Tuesday, February 28th
It's leap year and so tomorrow, we have a 29th of February. Something that is of little interest to most other than Savoyards with a deep interest in the future of Fredric with the pirates. The last few weeks have been fairly uneventful. Tommy and I had a week in WV and KY with my usual circuit with the mine workers. The weather in the mountains was fine and the whole thing was fairly uneventful.
The major project of the moment is the Opera, Carmen which is currently in rehearsal. Both Tommy and I are in the chorus. It opens on the 16th so we have just over two more weeks with this puppy. The principals are all in town and in good voice. Nothing too complex with the staging yet but we've only done Act I where the men are all bored soldiers hanging around the town square.
I'm doing a panel on LGBT people in academic medicine for the med students at noon today. Things have come a long way over the last 25 years. Let's keep the ball rolling.
I'm starting pre-production on the show I am directing this summer '42nd Street'. It should be fun. The more I look at it, the more it seems like 'Kiss Me Kate', the sequel...
Tuesday, February 7th
Where did the last month go? Into the Whorehouse, that's where. We put 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' up in about three and a half weeks and had a highly successful two week run. The reviews were great, the performances superb and we essentially sold out the run. It was a lot of fun to be part of and I learned a good deal about timing and scene work just being on stage with a bunch of old pros. I must have held my own as I got some very nice compliments from folk who don't dish them out very often.
Tommy got drafted into doing wardrobe and wigs for the production and everyone looked great on stage, even in the horrific fashions of the early 1970s. I cannot say that I will miss my powder blue polyester leisure suit. (See photo).
The next thing on deck is Carmen which is in music rehearsal now and goes into staging rehearsals in two weeks. The music is a lot of fun but my sung French diction leaves a lot to be desired and I will have to pound at the lyrics some next week when I am off in West Virginia with the mineworkers.
Work continues to drive me crazy. The less said about it, the better at this point. All I can do is white knuckle it and hang on while whatever happens, happens. Perhaps more details later.
