The cast is down to a managable 18 now. Wahoo!

I like the possibilities the script is showing, but I still don't love the play. Gah. I need to find a passion for it to make these next few weeks not just bearable, but exciting and fun. Today was my official last day off before the play opens. And, since we're trying to push the opening date back one week, that opening night of freedom feels like it's too far away and I feel like I'm trapped.

Job interview tomorrow, and I'm gonna follow up on the Anchorage Opera Job I sent in a resume for last week. A new job is just the thing I need to feel like a person again.
A new job and a season of shows to direct that I like. With pre-production time. mmmm.... pre-production.

Well, we had a read through of the script yesterday. Michael (the co-writer/producer/artistic director) was a little overwhelmed by the number of people I had cast (25). He told me I should think about cutting five people. So, I had to take on the task of tearing a part out of some poor child's hands. This sucked. I picked five people to be cut today. Informed two of them, and had Michael call the other three.

Meantime, I'm meeting with my stage manager and assistant director to figure out a complete rehearsal schedule. We've got a huge butcher paper calendar taped down to a table and we're trying to fit what should take 6-8 weeks into 3.5. I've never had rehearsals 7 days a week before, but now.. I'm gonna be a slave driver.

Michael calls, one of the children's mother (and the child herself) is VERY upset about being cut and willing to do anything to come back into the fold. I feel like I'm stuck being the evil bad director lady. The man who told me to cut people is now telling me not to cut this particular child even though she's got a busy-ass schedule. I know she's adorable. ALL of the kids are adorable.

Arg.

It just feels like I'm climbing uphill and I'm not really sure why. With Cuckoo's Nest I had an absolute love of the script. I found personal meaning in it. I haven't found why I'm involved with Oliver yet. It can't just be the challenge of doing this gargantuan project. I have to find a personal attachment an investment in the script, in the characters. How is this play going to change who I am? Is it teaching me how to make tough decisions. Aren't I being a kind of Fagin character if I work these kids as hard as I plan?

I took this gig because I want to be a director more than anything in the world. I want to make my living as one. And I can't do that if I'm not willing to take on projects that scare me and stretch my abilities. And if there's anything this project does, it terrifies me. But, starting tomorrow, I dive in head-first, and it doesn't matter if I'm shivering and quaking in my burkenstocks. I have to look like I know exactly what I'm doing and like I've got all the right questions and answers hidden in my pocket.

Because I love silly meaningless quizzes. And because this quiz was accurate for me. (yeah, like I expected anything else with the way I answer questions) I share with the zero people who read my blog. hee.


Which John Cusack Are You?

Almost done with casting for Oliver Twist. yay. Only one more show left of Cuckoo's Nest. boo.

But now onto more important things.

I cannot believe that that Carmen brat is still on American Idol. Gah! has the American public absolutely no taste whatsoever? The girl couldn't hold a note steady to save her white-bready good looks. Goat girl needs to stop "Turning the Bleat Around" and take some singing lessons. Maybe in 4 or 5 years she'll be talanted. But right now? She's getting religious votes from the Mormons in Utah with a television, she's getting lusty votes from the 14 year old boys who have to clean their sheets every morning, and she's getting votes from the dirty old men who want to make lots of money by turning her into a slutty music machine. But the problem is, she doesn't create music. She just bleats like the goat-girl she is. And they got rid of Ricky?!? After his best performance? Not just his best performance, but the best performance of the whole damn week. Crimeny. I'm gonna have to beat some heads in. I guess I don't really care who wins. As long as its not Miss Morman Goat-Girl or Mister Ass Face Marine. Heck, even if Miss Amusement Park herself won I don't think I'd be too disappointed.

Wow. What a fabulous week. Last Saturday was my birthday. I spent hours on the phone with friends. The week sped by. Cuckoo's Nest is still selling out. I was offered the chance to direct a new adaptation of Oliver Twist for ACT. And then, this morning, my phone rang like forty times. I needed sleep, so I blissfully ignored it. Then I got up and was puttering around when the phone rang again, for me. It was my friend Anita. She was in town and we made plans to go see Bowling for Columbine. Well, those had been my plans, but now I was picking her up first. Out of curiosity I checked the phone log to see who had called earlier in the morning.

Lo and behold. There were three calls from my friend Mike. I immediately rang his number up in Fairbanks. He wasn't home, I mentioned who I was and Mike's roommate(?) told me Mike had left for Anchorage around noon. Yee haw! Fairbanks people comin' to Anchorage in droves. This was exciting.

Mike, Maggie, and Anita all made it to see my play tonight. They all seemed to like it. Afterwards we went out to Mooses Tooth then to Mad Myrna's. Dropped Anita off at her hotel, made up the couch bed for Mike and Maggie, and now its time to sleep. Ahhh... evil daytime savings. I'm losing an hour of sleep tonight, and this time it's not my fault.

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