A damned difficult day. I had gotten all the prep work done--I thought--for Acting for Amateurs and went over at 10:30 to set up the gathering room. It was drizzling a bit--no, more like misty--in the morning and I was a little worried everybody (all six of them) wouldn't show up, but they did. After some preliminary remarks and reminders, I set them to doing the plays assigned.
I was surprised they laughed so much, especially at When Cooks Confer. They really seemed to enjoy it, which was gratifying to me. As for the performances--well, Meryl isn't quaking in her boots, that's a cinch, but they were okay. They did seem to at least make a stab at faster delivery (often a big part of comedy) and facial expressions, so some progress was made. I had to play Ms. Paycheck in Help Wanted--Not! because of the person who bailed and that, full of puns, went over very big, too. They didn't really get into the pace of Tootie Looks At Real Estate, so it was somewhat lame, but fair. As for The Truth, The Embellished Truth, And Nothing Like The Truth, read on.
Dusty, who is president of BCNN, had earlier asked if I would do a "show" for the membership sometime in the fall and I've been hedging about it. It's a hell of a lot of work and frankly, I wasn't enthusiastic about it. But yesterday, she suggested that just The Truth, etc. could be done. Dusty herself was one of the two players in that and, to be honest, that doesn't seem to be her genre. Of course, I couldn't say that, but when she said she wouldn't reprise the role, I was more agreeable. I chose Rosa to be "Shelby Nameless," the woman and Susan, who wasn't bad, played Shelby's Alter Ego.
So...I agree, but this won't be presented to the membership in the fall, it will be tomorrow at the monthly meeting! Luckily, Susan and Rosa could stay later and we ran over it twice. I gave them some more specific direction and I think they'll be okay. I'll introduce them and also, ask the other members to stand and be recognized.
I gave out the parts for next week--dramas this time--but I screwed up badly with one of them. This is a monologue--or not--that can be played either by one person or several, as the character progresses from six years old to seventies or eighties. I set it up so all the players were in it. Without elaborating on how my error, I didn't copy the scripts right, so will do have to do them over. I'll give them to the six in the group at the meeting tomorrow. Therefore, I had to copy them all over so they were all uniform.
I started that right after lunch, got four done and AAGH!--the ink ran out again! That was the new cartlidge I had gotten on Sunday--all gone! I immediately put my coat on and took the 6 to Telephone Road, the 11 to Office Depot. Got the ink, then took the ll to the transit center, and the 21 home. Not only is this damn thing taking me hours and hours of planning and work, it's costing me real money. I've spent about 75 or 80 bucks on ink and paper, not to mention the wear and tear on my printer. Yeah, maybe not one of my better ideas to do this. HOWSOMEVER...auditions are coming up on Sunday for Fractured Actors' new season and you'd better believe I'll be there.
I did take time out to call my big brother, Larry; it was his ninety-first birthday. Here he is with his Helen at their daughter's wedding about thirty years ago:
AND THERE'S MORE IN MY LIFE:
I found this painting on Facebook and am mesmerized by it. There's a strong sense of foreboding and doom in it. Why does she keep baking bread? She has already made rolls and a large loaf, but she makes still more. And the storm coming? It seems lightning has already set the tree on fire. Why do the men keep at their duties in the field? Is the cat sounding a warning? Or is it a harbinger of dread things to come? And that fly on the cloth covering the rising dough, is it carrying disease? And if it is, does she care?
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