"'We hold these truths to be self-evident,' they said, 'that
all men are created equal.' Strange as it may seem, that was the
first time in history that anyone had bothered to write that down.
Decisions are made by those who show up. Class dismissed."
-- President Josiah Bartlet, (as written by
Aaron Sorkin),
The West Wing,
Season 1: episode 22
"What Kind of Day Has It Been?"
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.
--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.
--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny
over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a
candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till
his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has
utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of
large districts of people, unless those people would
relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a
right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into
compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of
the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers,
incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large
for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and
convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States;
for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of
Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their
migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new
Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing
his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their
substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies
without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and
superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws;
giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any
Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these
States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by
Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same
absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns,
and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy
scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally
unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the
executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress
in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been
answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus
marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the
ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We
have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common
kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably i
nterrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies
in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of
the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name,
and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved
from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent
States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract
Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things
which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of
this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in
the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
To show my vanity, I must say this fellow over here on the left seems to
be a year, or perhaps decade, or so older than the guy sitting at this
keyboard. How'd that happen? Alternatively:
Who put that picture of the my-dad-look-alike
over there? Not that I don't like the photo, or a lot of others
from the session.
Meanwhile, line study, more
specifically, line memorization, starts in earnest today. I had some
intentions to start earlier, such as over the weekend-getaway,
mini-vacation
I just had, but, the plans to work on the lines then was tentative at best
-- and I did not get to it; so-oh-well.
The update quicksand is getting looser and is now up to my waist; and I may
sink a little lower before it's over. I still have photos from the excursion
from the weekend before to sweeten,
and now I have photos from this past weekend to deal with next. Then, I'm
coming up on the third weekend-getaway,
mini-vacations
this weekend -- this one being my next Chicago trip, this time to see the
new play, The Roommate at
steppenwolf.
So, who knows when any of the posts will be up......
Right now I am on my Chicago weekend-getaway,
mini-vacation.
Technically, as I post this, I am not actually in Chicago, but rather,
I'm about 45-minutes to an hour away, in a hotel off of I-65, in Indiana.
I get on the road to Chicago shortly after I post this entry. I'll spend the
day in the
Lincoln Park
neighborhood. As I wrote a little while ago, much of my day will be at
The Lincoln Park Zoo,
then I'll have a dinner with local Chicago actor and theatre dude, Rob Koon,
then I'll spend about 100 minutes at
steppenwolf
seeing the new comedy, The Roommate, directed by
Ms. Phylicia Rashad.
The photos and recounting of this weekend is, of course, queued behind the
excursions of two weeks and one week ago. I have at least now
sweetened
all the photos from two weeks ago -- there were a lot of them. Now, on to
last weekend as soon as I can get to it. And, of course, I'll be piling
photos from this weekend onto the heap.
Sunday, June 24, I drove over to the
Columbus Museum of Art
and spent mid-morning into late afternoon there. That Sunday just happened
to be a free admission day, so, since I purchased my admission ticket the
day before, on-line, I now have an opportunity to go back. I'll wait until
maybe this winter to let what's on exhibit change up a bit.
The featured exhibit up was
"A Measure of Humanity,
which will end September 16. Some of the photos I post here are from that
-- photography was encouraged. *That link to the exhibit may be dead
after it closes.
The museum is much smaller than I'd anticipated. There's good art there,
I'd just somehow expected more wall space. It seems to me that the
Dayton Art Institute
has more space and more pieces on display, which surprises me.
At any rate, here is some of the great art I encountered on my visit:
"Collina," by Sir Joshua Reynolds
"Female Nude," by Pablo Piccasso
"Untitled [Urban Scene]," by Hughie Lee-Smith
"The Sand Quarries at Valmondois," by Charles-Francois Daubigny
"Topographic Landscape," by Maya Lin
"Topographic Landscape" from another
perspective
"Topographic Landscape" from another
perspective
"Topographic Landscape" from another
perspective
"Topographic Landscape" from another
perspective
"The Burghers of Calais, First Maquette," by Auguste Rodin
"Sunflower," by Christopher Ries
"The Family of Man, Figure 2, Ancestor II," by Barbara Hepworth
"Torso of Venus," by Aristide Maillol
"A Gust of Wind (The Seine at Port-Villez)," by Claude Monet
"Buildings," by Niles Spencer
"Company for Supper," by Dale Nichols
"Tutein's Tomb," by Anselm Kiefer
"Tower Room, Fehmarn Self [portrait with Erna]," by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
"Brown Girl After the Bath," by Archibald J. Motley, Jr.
"1 panel from Aerospace Folktales," by Allan Sekula
"Back of Kelly," by Evan Penny
"Bathsheba" by Artemisia Gentileschi
"Freya," by Gerhard Marcks
"The Knock Down," by Mahonri Mackintosh Young
"The Knock Down" from another perspective
"The Knock Down" from another perspective
"The Knock Down" from another perspective
"Water Lilies," by Mark Tansey
Full disclosure: This painting is quite wide,
about 6 to 10 feet. At the museum, I was not
able to stand far enough back to get the
whole piece in one frame. This is actually
an image downloaded from the web, so you get
the whole piece in one frame.
"U.S. Musical Notes," by Otis Kaye
"Abduction of Hippodameia," by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse
"Black Flag," by James Guy
"Landscape at Fehman with Nudes," by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
"Nude Seated before a Fireplace," by Edouard Vuillard
I have more photos that I could post and that I want to post. I suspect
I'll throw some up from time to time. Now, some other pics from that day,
on the trip home:
As is my usual want, I saw no reason to take a major
highway home -- in this case, I-70 West -- so I didn't.
Before I went home, I stopped by
Yellow Springs
to hang out for a while. This is Xenia Ave. from
the POV of a bench in front of the grocery store.
Same bench, other direction down the street.
Getting close to home.
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
Two past resent weekend-getaway,
mini-vacations
to post about and another one coming up. This means that I will continue
to spend a lot of time sweetening
photos, plus I will have more words to write about these last two than I
did about the Columbus Museum of Art, and probably will, too, about the one
coming this weekend.
In a couple weeks I'm going to attend an Equity
event, hosted at the
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. The
two hour workshop is titled "Finding Your Best Voice," and the
blurb in the email notice says it is "designed to introduce the
principles of the Alexander Technique*,
a method for increasing coordination of your entire self in any activity."
I got the email because I'm an Equity membership candidate
and am welcomed to the event along with Equity actors.
I'm going because: one, the workshop piques my interest; two, it's the
first Equity event I've had the opportunity to attend -- I've received notices
of previous events, but one or both of the physical distance or the timing
were a hindrance; three, it's close enough and works with my schedule; and,
four, why should I not tred into the professional acting universe whenever
I can?
*) The link to The Alexander
Technique was added by me
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
As I find time, I have been working on the recounting of the second weekend
getaway, mini-vacation,
in terms of writing the prose. The photo sweetening
is finished. So the second one should be up just in time for me to take
number four while I try to fit working the recounting of number three into
my stuff to do.
Last night I had a brief production meeting
with The Little Foxes
director, Kathy Mola, about sound design
needs for the production. It should be a pretty straightforward task to get
the soundwork for this up and running.
We're going with quite a few organic sound cues
rather than SFX -- things like
door slams and foot steps. We will be using SFX for rain, thunder, and
that of the piano, whenever characters are to play such.
We also discussed the pre-show
and intermission music,
which we easily agreed will be classical music, most likely chamber ensembles.
There was also discussion about the
curtain music. We
generally decided what the feel and the tempo should be. I will attend some
full run rehearsals in late July
and/or early August to get a sense of how the ending of the last act is
playing, which will better inform me when I pick choices for that final
production music.
On a related avenue, I need to make an appointment with a particular
musician/composer to curate some production music for
This Random World.
I should do that soon, because I'd like to have much of that sound design
shored up before I go into Banned from Baseball rehearsals.
While I'm at The Guild
doing some other needed work today, I'll also test to be sure that we can
get sound to the designated speaker cable for channel 5 of our sound system,
which is used for isolated sound that's either back stage or somewhere on
the stage rather than from the PA speakers. It's used for such things as
TVs or radios or for placing the speaker right outside a window on stage,
etc.
There was apparently a problem during a production someone else did sound
for. I need the channel 5 speaker for
The Little Foxes
so I will be trouble-shooting this today after the other work is dealt
with.
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
Another weekend-getaway, mini-vacation
coming up tomorrow. One past excursion about to be recounted.
Around doing some maintenance, with fellow board member Scott Madden, on
the microphones for our hearing assistance system at The Guild,
this past Saturday morning, I also did a bit of trouble-shooting on one of
the elelements of our production sound system.
Like I alluded to in the last post, we have a sound cable, usually dedicated
to channel 5 of our sound board, that runs from the booth console, across
the ceiling, and drops back stage, with a good length of slack. It's for
isolated sounds that we don't want to come out of any of the four house PA
speakers. It's so that a particular sound effect
can be localized by hiding a fifth speaker somewhere on the stage, usually
up stage or closer to up stage.
The speaker could actually be inside a TV or a radio, or hidden close-enough
that the sound appears to come from said device.
When Ryan Shannon designed sound
for Wonder of the World
at the end of the 16/17 season, he'd wanted to use that channel 5 setup
but reported that he could not get it to work. Since that production, we've
not needed it for any shows and I had not gotten around to looking at the
problem. Now I want it for our show, and though I will be running a sound
effect in channel 5 of the mixer, the signal won't be running though that
particular cable.
When I did the trouble-shooting this past Saturday I was able to isolate
the problem to the cable. There's clearly a interruption somewhere along
the line, a short. The small amped speaker that we've employed for a while
does work; I hooked it up to other cables that I ran from channel 5 and it
works -- which also eliminated channel 5 as the problem.
I'll need to run new cable from the booth to the back stage area where I
need to place the speaker. I'll run it mostly across the floor, but by way
of the dressing room to back stage and then onto the stage. I've done it
before, especially when we needed not only a channel 5 speaker back there
(with the now defunct setup) but and additional speaker running from
channel 6.
Immediately, this is for the forthcoming
The Little Foxes,
but I also have to think long-term. A decision about whether we try to run
more cable across the ceiling needs to be made. The other both short-term
and long-term issue I had Saturday was the little amped speaker we've been
using with channel 5. It's getting old and has a ground hum that can be heard
with any significant volume set on the speaker. I know for The Little
Foxes, I may want to set the volume higher rather than lower on the
speaker. I'll be running piano duets through the speaker for two actors to
pantomime playing said music while sitting at a
prop-piano. The speaker will either
be hidden in the piano or nearby. I want the gain on the speaker higher so
there's more room for volume level control from the mixer in the booth.
But that ground hum.
The Eurolive B295D PA/Monitor
For a while I've been saying that we need more of these little amped
monitor speakers. Right now a big reason we need any amped speakers is
that only the first four channels that come out of the mixing board are run
through the main power amps in the booth. The speakers at the other end of
those channels don't need amplification at the speaker because they get it
in the booth -- these are the four PA speakers mounted on the ceiling in
the four corners of the theatre space (The Mirkin). Channels 5 though 8
aren't amplified in the booth so they need to run to amped speakers,
usually meaning amped monitor speakers. Saturday, I bought a
Behringer Eurolive B295D 150-watt PA/Monitor
speaker, from Sound Force, just
down the road from us, to replace our current amped speaker. I'll probably
buy a few more in the future. The B295D is plenty powerful for our intended
purpose. I can't say our old amped speaker will be retired, but it is
relegated to back-up status.
Looking forward into the next DTG production after The Little Foxes,
I have an appointment with that musician/composer I mentioned last post to
curate some production music for
This Random World.
The meeting is this evening. This show is, of course, the
Marjorie-Strader-helmed production for which I was originally on board to
be the AD, but had to bow out of that
position when I was cast in Banned from Baseball. I was Margie's AD for
The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin
the season before last, and it was a very good experience. Under the
circumstances, as I may have written here before, I'm not too bummed about
having to nix this AD work, but, I still will miss the experience. At least
I'm still on the creative team.
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
Weekend-getaway, mini-vacation
Number Four down (yesterday). The post recounting Number Two is nearing
arrival; Numbers three & Four are on the to-do list.
The recounting and photos of Weekend-getaway, mini-vacation
Number Two is just around the corner, with Three and Four in the wings. Of
course, this coming weekend will just add to the backlog, as I will attend
FutureFest 2018
at The Dayton Playhouse.
Granted I attend this every year, but, still it's easy to count this as a
weekend-getaway, mini-vacation.
Last night I procured what is incredibly likely to be all or most of the
production music for
This Random World.
I met with the musician/composer, whose music this is, and it was clear to
me early in the listens that this music is absolutely in line with what I
and TRW Director Marjorie Strader are looking for. I may be looking
elsewhere for the curtain music,
I'm even contemplating using something I wrote and recorded
mmmblemmble-years ago. Meanwhile,
though some of the curating process has aleady begun, more specific and
focused design work on
The Little Foxes
is, of course, about to commence.
I also have to follow up on clearance requests to a specific agency to use
dialogue from the scripts in the promocasts
for two shows, The Little Foxes being one of them and the more
imminent one to follow up on, since it's the next production up. The other
one being
Our Mother's Brief Affair.
I have secured clearance for the other five productions of the season.
The second weekend-getaway,
mini-vacation
was a weekend in the Hocking Hills
state park area. Over the weekend of June 29-July 1, I stayed two nights in
one of the cabins of the
Bluebird Ridge Cottages,
with a Logan, Ohio address. I had the "Little Pine" cabin (or
"cottage" -- either word works for me). That's it in the image
above, and there are plenty more photos below. It was secluded and
peaceful and I could have stayed there for a month or several. Perhaps it's
not too untrue to say that the idea of living, full-time, in such a situation
is not an unpleasant one for me to think about. Needless to say, just staying
in that lovely little cabin, in that beautiful and secluded environment,
was more than good for my soul, as was the trip to the
Columbus Museum of Art
the previous weekend. But a weekend like this in this place, or a similar
place, is something I am absolutely going to do again, more than once.
How does this relate to "A Diary of Artful Things?" Well, come
on now, this sort of a weekend is good for the mind, body, and being of the
artist -- good for the soul, as stated above. And then, of course, we go
back to my standby response about what subject matter I decide to post here:
Whose blog is this? and let me add:
What's the subscription rate again?
Granted, I'm not sure who else this entry will be of interest to besides
myself but here it is anyway.
As you will see in the photos below, the cottage was not at all primitive,
which on this particular weekend was a good thing, most especially because
there was AC, which worked quite well. But it was furnished nicely with all
the modern conveniences save for Wi-Fi; and, frankly, the lack of Wi-Fi was
not a problem for me. I tried using my iPhone as a hotspot but my reception
was too weak. I wasn't even able to use my phone to receive or post to
facebook or to send and receive emails while I was at the cabin nor while
in most areas of the park system. Again, not much of a concern to me.
Because I have a silly sense of humor I packed my Banned from Baseball
script and my accompanying flash cue-cards under the theory that I might
just possibly do some line study
at some point during the weekend. When I was in college I would occasionally
attend weekend conferences, not related to course work, and I would pack
some of my school texts under a similar premise. I never cracked a book during
one of those conference weekends and I did not spend one moment on line study
in Hocking Hills. It was a hopeless intention.
I got to the cabin on Friday, somewhere around 5:00 pm. I unpacked, fixed
and ate dinner, then put on my new hiking boots and took off for a little
hike on the trails near the cottage. To be honest, those trails were
underwhelming to me, plus, as alluded to above, this was a blistering hot
and humid weekend, and though the trails were under a canopy of tree tops,
it was a little muggy and so I didn't hike for very long. There also wasn't
a nearby river or stream -- like many people, I have a preference to hike
along side running water or by lakes, but, more so rivers or streams.
There is a nearby clearing with a fire pit and an open shack with cut
firewood provided. I built a fire both nights and spent an hour or two in
meditative solitude with the fires. What is it about fire that grabs the
attention, the fascination of humans? It's the same with water. As I
said above, whenever I hike, I want to be close to water, especially rivers
or streams -- flowing water. There's something about these two elements,
their vital necessity to our survival and their power to destroy. There's
that Earth-Mother connection, too.
So I sat in the darkness and watched the logs burn and listened to the
wilderness around me, a practice humans have been engaged in since humans
have been humans, since before there was written word or spoken language. I
listend to night birds I can't identify the calls of, and hoot owls, and
coyotes calling to each other. The first night a coyote was very close by;
I'm sure within 50 to 100 yards. I listened to dogs on nearby properties
bark back at the coyote calls: camaraderie or warning? Yeah, most probably
sentinel warnings.
For me the big surprise was that over the whole weekend, in the area around
my secluded cabin, in all of the state park areas I went, in all that
forestry, I did not see even one deer. I expected to see some. My assumption
was that for the most part this was all non-hunting zones, which would
perhaps make the deer less skittish about people. But I only assume there's
no hunting; I may be wrong about that. I didn't see any foxes, either, but
you can have a family living near your home and never see those stealth
little creatures. I'm pretty sure I heard fox barks and "vixen
screams" the second night while sitting at the fire pit.
Saturday was focused on the point of the trip:
Hocking Hills State park,
with the first visit of the day being to the big attraction,
Old Man's Cave,
which I hadn't been to since I was about five years old, and thus, really
have no memory of. I do have a vague, vague, vague, opaque, slender memory
of my nephew, Tommy (Tom, now), only a few years younger than I, throwing
sand in my eyes. I think, on this trip, I might have identified one
of a few spots where this event from decades a go occurred, but then maybe
not.
Frankly, because Old Man's Cave is such a popular tourist attraction, it was
by nature of that, touristy, mostly in that there were a lot of people there.
It was often imposible to get a photograph of some of the great caves and
rock formations, etcetera, without getting someone or many people in the
frame. It was still worth it. It's an amazing place. And the heat was not
much of an issue there because the thick canopy of the trees and the caves
and gorges staved off the brunt of it. The heat index for the day was in
the upper 90s, perhaps even topping 100°, but it was a good 10-20°
cooler under, and in, all that protection, without nearly as much humidity
as out in the open.
By the way, if you read the plaque in the photo in the right column as well
as the info in the
Old Man's Cave webpage
you get the story of Richard Rowe "who lived in the large recess cave
of the gorge." But several locals claimed to me that there is no actual
"Old Man's Cave," that the story is more an apocryphal account
than being based in reality. However, the website seems to have some pretty
specific historical facts, or things presented as such, so I don't know....
I spent a few hours hiking the Old Man's Cave trail system, and, as evident
below, took lots and lots of photos. There was a lot to take photos of.
The trails connect to both
Ash Cave
and to Cedar Falls,
the latter which I was halfway sure I might have happened upon during my
Old Man's Cave trek. Judging from the photos at the Cedar Falls web page,
I didn't, because I don't recall anything like the scenery in those images.
The bride and some of her party at Ash Cave. A little
research
reveals that the bride is Jesse and her groom (not in the
photo) is Jordan.
At one point, after a few hours, I made the decision that I needed a
rest from hiking as well as a brief escape from the heat -- it wasn't
as hot under the Old Man's Cave canopies and in its gorges, as it
was out in the open, that doesn't mean it wasn't hot. It was going to be a
good thirty minutes, at a minimum, to hike to
Ash Cave,
and that thirty-minute hike was not an attractive concept at the moment.
I drove there in my air-conditioned car. But first I bought a heaping big
chocolate soft-serve ice cream cone from the truck in the Old Man's Cave
parking lot; those ice cream truck people were making a killing, I might
add. I didn't get a photo of that ice cream cone, but you'll see some in
future posts for upcoming weekend adventures.
Though not quite as many, Ash Cave was also packed full of people. I
arrived shortly after the end of a wedding ceremony at the cave, which may
have accounted for a good number of the people there, but not all of them.
It was also cooler in caves and under the canopy than out in the direct beat
of the sun, though the canopy wasn't as protective from the heat as at Old
Man's Cave, plus I think the afternoon heat index number was rising. There
is also not as much to see at Ash Cave as Old Man's, so with these factors
plus that I hadn't eaten save for the ice cream a little earlier and a
fruit smoothy breakfast about 7:30, a longer break that included food
seemed in order only about an hour or so after I arrived at Ash Cave.
I ate my late lunch in Logan at
Pizza Crossing,
which serves more New-York-style than Chicago-style pizza. Myself, I'm a
Chicago-style pizza guy, but I don't hate NY-style and can eat it with the
best of them. Pizza Crossing's veggie pizza was pretty tasty. It's good pizza.
I recommend it.
After food, I drove to nearby
Lake Logan
but didn't stay long. I was looking for a nice trail system and there really
isn't one there. I thought about then heading to either
Cedar Falls
or Rock House,
but I started to feel the fatigue of hiking in the heavy heat index most of
the day, despite the protections at Old Man's Cave and went back to home
base at Little Pines. After dark, as it cooled down, I went for another
meditational sit at the fire pit. Cedar Falls and Rock House will be high
on the agenda for my return visit to Hocking Hills, because there will,
indeed, be one.
Sunday morning after a laid-back start to the day at the cabin, I checked
myself out of Little Pines then headed to
Lake Hope
near Athens, Ohio.
The ladies at Hocking Hills Vistors' Information recommended Lake Hope. The
Lake, itself, I didn't find astonishing. What I think might have made the day
was the trail system. But, it was hotter out on Sunday than it had been on
Saturday, and I wasn't confident that the canopy there was going to cool
things down as much as at Old Man's Cave. My thought was that I'm a
middle-aged man with a heart condition and hiking at that moment in that heat
condition seemed unwise. Those trails aren't going anywhere.
I drove into town, had more pizza, this time at
Franco's Pizza
-- New York style, again. Then, on my walk back to my car I stopped into
Whit's Frozen Custard of Athens
and got two scoops on a waffle cone. Yes, this is a theme that will
reoccur in future weekend-getaway,
mini-vacation
posts, and in the future cases with photography. Having cheated on my
calories and sodium diets, I drove the two-some hours to my humble abode.
Now for extensive photographic representation of my Weekend at Hocking Hills:
The gravel road back to the "Little Pine"
cottage.
Take the fork to the right at the Bluebird Ridge
sign.
Seclusion.
My parking spot
Little Pine Cottage
Little Pine Cottage
Little Pine Cottage
Little Pine Cottage
At the Little Pine front door
Inside Little Pine
Inside Little Pine
The view out the Little Pine front door window
On the Little Pine balcony
Little Pine balcony corner
The Bluebird Ridge clearing with the fire pit
The firewood shack
The fire pit
A meadow-like portion of the trails of Bluebird
Ridge
Me in that meadow area
The Friday night fire
The Friday night fire
I stoke the Friday night fire
I watch the Friday night fire
Saturday morning fruit smoothy breakfast on the deck
Storefronts in the compound of stores (mostly antique stores)
on I-33 by Logan, Ohio. I dropped by there on the way to
Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
Me at Old Man's Cave
Me at Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave: I wonder about the story behind this
hole in a rock formation. It's almost perfectly round. My
memory of my Geology classes isn't sharp enough to recall
if this is a natural phenomenon .
At Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
"The Devil's Bathtub" at Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
At Old Man's Cave
I THINK this is another view of "The
Devil's Bathtub"
Ash Cave, itself
*where there is no actual "'Old Man's Cave,"
there is an actual "Ash Cave"
At Ash Cave
At Ash Cave
Hydrating at Ash Cave
At Ash Cave
A loaded veggie pizza (New-York style) at the Pizza Crossing
in Logan, Ohio
A random shot of my front passenger seat. This
happened to be Saturday afternoon, but could have
been most any time during the weekend.
The beach at Lake Logan. Wasn't what I was looking
for, though it was a hot enough day that a little
time at the beach wouldn't have been hateful.
How to dry out your socks when you washed them, it's
uber-humid out, and you don't have a clothes dryer
handy
The Saturday night fire
The Saturday night fire
Sunday morning breakfast on the deck at Little Pine
Time at Little Pine is almost up
The most depressing photograph of the weekend
Lake Hope, Athens, Ohio
Lake Hope
The other pizza of the weekend, at Franco's Pizza
in Athens, right before my drive home.
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
Recounting Weekend-getaway, mini-vacation
Number Three is up next. Four is on deck, and Five,
FutureFest 2018
at The Dayton Playhouse,
occupies this coming weekend.
As of yesterday afternoon I have secured clearance to use dialogue from the
scripts for six of the seven productions of the 2018/2019 season in their
respective promocasts. If I get
clearance for the last one, it will be the first season that I've had
clearance for all of the shows. And thus far no one has stipulated that the
DV movie be pulled after the production goes
dark, which makes me glad.
Tonight I make my annual trek to
Dayton Playhouse
for the theatre company's annual new play festival,
FutureFest
(2018). This is a weekend I've done now fourteen times (13 years)
straight in a row, counting this weekend, and I am nowhere close to a veteren;
there are some who have attended the festival and/or actively participated
in productions in every FutureFest since the first one in 1991 -- thirteen
years before I entered back into the acting and theatre world. FF is now
27 years old, with 2018 being the 28th festival. So, I have now attended
and/or participated in half of the festivals, the last half.
This year, I'm not performing nor otherwise involved in production; I am
simply an audience member. Last year I was the
sound designer
for four of the six shows and co-designer for another. I also was the
reluctant sound tech
for three of the shows. I had only agreed to run sound for one, but needed
to pinch-hit on two others because the official sound tech for the weekend
ended up with some unanticipated schedule conflicts. As an actor, the last
time I was on an FF stage was 2015 in
Rich Amada'sHail the Conquering Hero, which was directed by
Fran Pesch.
I could have auditioned, but I looked at the
audition specs
and I wasn't really typed
for any of the roles I could audition for. But I'm there watching the stage
this weekend, if not walking it.
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
Meanwhile my previous two
weekend-getaway, mini-vacations,
both involving zoos, will make their way to blog-posted recounts as soon
as I can get them here, with
FutureFest 2018
on deck behind them. Then, another zoo trip is on my itinerary for the
time between FF2018 and the start of Banned from Baseball rehearsals.
A week from tonight I'm seeing comedian
Jim Gaffigan at
the Fraze Pavillion. This will be the second
time I've seen his stand-up performance in person. Gaffigan is one of my
favorite comics and, if you're paying attention to such things, one of the
top stand-ups of the day. And he works clean, or relatively so. There may
be a few jokes that skirt with being risque, but he's not the kind of
comic who needs to change his material for a network TV appearance. Not
that I need a comedian to have a clean set; probably my three favorite
stand-ups of the day are, in no particular order,
Sarah Silverman,
Patton Oswalt, and
Louis C.K. (despite the latter's
problems, which I haven't heard, but I would bet he's addressing) --
anyway, none of these three can be labelled neither clean nor PC. Mr.
Gaffigan's approach is much different than theirs, but he is quite a
funny comic. I look forward to next Friday evening --
It better not frickin' rain!
August 11, I will see the inimitable
David Byrne
at The Rose Music Center on
his American Utopia Tour.
Byrne is an artist I have always had an interest in but have not invested
myself in his work, as of yet. His work with
Talking Heads, then as a solo artist,
is all inventive, sometimes fascinating, and always compelling. I have, in
the past owned a couple of his solo records and a few Talking Heads albums,
but I have never engrossed myself in his work, why, I am not sure. I do
have his new
American Utopia
album, it was part of the purchase price for the concert ticket, which is
a new practice many artists and their record companies are engaged in to
boost anemic album sales. I've been thinking that if I can find the time
between now and August 11, I should get hold of a lot of his record canon
and, more-or-less, catch up some before the show. But, then, going in with
something close to a clean slate might be cool, too -- to experience a lot
of the music of the evening for the very first time, that might be kind of
cool. Based on all I have going on, the clean slate thing is the more
likely scenario.
So, FutureFest 2018
at the Dayton Playhouse
is officially underway. Last night was the openning show, What Are
Wordsworth to a Longfellow, a romantic comedy by
Carl L. Williams,
and it launched us on a good, strong start for the weekend. By-the-way, I
was the male lead
a few years back in another of Carl's FutureFest entries, A Woman on the
Cusp. My character's name was Darren, and I enjoyed the role a lot.
It's good to welcome back this year two regular adjudicators who've not
been to FF the last few years,
David Finkle
and
Eleanore Speert,
and to welcome new adjudicator
Matthew Kagen.
And, returning, two other ong-standing regulars,
Peter Filichia and
Helen Sneed.
Helen, in fact, was last night awarded a life-time membership to DPH for
the many years in a row that she's been an adjudicator. I confess I forget
the exact amount of years, but it's in excess of twenty.
Anyway, the weekend has begun. One down, five to go. In minutes after
posting this, I'm out the door to ground zero.
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
A Saturday in Chicago
A Sunday at the Columbus Zoo
Comprehensive account
The whole motif of being vague about what is "coming soon" has
started to seem kind of silly and pointless.
Four down, two to go at FutureFest 2018
at the Dayton Playhouse.
Yesterday we saw Fettered, by
William C. Kovacsik,
Late in the Game, by
Barbara Snow,
and Last Rites -- Detroit, 1967, by
Randy Neale,
all really fine plays. Today we see the final two plays:
Of Men and Cars, by
Jim Geoghan
and Queen of Sad Mischance, by
John Minigan.
My full report on the weekend will come sometime in the "near"
future.
It's a method, almost really a philosophy, of being body conscious, of being
aware of how one is moving and how one is holding one's body. The idea is
to break habits on both scores that are actually causing unnecessary tensions
and burdons on one's body. Last night was simply an introduction. It is the
sort of thing that one can take sessions on for quite a while. I found it
interesting and what I was exposed to last night makes a hell of a lot of
sense.
*More line study in the gym during cardio work
The perfectionist in me, let's call him "Mr. P," who is both an
asset and a liability, is unhappy that I am not yet
off-book. Also on his list of
grievances is that I have not yet done as much of the
dramaturgy-ish research on
John Dowd that I have planned. My
line study, in all manners, has
not hit the mark that Mr. Perfectionist wants, not cleared his bar,
whatsoever.
The first rehearsal, the table read,
is August 13, nineteen days from today. That's what Mr. P wants me to be
aware of, anyway.
I have been working on the lines*, ya know, Mr. P.
There's another Equity workshop in
Cincinnati this coming Monday evening and I hope to make it. This time it's
at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
(AKA: Cincyshakes) and the topic is Making the Most of Social Media.
If I attend, the question then becomes:
how long before I end up with a
twitter account?
TONIGHT!
Tonight I see Mr. Gaffigan's stand-up performance live at
The Fraze Pavilion.
It's not supposed to rain.
THIS WEEKEND
I don't consider this a
weekend-getaway, mini-vacation,
but tomorrow and Sunday are pretty much tied up with theatre stuff,
including two theatre award events.
It's starts tomorrow morning with the monthly board meeting for
The Dayton Theatre Guild,
followed immediately by our annual meeting where the 2018/2019 slate of the
board of directors will be voted on. As well, our current president,
Kathy Mola, will give the State of the Theatre Report.
I'll probably spend some portion of the weekend working on
sound design for
The Little Foxes;
probably Sunday morning, maybe Sunday evening.
Line study for Banned from
Baseball will likely make some sort of an appearance during the weekend,
too.
The photo, again, which I posted on July 7, of me in my
hotel room in Merrillville, Indiana.
The weekend after the Hocking Hills trip, I trekked to the Chicago area
for the weekend. As I did the last time I went to Chicago for a day, I
spent the night before in a hotel in
Merrillville, Indiana,
which is about forty miles south-east of Chicago. I arrived at my hotel in
the late afternoon/early evening on Friday, then drove into Chicago the
next morning, July 7, as the banner indicates, to spend the day.
Again, as the last time I came to Chicago, I parked at an all-day garage
close to steppenwolf,
then traversed
Lincoln Park,
with pretty close to the same trajectory this time as that last time. That
last time, by-the-way, was coming in for the day to see
Tracy Letts'Mary Page Marlow
at steppenwolf, that theatre which would be my final destination for this
day, to see, of course,
The Roommate.
After I parked my car, I hit the pavement for a leisurely thirty-some-minute
strole through the Lincoln Park neighborhood to my first mini-vacation
destination of the day,
the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Some photos, one taken on the way into Chicago, the rest,
during my walk through Lincoln Park to the zoo:
Coming into Chicago Saturday morning
W. North Avenue
A courtyard area on a side street, not sure which.
Looking at the satellite picture on Googel, it
might be the corner of North &
Cleveland, but I'm not positive.
Close to the Zoo. In memorium of
David Kennison,
the last living participant of the Boston Tea Party.
It was about 10 a.m. when I got to the zoo. I had actually done a short
visit to this zoo in April 2016 on that trip to see
Mary Page Marlow.
I'd parked at the self-same garage and had walked to the
Lincoln Park Conservatory Gardens,
which sets right next to the zoo. When I was done in the conservatory, I
walked inside the zoo; it was a chilly day and a lot of animals were not
out and I was getting hungry, so I wasn't there long. Besides I was going
to see a mantinée that day, so time was a little tighter, and I
had to walk back to steppenwolf. I did drive back over later that day,
but the zoo had just closed.
This time the show I was seeing had a 7:30 p.m. curtain
so I had most of the day to explore the zoo. Here are some photos of my
day. Sometimes the animals aren't identified because frankly, I can't
remember what they all are, or the exact variety of species. But here are
the pics:
Carlson Cottage.
I did not go inside, though I think it was open to tour.
I revisited the greenhouse at the Lincoln Park Conservatory, right next to
the zoo, that which, as I mentioned, I'd visited last trip to Chicago, in
April of 2016. Here, from this latest trip, are some random photos:
Just like at
Ash Cave,
I came across a bride. This time I don't think I
happened upon the end of the wedding, rather upon
a bridal photo shoot. This, just outside the zoo and
the conservatory, as I made my way back toward
the steppenwolf area.
A view at the
South Pond Nature Walk,
taken, again, as I was making my way back toward
steppenwolf.
On my walk back to the steppenwolf area that afternoon, not too far from
the zoo, etc., the GPS on my iPhone told me to turn right, but my mind said,
"go straight." I went straight. Here's what I happened across
because I listened to me and not Siri:
Back at ground zero -- i.e.: the garage, where I parked for the day, and the
whole steppenwolf area -- I hung out for a little while in the open plaza
between the
North/Clybourn L Red Line station
and the
Lincoln Park Apple Store,
at North and Halstead, near Clybourn. There, I was meeting a Chicago friend,
playwright and actor,
Robert (Rob) Koon,
to have dinner and chat some before I saw the play just down the street.
There was a bit of time to kill when I got back from the zoo. I went up to
my car and changed from a sleeveless t-shirt, khaki shorts, short athletic
socks, and baseball-style cap, into long jeans, dress socks, and a black
flat cap, with my black steppenwolf t-shirt under a dark gray dress shirt,
worn open. I kept my new, attractive and ultra-confortable two-strap tan-brown
sandals on. I tell you this wardrobe stuff because I know there are a lot
of people out there who would give a rat's ass what I wore, right? The
actual important thing about this "time to kill" is that I was
meeting Rob at a plaza next to an Apple store. And I had time to kill.
Next to an Apple store.
Next to an Apple store with time to kill.
It could have been worse. It only cost me $40.00. I bought a
Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar™,
made by Belkin.
It allows the user to both listen to audio and charge the battery at the
same time on a newer iPhone or iPad, because the audio jack on such is now
the same jack as that for the charger. I've been meaning to get one for a
while, so at least it can't be completely called an impulse buy.
Then, after making my already steaming credit card, just a tad hotter, I
sat in the plaza and actually took some time to do some
line study
for Banned from Baseball. Of course, eventually Rob showed up and we
ate pizza at
Sono Wood Fired Pizzaria
just across from the plaza. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the two
of us, so I guess Rob can deny that it happened if he wants to. I had
originally planned to eat at
Trattoria Gianni,
on Halstead, not far down the street from steppenwolf. I've eaten there
several times before and had made pretty solid plans to do so again. But,
I went with the flow and decided to change things up. Anyway, I had a nice
dinner and good conversation with Rob, then it was off to the show.
But first, more photos:
The Lincoln Park Apple store
Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar™
Workin' on those Banned from Baseball lines
A view of the plaza
The North/Clybourn L Red Line station
Didn't get a picture of Rob and me, but I did get
one of the restaurant, Sono Wood Fired Pizzaria
Then it was time for a show
After my nice hour or so with Rob Koon I walked over to the event that
initiated the trip to Chicago, in the first place:
Jen Silverman'sThe Roommate
showing at steppenwolf.
It was nice evening of theatre.
Someone I talked to who had already seen this production told me that the
script has a few problems but that the production was still good due to
very fine performances by
Ora Jones
as Robyn and
Sandra Marquez
as Sharon, as well as
Phylicia Rashad's
strong directing. I agree with this.
Without getting too specific, because the play is worth seeing, whether it's
this production or some future production, I'll say that I had trouble with
one aspect of the script. One character becomes enthusiastically interested
in something, and I found that the enthusiasm and the interest was far too
quick, that I had a difficult time believing that the character got there
when and as she did. There needed to be more development, more build to
that place. But going back to the production aspects, this was an excellent
production in terms of performance and staging, to the credit of the two
actors and the director. The set was pretty damned impressive, too --
Scenic Designer:
John Iacovelli.
Further, as per the script, mostly I liked it a lot. There's some
wonderful dialogue and lots of funny moments.
My home theatre, The Dayton Theatre Guild
is always on the lookout for a good contemporary comedy, so I went with that
in mind. I came to the conclusion that the script was probably worth
suggesting to our play reading committee (the body that reads and debates
the potential plays we might put up). I also thought it was likely that the
committee wouldn't select it, but you never know. Turns out they had already
read it, last year or the year before. The play had been a finalist at
the annual
Humana Festival of New American Plays
in Louisville, Kentucky. One of our board members,
Carol Finley,
attends Humana every year and she had suggested the script, already.
Well, anyway, despite that flaw in the script, given the right set of
circumstances, it could end up on one of the DTG seasons. This especially
since it's a female
two-hander,
and I can see us easily selecting it for that reason if there is a male
two-hander in the season and we want some parity. We have done such in the
past.
Despite my one complaint, I didn't feel like it was a waste of my time to
trek to Chicago to see the play. Of course, the trip was about more than the
play, so that helped. But I was not sorry that I saw the play itself,
especially that particular production.
Going home:
I'd made mental notes of where I was whenever I took
one of these photographs. Of course, I remember few
of those mental notes. They were taken on the way
home, though.
One thing for sure, this is not I-70 East.
Whether this is in Indiana or Ohio (I think it's
Indiana), it's most certainly in the mid-west.
Not that you might not see similar real estate
in, say, Vermont.
Again, no clue where this was on my route, save
that it's close to or into Ohio. I don't think this
is an Indian mound, either. My memory is that it's
at a sand & gravel quarry company, a fact I
discovered moments after taking this photo.
I remember that I made a special mental note to
remember what little town this building is in, to
no avail. Can't tell you.
Stopped by the
Englewood Reservoir
as my last little stop of the trip. Just a short drop-by,
no hiking or anything. I was kind of ready to get home,
but had to stop if only for a little while. I think a
proper visit with this location as the focus, is in
order....
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
A Sunday at the Columbus Zoo
Comprehensive account
(probably sooner - i.e.: NOT in order of occurrence)
As previously stated, tonight I attend the 2018
Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame
ceremony, where the following people will be inducted:
Friday night I attended
Jim Gaffigan's
stand-up comedy concert at the
Fraze Pavilion.
This is the second time I've seen him live. The first was just shy of ten
years ago, in October of 2008, at the
Nutter Center.
He was quite funny then; he was quite funny Friday night.
With the exception of a variation on one past, popular routine, this was
all brand new material that I've never heard on any of his cable or
Netflix specials. He opened with material tailored for the crowd here in
the Dayton area, making reference to different suburbs and their economic
and cultural biases -- in a very fun-loving, ribbing, manner, I might add;
not in any mean-spirited or inappropriate way. He'd clearly talked with
some locals about our local communities and cultures.
I certainly cannot remember all of his sixty-some minute show, but one
joke that I will relate (and I can guarantee you, not verbatim) was one
about how humans came to eat goat cheese. In part of the bit he wondered
how we ended up making and eating it. That part went approximately
like this:
Did somebody one day say, "Well, you know, cow cheese is
fine. But, you see that weird-lookin' dog that looks like it's
on meth? Let's milk that and see what happens."
He had an opening act, a comedian from Cincinnati who did about 20-30
minutes. He was funny, too. I didn't catch his name! I will be doing research
to find out who he is and will update this entry when I do. There is
a picture of him, below.
Jim ended his hour with what I call his "Hey Jude" material. He
actually did it as an encore the first time I saw him. This time it was the
closing bit, and it was actually the same theme but with a bit of a new
twist. It was:
If you are familiar with that routine, admit it, you just heard him sing
it in your head, didn't you?
The stage from my seat, 7 rows back
The opening comedian -- to be named as soon as I
can identify him
To all the directors, designers, and performers of the 2017/2018
Dayton Theatre Guild
season, some of whom will take home our in-house theatre award, The
Murphy, later today at our annual DTG smorgasbord and Murphy Awards.
Lunchtime is for line study: a fews days ago outside the
office at the rent-payer.
Ten days until table read
and the beginning of my temporary part-time appearances at
the rent-payer. I won't
actually be on "part-time" but I will be utilizing quite a bit
of vacation
leave during the six weeks of rehearsals and performances. I'll use more
vacation
hours during the three weeks of rehearsal. They'll be 30+ hour rehearsal
weeks; I am not doing that and working 40 hours at my day job.
In terms of line study, I've
been working more in. I'd say I'm somewhere between 50% and 75%
off-book, which gives me strong
hope for Aug 13, the first day of rehearsal. Last night I finally recorded
my lines and their cue lines -- which, in this case, is the entirety of one
specific scene. My line-study recordings are rather odd to the ears of
anyone but myself. I do the cue lines in an affected, monotone voice and my
own lines in a monotoned voice, just more natural in tonal quality. The
focus is one what the words are, not ON what the reading
should be -- hence the monotone. I do however often recognize what many
specific line readings should (or could) be, and I think the monotone
quality of the recorded lines lends itself to help me be open to possibilities
by not influencing me with a recorded line reading. Whenever I make these
recordings I tend to, as well as listen to them at
the rent-payer, I also stick
them on a loop and play it overnight while I sleep. I can't prove that this
practice works, but I cannot believe it hurts anything. Of course, all the
listening to the recording is in addition to, and not a substitute for, my
other forms of line study, those with the script and with my flash cards.
Meanwhile, I dropped by the
HRTC costume shop, last night,
for an initial fitting for the photo call
that happens the second day of rehearsals.
I could not make that Equity workshop
in Cincinnati this past Monday evening. My car was acting up and driving
for more than an hour, each way, before getting the problem repaired seemed
like a bad idea. But, $668.01 later, the car is in tip-top shape. To refresh
the memory of anyone who might have read the original post about the workshop,
it was hosted at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
(AKA: Cincyshakes) and the topic was "Making the Most of Social Media."
The question for me was to be: how long
before I end up with a twitter account? -- well, that quandary is
on hold.
Momentum is picking up on the
Little Foxessound design. The final
decisions on production music have not been made yet, but will be between
tonight and tomorrow evening. I've put together my initial
sound plot, and should have it
locked (or mostly so) by end of day, tomorrow.
There are really not a lot of decisions to make about
production music, and
there are sparse sound effects,
so it's not impossible that I'll have the first configuration of the
Show Cue System project file
finished tonight -- but I'm giving myself until tomorrow night to have
it done.
Also, either tonight or tomorrow, I'll run sound cable from the
booth to the back stage area,
then onto the spot on the set where I need to place our new
Behringer Eurolive B295D 150-watt PA/Monitor,
which I'm running several piano duets through for two actors to pantomime
playing said music while sitting at a
prop-piano. To remind those who've
read the previous blog post about this, that speaker will either be hidden
in the piano or nearby, behind it. I have estimated I need about 75 feet
of sound cable -- I've run that much before, so we're good, I know we have
the cable on hand.
THE DTG AWARD WINNERS FOR THE 2017/2018 THEATRE SEASON:
To all the directors, designers, and performers of the 2017/2018
Dayton Theatre Guild
season who, this past weekend, took home DayTony Awards and our in-house
theatre award, The Murphy.
DAYTONY AWARDS FOR THE 2017/2018 SEASON There were, by-the-way, 47 awards for DTG productions
PRODUCTION DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
*MERIT*
Amy Wamsley - lighting design, The Christians
Carol Finley - costume design, All My Sons
Tim Guth - lighting design, The Other Place
Scott Wright - lighting design, Stella and Lou
Deirdre Root - propoerties, The Other Place
Deirdre Root - propoerties, All My Sons
Chris Harmon - set design, Marjorie Prime
Chris Harmon - set design, The Other Place
K.L. Storer - sound design, Bakersfield Mist
Gary Thompson - sound design, The Christians
K.L. Storer - sound design, The Other Place
Gary Thompson - sound design, Marjorie Prime
*EXCELLENCE*
Carol Finley - costume design, Bakersfield Mist
David Senatore - costume design, The Christians
John Falkenbach - lighting design, Bakersfield Mist
Deirdre Root - propoerties, Bakersfield Mist
Heather Martin - propoerties, Stella and Lou
Chris Harmon - set design, All My Sons
Gary Thompson - sound design, Stella and Lou
K.L. Storer - sound design, All My Sons
D. Tristan Cupp - set design, Stella and Lou
DIRECTION
*MERIT*
Gary Thompson, Stella and Lou
Debra Kent, All My Sons
Kathy Mola, The Other Place
Lorrie Sparrow-Knapp, The Christians
*EXCELLENCE*
Doug Lloyd, Bakersfield Mist
PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
*MERIT*
Jackie Anderson, The Christians
Jamie McQuinn, The Other Place
Jill Evans, The Christians
Rachel Oprea, All My Sons
Thor Sage, The Christians
*EXCELLENCE*
Mike Beerbower, All My Sons
Kayla Graham, The Other Place
PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE
*MERIT*
Rachel Oprea, Bakersfield Mist
K.L. Storer, Marjorie Prime
Geoff Burkman, Stella and Lou
Chuck Larkowski, Bakersfield Mist
*EXCELLENCE*
Amy Askins, The Other Place
Dave Williamson, All My Sons
Jeff Sams, All My Sons
Richard Young, The Christians
ENSEMBLE
*MERIT*
The Christians
Stella and Lou
All My Sons
The Other Place
OUTSTANDING OVERALL PRODUCTIONS
The Christians
All My Sons
DAYTON THEATRE GUILD MURPHY AWARDS FOR THE 2017/2018 SEASON
Best Costumes - Barbara Jorgensen, The Other Place
Best Properties - Deirdre Root, Bakersfield Mist
Best Sound Design - K.L.Storer, All My Sons
Best Lighting Design - John Falkenbach, Bakersfield Mist
Best Set Design - Chris Harmon, All My Sons
Best Supporting Actor - Mike Beerbower, All My Sons
Best Supporting Actress - Kayla Graham, The Other Place
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Rachel Oprea, Bakersfield Mist
Best Actor in a Leading Role - David Williamson, All My Sons
Best Director - Debra Kent, All My Sons
Best Ensemble - Bakersfield Mist
Best Overall Production - All My Sons
~~IN ORDER OF OCCURRENCE~~
A Sunday at the Columbus Zoo
Comprehensive account
So the Columbus Zoo
entry is close to ready, but with my forthcoming schedule I cannot be at
all sure how soon the Coming Soon
will be. Then add that I'm doing one more little
weekend-getaway, mini-vacation,
on Sunday, sort of a "Sunday at the Columbus Zoo: part 2," but
not exactly. Sunday, I'm heading to
The Wilds,
owned and operated by the Columbus Zoo. It seems to be a sort of domestic
safari and I am looking forward to it. When I will be posting pictures from,
and text about, the experience is not at all certain, as I have two events
in front of it -- and a pretty heavy rehearsal
schedule on the cusp of beginning.
I am gearing up for next Monday's first rehearsal, the
table read. Of course, I've
been fitting in line study as
much as possible, in between the sound work
for DTG and various and a
sundry other things, heading toward my goal of being at, or close to,
off-book for this show when
rehearsals begin on Monday.
The pace has not been intense, but, the pressure hasn't been on, really,
and I'm not in a bad place with the goal, right now. In other words, I'm not
off-book, yet, but I'm not feeling a panic about next Monday, either. My
progress is in a good zone. And, you know what, if I'm not perfectly off-book,
it won't be a crime. Monday's a read, anyway, and I will have the book in
my hands for a few on-your-feet rehearsals
after that. But the closer to off-book, the better.
It would have been nice if I could have managed a little more time for that
dramaturgy, that research into
John Dowd. I cobbled together a
little bit of information early on from some web sites, but the search was
more cursory than in-depth, and I haven't actually looked yet at what
little I have. So there's that to get on to.
I also have the David Alan Stern
Boston dialect CD, from the Acting with an Accent series, because
Dowd is a native Bostonian. However, I think that he likely has more of a
south Boston accent, rather than the Kennedy-eque one that the CD focuses
more on. But, I haven't listened to it for a long time. Need to get to
that. I've looked for sound bites of Dowd speaking and found only one
snippet, which suggests the south Boston. This is something else I need to
look better into. But then, I don't yet know where our BfB director,
Margarett Perry, lands on the need
for my Dowd to have a Boston accent.
By-the-way, at this point I have learned who all my cast mates are, but
I have seen no official posting by HRTC,
and I will hold off naming names until I know the information has been
officially released by the theatre company.
On another note we have a photo call
next Thursday afternoon, as artists, not characters, well, except for our
Pete Rose, who will get some solo shots, in costume, after the group shots.
When we told about the tone of the shoot we were told to think
Vanity Fair, I couldn't
help myself but to ask: "Can we have a fan on the side to get that
GQ blowing-tie thing?"
MEANWHILE:
If you are, or will be, in the Dayton, Ohio, area at the
time, please join the cast and crew at 6:00 pm on Tuesday,
August 21 at the Loft Theatre for the Meet & Greet and
get the first public look at the production.
Talk to the director and playwright, meet the entire cast,
see design presentations, learn about the special events
surrounding the run of the show and hear a reading from the
play.
After the Meet & Greet, treat yourself to a post-event
dinner at Uno Pizzeria & Grill downstairs and enjoy
15% off your bill.
Bring a friend.
Attendance is FREE, but RSVP's are required:
Contact Chad Wyckoff at 937-461-3823 x 3110
or chad@humanracetheatre.org
Contact Chad by August 17 to reserve your place.
THE FINAL STRETCH TOWARD TECH WEEK AND MY DEPARTURE FROM
THE "ACTIVE" PRODUCTION TEAM:
POV from the booth at the first rehearsal where I ran sound
The Little FoxesTech Week is next week. As the
sound designer I would prefer
to be there during the tech/dress rehearsals
next Monday through Thursday, but, it seems I have my own rehearsals, as
an actor, starting this coming Monday -- I believe I mentioned this above,
perhaps. Thus I got the sound design,
the sound plot, up and running
this past weekend, and am running it during the rehearsals this week -- so,
we're teching the sound a week earlier than usual.
I will be at Tech Sunday,
but that'll be it for me. As of Monday, I am no longer available as a
production team member at rehearsals. I might be able to pop in and tweak
something at off hours, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.
In fact, I usually am the house manager
on Opening Night; this time,
I'll be "in the audience" as that will be the only night I will
be able to get to a performance. Technically, I could make the next night,
the one 8:00 Saturday show of the run, because my BfB rehearsal wraps
at 7:00, and the theatres are only about a five-minute drive apart, but I
think I might not want to go see a classic, two-and-a-half-hour drama after
a full day of rehearsal. Besides, BfB cast/crew might want to go out
and I might just want to join them.
The production is still waiting on procuring a baby grand
prop-piano for the set, thus, there
is still a question of precisely how we will mask the small speaker I am
putting on stage to run the sound of the piano playing through -- we have
to see the piano in the space to best judge this. Clearly, the sooner the
better on these issues.
Will it be surprising to read that the sound design is not locked down yet?
Last night the director requested that I add two
sound effects to the sound
plot. I am also seriously reconsidering the
curtain music I have
chosen. Last night was the first time it was played during a run and, as
one actor remarked, it comes off a little too melodramatic, which does not
fit the end of the play. I had chosen Beethoven's "Piano Sonata no.23
in F-minor, Opus 57," and it's coming off too spastic and a little too
comedic to suit the end of this drama.
Back to Tech Sunday, the sound tech
for the production, Sarah Saunders, who is my current preferred sound tech
for shows I design, will be there early but will have to duck out before
things really get up and running. She's the SM
for the Undercroft Players'
production of
Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes,
which is in Tech this week, so she could not come in to run while I am
present. Sunday I'll show her the sound plot and a few other things, but
by the time the actual tech rehearsal begins, she'll be off to stage manage
the final performance of the Undercroft show. But she will be in for our
tech, starting this coming Monday. Still, she won't run our show at all
with me present because our schedules conflict. But, two things: 1) it a
very easy show sound-tech-wise, and, 2) Sarah is an excellent sound tech,
so she's gonna have no problems, or none that she can't deal with.
I will be showing her in more detail how to adjust volume settings in the
Show Cue System software. She's
expressed a serious interest in learning to become a sound designer, a
prospect I welcome with wide and enthusiastic arms. So, this situation is
serendipitous as far as I am concerned. It's just fine with me if she has
the responsibility to tweak the sound a little during Tech Week.
Been a little bit of preproduction for the promocast,
at least in terms of getting some graphic panels ready, and gathering
together the closing credits info. As is now the standard,
principal photography
will be Tech Sunday, and again the actors will perform for the camera(s)
rather than me shooting as they rehearse. It will, of course, be a
three-camera shoot.
I have not yet chosen the portions of the play that will be shot. I do
know that I am not going to be able to include all actors in the DV
movie; there's too limited a time period on the aggregate of material we
are allowed to use, and too large a cast. I am going to base what I use on
what is the best material for a promotional video -- what is compelling,
interesting, but not spoilers. I always do that, but, usually I try to find
a good balance so the whole cast gets recognized. I just don't think that
can happen this time.
Before the shoot on Sunday, I'll have the opening sequence and the closing
credits sequence edited already, so that all I'll have to do is add the
footage I shoot Sunday as well as the group cast photo. I've been doing
this the last few promocast productions so I can get to the
final cut ASAP after
principal photography. I haven't found the underscore music yet. I may
have some royalty-free music in my library, already, that will work, or, I
may be on-line this week, on the hunt at the royalty-free music sites.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
As for the Undercroft Players'
production of
Little Old Ladies in Tennis Shoes,
I will attend that this Friday evening, since The Little Foxes is
dark that evening. I know a
few people in the cast, as well as SM Sarah, and the director, and
Undercroft founder, Teresa Connair. There's also a coworker of mine from
the rent-payer in the cast,
Mandy Shannon, whom I'm trying to persuade to audition at
The Guild.
SATURDAY NIGHT!:
The next night, it's the incomparable
David Byrne in concert at one
the area's newer concert venues,
The Rose Music Center at the Heights.
As I mentioned before, I haven't kept up with David's music. It's likely
I'll not recognize most of the show. You know, that's okay. I still have
no doubt that I'll have a great time and that David will kill it.
I'm only a few minutes from heading to day-one of rehearsals and meeting
the rest of the cast.
Tonight will be the read-through
and the AEA meeting, which, as I am
only an EMC, I will not be involved in.
In fact, I believe I am the only non-union actor in the show.
There's also supposed to be some more costume fitting. And I think there
might be an on-your-feet rehearsal.
The Little FoxesTech Week is underway, and I am
now essentially a non-active member of the production team. I do hope
that sound design is done. I
was there yesterday for Tech Sunday
but my only other attendance, as I wrote before, will be this Friday for
Opening Night as an
audience member.
I did shoot the principal photography
for the promocast. It went well
with one unfortunate mishap. As always this was a
three-camera shoot.
During the shoot I dropped one of my cameras rendering it inoperative. I
was able to shoot the rest three-camera by substituting my iPhone as my
camera A. In editing I found that I could not even grab the footage from
the damaged camera, so a few sequences lost a few
POVs but because I had good
coverage from B & C I was abl to get a good
final cut.
Tonight is day three of the rehearsal period
for Banned from Baseball. In this early phase we are doing
table work, which our director,
Margarett Perry, professes is her
usual modus operandi, to start at the table for a little while and work on
script analysis as a group,
(cast and production people). The last time I worked with her she said
something along the lines that when the actors start to want to get out of
their chairs, she knows it's time to block. I don't know how much of that
is hyperbole, but we have been doing some pretty thorough table work thus
far, and I am willing to be we don't get to the
on-your-feet rehearsals until
next week.
Our playwright, Patricia O'Hara, is in the room, and script changes have
being made, already. In fact, Monday evening, when we got there, our
production stage manager, Jacquelyn
Duncan, gave us our packets, and included was the newest draft of the
script. As I came in, perhaps foolishly, at about 99.5%
off-book, I was relieved that
my scene (I have one scene) was not changed. But by the end of the night
a decision was made to cut part of two lines, a decision that I am fully
on board with, I might add for whatever that's worth. One particular
line that had parts of it cut, may get new words added to it, as well.
The first two nights have been great and I really like the talent in the room
both for their skill and that they all seem like really good people. It was
also gratifying to have Ms. Perry validate the choice I've made in my
approach to Dowd. She told me she loved what I was doing and she hoped I
didn't get bored with it because then I might start fussing with it and she
does not want that. So, yay. Margaret is also bringing in a dialect coach
for some of us, and I am all for that because I want to get some of Dowd's
Bostin accent at least suggested in my speech pattern. Margarett has
provided me with a link to a full lecture that Dowd gave, on this whole
Pete Rese affair, which I have not yet fit in the time to watch -- it's
about 90 minutes. I am scrutinizing my schedule to find an open space.
Sometime over the week, I would imagine, will be my chance.
Also, HRTC has officially put the cast list out there, so I feel okay to
give you the rest of the cast now:
Tonight the rehearsals move into the on-your-feet
stage, more or less. Director Margarett Perry
says that we'll more or less still be doing table work, but on the set -- or,
at this point, actually the facsimile of the set we will be on for the next
week or so. But actual blocking
is not happening just yet.
I actually have a light BFB day. I am there for the photo call
in the late afternoon but I am not called
for the actual rehearsal, I am wrapped
after the shoot. This development means I just may go into work earlier
tomorrow morning than I had planned and thus burn up a little less
vacation
time, though I'm quite likely to drop into the
Little Foxes
c, especially since,
as you've read before if you're one of the five(?) regulars, the
sound designer in me is
anxious that I haven't been there during most of Tech Week.
But on other BFB fronts, Margarett talked about our dialects last
night and her thought is that I don't really need to do anything, except
for maybe soften or drop the Rs at ends of words. She had previously sent
me a link to a one-hour class forum at Emory University
that Dowd participated in a few years ago, one which focused on the Pete Rose
gambling affair and Dowd's investigation. There's some great information and
insight there. My big interest was hearing Dowd speak. Having heard him now,
I am not going to attempt to match his vocal quality because it's so different
from mine that I either must master it 100% or risk sounding like an actor
doing a voice on stage. I expressed that last night and she did not object
-- I don't know her terribly well, but I know her well enough to know that
had she disagreed I would have known that.
The other dramaturgy I'm doing
is to look at, at least, sections of the book
Hustle,
by Michael Sokolove,
a biography of Rose. I only received it through the OhioLink
library borrowing network, so I've not looked through it yet. I am obviously
most interested on any information about Dowd and his work on the case, if
there is any. And I still have some info on Dowd I gathered earlier and as
of yet have attended to.
Again, I am 99.99% likely to be at tonight's
final dress rehearsal. There
have been no problems reported these last several nights I've not been there,
but as the sound designer I
will rest much easier if I can be at this last
tech rehearsal.
I did attend Final Dress last
night as the sound designer
and did make a couple tweaks: all volume. Plus I clarified a cue and made
a slight change to another cue. There was also one miscommunication about
the playing of a cue because my note about it in the
sound tech script was only clear
enough for the one who wrote it to understand. I needed to hear the execution
of that cue from the audience, which was not possible last night -- it's
got to do with a command for a sound to switch speakers -- so we are going
to run that cue before the house opens tonight.
Tonight, rather than being the Opening Nighthouse manager, as I usually
am, I will be only an audience member. I think I wrote about this a little
while back. I think also in the earlier writing I admitted that there's
little chance I won't have my sound designer's hat on, either. In
fact, since I had been absent for most of Tech Week,
there's no way I won't be wearing it.
One thing I can say from last night's viewing of the final dress is that
this is another DTG production worth the ticket.
There are a handful of recordings from the arch of pop history that
have the absolute signature vocal performance of the song, whether
it be the original perfomance or not, ones where once you hear that
version, that vocal, you find it so pristine, you find it flirting
so close to perfection, so grazing the surface of perfection, that
you must ask yourself why any singer afterward would even bother to
attempt the song. To me, Aretha's performance of "Natural
Woman" was one of those. She gave us so much through her long
and celebrated tenure as The Queen of Soul, but just her amazing
vocal on that one song, would be enough.
That she gave us so much more is just so much more astounding.
I wasn't called either Saturday nor
Sunday to rehearsal. Since
Friday was the Equity day off
for last week, and since I wasn't called to rehearsal after Thursday's
publicity photo shoot, I haven't been in rehearsal since last Wednesday.
I have mixed emotions about this. There's been an opportunity to do a few
things but I also feel a little left out. It's been suggested that I can
probably sit in on any future rehearsals I am not called to, though there
probably are not going to be a whole lot of those, if any. But, if there
are, I might try and sit in, just to stay closer connected to the process.
There's no question I'll be called for tomorrow night's rehearsal, since
the Meet & Greet is 6:00-7:00. I'll at least be called to that. I'm
making an assumption that my scene will get worked tomorrow, after the
Meet & Greet, about which I'm betting I am correct.
I was in the audience for
The Little Foxes
both Friday and Saturday evening. The cast gave really stellar performances
both nights. There's not a weak performance in the cast, and there are a
couple excellent performances.
Naturally, as I stated before would be the case, I was not simply an
audience member either night, but also scrutinized the sound levels and
such during both performances. Naturally, I tweaked some things, after the
Friday show only, though. Saturday I was satisfied with things.
That frikkin' gremlin did show
itself both nights, interferring in different manners each night. Friday
evening it made a sound fade abruptly that is programmed to be a slow fade.
I was not able to determine why, either. I did trouble-shoot the problem
after the show and was able to get it to execute correctly, but it was by
doing the stereotypical shut-it-off-and-turn-it back-on gambit.
Saturday evening it was the audio for the hearing assistance devices. There
was broadcast but the mixer wasn't reading nor send a signal. Turns out that
it had been inadvertently set on stand-by.
Since I wasn't called for Banned from Baseball yesterday I was able
to attend a production meeting
for
This Random World
late morning. Not really a lot to report, save that there are some pretty
cool artistic concepts floating around for the production.
Also a reminder for those who read this in time that open auditions for the
show are tonight and tomorrow night. There will be audition specs just below
the latest blog entry here until the auditions are over.
The Meet & Greet is tonight at 6:00. I am called
for that, of course, but, I am once again not called for rehearsal.
I'd actually see if I could stay and observe, but, this does give me the
opportunity to attend night two of
This Random World
auditions. It's not unexpected that I haven't been called ever night while
scene work is being done; still,
I hear John Fogerty's
"Centerfield"
in my head.
I assume that I will be called tomorrow night. It's clear that my scene will
not be one ran for the audience tonight at the Meet & Greet, but I
had never expected it would be.
The photo above is one from the publicity shoot last Thursday.
I was able to sit in on auditions last night and will pop over again tonight
as soon as the Banned from Baseball Meet & Greet is over.
We are especially hoping for more women in their 20's & their 30's-40's,
as well as men in their 20's and 30's. If local theatre people happen to
read this in time -- Spread the word!
Again, there will be audition specs just below the latest blog entry here
until the auditions are over.
The Meet & Greet Tuesday went well. I didn't do much beside be
present on stage as a cast member. Most of the event was streamed live
on-line and is available for those with a facebook account at:
www.facebook.com/humanracetheatre/videos/504198036688626/.
I was called last night to
rehearsal for
scene work, but my call was not
until 8:00. Not having rehearsal Tuesday night meant that I could
have gotten to bed when I normally do (though I didn't exactly), which in
turn meant that I could have come in to the rent-payer
at my usual 7 a.m., though I actually didn't make it in until 9:00. Still,
that I had a late call last evening meant that I could work later at the
rent-payer beforehand. My scene work ended about 9:30, which meant
that I was again able to get to bed at my regular time. That again
meant that I had the chance to go into day-job work earlier today. This all
boils down to the opportunity to burn up less
vacation
leave, which is always good. I still will end up using one hour of
vacation
time today because, despite that I was wrapped
by 9:30, I was up late doing some line work,
which included rerecording my dead-pan recording of mine and the other
characters' lines in my scene; the new recording reflects the changes in
the script since last I recorded the scene.
I'm not called this evening, but I will probably spend the evening working
the scene, both on firming my verbatim delivery of lines and working on
some prop business that I
got at rehearsal last night. I will be handling and messing with document
evidence a bit during the scene and I need to get comfortable with the
movements and the specifics of each prop use.
There's a possibility that the weeknight rehearsal times might be moved up
a bit to late afternoon into mid-evening. Tonight's is by an hour, but it's
not relevant to me since I won't be there. But I can actually accomodate
this change at the rent-payer -- I'd just both come in and leave earlier.
The only hick-up for me is that I have just hired a brand new student employee
who primarily should be working afternoons for me, and at least next week,
if rehearsals are moved up in the day, I would not be at the rent-payer in
the afternoons for her training, so her first week on the job may have some
slightly screwy work hours. C'est la vie.
Oh, yeah! One other great piece of news to announce: There are some sports
caster voice-overs in the show.
Kevin Moore
reached out to the legendary Cincinnati announcer
Marty Brennaman
to record them, and, after reading the script, Brennaman has come on board.
How cool is that?
PLUS:
This coming Monday, our Equity day off,
will be an HRTC outing to a Dayton Dragons
baseball game, obviously, a tie-in event with the production. For those from
out of the area reading this -- if there are any -- The Dayton Dragons is
the farm team for the Cincinnati Reds,
and the team's home park is
Fifth Third Field,
which is not too far of a walk from the Human Race's
Loft Theatre.
This will be the first professional baseball game I've gone to since I was
a wee little one, maybe ten or eleven, and I went to see the Reds play at
Crosley Field, not
long I think before it was closed down. Both
Pete Rose and
Johnny Bench
were in the line-up. But we were practically in the rafters and I remember
that I didn't enjoy myself much because I felt so detached from the action.
Meanwhile, here's another publicity photo of the Band
from BaseBall cast and the playwright:
Same configuration as the last one:
BACK ROW (L-R): Marc Moritz (Reuvan Katz),
Doug MacKechnie (Bart Giamatti),
Brian Dykstra (Pete Rose).
FRONT ROW (L-R): K.L.Storer (John Dowd), Patricia O'Hara (playwright),
Scott Hunt (Fay Vincent).
Tuesday night wrapped the open auditions for
This Random World.
Director Margie Strader has not yet cast the entire show. Her hope is to do
the read-through this coming
Monday evening, so the cast list should be coming soon.
I again was not called to rehearsal
last night. Since the scene work
Wednesday I've been off again. But I am called for today. I still need to
master the prop business
that was introduced Wednesday. But, that's what rehearsal is for.
This Random World.
Director Margie Strader has not cast the show yet. Stay tuned. She is still
hoping for a full cast for the
read-through this coming
Monday evening.
There really doesn't seem to be a lot of reason for a wealth of prose text
here. There's not much to say, save that on the day I went the weather
forecasts were threatening some showers during the day. It was intermittently
overcast throughout the day but I was able to spend several hours at the
zoo with no rain falling.
It was my first time at the
Columbus Zoo
and I liked it, but, to be honest, I enjoyed my trip to the
Cincinnati Zoo,
back in July of 2016, just as much. Still, the Columbus Zoo was a nice day
with some good stuff.
Here are some photos, okay, maybe more than "some," and again as
in the past, with me not recalling exact species in many instances:
These are easy; these are flamingos.
Zoo staff with the flamingos.
Turtles
Snakes
I have no idea what kind of lizards these are
More snakes
I'm 90% sure this is an iguana
Some sort of tropical frog
Some sort of aquatic lizard
More turtles
More turtles
This turtle could only be more pre-historic if it
were a fossil
More snakes
Penguins
Big turtle
Animatronic velociraptor
It's a primate, I know that much
Napping orangoutang
Pelican
Kyoto dragon
Colobus monkey
Leopard
Memorial bust for
Colo,
the first gorilla born in captivity. He lived to
be sixty years old.
Gorilla
More gorillas
Adolescent gorilla peaking over a ledge
Big-ass male gorilla who had just done a dominate
run in the inclosure
The Columbus Zoo has some great signs!
I have no idea what kind of bird this is
Well, one of these is a parrot....
??????????
So, I think maybe the coolest thing at the zoo is the
school of manatees
Manatee
Manta ray
Swan
I wanna say, "reindeer" (?)
African lionesses
Cheeta
Giraffe
Not sure what kind of monkey this is
You just gotta wonder what that lioness is thinking. It
does not look like anything good, does it?
Still can't identify the monkey species
Big-ass snake
See, big-ass snake
Tigers
Okay, I got this one! I'd say these are elephants. But, I'm
just guessing.
And....if I'm not mistaken, this is a rhinoceros
Deer
American buffalo
Grizzly bear
Polar bear
Um, - - - camels?
One more African lion shot
Again, I think maybe a reindeer
Bullwinkle!!
The obligatory
vacation
ice cream cone
On the way out
Garlic bread and chicken parmesan at
Iacono's Ristorante
before I headed back home
Yesterday we did our first stumble-through,
mostly for the benefit of the designers. I did not have my script in my
hand, or in this case, on my desk, and I didn't
call for line, but I did
"reinvent" (read: paraphrase) a couple lines. So,
off-book?: yes, but not
perfectly. I also was not as quick on some cue pick-ups as I could or
ought to be because the recall of the lines was not as swift yet as it will
be.
This evening most of us do the tie attendance at the
Dayton Dragons baseball game at
Fifth Third Field,
a few blocks from the theatre. Again, if there happens to be a non-local
person reading this, The Dayton Dragons is the farm team for the
Cincinnati Reds, a team that
figures into the play just a little bit.
I came in earlier than my call yesterday to do
line work and to practice some with my props, in
the front lobby area of
The Loft.
Actor rehearsing acting
The rehearsal version of the Dowd/Rose table, in
the rehearsal hall.
I am typing this in the dressing room at
The Human Race Theatre Company
during the midst of a tech rehearsal
where specifics of moments are being worked out and refined. We started
tech yesterday. There's also a bit since last I wrote here about rehearsals;
Probably will be a long entry tomorrow to catch up.
Directed by Kathy Mola
Produced by Debra Kent
Assistant Produced by Scott Madden
In a small Alabama town in the year 1900, a southern family's
selfish pursuit of the American Dream ends up destroying them and
those they love. Three siblings -- the manipulative Regina, the
cruel and arrogant Oscar, and the possessive Benjamin -- have
decided to partner together to increase their already substantial,
ill-gotten wealth. But Regina's terminally ill husband, Horace,
refuses to give them the money they need. In the end, blood and
money mix with money coming out on top, leaving a broken family
behind.
Well, tonight is the official Opening Night.
We've had two performances already before audiences -- last night, the
preview performance, and
Wednesday night, our final dress rehearsal
in front of the
Pay What You Can Night audience. Of
course, there have been some rehearsals since last I reported, so there's
lots to tell ya about; I just gotta set the time aside to write it.
It's a Paul McCartney day today, as well as other things. This morning I
downloaded his new album, which released today. I am only listening to it
for the first time as I write this, so no response yet.
I do like it, but I reserve more critical response until later.
Meanwhile, a little later this morning, I bought a ticket for my eleventh
time to see him on stage. This time I bought a VIP ticket -- for A LOT
of money!
What does one get for a VIP ticket? Well, I bought the premium VIP ticket,
so here's my June 1, 2019:
- One (1) premium ticket
- Priority check-in and entrance
- Invitation to Sir Paul McCartney's sound check
- Pre-show hospitality reception
- Commemorative Ticket
- Limited edition numbered lithograph
- Merchandise item designed and created exclusively for package purchasers
- Collectible laminate to remember your evening
- Onsite check-in staff
*NOTE THE "INVITATION TO SIR PAUL
MCCARTNEY'S SOUND CHECK."
Today would have been my father's ninety-ninth birthday.
Tonight we start the second week of the run. We've gotten through our
opening week of this great show. I think we have something here! Great
script! Great direction! Great work from all my castmates! Rocking crew and
designers!
You have through the Sep 23 to come see us!
Pretty much since the start of tech rehearsals,
I've been battling with a cold, or perhaps a mild case of the flu. Probably
it's just a sever cold since I didn't have any fever spikes or such. But it's
hindered my voice some, yet I have made it through. I'm almost over it all
now and hope to be 100% soon.
Now for more specific "catch-up," we survived tech, and there
were many minute specifics to many of the scene transitions, not so much
for me -- but certainly for the other actors. There definitely a lot of
specifics for both Lighting DesignerJohn Rensel
and Sound Designer Jay Brunner.
They both had a bit or adjusting to do, and then whenever the movement of
cast and crew was altered during scene changes, they both had more adjustments
to make, especially John.
For my scene (scene 5), I am involved in placing
set pieces and
props and then also
striking some. During the transition
from scene 3 to scene 4, I bring out one of the two chairs for my scene --
the one that Pete Rose (Brian Dykstra)
uses. Meanwhile our two crack PAs
(Morgan and Kamryn) are bringing out the table that Rose and my Dowd will
sit at for the deposition. During the transition into scene 5, I then bring
out my own chair. I was also, at that point, distributing documents across
the table, trying to beat the "lights up" cue -- but see below,
because that changed. When the scene's done, I then strike my chair and
my briefcase which has been setting on the floor next to me. To be honest,
because both Brian and I are in tight spots
with the rest f the stage dark, I am not too sure the audience even notices
brief case during the scene. But it serves a practical purpose when we
are setting the stage, because as the PAs bring the table out, it sets
across the documents on the table and keeps them from flying off. Once the
PAs have place the table, Kamryn then places it at its location on the
floor next to where I will sit.
I also set a lectern for Commissioner Giamatti
(Doug MacKechnie) close
to the end of the show, mostly because I am free and there's no one else to
do it.
In terms of the development of Dowd during the last stretch of rehearsal,
Margarett had me ram p up the
aggression of the questioning. I think we actually have our Dowd a bit more
theatrical in his aggression than the real Dowd would be. That's our
dramatic license which works well for the show. I had abandoned the idea
of doing an authentic representation of Dowd, already, because his voice
and physicality is much different than mine, and to try a duplicate him
would have resulted in an actor doing an imitation on stage, which just
simply does not work. So, I have just gone with what I did in my audition
video -- it is what landed me the job, after all -- but have amped up
Dowd's attack on Rose.
The other big thing for most of the cast has been, of course, to get
off-book, which is a bit more
complicated with a new play, because the playwright, Patricia O'Hara, was
re-writing things almost up to tech. There have been things cut, things
added, things cut then restored. That's the nature of the beast with a new
work, but, it's made off-book more difficult to get to, especially for
the other cast members. I have one scene and there were only minor
alterations to the text, so I have not had the burdon the others share.
I will say that during our last rehearsal before we added an audience, which
was last Tuesday, I had a couple line trip-ups and did go up
for a moment on a line. The worse part about it was that I
broke character, and
at that stage of the game I don't find that acceptable, at all, not at the
second-to-last dress. I
made myself very unhappy.
Last Wednesday being Pay What You Can Night,
it was both rehearsal (Final Dress)
and our first performance in front of an audience and it went well. Thursday
was the full-ticket price audience, for preview,
and Friday was the official Opening Night.
The six performances between Wednesday and Sunday went well.
I've been pretty satisfied with my work.I've had a few minor line flubs,
but nothing that the audience would know, or if they would know, would not
disregard. The biggest potential jackpot was a performance where I went up
for an instant on a line but the only person who knew, besides myself, was
my scene mate, Brian (Pete). It was a situation where I blanked for just a
fraction of a moment, which, of course, seemed like ten seconds or so to
me. Brian verified later that it was not a discernible amount if time. The
only reason he knew was because of my usual rhythm and timing on that line.
Other than these minor blips that one can't avoid in live performance, the
first installment of the run has been good for me, It's been good for the
whole ensemble. Tonight we start installment number two.
A photo of Paul on my TV playing at the Grand Central
Station show on YouTube.
Paul did a live-stream of a free, "surprise" concert at
Grand Central Station in New York City Friday evening. I, of course, was
not able to see the live stream because I was sort busy at the theatre. I
watched it the next morning.
Nice show. It made me even more anticipatory for next June, when I see him
closer than I ever have before.
Here's where my seat is for Paul next June 1. I think the
seat is closer to the stage than it seems on the chart.
It's row G, 7 rows back.
Tonight, Ringo and His All-Starr Band
will be going on at the Fraze Pavilion
without me in the audience. Of course, as I wrote before, I had a ticket
but then I got cast in Banned From Baseball which has a performance
tonight, so I had to sell my ticket.
*The graphic configuration here, by-the-way, is my creation and is
not an official graphic banner from HRTC, though some elements (the
illustrative graphic, the show title graphic, and the HRTC logo
graphic) are from HRTC; just to be clear -- K.L.
This production marks my fourth appearance on the Human Race
Theatre's boards, my second there in a
straight play, the
other straight play being
Gingerbread Children,
by Michael Slade,
which was a staged reading,
coincidentally also directed by Ms. Margarett Perry, who
directed BfB, where I'm in the role of John Dowd,
who was special counsel to Major League Baseball during the investigations
of Pete Rose for gambling on professional baseball.
It's 1989 and a battle for the soul of Major League Baseball is
brewing between Commissioner Bart Giamatti and Pete Rose, the
reigning Hit King and manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Rose is
accused of betting on baseball -- even on his own team -- an
allegation he denies despite the mounting evidence. The intellectual
Giamatti wants Rose's confession, while the larger-than-life Rose
wants the Commissioner to believe his denials. This collision of
wills comes to a head as they meet face to face. If the charge
proves to be true, "Charlie Hustle" could be banned from
the game -- for life -- leaving a black mark on the sport both men
love and forever tarnishing a living legend.
With Banned from Baseball closed, it's now time to move fully into
the next project as sound designer
for This Random World.
I start attending rehearsals as
of tonight to get a feel for what segments of the chosen
production music should be
used, where. Tech Week is just
six days away with Tech Sunday,
where I will need to deliver the sound plot.
Fortunately, the source of the production music has been chosen, and since
earlier this summer, so, as I alluded to just above, all I need to do is
hone down the exact selections for each scene change. There still is not a
decision on the curtain music,
but there already are two strong contenders. I've not completely decided on
pre-show music, but I have a
pretty good idea, so there will be no difficulties there, either.
I'll also be watching to pick the moments for the
promocast, which will be shot
this coming Tech Sunday, as per usual.
Canon Vixia HF R800
During the principal photography
for the promocast for
The Little Foxes,
I dropped and damaged one of my Canon Vixia HF R40 HD DV cameras. It has
seemed to be beyond repair. I dropped into a local Best Buy yesterday to
see if I could pick up a new, comparable model. There was a
Canon Vixia HF R800
on display, but the store did not have one in stock for sale, nor did the
closest sister store. The sales rep offered to put one on order, but here's
the thing: recently I have come in to that store to purchase several different
products with a model on display but none in stock to buy and walk out with.
So, I went home and ordered the new camera on-line and deprived Best Buy of
the sale -- plus I paid close to $100 less, as a bonus. Now my only hope is
that there is not going to be a great
continuity problem caused
by any drastic differences in video quality between this new R800 and the
two RF40s that are still up and working. As some may know, i use these to
shoot the promocasts, and I do three-camera shoots.
One wants a consistency between the three images of the same action.
I also am seriously contemplating buying a much better still-photo camera,
a DSLR,
which of course I will also be able to shoot DV movie footage with. If I do
get such a device, it'd be for
single-camera shoots.
But the big thing is, despite that I can get pretty decent photos with good
resolution, the zoom on both my phone and my little point-and-shoot is not
terribly good.
Early, very early, Wednesday morning, September 29, 1982, I was in my
twenties and was a raging, practicing alcoholic, and I was drunk; I was
shitfaced, manic, insanely drunk. It was one of those drunken nights, which
were becoming the norm in my life, where most of the night was irreversibly
lost to the dank, dark, abyss of a series of blackouts. It was a night
where my behavior was, once again, out of control. The police were called on
me, as they should have been.
It was also my last drunk.
A year later, 9/29/83 I had achieved the unthinkable: I was one year sober.
It was surreal. I was amazed.
A whole lifetime has passed since those days. It hasn't been a skyrocket to
stardom or some such, and it hasn't all been happy fun time. But, I have
faced everything without having to turn to a drink, or a joint, or whatever,
which is a pretty amazing thing for someone like me.
So, today, I have reached Thirty-Six years sober. How grateful am I that
I found a spiritual path and a plethora of kindred spirits that have made
it a reality.
The sound design has been
finalized. All I need to do is get it programmed into
Show Cue System software in
the booth at the theatre. I was
going to drive in tonight and program it, but I decided I can wait until
tomorrow. The crew call isn't
until noon tomorrow (Tech Sunday),
so I should be done by then, provided that i get there early enough -- which
I'm kind of committed to, now. I've also sent out the
shooting script to the
cast and crew, for the promocast
tomorrow.
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Pretty much since the start of 
