arts ever do to the government? Cigars ruin your health so let's tax something that actually enriches your life. A bunch of theaters organized a protest and I felt I had to go. I really wanted to stay home and veg but what if everyone did that? I've heard that it is almost guaranteed not to pass the state senate which is good news.

Then, over the weekend we had 5 shows (1 on Friday and 2 each on Saturday and Sunday). I am wiped. Tonight is the Barrymore Awards which is the local Award ceremony for Philadelphia Theaters. I had thought about going but I'm glad I'm not. It'll be nice to see my family for once. After reading Brian Miller's post about couples splitting because they are leading separate lives, I'm doubly glad I'm not going.

Tomorrow, is the understudy approval run for The History Boys. The understudies perform the play on the set with lights and video and props. It allows the Arden to make sure that the understudies are capable enough to go on if an actor calls out. It's always fun to see the same play performed by different actors. Of course, at the moment I'm just feeling that it's one more thing I have to do.

There's a great line in the play: History, it's just one fucking thing after another. Sometimes, my life feels like that.