Tuesday, May 30th
'Kate' is all consuming this week as we go into technical rehearsals. The process is going fairly smoothly. Got through first tech of the show last night in about 3 1/2 hours which is about as fast as I have ever seen one go for a full length musical. Good crew and patient cast. Performances are there. Starting to look good. Have a few things I need to adjust to make the show flow smoother but in general I'm pretty happy. Now we just need to light a fire under the set designer to finish the set. First dress is tonight.
Stress levels have been quite high - and they're not likely to descend in the near future. Show will be done but there will still be the closeout and the financials. The combination of me as director and Tommy as producer has not been optimal for harmonious family life - we will survive that.
Speaking of Tommy - he left for France on choral tour yesterday. I am very envious. He's singing at Notre Dame, La Madeleine, Sacre Coeur, Mont Saint Michel, Chartres and the beach at Normandy for D-Day. I'm going to take the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and clean the house.
Wednesday, May 24th
No updates the last couple of weeks as I have been absolutely swamped between 'Kate' and work. Out the door in the morning, back about 11 at night - collapse and repeat. Nine more days until 'Kate' opens and then things will start to return to a semblance of normalcy. Or at least I'll pretend that until the next project roles around.
I am very pleased with 'Kate'. From a performance point of view, its coming together quite nicely and there is very little that we could not put on stage tomorrow. There's a bit more polishing to do here and there in terms of timing, character development and the like and a few of the dance numbers need some more repetition and sharpening but all and all it's there. Now comes the agony of adding in the tech. We get one rehearsal in the theater tomorrow night to figure out blocking with the actual stage dimensions and certain props. Set loads in on Saturday. Tech rehearsals start Sunday night for a Friday opening. Assuming the designers are not spinning tales, we should be OK.
Tommy is off to France for ten days on Monday on a choral tour. I was supposed to go as well but the trip and the KMK schedule proved incompatible. He's singing at Notre Dame, La Madeleine, Chartres, Mont Saint Michel and the Normandy Beaches for D-Day. It will be his first visit to Europe. He's disappointed I won't be there but sometimes that's just the way it goes. I am desperately in need of a vacation trip myself but don't know when I'll be able to take one. We are way down in terms of physician time in clinic and demand keeps going up.
Nothing much new to report about work. Same old same old. I need a break.
Wednesday, May 10th - Washington D.C.
Another week, another business trip - this time to the American College of OB/GYN annual clinical meeting. I'm 1/3 of the faculty for a course on surgery in the geriatric patient. I do the functional assessment and the geropharmacy piece. Others do the actual surgical information. Not a bad program but turnout, as is usual for geriatric themed courses was pretty tragic. Oh, well. It's been lovely weather for walking the city and I've had some nice meals and some time away from clinic and all that entails.
Kate is progressing fairly well. We should have everything staged by Saturday AM for a first run through Saturday afternoon. Then we shall see where the problems are and what we really have to work on. I'm guessing Shakespeare and big musical numbers and that most of the backstage stuff will be pretty solid.
I turn a year older tomorrow. I suppose that will make me offcially in my 'middle forties'. 44 is not really early forties anymore. Time marches on. I feel so old.
Thursday, May 4th - Chicago, Illinois
Spending forty-eight hours in the windy city at the American Geriatrics Society meetings this week. Running into various and sundry people from my past. I seem to have gone from wunderkind to seasoned veteran in the last five years or so. I suppose in another decade I'll be grand old man. The talks have been intersting - a lot of discussion about the Bush administration's short sighted cutting of funding essential to geriatrics to pay for his Middle East ventures at a time when the numbers of elderly are just about to greatly increase with needs for services going up about 400% in the next fifteen years. The metaphor of Katrina comes to mind, only this time with the feds busy lowering the levees.
Have a couple more meetings to go to and then am returning to Birmingham tomorrow in the afternoon to get ready for a busy weekend with rehearsal, the annual Alzheimer's gala, a political meet and greet that Tommy and I are hosting and the like. Then, on Monday, flying out to DC to teach at the American College of Ob/Gyn meetings.
I survived my first tap show with my physicality intact, if not my dignity. Being dressed as a carrot, a cell phone or Batman with an ostrich feather fan is not something that makes one feel part of high art and culture. Fortunately, I don't think there are a lot of photos.
Kate is continuing to progress. We should have the entire show more or less staged by the end of next week, giving us two weeks to polish before going into tech. There's some very good stuff happening on stage and I think it will end up being one of the better musical productions Birmingham has seen for a while.
