Nows as good as ever

Wow - where does the time go? I think this has been a record for 'my ass is too lazy to blog' duration. Let's see if I can remedy this for the future.

I woke up early this morning and I believe I now know why they call it the 'grey of morning light'... I was to go for an early walk with my Dad, who for the first time in his life, forgot and slept in. I find myself awake with no purpose, so here I sit, making blog amends.

I'm currently on a short vacation, visiting my parents and grandmother in North Carolina between productions. I'm taking this time to prep my next 2 upcoming productions - there is something to be said for sitting on the couch in front of the fire, with my computer on my lap, NCIS on the plasma, and a big white dog at my side. Depending on the time of day, there might be alcohol somewhere nearby.

So, speaking of productions - here's a quick run down of my past year...just to keep you up to speed:


August 2009 (my last blog entry): "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" -

SUMMARY: I believe I mentioned 'train wreck', but I guess that's what Tech Week is for.


The show actually turned out to be pretty cool. It was extremely difficulty to call
and a big show technically. Extreme fly sequences and a 2 story see-thru rotating house that tracked up and down stage.

Tempers and nostrils flared, asms cried and others stormed out. All the makings of high drama on and off stage.



The director turned out to be a boob.

Following 'Seance' I headed back to USC for "Albert Herring".
SUMMARY: This was a fun, light and refreshing production in juxtaposition of the heartache, death and destruction the last few shows were centered around. I mean, who doesn't enjoy "The 40 Year Old Virgin" as an opera? There were no boobs in this production.

I did get my truck stolen during this production. SUMMARY: Major Bummer, but I lucked out in finding an amazing replacement. Thieves are jerks.









'Albert Herring' closed and I headed up to Santa Barbara in my new used truck to stage manage "Peter Pan."



SUMMARY: Another hard show: kids, flying kids, singers, flying singers, a blind crocodile,
a jigsaw puzzle masquerading as a set, over 85 sound cues and a conductor who still didn't know when start conducting even with me yelling in his ear over a headset.



Conductor was a boob.





HINT: A Happy Stage Manager is one who is allowed to FLY!

From 'Peter Pan' I drove back home to L.A. to work on 'Giasone' at UCLA. The best part was my daily drives through Beverly Hills to get to campus. Ah, how the other half lives...I have never seen as many Ferrari and Lamborghini as I did each day on my way to work.

SUMMARY: 'Giasone' was a tough show, made tough by a university system that knows nothing about opera production. Example: when I stopped by the music department office to pick up my keys, the woman behind the counter says to me, "I don't have your keys and even if I did, I wouldn't give them to you."

Ah, welcome to UCLA.

And things did get worse. I almost started a fist fight with a crew member who took it upon himself to enforce the 'water only' theater policy, taking my coffee away from me 3 times. Crew was a boob.

The pinnacle of this experience was when one the performers leaned the wrong way and fell off a 9 foot staging platform. We did call EMS and stopped the show when the paramedics arrived (he hadn't fallen in view of the audience). We resumed the show after he was wheeled away on a gurney and after we cleaned the blood off the stage. Nice, right?

So, after multiple accident reports filed, and safety measures re-accounted for, I packed my bags for colder climes.

Dog to my left, fire at my feet and wine to my right, I say, goodnight.