Saturday, August 24, 2019

T.O.P.S., A Fridge, And A Slip

Went to T.O.P.S. and was not surprised that I had a significant gain of three pounds. Weighed in at 133.2, 'way past my desired window of 125 to 130. I think I know why: because I haven't been walking lately. I could  blame the show for that, but that's bogus; there's no reason why I can't walk in the morning or afternoon. The other thing is, I've been skipping dinner in favor of having something after I get home from rehearsal or the show. The blueberries are okay, but the grapes and rice cakes (often with butter spray and parm on them) are not. Okay, I'll reform myself, at least to an extent.
The meeting itself was a worse drag even than usual. Not-my-niece-and-not happy-hour-Carolyn held forth on all kinds of non-weight-related topics, such as her dog's illness and I'm beginning to seriously consider dropping out. There were only five in attendance yesterday and last week; that sends a message, it seems to me.
Later, I was back and forth via text with Ellen and not-my-niece-but-happy-hour-Carolyn, who had asked about the small refrigerator El was selling. Since El and Greg were working, the upshot was that I drove over to show it to Carolyn and her son, (also Greg!). He's leaving tomorrow to attend college in Northridge and, after staying to chat for a bit, they bought it.
Didn't get home until almost 3:00, at which point I made lunch and opened the mail. AAGH! There was a communication from AAA, saying my premium was going way up. Called them and found DMV had never informed them that my suspension was lifted. Now I have to go over there on Monday to straighten it out.
Showered and dressed for the show--we were to be there at 6:30, although our piece doesn't come on until an hour into the show. This was our fourth show and one would think it would run smoothly. However, it didn't in spots and I've seen this before. I'm not sure if it's an over confidence or what, but often, a few runs in, this kind of thing happens. Gwen,* Amanda, and I all had some stumbles. Amanda simply had some problems with timing, unusual for her, but Gwen's slips were more serious. She's 65, has the fewest lines--really no more than a page worth--and has never acted before.  (And frankly, Meryl Streep has nothing to worry about.)  She noticeably hesitated before delivering several lines and worse, forgot my cue intro ("My baby made a baby!") for one of my funniest lines ("It really makes you wonder about death, doesn't it?") That may not sound funny, but in context, it is. Last night, alas, the rest of the cast had to cover and I didn't get to say it.
As for me: I have four soliloquies I deliver directly to the audience while I'm spotlighted and the rest of the cast "freezes." To my horror, I realized that with the third, I was delivering the first few sentences of the second. I was able to segue into the right one, though, without a break. What's more, when I asked the other five in the play if they had noticed the slip, nobody had. Even better, Shannon, who wrote the play and was in the back, didn't notice, either. Hey, that meant that the audience, who had never seen it before, didn't pick it up, either, and that's all that matters.
*Gwen, 65, a recently retired teacher, is the oldest in our play next to me; the others are in their twenties and thirties. In the whole company of about forty, there are only three others in their seventies: Ken and Ben, plus Susan and Greg, a married couple. The writers and directors, Jeff and Shannon, are in their late forties and those in the band and tech end look to be in their thirties and younger. It's sometimes a challenge to keep up the pace, but I find it wonderfully stimulating to be with younger people and am so pleased to be casually received by them.   

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