T-Mobile Commercial

Only the dancers (and there turn out to be quite a lot of them) knew what was going on in this train station in London. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Bringing dance to the masses and making everyone's day who was there...

Dress Rehearsal

OK, last post about the musical before it opens! I'm much less stressed now. Relieved that I really don't have time to do anything else about anything, I guess. I can just let it go and look back with that 20/20 hindsight I've been waiting for and see that this whole process wasn't so bad. (I can see Chuck rolling his eyes. He remembers the rants and frustrations I pummeled him with after returning home from rehearsals.) It's been a bit like childbirth. I'd never done it, so I didn't really know what to expect. I had a little bit of training, but nothing like the real thing. I know what I would do differently and I would definitely do it again. It was worth it. I knew I would say that.

Now is the fun part. Dress rehearsals and feeling like I'm back in college as part of a show. I love the backstage exclusiveness, the knowing that there's stuff going on that the audience will never know and never fully appreciate. I love the bond the performers have just because they've gone through this together and how it extends a little bit to the stage manager, director, and even the choreographer... if she's nice and talks to them and helps them and is there for rehearsals and answers questions... like me.
I forgot the rush of excitement and adrenaline the performance, pending or in progress, provides. I don't ever want to be totally separated from it. I need to keep my fingers and toes dabbling in it somehow.

Here are some pictures from the first dress rehearsal.

Funny Friday

More Brian Regan... since we all just went to the card store a few days before Valentine's Day...

Weren't you wondering?

Did Billy Mays ever imagine he would be doing what he is today? Here's what Wikipedia has to say about him:

"William D. Mays (born July 20, 1958) is a television commercial and infomercial salesperson most notable for promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, and other cleaning, home-based, and maintenance products. He is recognizable for having a shouting approach to pitching an array of products, a distinctive beard, and for wearing a blue shirt."

Then there's KaBoom, Mighty Mend-it, Hercules Hook and that putty stuff that can hold a gazillion pounds when dried.

Wikipedia goes on to say regarding Mays' first big break promoting OrangeGlo on HSN,

"Customer response to Mays' sales pitches were enthusiastic, with a sharp increase in sales after his first day on the network, although some reviews were poor. He is very well known for shouting in lieu of talking during infomercials and regular life."

What a guy.

I Heart the MSO

Chuck took me to a Valentine's Day concert performance by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. It was a pops concert augmented by a jazz singer and a Spanish guitar and percussion ensemble. We really had a nice time. The loge seats (I love the loge) were perfect and not too expensive and the music was enjoyable, especially the Spanish guitars.

When I'm sitting in a music concert, there's really nothing else for me to do but study the details of the performers or the performance space so I end up making lots of little, odd observations. Here are a few:

Chuck and I both noticed that the bass guitar player, stationed right in the middle of the orchestra (probably not standard, but needed for a pops performance) was very expressive. Usually I think of bass players as the guy in the corner of the stage with his shoulders slumped strumming some really boring notes with one finger. This guy was really feeling the music. He would close his eyes lift his shoulders and sway to one side or arch his back with each strum. It almost looked to me like he was pretending that the one note he would play every now and then was carrying the rest of the music out to the audience on it's little tiny shoulders. It was almost like he was conducting in his mind. I found it odd, though, that when he wasn't playing (for instance, when the Spanish trio was performing) he didn't even tap a toe to the music. I couldn't help, but sway and bob my head to the peppy Spanish songs, but he just slumped and looked into space as if there was no music playing at all. He perked right back up as soon as the orchestra began their next song. So funny!

It was next to impossible not to notice the gown the jazz singer was wearing when she made her grand entrance before her first number. She was draped in gold sequined fabric from head to toe and wrapped in a kimono-like floor-length silk jacket printed with very large tawny-colored legumes. My first observation was that the many sparkling folds of the cowl neck on the gown only served to increase the presence of her already ample bust. Maybe not the best choice? I also noticed a bit of fabric dangling under the hem of the dress near her left shoe. I noticed it because it was a little drapey piece of the back side of the fabric. If you've ever seen this stretchy sequined fabric in a store, you know that the other side just looks plain and dull. I thought it was odd that she would buy this dress (I was also thinking "Where on earth could you buy this dress?") with an obvious flaw like that. It was all explained in her second appearance. She had gone back stage for a bit after her first set and she returned sans kimono with the addition of a 20's style hat and a 3-4 foot train. A ha! The train had been tucked up inside her dress somehow for the first part and that's what I could see by her left shoe. She also cleared up another question by revealing that she had decided to sew a special dress for herself for this performance. She bought a bolt of gold sequined fabric and came up with that very interesting creation. I really think she should stick with her singing. :)

Imminent Opening

I think I'm going to be glad when I'm not posting about the musical any more. The performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday of next week, so I don't have to wait too much longer dreading the painfulness of watching my too-difficult-for-the-time-alotted, wrong-for-the-performance-space, if-I-only-had-known-I-would-have-done-it-differently choreography performed in the show.
I did, at least, have some progress and some good question and answer time last night at rehearsal and I've been told I can come again tonight and try to grab some time with my dancers in between the full run of the show they'll be doing back to back.

It's really a nice show: entertaining, funny, just all around feel-good fun. I'm glad to be a part of the process. I'm just continuing to cross my fingers that there will be a lot of progress made between now and next Thursday when it opens.
Come on left and right turns!

Favorite Friday: Stamping

I did a whole bunch of different art classes when I was being home schooled through high school. One of the classes I did that I used the most was a card-making class. I fell in love with stamping and still have a tackle box full of stamps, papers, punches, embossing powder, glitter, etc.
I thought I would share how easy it is to make a really lovely custom card. Hobby Lobby has an excellent selection of papers and with just a few stamps, you could make a plethora of multi-use cards for all occasions. I made my Christmas cards for several years running and, maybe someday, I'll start it up again.
Hope this inspires you, whether you feel like you're naturally creative or not.