Still buzzing around here and there. After walking Kimball, showering, and breakfast, I prepared for the class. Pulled together the wigs, jewelry, hats, and so on, along with my notebooks and got to SCAN at 9:45. Happily, I found the room set up. Brianna showed me the screen/partition I wanted to use as a kind of backstage area and--forget it. It's in more than a hundred pieces--damn that Tony! He's the one who, for some unknown reason, took it apart and there's nobody who can reassemble it. After discussion with Briana and Brenda, I gave up about it--reluctantly--and will have to have the be-wigged players come in from another room.
Class went pretty well. There are still lacks in some areas; I want to see more energy, especially from one person. Another is a real pain in the butt. She's the one who had me re-type in larger print her parts; yesterday, she came in with her scripts in an entirely different binder. I wanted to have the binders--I bought them, all the same, in green--uniform, but she says it "hurts her arm." What the--! Okay, that's a battle I don't want take on.
The others are doing pretty well. Noreen, in particular, is a happy surprise. John C., the new guy, came in and he's very good; only complaint I have about him is that he rushes a bit. Wouldn't you know, I keep telling the others to pick up the pace and I have to tone him down a bit. After we ran through all the playlets, we went into the other room and people who were wearing them picked out wigs, hats, and other things. Noreen startled me (and maybe everybody else) by pulling off what I had thought was her natural hair, to reveal very sparse white strands. I'm having her be a Lolita type, with a blond wig, flowery hat, and kind of lace shawl. Marcelle said she had a wig at home and she'd bring that. I was very pleased that Jim brought in a black fedora and Sharon volunteered to make horns for it, as Jim plays the devil.
We didn't get out of there until almost 1:00 and by that time, I was ready for lunch and to put all this behind me for a few days. I'll write up my notes and send individual e-mails telling my players, first what they did well and then--as diplomatically as possible--what needs to be improved. I'm like a broken record with this: "pick up the pace, react to the other actors, don't let your voice drop..." and so on and on.
After I got home, I stopped at Don's to invite him for dinner with Suzanne, Jim, and me on the 19th. I was taken aback when he declined. Said he just wasn't very social and he was self-conscious with new people. He invited me in and we talked for fifteen or so, but he doesn't want to come to dinner. Well, okay. I don't know any other men, so maybe I'll invite Noreen.
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