So I just read D-Ray's blog about the show last night.
Which made me realize that while big sis might be breathing in the awe inspiring vistas of another continent, I get the equally wondrous and rare chance to spend my birthday working on a show that is every bit as fleeting and beautiful as her trip abroad.
Sure, I don't get to watch lions and giraffes saunter across the plain, but each night I get to hear to D-Ray blow his trumpet and sing an aria(ette), watch Erin step up and belly-bump him across the stage, unhook Joe from his appendages, entrust Sharko and his wheelchair maneuverings, marvel at Joel's many hairstyles, watch Dennis slip into something more comfortable, report to Brownie every night on where my meat landed, listen to Johnson turn every wee bit into doubloons, sit footsteps away as Lisa and Regan tango around me, argue passionately with Mary Jo every night about a glue gun, kiss Dave on top of his jellied head and hear Jen laughing in the audience.
I haven't done this in four years. What was I thinking?
This is gonna be a fucking awesome birthday.
I still want hugs though. Those are non-negotiable.
My birthday is swiftly approaching. I've been telling people I'm 39 for a few months now...just to get used to it. Something about that "nine"...it's a bit unnerving. Still, when I tell them I'm 39, I still seem to get a lot of surprised responses, which is nice. I actually like the little wrinkes around my eyes quite a bit. The exceedingly bad eyesight, I could do without, though.
The actual day falls mid-week and it hits right before we close Metaluna, so I'm not sure if or when I'll have time to plan something, as we'll be hip deep in wrapping up the show, pulling down the set and putting it to bed...while we start the run up to the next play in October (which I won't be in...it's has only male roles a la Let There Be Light. )
Personally, I'm a big believer of noting birthdays. You only get a handful and, as I don't believe in the hereafter, the number I'm getting is finite and fixed. I'm not saying you need to go all "Super Sweet Sixteen" - please, gawd, no - but, a nice dinner with friends or a rollicking night at the roller derby never hurt anyone.
While I don't read my horoscope all that often, I'm a confirmed Leo. After reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child, and falling head over heels in love with Aslan, I feel nothing but delight when I think that I'm somehow linked to lions. Even though, I'm totally a dog person. Figure that one out.
I came across a link to this story, which is well worth the read. It's about a lion cub that was adopted in London an a year later was released into the wilds of Africa. And a year after that, this video shows the amazing reunion of man and beastie.
While I can do without the overwrought Whitney soundtrack, it's still spectacular footage. I suggest turning off the sound and watching it...well, it reminds me of the old 8mm vacation reels my parents would throw up on the wall when we were kids. Eons before video, so there was no sound - just the narration of some adult or folks laughing and commenting accordingly.
After watching this, I've decided I just want hugs for my birthday. And I don't want no stinkin' bear hug. I want the one the lion throws down with. Nuzzly, powerful, I'm-all-in goodness. That's the hug for me.
And it just occured to me that my big sis is on a plane right now that will probably land not too far from this preserve - she's spending the next month in the outskirts of Narobi. She is also a Leo (her birthday within days...and a few years...of mine.) She's setting the bar pretty high on how/where one celebrates their birthday.
Man. I want to kick her in the shin right now.
(Skeeter, if you're reading this, you better check out some preserves with lions...or I'll never look you in the eye again. Go all the way to Africa and not see Lions. It's kind of impossible, right? Right?)
I figured that I probably have more friends and folks who read this blog (semi) regularly than my Wry Potato blog, so I'm posting a link regarding that documentary project I'm working on. Mainly, if you have some "suggested veiwing" material for me, I'd love to know about it.
http://wrypotato.blogspot.com/2008/07/homework.html
Oh...and Amy. If you're reading this, I keep meaning to call you and ask you if you'll give the first edit a look - I would love some notes from an eyeball such as yours. Of course, this won't be for a month or two, which is why I keep putting off talking to you about it. My brain has been 99.5 Metaluna until yesterday.
And since I'm posting here about it...I just want to say for the record that Dave Lykins is the HAWESOME. If you don't know him, you'll just have to take my word for it.
Recently, D-Ray wrote about an exchange with the lady who cut his hair. He asked for a specific style that is really out of date, and ending up have a brief conversation about Metaluna.
I was in the Hair Cuttery Saturday, getting a trim. I gave my name and waited.
"Dan?"
"Don."
"Right over here."
She was (guessing) in her late thirties, Latino, pretty but a little thick in the waist - it turned out she had three teenage boys and had just given birth to her first girl last fall - and she carried with her the air of someone who would give anything to be somewhere else but had lost the will to even think about where that somewhere else could be.
"How do you want your hair cut?"
"A number 3 buzz around the sides and back, square it off in the back, leave most of the top a bit longer."
"You know, it would look better if I cut two inches off the top - it would blend better."
"Yeah, but I'm in a show coming up and the hair has to be fairly specific."
Her face lit up for the first time. "A show? What show?"
"It's called Metaluna and the Amazing Science of the Mind Revue."
Not long after reading about this, I was getting lunch in the cafeteria at my office.
I have to admit to a certain affinity towards janitors and food workers - mainly because I worked those jobs in high school and college...and hated just about every minute of it. Whenever I meet adults working those jobs, I usually have the fleeting thought about "there but for the grace of [insert personal diety], go I." And in a way, I feel akin to them. If they seem friendly, I'm friendly back. It amazes me how many of my coworkers don't even know the names of the folks who are making their food or cleaning their "house." It's just polite and nine times out of ten, those folks are really sweet and appreciate (like any of us would) a pleasant word of acknowledgement in their workday.
Enter Gina. Gina mainly works the sandwich/panini section of the cafe. You want a turkey on wheat, an egg salad on rye or my favorite, the philly-beef wrap - Gina's your huckleberry.
When she askes me how my weekend was, instead of just saying the usual, "Okay. How was yours?" I'll actually tell her if I did something interesting (and there aren't 30 people waiting in line behind me.) Once I told her about our trip to the roller derby. After that, Gina would constantly tell folks that I performed in the roller derby. Just for kicks. She has a warped sense of humor, that one.
Back in May, I mentioned about our RAW series and how I was acting in a couple scenes and directing one. Well, it being on a weeknight, she couldn't make it out, but she showed a lot of interest. So, I told her a bit about Metaluna (and my small role in it) she seemed very interested in going.
Weeks later, I read D-Ray's blog about the hair stylist and thought...you know, I should invite Gina. Maybe she'll come. She's at least interested in the show. I offered her up a pair of comps to opening night.
For this show, I do not wear my glasses or contacts. Long story short, the contacts are a hassle and honestly, I play a blind woman and it actually helps me out by being, for all intents and purposes, "blind." As such, while I'm in the audience or on stage, I can make out shapes enough not to trip and fall, but I can't tell one person from another in the semi-darkness.
Friday night, we opened and performed to a packed house. It was a fantastic show. Jen, our director, has one post-show rule - change out of your costume (and put your props and shite away) before coming out to greet folks. Well, in our closet-sized dressing room where at least 6 or more people are changing at the same time, it's a bit chaotic backstage and I changed as quick as I could. I came out and immediately started looking for Gina. No luck. She had already scooted.
This morning, I went down to the cafe to get a bit of instant oatmeal and find out what she thought. She came out from around her station and gave me a big hug. She went and on about how fantastic it was from the word go.
Me: So you both liked it?Her: We LOVED it!
She (and her 26 yr old daughter) LOVED it. In caps, people. She plans on telling everyone who comes throught the sandwich/panini section all about Metaluna.
Metaluna. Lunch Lady Approved!
Thanks to K and B for coming to opening night too! Let it be written that I made K laugh...and then I made K cry! I made K cry! That's all I want out of life, people. To make my friends cry! Huzzah!
Metaluna is finally open. Huzzah! It's such a fantastic, mind-blowing, hysterical, smart, touching, glorious (that's my word for the day, it seems) show. Joe wrote a brilliant script (12 years back), Don worked his producing magic (yet again), the cast is firing on more cylinders than one can count, I want to live inside the set that John built (as long as I don't have to do it in a certain chair with wheels), Sarah enhanced it to make things all kinds of delightfully creepy, Dianna is a stellar stage manager and Jen has fashioned it all into something to marvel at.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Now, I know lots of folks who don't consider themselves "theater" types. That in the wide array of stuff to do with your money and free time, theater is low on the "to-do" list....somewhere between "defrosting freezer" and "removing tatoo of [insert former boy/girlfriend's name.]" It's just not on most folk's radar.
Admittedly, I'm biased. I think this is an experience that might change your mind a bit. Open your mind a bit. Unscrew your mind a bit. So, why not take a chance. Be bold. Be daring. Come see this show.
Metaluna and the Amazing Science of the Mind Revue
Red Orchid Theatre 1531 N. Wells Street, Chicago Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00p.m. and Sundays at 7:00p.m.
Through August 16, 2008 TICKETS: $15.00 (Thu/Sun); $20.00 (Fri/Sat)
CALL 773-661-3195 for reservations or go to: Brown Paper Tickets
This is a vlog from charlieissocoollike. Most of the dreck on YouTube contains folks working waaaay too hard to be amusing. One of the reasons I continue to surf YouTube are the rare and wonderful occassions when people share a bit of themselves and have the inate skill to deliver the story well...it's very SKALD-like in those moments.
This little 1.5 minute vlog just filled my heart with sunshine...happy begets happy. And then, when my heart is near to burst, the black raincloud of reality comes along and kicks me in the shin...which initiates my heart gloriously exploding inside my chest. (watch the whole thing for full effect...it's worth the one and a half minutes of your life. Promise.)
Our second preview was a blast! Now that we are in a fully realised, beautiful set (which is a peice of freaking ART in and of itself) with props, costumes and tech...folks are really beginning to...crap. I can't think of the right adjective. My brain is still on stand-by.
Let me put it this way, I'm backstage for most of the show. Last night, I was stitching up some holes we made in my costume that nobody would notice but me (long story)...and I didn't want to be thinking about silly holes in my costume, so I spent my down time backstage fixing it. At the same time, I was helping set props for other actors and in general, just listening to the show. The audience was really responding to the show and the cast was vibing off it in the most lovely and amazing ways.
Metaluna is not your typical narrative play...while there are some story threads, those threads unravel and get rewoven into fucked up Freudian tapestries. It's a wild and wonderful ride in the subconcious mind.
It's also hella funny.
Honestly. You should come and see it. I double dog dare you to. And yes. I'm talking to you, Miro. If you think that you're going to miss this show, you are sadly mistaken, my friend. For all the folks that think theater and plays are for blue-haired fogies and self-obsessed arty-types....think again. This show will make you laugh and I guarantee your brain will expand at least 23% by the time you leave.
Print it.
Tonight is our first preview. While I acted in two short peices during our "RAW" event back in May, I really haven't been a part of a full play/show since the summer of 2004. It's hard to believe it's been four years since I've performed regularly...and I have to admit, it's been a bit of a personal challenge in many ways. A lot has changed for me since and there are hurdles present that didn't exist for me then. The main reason I decided to put my toe back into the pond, was that it's a small role in an amazing peice. I felt it was the right size bowl of porridge for me to chew on as I await my visit from the bear.
This play is directed by Jen Ellison, who is so goddamned talented it's painful to think about. All I want to do is make that lady happy and give her the performance she wants. I think I'm about 85% there...and I have a few days left to get out of my head and get it right (by Friday.)
I'm really very excited and pleased to do my part in this show. It's extremely funny and whip-smart and has moments of brillance that make your jaw drop. The set if flipping insane. The cast is rock solid. Once again, I'm ever so proud of my theater company. Hope you'll come check it out and see for yourself. (Previews are $5 and run tonight, Tues and Wednesday.)
To any cast/crew members who might be reading this, I apologize for any sullen, cranky or crusty behavoir you may have witnessed recently. I haven't quite been myself entirely (family stresses.) I'm normally a bit more social and drolly amusing that I have been for the last...uh...month.
While I was out of town at the beginning of June, I left my dead car (which has since been resusitated) parked on the street outside my building for a little over two weeks straight. I took a gamble that while I was traveling, Streets and Sanitation would not be by to sweep our turf. Gamble lost. Not that I really had an option.
As much as I'm willing to ask my only neighbor who knows how to drive stick to keep an eye peeled and "repark as needed" while I'm traveling...it's a bit more than an imposition to ask them to:
1) get a group of stout folks together to, 2) throw it in neutral and push it into a spot that, 3) may or may not be directly available on the other side of the street.
And depending on which side you're originally on and which side they sweep first...4) to do it twice, 5) in two days.
I'm as cheap a bastard as they come, but even I'd rather pay a $50 fine than ask that of a neighbor.
I've been living in the city proper since 1994. My employment has always ended up in the burbs or on the very outskirts of the city where public trans is a less than appealing option (ahem - although at $4.35 a gallon, once the play is up and out of rehearsals, I'll be carpooling most of the week with my co-worker who lives about 4 blocks from me.) So, I'm one of those folks who pretty much drives 90% of the time. Which means Parking. Which means, knowing how to read the ever changing signs and meters and learn where the best spots to park are in most neighborhoods.
Even adhering to the signs, sooner or later, you'll miss a sign, fudge a spot a bit, or create one that really doesn't exist - the odds and Lincoln Towing are just set against you. I live by the policy to expect that I'll get no more than one ticket per year. In my mind, I'm not paying some fine, but participating in the much beloved Chicago pastime of graft. I doubt my $50 is going to fix a pothole or repave a sidewalk...in fact, I enjoy the thought that some fat cat crony is buying his mistress a nice sammich before she gives him a handy in his city owned vehicle. I'm doing my part to keep the city gears grinding, as it were.
Surprisingly though, paying my ticket online was rather a positive experience in that it also gave me a history of my past parking mishaps going back several years.
March 2001 - Block Access/Alley/Driveway/Firelane...PAID
October 2001 - Expired Meter...PAID
February 2005 - Expired Meter...PAID
December 2005 - Expired Meter...DISMISSED
October 2006 - Expired Meter...PAID
June 2008 - Street Cleaning...PAID
Hmmm. Averaging six (five if you count the dismissal) tickets in seven years. Not bad. While I did get 2 tickets in 2001, it was 4 years until I got my next one, so I think that more than evens out. And, yes, it is possible to get a ticket dismissed. The meter was faulty - it would accept quarters, but not register the time as paid - and I had folks with me willing to attest. Since it's been almost 2 years since my last ticket, I really don't feel so bad about the fact that my DOA car was stuck during sweeps week.
The only bitter pill to swallow is that I got a ticket in June. June sucks. June is when folks in the city have to get their vehicle stickers ($75 a crack) and I live on a block that requires permit parking (an additional $25.) Oh. And my six month car insurance premium was due. And I had to get the junker fixed. In all, I shelled out over $700 on my heap this month (not counting the ticket.) Fingers crossed, I shouldn't have to shell out anything except gas and an oil change for many a month. That's the one good thing about a heaper...it's paid off!
I do dream about the day when I can afford to get a new vehicle. Some thing hybrid or electric with power everything that shoots daisies out its tailpipe and surrounds me in a bubble of sunshine that makes the folks I pass by break into song.
My brain is breaking that it is July 8th. How the freak is it nearly mid-July? June was a whirlwind of work and travel and work travel. And in between, we've been rehearsing the play (which opens in less than 2 weeks.) And in the little time that I was home, I've been cocooning myself in a blanket of BBC melodramas. I've watched more Jane Austen, George Eliot and Charles Dickens (oof! and Doctor Who!) than any person should do in one sitting. (or eleven sittings)
More on the play soon. Right now, I'll just let you know that I had my hair cut into a circa 1920's bob yesterday and I can't stop rubbbing my bare neck in back. Tonight is our first night in the space with a set! Can't tell you how thrilling it is to move something that you just play around with in an empty room to a set with props and costumes...it's like when Dorothy opens the door. Everything that is familiar and comfortable gets jettisoned into technicolor.
All you need to know is at the WNEP website and that we open on Friday the 18th.
And more on the documentary soon too. The filming of additonal interviews is on hold until after Metaluna opens. But, I know that Geo is itching to move forward (as am I.) In fact, I read this today on my friend Ravin's blog about his upcoming studio sessions in Nashville and it made me all kinds of dopey with it's awesomeness.
The songs are pretty much ready to go and the work tapes completed except....except....I really wanted the one that I could use for Rebars' film. I am so close to having that thing done but there is something missing and I don't know what. I have to finish it tonight because I need to get it recorded and shipped off to Nashville so Pat can listen to all of the songs and make charts. The CD will have 10 maybe 11 songs. 8 songs will be done with the full band and I have a couple that I will do solo with guitar. I really want the quizzo song (title: "Come Along" not "Guess that Smell" sorry rebar) to be performed by the whole band. I just need to cobble the loose pieces together and let the lightning bring it to life. Overall I'm feeling good about this whole project and no longer feel the need to throw up when I think about it.
Ah, yes. This is the world of the artist. Working on projects that make you hurl out of sheer enthusiasm. For reals. I'm so proud of Ravin for making his project come to life. I can't want to hear this new album (can we call it an album?) and will be standing in line with my cash in hand to buy his CD with my handmade fan tee on. Of course, it will have "Guess that Smell" crossed off and "Come Along" overwritten...but that just ups the value, my friend.
