ONE MORE PUSH...!
This is a line from our recently closed (but possibly returning soon?) musical "Caged Dames." It also describes what today is going to be like for me, as I prepare to go out of town for a few days to see the fam'bly...
Well, "Caged Dames" closed yesterday, as I mentioned. I had a great time with this one, and I absolutely loved our musical director, Andra Velis Simon. She reminds me so much of several friends of mine and she was just such a blast to work with! She's also quite good at rearranging music in a hurry. Isn't she, David? :-)
I loved the whole cast, too. Everyone was so great, and I enjoyed working with people I'd never worked with before, like Tina Haglund (Big Lorraine), Cheryl Snodgrass (Bigger Lorraine), Earliana McLaurin (EarlJean), Adrienne Smith (Myrtle) and Annie Gloyn (Aggie the Snitch).
The "one more push" line refers to the protagonist, Mary, delivering her baby on the warden's desk in the women's prison (the "Cage" of "Caged Dames"), with the help of homemaker/murderess Betty Parker, who sports a pair of Playtex dishwashing gloves (and a necklace made of spools of thread!) throughout the play. This, and many other darkly hilarious moments, made "Caged Dames" a gem of a show. (And the music was fun, too!) There's talk of a re-mount/extension early next year, so stay tuned...
Now, I can concentrate on "Rudolph, the Red-Hosed Reindeer" and playing mean-ass Santa. This weekend I worked on projecting, and found that I can growl in a higher-register voice just as well as a low-register one. We also worked on some staging and Tim spread the blocking out a little, so we're using more space and movement, which really works well. Last night, we were without David, Ed Jones, and Mike Miller because they were storing the "Caged Dames" costumes after the show, and several others because they were out for other reasons. So Lori Lee (Yukon Cornelia) gamely read Mrs. Claus's lines as well as Herbie's. She was responding to herself a couple of times! We worked on the songs a little and sang "Christmastown" and "The Lesson Song." I was pleasantly surprised that I haven't completely lost my voice since leaving the chorus...I was actually able to hit the notes. I need to keep after it, though, or I will lose it and have to start all over!
What was the other thing I'm concentrating on? Oh, yeah, work...that thing that pays my mortgage. I've gotten a lot done today, so everyone should be in good shape while I'm out for the rest of the week. People always joke about "hoping the place doesn't fall apart" while I'm out. They're only half-joking. Not that it would fall apart really, but there are lots of things they've just gotten used to relying on me for. I should be flattered that I'm so "essential," but to be honest, it sort of pisses me off sometimes, because it heaps more responsibility on me than I should have to assume...most of the things people come crying to me about are things that are:
a.) not that big a deal; and
b.) easily solved themselves if they cared to lift a finger. (Ahh, but therein lies the rub. It's a non-profit with lots of cerebral types, so we got lots of "thinkers" here and not a whole lotta "doers.")
But for right this moment, I can live with it...
Come see "Rudolph!" We open December 1 at Bailiwick (1229 W. Belmont--same as "Caged Dames") and run through December 30.
Fridays at 7:00PM
Saturdays at 10:00PM.
Tickets $15.
Well, "Caged Dames" closed yesterday, as I mentioned. I had a great time with this one, and I absolutely loved our musical director, Andra Velis Simon. She reminds me so much of several friends of mine and she was just such a blast to work with! She's also quite good at rearranging music in a hurry. Isn't she, David? :-)
I loved the whole cast, too. Everyone was so great, and I enjoyed working with people I'd never worked with before, like Tina Haglund (Big Lorraine), Cheryl Snodgrass (Bigger Lorraine), Earliana McLaurin (EarlJean), Adrienne Smith (Myrtle) and Annie Gloyn (Aggie the Snitch).
The "one more push" line refers to the protagonist, Mary, delivering her baby on the warden's desk in the women's prison (the "Cage" of "Caged Dames"), with the help of homemaker/murderess Betty Parker, who sports a pair of Playtex dishwashing gloves (and a necklace made of spools of thread!) throughout the play. This, and many other darkly hilarious moments, made "Caged Dames" a gem of a show. (And the music was fun, too!) There's talk of a re-mount/extension early next year, so stay tuned...
Now, I can concentrate on "Rudolph, the Red-Hosed Reindeer" and playing mean-ass Santa. This weekend I worked on projecting, and found that I can growl in a higher-register voice just as well as a low-register one. We also worked on some staging and Tim spread the blocking out a little, so we're using more space and movement, which really works well. Last night, we were without David, Ed Jones, and Mike Miller because they were storing the "Caged Dames" costumes after the show, and several others because they were out for other reasons. So Lori Lee (Yukon Cornelia) gamely read Mrs. Claus's lines as well as Herbie's. She was responding to herself a couple of times! We worked on the songs a little and sang "Christmastown" and "The Lesson Song." I was pleasantly surprised that I haven't completely lost my voice since leaving the chorus...I was actually able to hit the notes. I need to keep after it, though, or I will lose it and have to start all over!
What was the other thing I'm concentrating on? Oh, yeah, work...that thing that pays my mortgage. I've gotten a lot done today, so everyone should be in good shape while I'm out for the rest of the week. People always joke about "hoping the place doesn't fall apart" while I'm out. They're only half-joking. Not that it would fall apart really, but there are lots of things they've just gotten used to relying on me for. I should be flattered that I'm so "essential," but to be honest, it sort of pisses me off sometimes, because it heaps more responsibility on me than I should have to assume...most of the things people come crying to me about are things that are:
a.) not that big a deal; and
b.) easily solved themselves if they cared to lift a finger. (Ahh, but therein lies the rub. It's a non-profit with lots of cerebral types, so we got lots of "thinkers" here and not a whole lotta "doers.")
But for right this moment, I can live with it...
Come see "Rudolph!" We open December 1 at Bailiwick (1229 W. Belmont--same as "Caged Dames") and run through December 30.
Fridays at 7:00PM
Saturdays at 10:00PM.
Tickets $15.
posted by Aaron at 12:20 PM
2 Comments:
A return of CAGED DAMES? Lord almighty, where's my Amtrak schedule?
Looking forward to seeing you as mean Santa.
Hope your holiday is safe and chock full o' turkey and punkin pie goodness!
Hope yours is a good one, too! With no Aunt Carols or Elaines! (That was mine)
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