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!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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....
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....
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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
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
Friday, June 4, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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
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
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