At the request of Barbara C., of the Little Egg Theatre Company (LETCO), I went to all three thrift stores in the area to look for two 20-30 cup coffee urns, but had no luck. A volunteer at Habitat told me we'd be more successful after the holidays, as people buy them for parties, then don't know where to store them. E-mailed Barbara to the effect we'd have to borrow them again for the Blithe Spirit performances.
Was pleased to get a call from Karen C. to discuss her scripts, one a short "reading" version of the other, a 20-minute one act play. They're both called Eating The Bear-Snapshots Of The New Normal and I play Michelle, an R & D director who's been laid off. The reading is scheduled for December 11 at a bookstore in Trenton and the play may be in libraries in Mercer. Karen already sent me the reading script by mail (I can't open it on the Web) and will send the longer one shortly.
Late in the day, I set off for the cemetery, but as I got near the Parkway at the New Gretna entrance, I saw there was an unbroken line of cars just sitting there. Decided not to get on and took a long drive toward Atlantic County instead. Good thing I did, as when I was coming home, I noticed the southbound traffic was again--or still--gridlocked.
I had borrowed Punchline from the library and put it in last night. I didn't expect much--had never heard of it--but it starred Tom Hanks and Sally Field, so I picked it up. Now, I'm a sucker for Tom Hanks. At present, of course, he's a distinguished character actor, as he's 54 and according to our empty-headed, youth-obsessed culture, practically ready for the Black Maria. But this movie was made 24 years ago when he was young, fresh, lean, and at the top of his game.
Well, he was just adorable. He plays an aspiring comedian who flunked out of medical school and who befriends a married-with-children-and-befuddled-husband woman (Field and John Goodman), then falls in love with her. There are some dark parts and the latter half of the movie isn't nearly as absorbing as the first, but oh, boy, is that first good and is his performance riveting. You can't take your eyes off him when he's on the screen. Field is very believable, too, and the supporting actors excellent, but in my opinion, a Hanks movie is just all Hanks all the time.