Tag: A Christmas Story (2007)

A Christmas Story

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Not very professional of me

I have been real lazy learning my lines for Anne of Avonlea. Very unprofessional. I do know the lines well enough to say them all, but this week I have missed half a page of dialog because I could not remember my next line.

Why is this? Well, with A Christmas Story, I had half the book to memorize and so this time with only 14 pages of dialog, I was being a bit lazy. So now it shows during tech week. I am actually nervous during rehearsals that I will really blow it. There is no excuse for this.

We open Saturday with just one more day of rehearsal. So I really need to focus on lines the next few days.

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Auditioned for Anne of Avonlea

I (and a few others) received an email earlier in the week from Jeannie with the play details and character breakdowns. What I gathered (and confirmed) was that Jeannie wanted to see me audition. I know that this did not guarantee me a role, just that she wanted to see me/us audition. So I did.

There was a single adult male role. J. A. HARRISON is a 45ish, blustery irate neighbor, who tends to bully and browbeat everyone. Not that the rest of the male role are children, but I don’t think I can do an 18 year old. So J. A. HARRISON or bust.

Jeannie had me read a single scene with ANNE where J. A. HARRISON rants about a cow who is into his oats. It was a fun scene.

Candy Cain Spahr was supposed to have directed the play, but a new job is taking her away. I was in Heidi with Candy, so it would have been good to work with her again. I take that back, she will be Co-Directing while she is in town, but that is only for a few weeks.

I was mentioning to Candy about understanding the desire to do larger roles. I have done a lot of minor roles and the only lead role I have had was in A Christmas Story this past December. I have scene actors who will refuse to do a role because it is small. My thought is that at least I am doing something that I love to do. Yes I would like to be the lead, but at least with any role, I am on stage even if its just for part of a play.

I know that I am not guaranteed a part in Anne of Avonlea, but I was the only adult male who auditioned last night. There are more auditions on Saturday with callbacks, if necessary, on Saturday afternoon.

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Closing night of A Christmas Story

We knew on Friday that Saturday night’s show was sold out, the final night. The first problem on Saturday was that the cable to between the computer and lights was defective. But using a stiff piece of wood and tape, Murry was able to get the lights working. We just had to hope it would work OK.

It did, thankfully. The audience was the best audience we had for the entire run. They laughed and clapped at everything. They were great.

Actors know that regardless of how well you perform, half the energy an actor has is because of the audience feed back. The entire cast was right on. From a cast perspective, we had a near perfect show.

With a great night for the cast and the great feedback from the audience, this was the best show. What a night. I wish more of my plays could have a night like we had on Saturday.

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A Christmas Carol at Kudzu

I went with Rebecca Coffee (Director of A Christmas Story) and her family to see A Christmas Carol at Kudzu Playhouse last night. Now I am not a critic and I do not plan on starting now. I will say it is worth seeing.

The point of this post is not the play itself, but the actors in the play. I did light and sound tech for this show last year and have throughout the year worked with many of the same actors. So after the show, during the greeting the cast, I received hugs from what seemed like, half the cast (more like a quarter of the cast of 40).

It just show me how close cast members can sometime get. It is very nice to be part of a community of actors who enjoy working together.

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Best Night Yet

Tonight was the best performance the cast has done yet. And it was a sold out performance. My wife had tried to get tickets earlier in the day and could not. So not only sold out, but sold out before that night.

The audience was great. Laughing at all the right times. It was a great night!