Sometimes things bring you down to earth. Two of our cast had their house broken into last night. I won't say who it was as they might not want me to publish the fact. What a ******* *******. She arrived home to find the patio doors smashed in. Nothing was taken, but it's a horrible feeling coming into your house knowing someone has been inside.
I've only been burgled once (2 speakers & a telly taken) and they came in through my back windows as well. I walked into the room and felt a combination of fear and anger in equal measure.
He's staying at home tonight to look after the house. She's coming down to rehearsal. It's a good thing as it might help take her mind off it for a little while. Poor them. It really is horrible.
Thought for the day: 'Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.' It's probably not exactly appropriate here, but she sent it to me the other day and I like it.
Thursday, January 18
Strange but true
Director her is looking after a dog which sounds like a wookie. Cutwell will be the gayest wizard in the village with gold rubber hot pants and leather straps under his wizard's cloak. Ysabell will be pursued around the stage by a giant pink bunny. And box office will play the abbot wearing only a pair of white underpants underneath his hooded cassock. These and many more items were discussed at our production meeting tonight. Or yesterday if you want to be pedantic. It's now 12.30.
In actual fact only the first of those items is true. Sorry. We did actually do a lot of useful stuff tonight. Publicity. Costumes. Box office. The set construction. Props. Sound & light. All of it was touched on to a greater or lesser degree.
Best bits are: Set man has worked out how to do the scythe and sword for DEATH so that they have a blue light along the edge; producer geezer has been in touch with Warwick Castle to see whether they would let us do a photo shoot there; directorhim has been able to come up with a feasible budget which allows £500 for costumes, £100 for props and £250 for the set; best of all director him's mum is going to make DEATH's costume, and she's fab!
Most importantly though, after discussions at the committee meeting last week about revenue and likely ticket sales, we agreed to still do the show as a supper night, but to add in a Saturday matinee - provided all the main characters can make it. Should any of those playing the other smaller parts be unable to be there then producer geezer, director him and director her will take over.
At this moment in time we have all the bases covered and everyone knows what needs to be done. Producer will be sending out notes tomorrow. We are where we should be with the show with nine weeks to go until opening night.
You know, it's a shame about the giant pink bunny. I quite like that idea. She is going to have a bunny though. It will be pink. It will be fluffy. It's just that it will only be bunny size. Never mind eh!
Thought for the day: 'Midnight - that would just be fine. Rain or shine - it wouldn't change my mind. I-I-I-always find the time.' Always Find The Time. Rhythm Of Love. Kylie
In actual fact only the first of those items is true. Sorry. We did actually do a lot of useful stuff tonight. Publicity. Costumes. Box office. The set construction. Props. Sound & light. All of it was touched on to a greater or lesser degree.
Best bits are: Set man has worked out how to do the scythe and sword for DEATH so that they have a blue light along the edge; producer geezer has been in touch with Warwick Castle to see whether they would let us do a photo shoot there; directorhim has been able to come up with a feasible budget which allows £500 for costumes, £100 for props and £250 for the set; best of all director him's mum is going to make DEATH's costume, and she's fab!
Most importantly though, after discussions at the committee meeting last week about revenue and likely ticket sales, we agreed to still do the show as a supper night, but to add in a Saturday matinee - provided all the main characters can make it. Should any of those playing the other smaller parts be unable to be there then producer geezer, director him and director her will take over.
At this moment in time we have all the bases covered and everyone knows what needs to be done. Producer will be sending out notes tomorrow. We are where we should be with the show with nine weeks to go until opening night.
You know, it's a shame about the giant pink bunny. I quite like that idea. She is going to have a bunny though. It will be pink. It will be fluffy. It's just that it will only be bunny size. Never mind eh!
Thought for the day: 'Midnight - that would just be fine. Rain or shine - it wouldn't change my mind. I-I-I-always find the time.' Always Find The Time. Rhythm Of Love. Kylie
Tuesday, January 16
Important correction
Director her did not drink an entire bottle of port the night before our AGM last summer. Nor is she an alcoholic. It was only half a bottle of port... ish. I was told off by email on Friday and hadn't spotted it until I got back from rehearsal tonight.
I made it to the hall before 10pm, which gave me the chance to go through my scene for tonight three or four times in the last hour. It was a relatively straightforward one - only three pages of script. We have now completed the first act and will run through the whole thing on Thursday from the beginning. I honestly can't remember the last time we managed to keep on target with a rehearsal schedule.
Tomorrow night I have a meeting in Addlestone for a completely different show - yes, I am bonkers. Producer geezer is organising it and The Ginger One and Albert are also involved. Then we have a Mort production meeting at our pad on Wednesday and rehearsal on Thursday. Oh yes, not much happening really. Secretary asked me how I think up the stuff to write so much here. Hmmmn. I think the thought for the day can be a famous one this time...
Thought for the day: 'I don't really feel my poems are mine at all. I didn't create them out of nothing; I owe them all to other people.' Robert Graves.
I made it to the hall before 10pm, which gave me the chance to go through my scene for tonight three or four times in the last hour. It was a relatively straightforward one - only three pages of script. We have now completed the first act and will run through the whole thing on Thursday from the beginning. I honestly can't remember the last time we managed to keep on target with a rehearsal schedule.
Tomorrow night I have a meeting in Addlestone for a completely different show - yes, I am bonkers. Producer geezer is organising it and The Ginger One and Albert are also involved. Then we have a Mort production meeting at our pad on Wednesday and rehearsal on Thursday. Oh yes, not much happening really. Secretary asked me how I think up the stuff to write so much here. Hmmmn. I think the thought for the day can be a famous one this time...
Thought for the day: 'I don't really feel my poems are mine at all. I didn't create them out of nothing; I owe them all to other people.' Robert Graves.
Monday, January 15
Just another manic monday
Mondays are a nightmare. Busiest day at work. Papers come out on Wednesday. Deadline is lunchtime Tuesday. Most of the work happens on a Monday. I had hoped that by now a planned change to move our publication day to a Thursday would have gone through. We first discussed it in August. Hey-ho. It would make my busiest day a Tuesday. What would that mean? Well, for one thing, it would mean that I could get to all our rehearsals without a mad panic and stress. stress, stress.
I've gone through the rehearsal schedule with director her and director him and pointed out the problem weeks to them. I have already booked a long weekend for February 16-19. This will enable a) secretary and me to get a couple of nights away as a late valentine's trip, b) the two of us to go on to my parents to give my father another computing lesson (he really needs them) and c) me to be at the rehearsal that Monday on time.
Shows involve a lot of time off anyway. Especially when you are either heavily involved in the production/direction side or have a large part. Hmmmn. That'll be ticks in both boxes then. I'm off the whole week of the show, the Friday before and the Monday afterwards. Why? I'll tell you another time. The pics I was waiting for have turned up.
Thought for the day: 'When you're racing with the clock...' The Pajama Game
I've gone through the rehearsal schedule with director her and director him and pointed out the problem weeks to them. I have already booked a long weekend for February 16-19. This will enable a) secretary and me to get a couple of nights away as a late valentine's trip, b) the two of us to go on to my parents to give my father another computing lesson (he really needs them) and c) me to be at the rehearsal that Monday on time.
Shows involve a lot of time off anyway. Especially when you are either heavily involved in the production/direction side or have a large part. Hmmmn. That'll be ticks in both boxes then. I'm off the whole week of the show, the Friday before and the Monday afterwards. Why? I'll tell you another time. The pics I was waiting for have turned up.
Thought for the day: 'When you're racing with the clock...' The Pajama Game
Friday, January 12
Any port in a storm
She had been drinking. She came to the phone.
'We should put forward another Pratchett', she said. 'Men At Arms? No, too many boys parts. Guards Guards? Same.'
'How about The Truth?' I said.
'No, I don't really like that one', she said
There was a pause
'Mort,' she said. 'We'll do Mort. I'll direct it and you'll help me.'
Thus, at 1am the night before our AGM, decisions are made.
If you have visited www.cast-online.org.uk then you will know that we do a summer musical, a Christmas pantomime and a spring play each year. At our AGM each summer the decisions are made as to which show we are going to do for each of the three slots. Last summer, the night before the AGM, I spent the best part of three hours on the phone to previous director, who as you may remember is also chairman. No-one else was going to put forward a musical, so we decided we should put forward six ourselves, to give people something to choose from.
Now you can't just do any old show. First of all it has to be available - not in the West End or on a national tour. You have to be able to stage it. It has to have a decent balance of parts. So there we were, on the opposite ends of a phone line trying to come up with a list. We picked 12 and whittled it down by a process of eliminating one out of every similar pair. We chose Jack The Ripper - The Musical (yes, really) over Jekyll & Hyde. We picked The Boyfriend rather than The Pyjama Game. We selected Return To The Forbidden Planet not Saucy Jack & The Space Vixens. We decided on Oklahoma instead of Carousel.
Anyway, in amongst all our chat and decision making, director her was passing raucous comments in the background while drinking her way through a large quantity of port. And then chairman put the phone down to go to look for something and she picked it up... and the rest is history.
In actual fact, director him and I had been talking about him doing a Pratchett, but not until the following year - he wanted to pick up more experience on the way. Over the eight years since we did Wyrd Sisters under director her's guidance, I have been trying to get her to do another one. Those magic words: 'We'll do Mort. I'll direct it and you'll help me,' were followed on my part, very quickly, by an indication that director him should work with director her, while I became producer.
All this depended on the members voting it in. Our opposition was an Agatha Christie being put forward by box office. Until that night I had been right up for the idea. Then came director her's bottle of port. Mort was voted in and director her suddenly realised what she had done. Fantastic.
For the record, Return To The Forbidden Planet narrowly beat Jack The Ripper - The Musical as choice for the summer musical, which chairman and I will do together. Sleeping Beauty will be this year's panto, directed by box office and produced by secretary.
Thought for the day: ' The rougher the passage, the more welcome the port.' Proverb. By some person who writes proverbs. Probably
'We should put forward another Pratchett', she said. 'Men At Arms? No, too many boys parts. Guards Guards? Same.'
'How about The Truth?' I said.
'No, I don't really like that one', she said
There was a pause
'Mort,' she said. 'We'll do Mort. I'll direct it and you'll help me.'
Thus, at 1am the night before our AGM, decisions are made.
If you have visited www.cast-online.org.uk then you will know that we do a summer musical, a Christmas pantomime and a spring play each year. At our AGM each summer the decisions are made as to which show we are going to do for each of the three slots. Last summer, the night before the AGM, I spent the best part of three hours on the phone to previous director, who as you may remember is also chairman. No-one else was going to put forward a musical, so we decided we should put forward six ourselves, to give people something to choose from.
Now you can't just do any old show. First of all it has to be available - not in the West End or on a national tour. You have to be able to stage it. It has to have a decent balance of parts. So there we were, on the opposite ends of a phone line trying to come up with a list. We picked 12 and whittled it down by a process of eliminating one out of every similar pair. We chose Jack The Ripper - The Musical (yes, really) over Jekyll & Hyde. We picked The Boyfriend rather than The Pyjama Game. We selected Return To The Forbidden Planet not Saucy Jack & The Space Vixens. We decided on Oklahoma instead of Carousel.
Anyway, in amongst all our chat and decision making, director her was passing raucous comments in the background while drinking her way through a large quantity of port. And then chairman put the phone down to go to look for something and she picked it up... and the rest is history.
In actual fact, director him and I had been talking about him doing a Pratchett, but not until the following year - he wanted to pick up more experience on the way. Over the eight years since we did Wyrd Sisters under director her's guidance, I have been trying to get her to do another one. Those magic words: 'We'll do Mort. I'll direct it and you'll help me,' were followed on my part, very quickly, by an indication that director him should work with director her, while I became producer.
All this depended on the members voting it in. Our opposition was an Agatha Christie being put forward by box office. Until that night I had been right up for the idea. Then came director her's bottle of port. Mort was voted in and director her suddenly realised what she had done. Fantastic.
For the record, Return To The Forbidden Planet narrowly beat Jack The Ripper - The Musical as choice for the summer musical, which chairman and I will do together. Sleeping Beauty will be this year's panto, directed by box office and produced by secretary.
Thought for the day: ' The rougher the passage, the more welcome the port.' Proverb. By some person who writes proverbs. Probably
Tommy tank extra sausage
Well really. What else is Ankh-Morpork all about? TP was guffawing into his Coco Pops at breakfast on the morning he came up with that one. And scene 10. All that stuff about 'prying and poking' and Mort going blind reading the books about 'young wimmen'. What's going on, for heaven's sake.
Tonight's rehearsal was quite amusing. We had town crier being very town crier, ringing his bell and waving his hands around in the way only he can. We had goodie-goodie yum-yum doing her thing for the first time. We had box office being ridiculously monastic as Abbot Lobsang. Doorknocker had her first line. And Albert discovered that bacalavas get more laughs than balaclavas.
Sat down with producer geezer in the bar for half an hour while DEATH wasn't on stage and sorted out some of the stuff for publicity. Loads of ideas between us. He's going to tackle lots more papers. Also examined supper night options, an issue which was discussed in great detail at last night's committee meeting. There are 'do we, don't we' questions. There are pricing questions. There are also questions now about the number of performances. That's more, not less. Producer geezer has also taken on the challenge of finding us a castle. But more of that at a later date.
All this and more will be decided at next week's production meeting, taking place at our residence on Wednesday.
Thought for the day: 'Anybody like a nice hot sausage' Dibbler, alias director him. Scene one. Mort
Tonight's rehearsal was quite amusing. We had town crier being very town crier, ringing his bell and waving his hands around in the way only he can. We had goodie-goodie yum-yum doing her thing for the first time. We had box office being ridiculously monastic as Abbot Lobsang. Doorknocker had her first line. And Albert discovered that bacalavas get more laughs than balaclavas.
Sat down with producer geezer in the bar for half an hour while DEATH wasn't on stage and sorted out some of the stuff for publicity. Loads of ideas between us. He's going to tackle lots more papers. Also examined supper night options, an issue which was discussed in great detail at last night's committee meeting. There are 'do we, don't we' questions. There are pricing questions. There are also questions now about the number of performances. That's more, not less. Producer geezer has also taken on the challenge of finding us a castle. But more of that at a later date.
All this and more will be decided at next week's production meeting, taking place at our residence on Wednesday.
Thought for the day: 'Anybody like a nice hot sausage' Dibbler, alias director him. Scene one. Mort
Wednesday, January 10
Charting the territory
Turned on my work email today to find a pile of messages from director her and director him. They were the final revised versions of the rehearsal schedule and cast flow chart (very pretty - I was quite pleased with that one) plus the contacts list. A couple of amendments and they were ready to go. Oh and one email address which didn't make sense. From town crier. Not a surprise I'm afraid.
Also got an email from the male half of the 'friends' couple at whose house we spent New Year's Eve. He objected to the fact that they were just referred to as 'friends'. As a result of that email they will now be referred to as sword man and pregnant wizard. That last name may be of news to some people. Needless to say we're all delighted about it. When pregnant wizard was last expecting she spent the prior show parading around as a giraffe. A fact that doesn't seem to have scarred their lovely daughter for life, as you might have expected.
Need to sort out a production meeting. In fact if producer geezer, director him and director her had been at the theatre last night we could have had one in the bar. All of the rest of us were there. Oh and previous director. Who is technical director. And chairman. And married to...
Need to get the radio ad sorted. Must talk to producer geezer to find out what the score is. He wants to get director her, director him and producer together to script and record it.
Off to committee meeting now.
Thought for the day: 'See my baby jive.' Wizzard. (Nice one eh!) Oh and you do spell it ('spell' it - geddit eh? I'm on form here) with two z's. Check if you don't believe me.
Also got an email from the male half of the 'friends' couple at whose house we spent New Year's Eve. He objected to the fact that they were just referred to as 'friends'. As a result of that email they will now be referred to as sword man and pregnant wizard. That last name may be of news to some people. Needless to say we're all delighted about it. When pregnant wizard was last expecting she spent the prior show parading around as a giraffe. A fact that doesn't seem to have scarred their lovely daughter for life, as you might have expected.
Need to sort out a production meeting. In fact if producer geezer, director him and director her had been at the theatre last night we could have had one in the bar. All of the rest of us were there. Oh and previous director. Who is technical director. And chairman. And married to...
Need to get the radio ad sorted. Must talk to producer geezer to find out what the score is. He wants to get director her, director him and producer together to script and record it.
Off to committee meeting now.
Thought for the day: 'See my baby jive.' Wizzard. (Nice one eh!) Oh and you do spell it ('spell' it - geddit eh? I'm on form here) with two z's. Check if you don't believe me.
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