Monday, May 30

Who works on holidays??????

Happy Memorial Day!


I hope you aren’t at work like I am…. Luckily I am in Stones in his Pockets rehearsal, which is sort of like just hanging out with pals. I mean, the boys (David and Brian) are working hard trying to remember their dialogue and what the hell they are wearing from minute to minute - - and of course Jim, the director is tweaking the blocking as they review. Plus Terry (SM and Evil Boss) is checking to make sure everyone is doing the right thing…well damn…. Mike, the Production Assistant, is making sure the boys SAY the right words (……..say your right words they whispered……..*Labyrinth) so maybe its just that I don’t have to jump up and move the furniture every 10 minutes…..I AM –after all—watching to make sure the boys are wearing the right clothes and moving the furniture to the right places…….so I guess it is work….but you have to remember, Gentle Reader (yes I love Stephen King) that I LOVE MY JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO it is never like work….unless I am whining about having to actually GO into work.

As I am typing, I am realizing how idyllic my job really is. Especially out here, in the desert. Here in Cedar City, UT just about everything is within walking distance. I don’t have access to my old blogs, so I am not sure if I have talked about this before, but if so - - too bad - - here is more info on this wonderful place!

Okay, as a Deck Stage Manager (a.k.a. Assistant Stage Manager) I have to work a lot of hours a week….but seriously….its not like I have to be in an office all day long or anything.

Take today for instance – I came into work at about 11:30a – had lunch and then got to the rehearsal hall around 12:30p. Mike and I set up and we started rehearsal at 1:30p. Right now it is 2:26p and we are on our first 10-minute break. See, the Actor’s Equity Association (union) says we have to take a 5-minute break every 55 minutes OR a 10-minute break every 80 minutes. Did you get that? Yeah - - so we get official breaks at least every hour and a half unless we get a break at the hour.

When we finally get to 5:00p, I will be done with rehearsal. I should get out of this rehearsal hall by 5:20 or so, and then we have to hoof it back to the office so we can put out the rehearsal report. (That document tells everything that happened during the rehearsal) After we proof read it (I generate the report during the rehearsal to save time) I print it and make the appropriate amount of copies, write names and box numbers on them and then take them over to Company Management for them to distribute. So today I should be home by 6:30p at the latest.

Not bad - - not bad at all!!!

Okay so 2 days a week (Monday and Thursday) I have the above schedule. On Wednesday and Saturday I work the same amount of hours but I start at about 5:30p and get done by 11:30p. *sigh* Okay but then the other 2 days (Tuesday and Friday) I have to do BOTH rehearsal blocks so I come in at 11:30a and get done about 11:30p. I get 30 minutes for dinner at 5:15p. Plus I have Production meetings and various and sundry other meetings a couple mornings a week. So I do work about 50 hours a week…but I spend a lot of the time laughing so it doesn’t seem like so much work.

YEA FOR THEATRE!

Thursday, May 19

Hey You Guuuuys!!!

Well the parties have already started and the police are happy to bust them up!

I have already mentioned Zak’s Cinco de Mayo party and its trouble with Company Management. BTW – here is an excerp from the memo he received:
If you would like to have 8-10 people over for a small get together, that would be acceptable – however, quiet hours are from 11 pm to 9 am.

OMG – can I mention that putting Zak in an apartment surrounded by Mormons was just asking for trouble? I guess no one noticed him when he lived at the Ave. and Willowbrook……Well everyone sure notices him now!!!

Mr. Anthony W. had a birthday party last Saturday night. Seems the cops showed up about 1:30 am and told them to keep it down. This is the story I got from someone who lives with Anthony. Yeah, it could be waaaaay worse. The rumor was really interesting. It involved having our 17 year old company member hiding in an upstairs bedroom while the cops searched the first floor rooms. - - Oh wait - - that actually happened. We HEARD it was his apartment hosting the party - - but that wasn’t true.

BTW: Upcoming Events

Mountain BBQ Sunday Afternoon, May 29

Bowling Party Saturday Night, June 11

Opening Night Party Saturday Night, July 2



*Our favorite Company Manager, Kate, is going to find out about having the Birthday Party (4th Annual) and the Superhero Party at College Ave. IF YOU SEE HER, TELL HER THANK YOU!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Carey L.!!!!! We miss you!!!!!!

(If I didn’t mention your birthday - - drop me a line and I will, kiddo!)

Yeah, I still don’t have my home computer working…..so sorry, no pictures yet! Hopefully this weekend I will get it going. If not, I’m going to throw it out the window and buy a laptop!

Friday, May 13

The Long Drive Here

Wow okay so it has been forever since I made a personal blog. I have a bunch of stuff to talk about and I don’t think there will be any central theme…so bear with me.

Well the drive was fun and scary all at once. I enjoyed seeing friends along the way. Helen, Justyn and Samantha are adjusting well to Kentucky. They live on top of a hill in a beautiful section of rural KY where there are 50’ drops next to the road and no guardrails.

Kansas is still the same, I always love seeing Aunt Carol and Uncle Wally. Their singing Chihuahuas (Rambo and Sissy Poo) are getting older, but they are just as cute as ever.

Okay now for the scary part.

I left for Colorado at about 5 pm. Around 11 pm I hit Denver and it started snowing. I decided to continue for a while (Colorado is good about clearing roads) but around midnight I got into a really bad snow. The few cars that were on the road were going around 40 MPH and we all had our flashers on. A passenger van in front of me kept sliding onto the shoulder. There was a HUGE wreck near Georgetown, CO and we all had to exit the Interstate and drive through a small town. I took the opportunity to stop for gas and the ladies inside told me that the highway patrol was saying it was time to put on the snow chains. Ahhhh well…being from Florida, I don’t even have snow tires. The ladies told me about a motel about 8 miles up the road. I thanked them and got back in the car.

I carried on for a few miles and suddenly the snow stopped and the roads were clear. I passed to motel and decided to try and make it over the top. About 2 miles past the motel the snow started in again, heavier than ever. I continued on until the next exit and decided it was just too bad to continue. So I had to turn around and go 5 miles back down the mountain. BOY AM I GLAD I DID. The next motel was 12 miles up the mountain and it was right at the Eisenhower tunnel. After I checked in and got in bed, I watched the news for a little while. As I watched they had breaking news saying the tunnel was closed due to snow. I paid about $50 for my room, but people who stopped right at the tunnel had to pay $100 to $150 for their rooms. Jeez!

I got up the next morning and it was blue and clear. I did hit some more snow around the Vail Pass, but it was around 11 am so it wasn’t sticking. I had a pretty nice drive until I got to Utah. Then the rain started and it rained the whole rest of the way…about 5 hours worth. It was even raining in Cedar City! Booo!

But I made it and King Benny was waiting for me with my key (what a nice guy!).

I AM NOT TAKING I-70 ANYMORE!!!!! I can’t take the snow. Waaay too scary! *Sigh* I am pretty sure I said that last year, too. But this time I mean it!!!!!!!!! I don’t mind coming back that way in September. - - but no more driving over the mountains in April.

Oh yeah - - I forgot, I am starting a rumor that I will be working as a PSM next fall instead of being a summer ASM. I figure if I can get the rumor going good enough, maybe it will come true.

(Of course all rumors are based in fact and I would have been a PSM this fall (I think) had I not jumped the gun and begged for summer!) BAD ANGI!

Okay I am done. I will expound more at later time. I just wanted to get this drive monologue out because I have been thinking about it for…well…since April 30th when I arrived.

Good God can you believe I have been here almost 2 weeks? Jeez time flies when you are working hard.

*Clark- sorry I missed your calls, I will call you, stop cussing me out!!!!!!
*Jamie and Seth – Hope life is good and stuff. Call me.

The usual blather and Crew Head assignments:

The Adams rehearsal floor is in! For those of you who were here in the past, the old floor finally rotted enough to warrant getting a new one! How exciting!!!
King Benny spent several days sanding it and today when we came in to deliver props we saw that the basecoat was down.

The Stage Managers had our rehearsal prop/furniture pull this morning with the Props Shop. It was really fast and well organized. I heard that the props people came in at 7 am to get stuff ready for our arrival at 9 am. When we showed up they had 99% of the furniture already pulled and all we had to do was load the truck. That was SO nice of them. It went to fast, I couldn’t believe it. PROPS TO THE PROPS PEOPLE!!!! (heh heh, I couldn’t resist!!!!)

~~ BTW, the Prop Shop has a BBQ every Friday at noon. I believe all comers are welcome; you either pay $3 or $1 if you bring something for everyone. CHECK WITH BEN HOHMAN regarding the details. I am only repeating the deal from years past. ~~

Okay I have the Crew Head assignments:

John GrĂ¼ber: Romeo and Love’s (Both Adams shows)
Adam Hoffman: Camelot, Midsummer (Both Randall shows)
Debbie Merrill: Stones and Faustus (Randall, Adams)


What else? Oh yes, on a personal note, I just had my 6-MONTH ANNIVERSARY (on May 9th) as a non-smoker!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!

Wednesday, May 11

We made it through the first week!

Wow I forgot how beautiful Utah really is. I am living in a building that faces a mountain. (Okay there are some buildings in the way, but I can still see it, damn it!) It is so different from Florida. It’s like being on a different planet!

So rehearsals have started and we are off and running. I am freaking tired because we finished casting Camelot last night at about 12:30p and I had a Safety Meeting this morning at 9:00 am! Grrrrrr! There should be a rule that if you have been to that meeting at least 5 times, you get a year off! (Did I mention this is my 6th time going to the meeting???) The Safety Meeting is when we (re)learn how to work a fire extinguisher and important things like how to dispose of oily rags and when the waste paint pick up day is……

Hopefully we will have Internet at home on Tuesday. Then I will be able to post some photos for you all.

Our darling BONK had a Cinco de Mayo party at his place (an apartment complex down the street). It was the first party of the season. Yeah-- he got in big trouble for it. Seems that his neighbors didn’t appreciate noise after 10:00 pm on a Thursday night! Yeah, we should NEVER FORGET that we are in the middle of Mormon country.

On the other hand, Jamie and I had a going away party for Carey Lawless (our boss - - oh how we will miss her!!!!!!!) at our place on Saturday night that went on until 3:30 am and not a peep from anyone. Ahhh the perks to living in a complex owned by the Festival.

Okay well I should end this. I promise I will do my best to keep up with this blog during the build. (“The build” is a generic term for the time before we open the shows to the public.) However, I have already started working 10-14 hour days, so I will only promise to DO MY BEST. ((If you want to know what’s up with me - -call for freak’s sake))

REMEMBER - - taking the Lord’s name in vain is worse in Utah than saying fuck!

Love and kisses.

P.S. DID YOU SEE THE WEATHER PIXIE YESTERDAY?????? We had snow AND hail. Ick.

More later on the subjects of:
Our Founder, Fred Adams
The desert
The fact that everyone is afraid that we are gong to have a huge flood
And how said flood will effect my apartment!

Monday, May 9

ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!!!

Okay so I am here and we have moved in. I promise I will post as soon as I can. My computer is not hooked up and I am typing this from the SM office.

HELLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO all!!!!!