Today launches the busiest week of my year, made further complicated by my daughter's regional Irish Step Competition, "Gym Show," and the unmissable midnight Harry Potter premiere. I am so grateful to have the help of my Village, my parents who are taking Amelia to Rhode Island on Saturday, and the Saads who will have Abby basically all weekend long. It's a mad week in a mad life, but I know that at the end of this, Christmas music awaits.
Super Sunday is one of those events that can go one of two ways...it should be intense but not frantic, productive and exciting, a chance to cross things off the problem list, bringing us one giant step closer to the goal of a great opening. OR...it can be frazzled and full of strife, with over-tired teenagers crying and the staff bickering and snappish, and the gaping sense of "Holy shit...this thing is never going to be ready."
I have high hopes for option A today, and I'm trying very hard to not even entertain option B as a possibility. I have a particularly great group of kids this year, with only one lead who is not giving it his all. Peer pressure can be a useful tool, though, so rather than my continuing to nag him, I'm hoping that his more-serious peers will get him to cut the crap and focus already.
This will be my sixth production of Guys and Dolls, and by far the best one I have done. If it goes the way I think it will, it may turn out to be the best one I've ever seen, too. This is not me being arrogant, either...if anything, I am much more likely to err on the side of "Eh...it's fine" with the things that I direct. The fact that this one will be good really has very little to do with me. It's a perfect cast, really great musical numbers, and a super cool set. All of the elements are there...and it'll be my job this week to fine-tune it and make it all work. I'm up for the challenge.
My personal goal for this week? Avoid the snack table in the green room.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
November Musings...
I’ve actually been doing quite a lot of journaling lately, but nothing much I wanted to share, so here are just a few little snapshots of my life right now.
I have a boy in my class who eats two bags of cheese-its exactly like a squirrel. He holds one cracker in his two hands, right up next to his mouth, and nibble nibble nibbles. He especially likes to do it when I’m reading aloud to the kids, so all I hear as I’m reading is the scrumple of his hands in the bag (as loudly as possible) and then nibble nibble nibble. Repeat repeatedly. Someday I will literally run screaming from the room smack in the middle of Tuck Everlasting.
Yesterday was one of those days where my mouth just ran away from me while giving notes to my leads, and I said something very dirty completely without meaning it…and then worse, sniggered. I totally didn’t mean it, and it was one of those moments I just wish I could Groundhog Day my way right back out of. Cringe-worthy. I hate when that happens. And then the memory of it is like a canker sore in your mouth that you can’t stop moving your tongue over.
I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year, and I am afraid. Though I love the hosting aspect, cooking has never been my thing, to say the least, and my new oven is un-tested under pressure. I suppose I should make some back-up reservations somewhere.
I will not even confess to you how excited I am to see the new Harry Potter movie. It defies description.
In the midst of my Autumn craziness, I have been extremely committed to my new self-improvement, bring-on-forty program. I have lost ten pounds so far, have started writing Morning Pages at 5:45 a.m. for a specialized version of the Artist’s Way (which I’ve been meaning to do for maybe fifteen years) and I’ve been working on getting my belting voice back to its former functionality. I am up to a dependable b-flat, and aiming for at least a C. I had an E once, for just a little while, back in the days of playing Little Red Ridinghood (for which I completely credit Peter Fernandez’ Kelly Warm-Up Mix tape.) Regardless, singing showtunes as loud as I can in my car up and down route 3 certainly raises my energy. No matter what happens, the process of getting ready to audition for something will have been worth it on its own.
Miley Cyrus had her coming-out-as-Hannah-Montana episode on Sunday night, and my girls discussed that in the car on the way to rehearsal yesterday. Said Amelia, “It’s really a big ending of something. I feel empty and confused.”
And to end today, three words:
Glee Christmas Album.
:)
I have a boy in my class who eats two bags of cheese-its exactly like a squirrel. He holds one cracker in his two hands, right up next to his mouth, and nibble nibble nibbles. He especially likes to do it when I’m reading aloud to the kids, so all I hear as I’m reading is the scrumple of his hands in the bag (as loudly as possible) and then nibble nibble nibble. Repeat repeatedly. Someday I will literally run screaming from the room smack in the middle of Tuck Everlasting.
Yesterday was one of those days where my mouth just ran away from me while giving notes to my leads, and I said something very dirty completely without meaning it…and then worse, sniggered. I totally didn’t mean it, and it was one of those moments I just wish I could Groundhog Day my way right back out of. Cringe-worthy. I hate when that happens. And then the memory of it is like a canker sore in your mouth that you can’t stop moving your tongue over.
I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year, and I am afraid. Though I love the hosting aspect, cooking has never been my thing, to say the least, and my new oven is un-tested under pressure. I suppose I should make some back-up reservations somewhere.
I will not even confess to you how excited I am to see the new Harry Potter movie. It defies description.
In the midst of my Autumn craziness, I have been extremely committed to my new self-improvement, bring-on-forty program. I have lost ten pounds so far, have started writing Morning Pages at 5:45 a.m. for a specialized version of the Artist’s Way (which I’ve been meaning to do for maybe fifteen years) and I’ve been working on getting my belting voice back to its former functionality. I am up to a dependable b-flat, and aiming for at least a C. I had an E once, for just a little while, back in the days of playing Little Red Ridinghood (for which I completely credit Peter Fernandez’ Kelly Warm-Up Mix tape.) Regardless, singing showtunes as loud as I can in my car up and down route 3 certainly raises my energy. No matter what happens, the process of getting ready to audition for something will have been worth it on its own.
Miley Cyrus had her coming-out-as-Hannah-Montana episode on Sunday night, and my girls discussed that in the car on the way to rehearsal yesterday. Said Amelia, “It’s really a big ending of something. I feel empty and confused.”
And to end today, three words:
Glee Christmas Album.
:)
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