London, Thanksgving, Christmas, etc.

Hello! I haven't really been feeling terribly motivated to write in my blog. The other day I heard someone say "blogs are dead!" so I wondered if I would be the worlds biggest geek if I made another entry. But that's not why I haven't written lately. Chalk it up to only having nine followers and feeling pretty depressed over the state of our lunatic, deadlocked government and the world in general. It makes me very anxious and depressed. I clearly need to find something to focus that energy on.

That being said, there is a lot going on or a lot that is going to be going on which is all very exciting. I had a very encouraging week back in mid-December. My pottery made a nice chunk of change at the annual Craft Guild sale and then I sold a lot of bird bottles and coffee mugs that very same week! Needless to say I feel very encouraged and can't wait to get back into the studio! Of course, it's closed for two weeks which makes me FURIOUS! I am jonesin' for some clay studio time! What is wrong with you people!!!!!! Other good news on the clay front is that some of my pottery is currently being sold at Unpotted Gardening Solutions in Oak Cliff. Fantastic all organic gardening center! Check it out!

James and my mom and I had a great trip to London back before Christmas. We saw A LOT of theater. (Or do the Brits say theatRE?) The highlights were:

The National Theater's transfer to the West End of One Man, Two Guv'nors. FANTASTIC! HYSTERICALLY FUNNY! Amazingly talented cast and I don't think there was a microphone anywhere in the room! Highlights of the show were the audience participation, especially the very game young woman recruited out of the front row to help James Cordon "Serve" dinner and the 87 year-old waiter who was continually falling into an unseen abyss!

Matilda: the Musical was very smart, very funny, had an excellent score and amazing, and I mean AMAZING cast! I laughed! I cried! One of the best musicals I've seen in years! I hope it comes to the USA soon!

The Menier Chocolate Factory's production of Pippin. AMAZING! The Menier is a tiny black box space seating 100 or so with no backstage space but they make the most of what they have. It was an amazing re-imagining of a show that seems to cause a lot of eye-rolling. Gone were the silly comedia del arte costumes and clown make up. This version takes place inside a video game being played by Pippin who is dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. In fact, the entire production is either modern dress or futuristic in its concept. Lots of projections, LOTS of surprises and only minimal changes to the script. Frances Rufelle, famous for being the first Eponine in Les Miserable, played Fastrada. It was a revelation to see what is truly possible in such a small space! Very inspiring!

Things are inching along where the theater company is concerned. We are on the cusp of filing our non-profit status and we have the dates set for our first season but we haven't signed the contract yet. It's exciting and scary. There are so many possibilities! There are so many things we want to do. We have a list of shows we want to produce. We want to start a cabaret/concert series. We want to offer classes and lectures. On and on and on. The hardest part is waiting! Patience!!!! ARGH!!!

Anyhoo, that's about it. I hope all nine of you are having a lovely holiday season! Stay well!

Jay in Dalals

And the days dwindle down to a precious few!

Hello! It's been ages since I have posted but I don't feel as though a lot has been going on that I'd call "news worthy". there's mostly a lot that hasn't happened yet but as it does I'll talk about it. It's all very exciting but I don't feel I can talk about it yet. In time!

What HAS been happening is that I finally set up a booth at a farmers market last week with my lovely new friend from the Craft Guild, Rachel Wright. we took our maiden voyage at the Four Seasons Market. (www.fourseasonsmarkets.com) This market takes place on Saturdays and Sundays at two locations in Richardson. It is meant to be like those in Europe that occur in town squares on saturday mornings and are a mix of produce vendors, artisan craftsmen, etc. We didn't have much to show for our first day but there are some Christmas markets coming up and I'll be sending out an invite for those. I am also producing some work for a garden center in Oak Cliff. I'll have more info about that as it develops.

I don't usually talk about politics but I Feel I need to make some sort of statement here. I have to so that I'm deeply concerned about what is going on in our country right now. Our government is ineffectual, there seems to be more and more hate and anger everywhere you look and everyone seems to be very edgy, angry, anxious, nervous, furious, disdainful, vindictive, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on and on. We all need to stop and remember that we all live on this Earth together and must find a way to get along despite our differences. I don't know the answer, I don't think anyone does, I just want to ask everyone to treat each other with love, respect and understanding.

That is all!

P.S. I am posting some pictures of work in progress! Enjoy!

Thoughts and feelings on summer and new beginnings

There are lots of reasons for why I haven't made a blog entry lately. The reasons are too numerous to go into point by point in a blog but suffice it say there has been a lot going on and a lot on my mind. Those of you who read this blog, and you are a small but well formed group, will remember that I said I was going to Prague this summer and later, in August, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Then I was going to direct a couple of musicals but I decided that I had so much else going on in my life and so much else on my mind, it would be a good idea to bow out of that. So here I am, getting the house in order bit by bit, working in the pottery studio a lot and thinking about the fall.

The big news is that we have some forward motion where Front Line Productions is concerned. We sent in our paperwork to Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts and they are filing our application for nonprofit status. As soon as that comes through, we can open a bank account, solicit donations toward our first production and basically do all the things a fledgling theater company does to get it's head above water.

One of the big questions I keep asking myself is what do James and I want this company to be? We joke that our slogan will be "Front Line Productions: Shows That Don't Suck" but I don't think the folks that give out grants would go for that.

I know this: on the whole we want to produce smaller, chamber style musicals, plays with music and shows that bridge the gap between what we think of as musical theater and opera. We want to present a concert series/cabaret series in alternative venues. for myself, I want to start an off-shoot from the main company to present an art song series not unlike the New York Festival of Song which does not draw a line between classical art song and popular song. James loves teaching and would like to present song interpretation workshops/audition workshops and sponsor masterclasses.

We also want this to be a company where actors, creatives are treated fairly, allowed to be creative, allowed to take chances, and where we assume our audiences are intelligent, intuitive and open to our mission.

Most importantly we want it to be fun. As a local director once said, we should be embarrassed to take a paycheck for what we do. That's what I want this to be. I want our company to be a place where we play, communicate and enlighten. I want the shows we produce to be events that move our audiences. Is that too much to ask?

Summer is coming upon us! (Double entendre intended.)

June 1 is fast approaching as is HOT, HOT weather, crappy tv (oh, wait. Tv is already crappy.) and lots of summer slash and burn guerilla theater!

First on the horizon is a recital up to the UNT with my friend Sarah Daniels. We are performing scenes from Cavalleria Rusticana and Samson et Dalilah. It's the first time I've sung them and NO, you cannot come see it! It's nice to have a break from opera chorus. I was going to sit out a production next season but we're going to have a huge break from mid-November until the end of January so I don't think it will be necessary. And quite frankly, I need the money. I'm planning on FINALLY finishing up my DMA by next May so keep your fingers crossed! It will be a major push.

This summer I'm going to be directing two shows for Ohlook Performing Arts out in Grapevine. Little Women (musical) and The Who's Tommy. as usual with Ohlook there are limited resources and a very small black box space. Where many would panic and not know what to do, I see this as a wonderful challenge. I have a real issue with those people, and I'm talking about people in and around Dallas, who try to do a big budget, high tech Broadway show on a shoestring in a space not equipped to do big, fancy broadway musicals. The results are NEVER good and it just makes the actors, director/choreographer/designers/artistic director look foolish. The question I am asking myself as I approach these two shows is this: How do you tell a clear, moving story when you have a tiny budget and a performance space with no back stage and no storage for sets? Certainly not by trying to cram a lot of scenery and a cast of thousands onto a postage stamp size stage! Do you need a large cast because that's how they did it on The Broadway? Do you need lots of big, fancy costumes like they had on The Broadway? For that matter, do you need a set like they had on The Broadway? I say no! I have some interesting ideas for both shows so if you want to see what I have cooked up I suggest you trek out to Grapevine and take in Little Women and Tommy at Ohlook!

Things in the garden are going well. In the dark of the night last night I planted seeds for two kinds of pumpkins, two kinds of melons, both red and green okra and fancy french egg plants! The cucumbers and zuccini have poked their heads above the soil and the squash plant that mysteriously started growing out of the compost has overtaken half the garden and is putting on squash! We are also picking blackberries on almost a daily basis. It's great fun and always change and NO, it's not a lot of work when you love doing it.

James is tickling the ivories at a gig in Branson, MO until the end of June and then will be working with me at Ohlook as well as music directing Little Shop of Horrors at Water Tower Theater in Dallas. It will be a full summer for all!

That's about it. Nothing earth shaking to report. Maybe next time.


Remember: Do what you love!

Jay

oh sleep, why dost thou leave me!!!!

It's 6am right now. SIX A.M.! I am NEVER up this early. EVER!!!! But I cannot sleep! I'm exhausted, I haven't gotten much sleep over the last two days, I desperately want to sleep, BUT I CAN'T!!!!! So, I decided to write a blog entry and then I'll give it one last shot. (Dear God, I am so TIRED!!!!!)

Anyway, it's been a whirlwind couple of days. We had our dress rehearsals for Boris early in the week and opened last night. I can't help thinking it must be really boring. At least the middle section must be really boring. It just seems not a lot happens for a long time. There were a lot of empty seats last night and the audience gave it a very un enthusiastic reception. Opening night is not our best audience and rumor has it the other performances are selling well so we shall see. I am waiting to find out what idiotic drivel Scott Can't-tell is going to write.

Between the final dress and opening night I hopped on a plane at 7am and went to NYC to audition for St Petersburg Opera. NO, not the one in Russia! The one in Florida. Not nearly as exciting but you do what you gotta do. My audition time was 9pm which struck me as very odd, indeed. I went to an address on west 48th street I wasn't familiar with. It's a very non-descript building in the middle of the block. The "lobby", and I use the word loosely, is just a big, no-frills hallway leading to a VERY industrial-esque elevator. There were "studios" on the second floor that people could rent for rehearsals, lessons or auditions like the one I was there for. Lots of folks were standing around in the hallway all wearing dark suits and ties, the women were wearing their best sunday dresses. There is a sort of banter that singers engage in at these auditions. They act very friendly, and overly effusive with each other but it all seems to be an act and comes off as very fake. I was not wearing a suit, I was not engaging in banter. I found a chair in a corner and just sat quietly playing Scrabble on my phone and trying not to let the adrenalin rush we call nerves get to me.

So finally I went in and sang. There were three people behind the table. I little, mousy fellow who is apparently a bassoonist turned conductor, a rather large, lesbionic woman and a man who was working hard at wanting me to think he was pretty (he wasn't). None of them introduced themselves which isn't uncommon. I sang Recondita Armonia which wasn't bad. The room was very live and I am, by nature, a loud singer so in a way a live room is stacking the deck against me. It's easy to push in such a ringing space but I think I handled it well. I then sang about half of the Flower Song which went well but they stopped me before I got to the hard/high part. The only conversation we had was when the puny guy asked me when I'd been at the Crested Butte Music Festival. Apparently, he was there too but didn't remember our group. Oh, well.

I have no idea if they liked me or not. They had a sort of pokerface response. Maybe I scared them with my lack of a black suit and my nonchalant attitude toward the whole thing. Maybe they thought I wasn't serious? Who knows. I was actually very serious about this audition and while it was expensive to go do it, I'm glad I did. Auditions are such an excellent gage of where one is in one's development and how one does in a high pressure situation. They are always a learning experience.

I have another audition in NYC next week. I'll report on it, as well.

Now I'm going to try to get some sleep. See you soon!

Of course, they were running late

Spring, moving, and all that jazz

It's been months since I posted a blog. A lot has been going on and I just haven't had the time or the inclination to sit down and write about it. Today promises to be busy so I will give you the highlights version. If you want details you'll have to email or call me.

The big news is that we have FINALLY moved all of our crap into the house! For those of you who don't know, this is the house in Plano that James grew up in for the most part. We've remodeled the master bathroom, put down wood floors in almost the entire house, and done LOTS of painting. It really looks amazing and feels almost as if we've moved into a new house!

Of course we are still overwhelmed by all the moving boxes. When we moved in, the house was already full of furniture so we've made the living room the temporary storage extra furniture and a place to stack all the boxes. Eventually we'll mix our furniture in with what's already here and take whatever is left over to the Salvation Army. Many of the boxes are full of books (James and I have decided we don't read NEARLY enough!) and we can't unpack them until we get our bookshelves set up back in the game room/office. That's going to be our library and office. I keep saying it's not as bad as it looks but I think James is feeling overwhelmed.

That's the biggest news. The opera season is almost over. Boris Godunov opens April 1 then the season is done. The garden looks great. A few plants survived the freeze and are now flourishing. We have planted parsley, cilantro, two or three kinds of peas, fennel, a few flowers, beats and some lettuces that we hope mature before it gets too hot. The figs and grapevines are waking up. The lemon trees are doing their thing, putting out LOTS of blossoms so we're hoping to have lemons someday. James still wants chickens and I keep trying to change his mind.

That's about it. I have a couple of auditions coming up and a recital or two. Staying busy and trying to keep my head above water!

More to come!

New Years: New Beginnings or the same old sh_t?

It's the third day of 2011 and I'm sitting here wondering what I'm going to do differently this year. My thoughts go first to what needs to be finished that wasn't finished in 2010.

This damn doctorate comes to mind. Other students have begun and finished their doctorates while I have dragged my feet. I think I've taken my time for a lot of reasons. One, this last phase is the most nerve wracking. My course work is mostly done, now I have one more recital to do, then the infamous lecture recital, then writtens and orals. (This last part seems a little redundant seeing as you also write a thesis but no one asked me.)

Two, what I want to do when I grow up has changed. Now, I'm less interested in opera and more interested in musicals, concerts, cabaret, directing and starting a theater company. Opera seems for the most part to be interested in being a living museum. A place where they trot out all the old standards with the same old sets and costumes. The artistic directors, stage directors and performers aren't interested in presenting exciting, living theater set to beautiful music. And most importantly, for me anyway, is that in my experience there is no sense of the company in the opera world. In opera we are not a group of talented, like-minded individuals coming together to create a production. This may just be at Dallas Opera (I hear this is the case.) but it takes the fun away from something that should make us feel like we did when we played dress up as kids. It's all very discouraging and makes me wish I wasn't there.

Three, and this is a big one, I honesty I think I started this degree for the wrong reason. At the time I was working at American Airlines and very, very unhappy but I knew if I left American I had to have something to go to, so I decided to go back to school. I didn't really have an overwhelming desire to be a college professor, I still don't, and in my time at UNT I've been relatively bored. I haven't felt challenged by the course work. In fact, I have discovered that in most cases if you just show up for class you're going to get an A. So much for the challenges of Doctoral programs, at least this one. I have entertained the idea of not finishing but I'm so close I need to just buckle down and get it done.

Now to more positive things! What am I looking forward to in 2011? James and I still talk about starting the theater company and I'm sure this year it will happen. Part of the problem is having the time to do it! Our schedules fill up so quickly. My summer is already filling up as is James'. I'm going back to the Czech Republic and James is going to be working with the Three Redneck Tenors in Branson. Also, we're getting our feet wet on the administration side by working with Ohlook Performing Arts Center. James is now on their board and I want to be on the board, as well. It gives us a good opportunity to learn about running a company and what happens behind the scenes. I think we are getting involved at a good time as they are getting ready to move into a new building. There will be fund-raising to do and new shows to mount. I think this will be a learning experience for both of us.

Also a learning experience is taking our production of [title of show] to the Edinburgh Fringe. So far it's been mostly talk but now things are about to ramp up. We are going to a Fringe Roadshow in NYC this weekend and we're about to start our fund-raising in earnest. We are planning some benefit performances in the next couple of months. My biggest fear is that we'll plan the event, send out the invitations and no one will come. James says it's just a vampire giving me trouble. It stresses me out so I just keep telling myself it will all work out. You just have to stay organized and have faith!

Ok, that's it for now. MOre to come!

Lots of news and happenings

Posting career info on your Facebook page is pretentious. I don't care about what gig you have this week. I don't care about with whom you're performing. I don't care about where you're performing. I don't care to see pictures of the food you've been eating while you're performing in said city. I don't care to hear about the traffic in the city where you're performing. I DON'T CARE! Facebook is a social networking cite. Save career info, photos, etc. for the website you use to promote your career and use Facebook to increase the number of people on your friends list.

Now that that's off my chest I can say that a lot has happened since I last posted. As everyone probably knows, James' mother passed away very suddenly about two or three weeks ago. I saw her on Friday morning of that week as did a couple of the neighbors. James talked to her that same day as did his aunt Alice and she seemed fine other than an upper respiratory infection that was getting better. The next morning, Saturday, her neighbor Jan found her on the floor of her bedroom. It looked like she'd started to get up, like she always did, and was struck by a sudden heart attack. James was in South Carolina with the Tenors and couldn't get back until early sunday morning. My mother was kind enough to let James' brother fly back from Toronto using one of her passes on American Airlines.

Everyone seems to be doing great. James and Johnny have never been the kind of people to wallow in sorrow. They are taking it in stride and doing their best to move forward. They have up and down moments. James said he was in a book store the other day and realized he was looking for books for his mom or he thinks of something he needs to ask his mom.

Also in true McQuillen fashion, the day after the memorial James started making plans to have all the bathrooms in the house remodeled. His grandmother had her house remodeled which his grandfather died and James's mother had a large part of the house redone when James's father died. Having the bathrooms renovated was something James been talking about with his mother so he figured why not go ahead and get it taken care of. The bathrooms haven't been touched since the house was built and are in desperate need of updating. They are decorated in tan, beige, brown, taupe and any other shade or hue of brown you can come up to. It's pretty bad. We are planning to move into the house after the bathrooms are finished. They mortgage on the house is almost paid off so we're going to move into the house when the bathrooms are finished, hopefully around the first of the year.

the other big news is that I recently auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera chorus. I sang well but I have no idea when I'll hear from them. I would be hired as extra chorus which means I might only be in one or two productions. It depends on what they need. We'll wait and see.

that's about it for now. Things are scooting right along. More soon!

New Post!!!!!

It's been ages since I've posted anything. I am finding that I'm not one of these people who blogs constantly. I don't have a thought and then, quick, write in my blog. I also feel as though my day to day life is pretty mundane so I don't feel the need to be writing things like, "I went to the store, I got gas, I paid the electric." They have that feature on Facebook now, which I'm convinced is a government conspiracy created to spy on us civilians, where you can punch in where you are all day long all the time. I don't want folks to know where I'm having dinner or where I'm buying my underwear! That's none of their damn business! Anyway, I shall endeavor to catch my teeny, tiny audience up on what I've been doing lately.

First big thing was that I came down with the flu a couple of weeks ago. It really put me out of commission for a day or two. At first I thought it was just allergies but as it got worse and worse and I started to feel achy I knew it was much more than allergies. It only lasted a day or two but ever since I've had a nasal infection. I finally went to the the fabulous Dr. Presley Mock who gave me some meds for that and also gave me a new prescription for Aciphex which is for my acid reflux.

Things are going well on the vocal front aside from swollen cords caused by drainage from said nasal infection. Other than that I've been singing really well. I'm not sure what happened but late last August something clicked. I realized that I didn't have to "try" to support. Support is a tricky word because it implies that some kind of physical strength is being applied to make something happen so it's probably not the best word to use. All my life I've had a lot of teachers, especially my undergrad teacher, tell me That in order to "support" I had to hold the rib cage open or I had to resist letting the rib cage collapse, I had to feel the sensation of pushing down as I sing as though I'm going to poop, etc. I have been told MANY different things and I've come to the realization that all of them cause TENSION in the THROAT. Any sense of holding or pushing or forcing is going to set up tension because you're trying to make your body do something it's not accustomed to. This manipulation puts tension right into the throat and so the larynx isn't free to do what it needs to do. BIG "ah ha!" moment for me.

So, back in august I decided to just try taking in a comfortable, full, expansive low breath and just let the air out as the voice sounded. Don't get in the way, don't try to keep anything expanded, just let body REACTE to what the voice is doing. Basically, what I was doing is getting out of the way so the voice could do what it needed to do. Ever since then, things have gotten better and better. I have found that the voice goes right into the grove where it can resonate freely and when it's not in that grove I can tell that they air isn't doing what it needs to do. The top 6 notes in my voice, basically from the passaggio to the C, have all gotten MUCH easier to sing. I can leap octaves much easier now, I can start a phrase on a high note without getting tied in knots. Most importantly, I'm not scared of high notes anymore. They stay hooked into the rest of the voice and they stay connected to the body.

I had a lesson the other day where we did 30 minutes of vocalizing and then worked on a couple of demanding english art songs. Things were great! All the high notes were connected, resonant and easy to access, my legato worked and it was actually FUN to work on the songs! At the end of the lesson I felt as fresh and ready to go as I'd felt when I walked in the room.

What's most exciting is how consistent everything has become. I know what the notes are going to feel like, I know how the air needs to react to the voice, and I know how the voice feels when it's resonating correctly and I know how took keep it in the groove so it will keep on resonating. It's all very exciting and makes me want to practice (when I'm not sick) and learn new music!

That's it for now. I have a busy afternoon planned. I want to talk about what's going on with my pottery so more later.

HUGS!

Fall posting. Not much to report.

There's not really much to say right now but I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd leave an entry.

Fall has fallen, sort of. school is back in session but I have pretty much finished my course work so all I'm registered for right now is voice lessons. I'm finding now that there are lots of odd loose ends to take care of. Quals, writtens and orals, a recital and a lecture recital, foreign language barrier to pass. It's all stuff I have to register for but it doesn't require that I go to a class on a regular basis so it's hard to get motivated. James suggested I make out a "to do" list in chronological order. What needs to be done first, second, third and so on. I can then check things off as I go along and hopefully this damn degree will be finished sooner than later.

Opera chorus has been going full tilt for a few weeks although those of us who aren't in Giovanni have almost three weeks off which is nice but I'd rather get the pay check. We seem to have a nice cast for Anna Bolena and a wonderful director in Steven Lawless. We're back on the Globe Theater set with the addition of some very tall, louvered walls mounted on wheels so they can be pulled into various configurations by supers. It seems to divide the stage into smaller playing areas and I think will be very effective.

I realized recently that I've barely mentioned my pottery! I have been taking new pics of my pots in anticipation of putting some pieces up on etsy. I haven't done it yet because I'm afraid my works not good enough and will be rejected by the etsy shopping community. This is just a vampire, I realize, but it's looming large for me at the moment. I'm sure I'll pluck up the courage soon and put a few pieces up for sale and see what happens. when I do I will let you all know.

I could write more but it's late and I'm ready for bed. More to come, I promise!

nighty night!

START SPREADIN' THE NEWS!!!!!!! (Liza wind up!!!!!!)

This past week James and I hopped a plane and went to NYC for three days. Now that the craziness of our Ohlook summer is over we decided to take advantage of a little down time to get out of town and take in some different scenery. Not that New York is new to us, been there, done that, but the chance to see a few shows and wander through a couple of museums always gets the creative juices flowing again.

Having taken the creativity workshop with Susan Blackwell earlier in the summer, the thought that came to mind during this trip was "grounded, specific and self-expressed". These words come from Susan Blackwell herself and they/it/this phrase has been the theme of my summer, or at least the last half of my summer. Susan Blackwell was a co-writer of [title of show] and as we were going through the rehearsal process for our little production I kept this phrase close by, repeating it to myself whenever I wasn't sure what path to take. Keep it simple! This harder than it sounds. I'm happy to say that our "Little Show" turned out beautifully. James and I were so lucky to get the AMAZING cast we had in Marianne Galloway, Jennifer Pasion, Marshall Warren and John Davenport. From day one their performances were focused, self-aware, and incredibly honest and real. I ran the light bored for all 8 performances of our too brief run and for all 8 I sat there with a huge, gleeful grin on my face! What a wonderful gift to be given this cast and this show. As a result of the wonderful cast and their deep understanding of the characters, we got lots of WONDERFUL comments from our audiences and managed to get a fantastic review from a local critic. Our plan now is to take the show to the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival next summer. We have a lot of money to raise to make that dream a reality but I know we can do it. The cast is totally behind us and I think we'll discover that there are a lot of folks who believe in us and what we want to do. Crossies!

All of this recent activity came to mind during our trip this past week. While in NYC two of the four shows we saw reminded me specifically of Susan Blackwell's words. We FINALLY saw South Pacific at Lincoln Center. We were lucky enough to get to see Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot reprise their roles only a week before the show closes. A large number of the original cast were still with the show so it was as though we were seeing it soon after opening. We all know what a hit this show has been so I don't have to tell you that it was STUNNING to look at! Michael Yeargin took advantage of the vast stage of the Vivian Beaumont Theater and created both intimate and wide open spaces within the same production. Most impressive! The show sounded amazing! It was such a refreshing change to see a show that didn't hit you over the head with amplified sound and which had actors who SING OUT with big, booming voices! WOW!!!!

But what really impressed me was how REAL Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot were in their performances. There were no histrionics, there was no "I'm a big, big star playing an iconic role so I'm going to over-do everything and be self-indulgent" performances. Just real, connected, grounded, specific and self-expressed. Inspiration!

The big surprise of the week and what really brought Susan Blackwell's words home to me in a big way was the off broadway revival of Our Town at the Barrow Street Theater which is also closing soon. This production was performed in a small, makeshift space on a very, VERY intimate thrust stage, so intimate that you could easily, at any time, reach out and touch the actors. Everyone on stage wore only rehearsal clothes and a bare minimum of props and furniture were used. The house lights never went down and, in fact, it seemed as though no stage lights were used although there were times when the lights seemed to get brighter and in the third act the lights were definitely dimmer than in the previous two.

Basically, this is a play about small town life. I have seen it twice before. the words boring, soporific, long, dull, excruciating, inconsequential come to mind. This was anything but! There was such an incredible focus and urgency in the performances, such a depth of understanding and connection between the characters that it was palpable. We, the audience, felt what the characters felt. If they cried, I found myself crying. If they laughed, I laughed. The first and second acts seemed to go by in an instant. They weren't dull or slow or boring at all! I was riveted, hanging in every word.

BUT, the most profound and moving moment came in the third act. Emily has died and is in the graveyard where she encounters the other characters who have also died. She asks the stage manager if she can go back and experience one day from her life. He finally agrees and draws back a curtain that I for one had not really noticed before this moment. After all the rehearsal clothes and rehearsal props, the curtain revealed an amazingly detailed set of a turn of the century kitchen. Emily's mother was fully costumed, hair done, make up on. When she went to cook bacon it sizzled in a VERY hot cast iron skillet! We could smell it! She then scrambled eggs in that same pan. The coffee had steam rising from it. The water pump pumped water! The point was made by Emily and driven home by this moment in the production. As we go through our lives we don't pay attention to what we do on a day to day basis. We don't see and observe. At this moment, after Emily has died, she sees everything clearly.

My question after seeing this production was this: Why aren't we doing this in Dallas? Every production, every performance could be just as immediate, just as moving, just as deeply felt and understood by both the actors and the audience and yet we don't seem to get that here. Instead we are forced to settle for work that doesn't trust it's material, misses the point completely and settles for simply "good enough" rather than "right".

Trust the material! Understand the material and what point it's trying to make! Don't settle for "good enough"!!!

I could not have asked for a better evening!

Things are always busy at Ohlook PAC. I went with James to a 1030am performance of The Secret Garden. It's the children's show. By a mix of kids and adults and for kids. HUGE highschool auditorium but not a huge audience. Then over to Plano to see the garden and out to Grapevine for the opening of Little Shop of Horrors and the late night show of [title of show].

Little Shop has come together much faster than it should have and everything felt as though it waited until the last minute to settle. Tonight was wild. I have stepped in at the last minute to play the voice of Audrey II which is no big deal. I have listened to the cast album since I was about twelve so it's safe to say I am familiar with the part. I have a music stand and a stand light tucked away in the crawl space behind the set but I was not prepared for the doo-wap girls when they also had to be crawling around back there! It's already a tight space and they didn't help! Anyway, I think I finally found a spot to stand that's out of the way but I can do what I have to do.

It's such fun playing this part! It is a role I've never gotten to do and, frankly, never thought I'd get to do. AND there is no pressure because I'm never on stage! I have a freedom I don't usually experience when performing. YAY!!!

As soon as we were done with our Little Shop performance the turn around had to happen so we could do [title of show]. I thought it was going to be a nightmare but amazingly everyone was able to get all the accoutrament including the plants moved out so that our little show could move in. A lot of the Ohlook kids hung around but we had a lot of folks just coming to the show. So much so that the show was sold out!!!!

I had pretty much given up on Alexandra Binfield coming to review the show. She said she might but I hadn't heard anything else from her so I assumed she wasn't coming. Just as I was about to go make the curtain speech Jill came and found me and said, "the critic is here!" I went outside, shook her hand, welcomed her and ushered her into the theater. Of course, she managed to find a seat on the front row where the actors could see her plain as day. I made a point of not telling anyone she was there so they wouldn't be nervous. I gave my curtain speech and we started the show. I noticed that the Ms. Benifield never cracked a smile. Not once! I was later told she chuckled a time or two but I didn't see it.

The audience LOVED the show!!! They didn't just laugh, they HOWLED, and a couple of times there was seriously prolonged laughter. When Jeff asked Hunter if he had his hands down the back of his pants and Hunter replied no I thought the audience would never stop laughing! I think there were three rolls of laughter but it was hard to tell because the audience didn't want to stop! Of course, it was a fantastic performance. How could it not be? What I loved about the show tonight was that it really felt like an event and the actors really rose to the occasion. I must say, I can't imagine doing this show with anyone else. The cast is so connected and is having such fun! I couldn't have asked for more! I hope next weekend goes even better and we have big audiences again!

More to come!

The garden and the theater

Well, the garden looks great! Today we went to North Haven Gardens and bought Garret juice, concentrated vinegar and compost tea. The garret juice keeps the aphids away from the cucumbers, the concentrated vinegar is good for killing weeds and the compost tea is a good fertilizer. We could actually make our own compost tea with our compost which I think we can finally go ahead and do now that we have enough. While we were at North Haven we took a stroll through their display vegetable garden. We were thrilled to see that they are also growing melons, egg plants, peppers, cucumbers, melons, squash and okra.

Everything in the garden seems to be doing great. We decided to pull out the corn because upon inspection we realized that the plants were unevenly pollinated. The corn stopped growing when it was only waist high and the ears never got very big. When we pulled back the husks on several ears we discovered tiny kernels and big kernels unevenly spaced. Pollination has to be airborn where corn is concerned so it's really the luck of the draw. We are probably going to plant more and see what happens. Can't hurt.

The melons, on the other hand, are doing great! We are starting to see little tiny nodules develop under the blossoms that are going to turn into yummy melons here in a few weeks. The new squash is just beginning to appear above the dirt. This time, we're going to try to be careful and keep the squash bore worms away.

Turning to things theatrical, [title of show] is going great!!! We had very good, very demonstrative audiences and the cast did a fantastic job! I think now that The Wedding Singer is over the Ohlook kids will be coming to the show and doing their part to fill seats. I have been trying to get a reviewer out to see the show but it's been tough. Part of the problem has been the fact that a lot of critics have ten million summer shows to review around Dallas right now so it's just a matter of finding time in their schedules. Also, I think critics are hesitant to review our show because it was just done at Theater Three. I guess it seems like old news to them. I want a review to include in our materials when we apply to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It can improve our chances of getting into a good venue which increases our chances of good audiences at the Fringe. I'm still working on it so we'll see.

I guess that's about it. Stay cool! Stay tuned in! Stay inspired!

More to come!

Theatrical Criticism

Since [title of show] opened I have been working really hard trying to get the word out about our show and drum up an audience. In working toward this end I have been getting in touch with a couple of local critics and asking them to come review the show. One of them wrote back that he didn't like the show itself but he'd try to get someone out to see it. I think that's an interesting comment. Is he saying that because he doesn't like the show he would give it a bad review no matter how good it might be? Since when does criticism hinge on weather or not the critic likes the show, the composer, the lyricist, the director, the actors, the set designer, the costume designer or the producing organization?

Dictionary.com defines the word "criticism" as "the act or art of analyzing and evaluating or judging the quality of a literary or artistic work, musical performance, art exhibit, dramatic production, etc." That being said I ask the question, should critics let their personal views enter into their review? If they don't like an actor, director, etc. should that opinion play into their review. I have always been under the impression that the goal of criticism was to look at a work as a whole and determine weather or not the parts add up to that whole. Has the show reached the goal it has set for itself and do the parts, i.e. actors' performances, sets, props, costumes, sound, lighting, etc. all do their part to reach that goal? In my opinion, if a critic lets his or her personal opinion enter into the discussion then they aren't doing their job. I say, save personal opinions for your blog or an op/ed piece or a book you're thinking about writing.

More to come!

A Busy Summer

Things have been very busy since I got back from the Czech Republic. The day after arriving home I was thrown into rehearsals for Sweeney Todd at Ohlook PAC out in Grapevine. Ohlook is a theater school that works with kids from about the age of six all the way up to adults. Over the summer they have a crazy performance schedule with the children's shows happening during the day and the more adult shows at night. Our rehearsals took place from 2 to 6 everyday while rehearsals for Ohlook's productions of Reefer Madness and Evil Dead: The Musical took place in the evenings.

The plan had been for Ohlook's new building to be built before the summer which, of course, didn't happen. As a result a lot of the summer shows are being rehearsed and performed in the Cafegymnasitorium at the Clarinden School in Southlake. It's not ideal at all. There are no dressing rooms, no "cast only" bathrooms, and while there is a stage, there is literally no wing space. It's just a raised stage floor with steps leading up to it and then three large, bare walls. There are almost no lighting instruments in the space and no mikes. The director brought mikes from the high school where she teaches but apparently she didn't see fit to let Ohlook use them for the rest of the summer so they are doing the best they can in a space where the sound doesn't carry very far once it comes out of your mouth. Many of the roles in Sweeney were triple cast which presented all kinds of problems. It made rehearsals problematic in that rehearsal time was not doled out fairly. Those who were favored by the director tended to get more rehearsal time while others were seriously under-rehearsed. Not an ideal situation.

Once we were open, James and I started rehearsals for [title of show]. This has been my first experience directing a full scale musical. Granted, this is a very intimate, no frills show, but it's 90 minutes with all four on stage most of that time and I had never directed anything with a running time longer than an hour. I managed to avoid panicking by being incredibly organized and prepared. I have Candace Evans to thank for that. Three summers ago when we worked on Cabaret together she was the textbook example of what a well prepared director should be.

But this isn't about me. Our cast is AMAZING and needs to be commended! I have been so blessed to be working with Marianne Galloway, Jennifer Pasion, Marshall Warren and John Davenport. I couldn't ask for better! They have worked so hard in rehearsals and taken everything James and I have told them and made it better than I could have hoped for. I extend a giant thank you to them!

On paper it looked like we had lots of rehearsal time but due to the Ohlook performance schedule and James being the music director for both Reefer and Evil Dead, we could only rehearse four days a week. The cast rose to the challenge and has done an amazing job! We managed to pull the show together in about nine days of rehearsal which is VERY fast and not ideal. The cast got into the habit of meeting early to run lines before rehearsal which was a tremendous help! I wish we'd had time to routine the show a little more but no matter. I am thrilled with the wonderful job they are doing!

This past monday we made an appearance at Mama's Party to promote the show. Sometimes the audiences there are small but we were lucky enough to be on the bill with the Brookhaven JC production of Chess so a lot of students were there. Our cast performed four songs from the show and a lot of the Brookhaven kids said they were planning on coming to see our show which is very exciting! We had small audiences our opening weekend so hopefully things will improve as time goes on. Lord knows I'm doing as much as I can to promote the show with the resources I have available.

The garden in Plano is going great! I am really enjoying it. Things are really starting to thrive and grow and we're starting to see the results of all our work. Soon we'll have tons of egg plants, peppers and okra. The gourds, squash and mellons are doing well, also. We had an attack of aphids in the cucumbers which was surprising as we've been doing everything possible to prevent them. James thinks the week of rain we had a while back made things too damp and that left the door open for the little motherf-ckers! LOL. We've been using garrett juice and an organic insecticide on them and I think it's working. The leaves don't look shiny anymore and the new growth looks very healthy and is putting on flowers. Hopefully we'll have a huge crop before it's all over. The compost pile is doing great! We moved have of it into the second...what would you call it?...receptical?...containment area? Who knows. Anyway, we separated the compost into two parts and layered in hay to allow it to aerate itself. They hay will break down and add to the compost, of course. As we dug, we could feel a lot of heat coming off of the compost. The center is VERY hot which is exactly what is supposed to happen. Over the winter we should be able to till some wonderful, nutrient rich "compost dirt" into the raised beds to enrich the soil! YAY!!!

I guess that's about it. I am constantly thinking of things that would be a great blog subjects but I never write them down so I forget them. I will work harder. For the time being this will have to do. I hope it's remotely interesting.

More to come!

I'm sitting here at 140am waiting for my iphone to finish downloading its new software. Ever since the last update which coincided with the release of the 4G my pitiful 3G has been acting all kinds of crazy. It's taking a while so I thought I'd write a blog which I wait.

Ever since I returned from the Czech Republic I have been incredibly busy which has left me no time AT ALL for clay. It doesn't help that kids camps are going on right now but I think they may be over so I'm sure it's safe to step across the thresh hold again. Their not going to remember who I am!

What's keeping me so busy? Well, right after I returned stateside I immediately went into rehearsals for a production of Sweeney Todd being done at Ohlook. Sometimes they do larger shows with a mix of adults and kids and this was one of those shows. I played Beadle Bamford, surprisingly, for the first time. I have had some opportunities in the past but it has never worked out. We did twelve performances and while it might not have been the most professional production I've ever been in at least I got to learn the role, get twelve performances and write it on my resume.

After we opened that show, James and I started rehearsals for [title of show]. This has been a labor of love. Labor being the operative word. James and I have had to be the costume designers, set designers, props designer, producers, go fers and anything else our non-existent "staff" would do. Honestly, I don't really mind it as it is great fun and we get to do the show the way WE want to do it.

It is a wonderfully written show all about the creative process and how a group of friends relates to one another as the quirky musical the write starts to become successful. We have a wonderful cast, all very good friends, and we've been having a lot of fun. The artistic director at Ohlook has been great. She has been very hands off because she knows that we know what we're doing and as a result we've been able to do the show exactly the way we want to do it which is thrilling. The cast is so good I can't say I've had to give a whole lot of guidance as to their concept of the show. Mostly I've shown them blocking then tried to stay out of the we and just let them have fun and play and create the characters' relationships on their own. I'm big on pacing and intent and connecting the dots of hte plot so that's mostly where my notes lie. I think it's going to be a good production. It's played on a TINY stage and truly is just four chairs and a keyboard, as the song says. I'm sure opening night will be fantastic!

I guess that's about it. I've just been consumed with these two shows. I decided not to take voice lessons in Summer II because I knew I wouldn't have time to learn new music what with [title of show] to direct. I am trying to push myself to get everything done by next may so I can graduate. There's relatively little left to do. Keep your fingers crossed!

so that REALLY is it! I wish I had more to say. I'm always thinking up subjects to blog about but then I think they'll be too ranty for words! I must be terribly dull. Sigh....

DiE, Vampire, Die!!!!!

Susan Blackwell totally rocks my ass!!!

WOW!!!!

It's been several days since I have posted so get comfy. This may be a long one as there is much to catch up on.

Our last concert day in the Czech republic was also my birthday! It was the big 4-0! A milestone! I had tried not to make a big deal about it. In fact, I got up early that morning and went down town to do some last minute shopping. When I returned Christian had gone to a local bakery we all frequent and brought home some pasteries to celebrate my birthday. Everyone had signed a card and they gave me a little mini cookbook full of traditional Czech recipes. It was so nice of them and totally unexpected.

SO, the last concert went well. We climbed into the Mystery Machine and drove down to the town of Tabor about an hour and a half south of Prague. It is the birth place of Oskar Nedbal, the composer of our operetta, and the theater where we performed is named after him.

Speaking of, the Divaldo Oskar Nedbal is a lovely little 19th century theater that holds maybe 300 if they are lucky. It has two wrap around balconies complete with individual boxes, an orchestra pit and a lovely chandelier hanging from the dome. Again, as in the other theaters we have played, there is relatively little wing space and in this case the stage is relatively shallow. There is a newer, larger "Mid Soviet Modern" theater next door, the stage and auditorium of which sit at a right angle to the older theater. The back wall of its stage is shared by the stage right wall of the stage of the older theater except that this wall has been removed so that the two stages are open to one another. It is a very odd configuration given that this wall doesn't exist. Of course, it gives sorely needed storage space for both stages but it also means that both theater's can't be used at the same time. We were told it is the only theater in Europe configured this way. A fact they seemed to be very proud of.

The performance went extremely well. We have gotten so at ease with the show that we can now play with it and add lib here and there, incorporate little bits of comic business, etc. The audience LOVED the performance and called us back for four or five curtain calls. I am continually intrigued by the audiences we've had. They are very, very quiet and pay very close attention. They never laugh and sometimes may not even clap at the end of a song. A time or two we'd end a number with a big "ta da!" moment and we'd be met with silence. BUT, they always show their appreciation at the end and I'm glad they enjoyed the show. That's all that matters at the end of the day.

We packed up our things and walked up to the town square to find a restaurant for dinner. Tabor, like all the other towns has a very clean, beautiful town square. All the buildings are well cared for and there is, as always, a monument/fountain in the center and a large, beautiful Catholic church. We tried to get seated in a couple of restaurants but they were either full or, believe it or not, unwilling to wait on us! Eva, who had met us the first day at the airport, was once again with us and she was told by a waiter about a restaurant just off the square that might be able to seat us. We walked past the entrance to the church and down a lovely, curvy street to a restaurant called, in english, the Two Cats.

It was a typical Czech restaurant that served Czech beer, wine and a menu of typical Czech food which includes sausages of all kinds, schnitzel and potatoes. It was the perfect place for us! We were all able to sit around one table and had a lovely waitress who was able to put up with us loud americans and keep a smile on her face!

The next day was a free day even though we were done with all our performances. I did some last minute sight seeing and bought a couple of gifts for folks. We had all planned to meet that evening to go out for one last dinner together but Lynn told us that Jill, the wife of the director of the festival, had decided the cocktail party was no longer going to be a party for the Plenblut cast, but a private cocktail party that only Lynn and Brian were invited to. Lynn was really worried about how we'd all take it but we were only puzzled because Jill had said earlier in the week that she'd throw a party specifically for us. Uninvite = Rude but what can you do? We decided that Lynn and Brian would make an appearance and then meet us later for the dinner we had already planned.

We were to meet Lynn and Brian in a certain park by a certain metro station at 7 that evening but they didn't show up until almost an hour later. Of course, it was much more difficult to get away from the party than they'd anticipated. William Bolcom and his wife Joan Morris were there. They were giving concerts as part of the festival and apparently Ms. Morris was expecting us to be there and had been looking forward to meeting us all. After comparing notes, both she and Lynn realized that it was Jill who had decided to uninvite us. Instead she had invited some people from the French Embassy because William Bolcom had lived and studied in Paris as a young man and wouldn't it be fun for him to be able to speak french them them? An upside to this odd situation was that Lynn and Ms. Morris hit it off and Lynn is going to try to get them to come to UNT for at least a concert if not more.

Anyway, after Lynn and Brian joined us, we found a lovely outdoor restuarant right on the river and had a lovely evening with good food and fun conversation.

BUT the next two days were stressful to say the least. This was our day to travel back to the U.S. Up to this point we'd been picked up by an employee of the festival, driven to all our concerts and even been met and walked to rehearsals in Prague just to make sure that we got to where we needed to be without getting lost. Suddenly, we were expected to get ourselve and our luggage to the airport without any assistance from the festival. This didn't seem like such a huge deal. We figured out that we could take the Metro to the end of the line then take a bus to the airport. No big deal.

We got up on the morning we were to return, packed up our things and made our way to the airport. It was sunday and the trains were running more infrequently than during the week. What should have taken 45 minutes to an hour took closer to two hours. Jennifer was flying to Italy that morning but Barbara and I were returning to the U.S. We arrived at the Delta counter to be told by a very sour and apparently annoyed woman that we were too late, the counter was closed and she wasn't going to let us check in for the flight. We told her we had to return that day because of our jobs etc but it didn't matter. She directed us to Delta's customer service office where we were told we'd have to return on a flight the following day to the tune of 300 bucks each. I looked at Barbara and I could see that she was about to burst into tears. "I dont' think I have that much money in my checking account. All I have is what the festival paid me and that's not enough." I told her it would be ok and that I'd pay for it. As we were waiting fo the changes to be made and my credit card to be charged, I told Barbara that if the festival had arranged for our transpertation to the airport to begin with we would probably not be dealing with this issue right now. It seemed right that they should reemburse me for this unexpected expense.

After we were through at the airport we had to figure out where we were going to stay that night. We could either lug our bags back through Prague to the hostel or stay at the airport Marriott just across from the terminal. We decided that since there was no guarantee we'd be able to stay at the hostel, we decided to check in at the Marriott. That way we'd already be at the airport and not have to worry about missing our flight again. We checked in to a "modern" hotel room with comfortable beds and a bathroom actually connected to our room and decided to go back into town and try to take advantage of our extra day. We had lunch at a wonderful vegitarian restaurant, I bought some hand blown glass tumblers and we explored the "Little Town" on the far side of the Charles IV bridge. The next morning we took advantage of the included breakfast and boarded our flight back to the U.S. Thankfully, that all went without a hitch. I emailed Lynn and asked about being reembursed and she totally agreed. The festival dropped the ball so I'm hoping they'll be willing to put things right. Apparently, the director is meeting this week with officials from the U.S. Embassy to talk about bringing us all back to do Polenblut again next summer which would be wonderful. Despite the snaffu at the end of the trip, I'd be thrilled to do it all again. It's a beautiful country and everyone was very nice. Why not?

We finished up with the

I'm singin' Broadway and I love it!!!!!!

I'm back in Prague! Yesterday was my and Jennifer's day to give our recital in Ivancice, Moravia.

You know, there are times when you feel as though it's still in a communist country. Old habits die hard. I REALLY felt it in the hotel, to be honest. In the daylight it looked even more like an official "Tourist Hotel" than it did in the dark. By that I mean it must be what the hotels looked like for westerners during the Soviet years. It was nice but in a Days Inn kind of way. Like they were trying to make an effort but it wasn't really something they wanted to commit to.

Anyway, we gathered up our things and went with our accompanist, Alice, to the train station for the short train ride to Ivancice. We were met by a lovely woman at the station in Ivancice. She was maybe in her late forties with red hair but one side was longer than the other. possibly a holdover from her college years? She spoke enough english to communicate with us and was very sweet and all smiles. The town is charming and has a very picturesque square. There is a town hall, a Catholic church and many stores. There are some stalls where they have a market on saturdays. There was a man set up selling Czech sweets. He had a sort of fudge made from chocolate and coconut that was very good and a middle eastern confection made from eggs, honey and nuts. It was very chewy, almost like gum, and very good. He also had smoked cheese! It was formed into little loaves and looked more like bread than cheese. It was excellent. I should have bought some to take home for James. All the more reason to come back! Ivancice is also the birth place of Alfons Mucha. They have a museum on the town square in the house in which he was born. It houses some large studies he did for his Slav Epic as well as studies for other works and tons of photographs of his studio, his family, his models and his travels. They were accompanied by explainations that told us much about the artists life. It is interesting. Often the english versions afe full of typos and faulty sentence structure. I find it charming and admirable that they are working so hard to make things accessible for foreign tourists.

The recital went very, VERY well. It was a program of musical theater classics which was right up my ally although Jennifer wasn't as familiar with them but rose the occasion beautifully. It started at six thirty in the evening mostly because we had to catch a bus back to Prague. More about that later. The venue was a very small, intimate room with a low, raised stage. There were mirrors along one wall with a ballet bar and windows along the opposite wall. We had a small audience. Ten people, eleven if you count the man with the tv camera who stayed for five minutes and then left. Our host was very upset about this. Apparently, our concert was held in a small music conservatory. Back in may, they had a long series of concerts at the end of the spring term and the general consensus was that they town must be concerted out at the moment. She was truly upset because she thought we'd done a wonderful job and kept appologizing. We told her it didn't really matter. The people who showed up loved it and that's what matters. As the old saying goes, "When two more more are gathered..."

Afterward, we were treated to the same open faced sandwiches they'd given us in Pisek (Not the SAME sandwiches. They hadn't saved them and pulled them back out for us a week later. These were new but with the same toppings. Clearly a very Czech way of eating finger food.) After we had packed up and eaten we were told we'd be driven back to Brno to catch the bus. We walked outside and met a very nice young man who was standing next to a very old, very beat up four door hatchback! Again, old habits die hard. He threw our things into the back. We said goodbye to our appologetic hostess and climbed into the car.

Off we shot through the countryside!!! Our drive was not affraid to put the peddle to the metal mostly because we had a bus to catch. The country side was beautiful. Again, rolling farmland and small hamlets with red tiled roofs. (I want those tiles! No! There! Those tiles THERE!") We arrived in Brno thirty minutes later just a block or two from where we'd given Plenblut the night before. Alice had our tickets for the bus so we climbed aboard.

It was a sort of double decker affair as touring buses are with the lower level for luggage and the upper level for passengers. We had to climb up a very steep flight of stairs to the passenger level and discovered a pair of seats right there facing the stairway, bulkhead seats, as it were. We grabbed them and got comfortable. Greyhound needs to take this bus line as it's example. After we got on the road two male "flight attendants" came around to make sure we all had our seatbelts fastened, then passed out earphone to whomever might want to watch the "in flight" movie! They had video screens and showed an american film dubbed in Czech. After we'd been on the road for about thirty minutes one of "flight attendants" disappeared down the steep stairway and didn't come back. A couple of minutes later the OTHER "flight attendant" disappeared down the steps and didn't come back! We kept hearing the sound of a machine buzzing and could even feel the floor beneath our feet buzzing in time to the sound. After a few more minutes, one of the "flight attendants" reappeared with a little tray on which were four small cups of espresso which he carried to various passengers! LOLOL!!!! I also noticed you could ask for bottled water. I was happy with my bottle of Fanta orange soda so I declined.

We got back into Prague at 1115pm and took the metro back to the hostel. Barbara and Christian were thrilled see us. They said they'd missed us even though they'd had a nice day off and done some sight seeing. They said it was very chilly and windy yesterday. The weather has been unseasonably cold and wet while we've been here. I'm not complaining. It will be very hot when we get home so I'm soaking it all in.

By they way, did I mention that it's my birthday today? It's a big one. 40! Can you imagine?! I can't! I keep asking myself, "how the hell did this happen!?" I don't feel 40. I'm not sure what it is supposed to feel like but I don't feel it. I haven't really told my colleagues yet. I don't know why I'm withholding information. I guess I didn't want to spend the actual day this way. Oh, well. I am excited about turning 40 but at the same time I'm asking myself, "What do I do now?" It seems to me that there is a certain adulthood and maturity that comes along with flipping over that first number. I would say this has been a year of re-evaluation and deciding what is important to me in my personal life, my professional life and my artistic life. I think rolling over into this new decade of my life means it's time to get on with all the things I keep saying I'm GOING to do. A new start. That's what it means.

That's about it for now. I'm on the verge of being ready to go home. I'm starting to miss folks and places and things. Also, I'm looking forward to directing [Title of Show] at Oh, Look! New music to learn and that pesky theater company to get started.

More to come!

Greetings from Brno and a Cyech kezboard1

Hello, All1 I am spending the night in what is supposed to be a Fancz Hotel in the citz of Brno. In case zou§ve alreadz noticed some odd characters and misspellings in mz tzping, it is because I am tzping on a Cyech kezboard. A couple of the letters are different, punctuation is in different places and there are lots of extra kezs for all their accents. I decided to just tzpe the waz I know how and let zou all see how it looks so please bear with me.

We drove southwest from Prague through the pouring down rain to Brno todaz about three or fours. The countrzside so far has been rolling hills, fields and groves of trees. Todaz as we drove we saw bigger hills, I hayyard to guess thez maz be foothills leading to mountains, all the waz here. Brno itself is verz hillz but verz picturesque. Thez have a tram szstem and it§s a pleasant place to walk. It is the second largest citz in the Cyech Republic.

The theater is fantastic1 It is an eighteenth centurz building but it has been totallz renovated and is verz modern. The lobbz is capped with a huge sunroof and is used as an art gallerz. There is a small, state of the art theater with a balconz and elevators that lead to a scene shop below. This is where plazs and opera are given. I§m told there is a larger theater for the ballet companz. We performed on a portable stage in the Sal Moyart. It is a HUGE room with giant windows looking out on the square. White ceiling, white wood trim and bright red walls. STUNNING. we had an audience of well over one hundred. The performance went VERZ well1 It was the first time we all felt relaxed and we all were able to give our absolute best. We got a verz long ovation at the end and were called back to the stage four times. Afterward, we had a piyya in a verz nice restaurant and then came to the hotel. I would write more but thez§ve turned out he lights in the lobbz so I will log off now. It seems odd but it is a different culture, after all.

Look for another posting soon1