I've stayed up past my bedtime again.

When I was 5 or 6 years old, my bedtime was 8 o'clock. We had an enclosed staircase with two bends. You would go up 4-5 steps, there was a landing, a bend, 10-15 more steps, another landing, another bend, and then 4-5 steps to reach the top floor. Well, Thursday nights were always the most difficult for me because I just knew that Hillstreet Blues was the best thing ever and I wasn't ever allowed to watch it. It was on at 9pm. Yes, hold your collective gasps, it was on that late at night. I would go to bed, wait for my little sisters to fall asleep, then I would sneak back down the stairs to just above that first bend. Any further up and I couldn't hear the TV, any further down and someone might see me if they went to the kitchen to get a drink. I would just sit there and wait for the most amazing music in the world. That opening theme to Hillstreet Blues was magical. Nowadays its mixed up with the Law and Order theme in the mess that is my brain. But if I hear those opening chords I'm transported back to that crooked little staircase with my footed pajamas, holding my breath. Inevitably I would fall asleep on the stairs, and sometimes I woke up and made my way back up the stairs on my own, and sometimes, I'm sure, my father would find my comatose body and carry me to my bed.

Fast forward twenty years and I'm still always wondering what I might miss if I go to sleep. It's midnight, I could be reading a book, watching a movie, whatever, and so tired my eyes hurt, my head keeps bobbing up and down in this dance of "I'm not sleepy...I'm awake!" Why can't I just realize I'm tired, stand up, walk to my room, lay down, and sleep somewhere more comfortable than an armchair? I do this to myself 9 nights out of 10. But especially on nights when I know I have to be up in the morning. If my alarm is set, I have to defy my set "bedtime" and strain my ears to hear what I am missing in those minutes after I've given in to sleep.


I saw a one man show tonight called Son of Drakula written and performed by David Drake. First, let me confess that I have this strange apathetic attitude towards all things vampire, so I wasn't really intending to see the show. But Allan, one of my actors in Cuckoo's Nest saw it and told me I needed to see the show just for the technical aspects if nothing else. And he was right. It was a beautifully simple show. The set consisted of two blocks, a microphone w/stand, and a music stand. David didn't use any props to differentiate between the different characters. The lights and sound created a beautiful world that was abstract and magical. I was entranced by these sharp squares of light on the floor. Not pools of light, but little squares. It was a bold, strong choice and it worked. The sound design was just as crisp and interesting. Fingers on a keyboard when David mentioned an email conversation. People in a train station. Even a Croatian Celine Dion crooning away on that horrid sinking boat song. Beautiful design.

The show itself was mildly forgetful, but that could be because parts of it hypnotized me into my theater trance (a very similar state to the one I get when fighting with my body's bed time) and I don't remember what I missed. Sections though were lyrical and evocative. I especially liked anything that didn't have to do with Dracula. There was a section about David as a young boy, remembering the first time he saw a particular movie. (some dracula horror film) It was at a drive-in with his mother and her date. Here, Drake played with memory, and a strange attraction to the man who smelled of Aqua Velva. It was just a shard, a fragment of a memory and landed inside me with more force than most of the plot of the play. I would love to be able to go see it again, but unfortunately it leaves town tomorrow and I have rehearsal.

After the show there was a Q&A. Just a few of us stayed and we asked questions. When that was over I chatted with one of Drake's co-directors, Kathleen Brant. She showed me her awesome pen that has a light built into the tip so you can take notes during tech rehearsals and performances. yippee! She told me I can find them at scripos.com but unfortunately the link didn't work for me. It wasn't one of those pens in which the shaft lights up. Just the tip of the pen lit up. I want one. Maybe I'll send Kathleen a letter asking for more details about that awesome pen of hers.

I mentioned I was directing Cuckoo's Nest and she gave me a bit of advice. To keep it clean and simple. She had just recently seen the Gary Sinise production and she said it got very messy and bloody at the end and Nurse Ratched was flipping out. I don't think I'm going in that direction anyway, so I think I'm doin' alright. When I mentioned my idea to have the entire set and space all white she told me I really need to use colored light. I think she's right, but I also need to know what those colors will mean when I use them. And where could I use them. Red during the alarm. Blue for the Chief's river. But how else can I use those colors without being cliche or cheesy?

I guess I'll just have to sleep on it.

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