🎼The Wonderful Part of the Mess That We Made; We Pick Ourselves Undone…🎶

Hello Gentle Reader!

Bear with me, cuz I am about to do a shameless plug. LOL! I figured, I would get this done, because we only have 2 days left to see it.

I am in a show! But duh, you knew that already. 😂 What I wanted to share is that this anthology of short plays, called Pear Slices 2022, is available as a Video On Demand (VOD) option. I was worried when it was filmed because I had shoe malfunctions. LOL!

These plays are moving and timely. It has been a pleasure to get these stories in front of audiences. Including YOU! This link will take you to the Pear Slices 2022 VOD section for The Pear Theatre.

We had an extremely short rehearsal period AND a break as a caution for Covid-19 safety. We tested like crazy just to make sure that our project didn’t fall victim to the Covid Curse even though we did have to push back our opening night a week. This means that we don’t get to do as many shows as we had hoped. So many of the productions around the Bay Area have either had to postpone or cancel production or close early and some, sadly, not open at all. All of the precautions paid off and we are now in the last two performances of the run.

I have to say that working on this project brought some new insights to me that I had a feeling I was holding back, but had to face. It’s too early to write about them because each time we perform, I find something a little bit different, and by now you should know me well enough that I always stew on what I learned from a show for at least a week.

My Dear Reader, I thank you for taking the time to read this self serving post. I appreciate each and every one of you. I invite you to check out Pear Slices 2022. Regardless of what you do, I thank you and…

Until next time, stay safe and healthy and be kind to yourself and to others.

💚

And we’re up and running!

Tonight was Opening Night and it was weird. At least it felt weird to me. But after the insanity that was our final dress performance, I suppose that it turned out pretty well.

Last night, just before the end of Act 1, one of my cast mates slipped and hurt his back pretty bad. Then there were a crapload of costume malfunctions. I totally forgot to remove a table. Woops…tee hee. There were missed light cues due to the fall. A scene was cut and we had to change the order of one of the scenes.

So now that we’ve come to showtime things are getting back on track. I felt like there was a scattered energy throughout Act 1. It seemed like there were a lot of extra pauses that we’ve never had before. Then came intermission which seemed to last FOREVER. Finally when the audience came back in and Act 2 got under way. This time the focus was there and it totally just zoomed by.

Great job to my fellow cast mates, you are amazing!!

And a special note to Ms. Melinna: Gurl my friends loved you!

Something stressful this way comes…

Sam Valenzuela and Lalo Lopez acting like hams!

We had a designer run-through last night and the work was very, very rough. There were a lot of questions from people, usually starting with the words “In the script it says…” and then adding a detail that hasn’t been spoken of, or addressed as of yet. It’s funny how many things can be accidentally overlooked when focus is on one aspect of a play.

When we get into the last few weeks before Opening Night, things begin to get stressful sometimes. Everyone begins to intensely focus on the task at hand. People begin to “wear” their characters in the hallways and in the wings while waiting to go on stage. The usual lively jokiness that abounds in the hallways may cause the actors to break concentration.

One of the many things that I try to do is be respectful of my fellow actors and before performances, I try not to fool around if I see them focused on their entrance. One of the worst things that an actor can do is either miss and entrance or come onstage late. I would hate to be the cause of something like that, so I do my best to stay out of the way.

Since we open in two weeks, things are going to be tough and a wee bit on the stressy (yup, it’s a made up word) side. One of the best things that we as actors can do for each other is to know our lines, our scenes and entrances, and to keep the silliness to a minimum. But I have to emphasize that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop laughing.

And with these people, I don’t think that will be a problem.

Lalo Lopez, Sam Valenzuela, Jay Vera, Anees Guillen, Maya Malan-Gonzalez, Jessica Castaneda

Let’s Celebrate!!!!

Episode 8

(Click to listen)

Click HERE for the show notes!

Thanks for listening. I am gonna have my mic with me at Opening Night. Tell me what you think about the show.

What do I do now?

Opening night of Sweet Charity had it’s share of hiccups, like both acts beginning late, and a few missed cues. However, for the most part it was a good performance. The basic comment that I got about the dancing, which I was expecting, was that the dances need tightening. I spent so much time in rehearsals going over every single step in detail (sometimes multiple times) that there wasn’t much time to actually run the dances. So that comment was something that I was expecting. One of the things that surprised me the most was that even with the problems that we had, most everyone said that the choreography was good. And, a director friend said that she will keep me in mind the next time she has a chance to direct. So while I am happy about that, I feel bad that I couldn’t give the cast more opportunities to run the dances.

On Sunday, I volunteered to usher. As I was waiting, I poked inside the audience and watched the warm ups. The cast was doing the vocal warm ups which was followed by a running of Brass Band. I watched this very closely, and what I saw was strange. I turned to my partner, who was also ushering, and asked, “Are they performing this better than they did last night?” To which, his response was “I was just thinking that!” I hate to assume, but I am venturing to guess that nerves were playing a part in the show on Saturday night.

Regardless, I wouldn’t mind giving them the chance to run the numbers a few more times to boost their confidence in the steps, and to tighten up the performances. There hasn’t been a mention of a brush up rehearsal on Thursday night, but I will be happy to be there.

Now that Sweet Charity is officially opened, I don’t know what I am going to do with all my time!

Of course I am kidding. I will be trying to set up meetings with other companies, requesting interviews with more people, and researching more stuff that inspires.

Hey, maybe I’ll dust off the instruments. Don’t get the reference? Take a listen to the podcast.

Until next time,

Break a leg!