Always Coming, Never Here

I've had a most amazing and stressful week. We finally made it to opening night for Return to the Forbidden Planet, and we actually managed to pull it off somehow. Seven weeks is not enough time to put a musical together, especially when the band has to learn twenty-five songs in two weeks! Tuesday night was really scary, and tensions were high - but then, somehow, on Wednesday night, everything started to come together. Thursday (opening night) was good, Friday night was better, and on Saturday night we actually got "TELL HER!" right (long story). I think Friday was our best night though... the audience energy was huge, people were laughing and clapping all night, and we only had a couple of empty seats.

The downside was that several actors were robbed during the performance (including me). Someone made his or her way into the dressing rooms, took several wallets and a purse, and made off with cash and some tech gadgets. Some of that cash was ticket money for the show, sadly. The other wallets and purse were recovered just outside where the show was performed, but my wallet was not amongst them (strangely enough). The thing is, none of the rooms were ransacked. Pants and clothing were all folded back up and returned to their original positions if they were holding or covering items. Whomever committed the crime took his or her time, as if he or she knew that no one was going to be going back to the dressing rooms during the second act. Additionally, other tech stuff used in the show went missing...

I have no proof of who did this or why this happened - but it seems to me like it was purely done as a terrorist action. If it were punk kids, or random people, wouldn't they have rushed to commit the crime? Wouldn't the rooms be ransacked instead of returned to their original state? And why go through the wallets and purse right outside the building and drop them on the ground instead of running several blocks away and disposing of them in a trash pail (or in a trash pail fifty feet away)? I have my theories as to motive, but I won't post them publicly.

Losing my ID and debit cards successfully wrecked my weekend. I was planning on going to my Uncle Bernie's wedding on Sunday, but the stress of the show piled onto the stress of being robbed was too much for me. When I got back late night on Friday I cancelled all my credit and debit cards. All morning on Saturday I felt totally powerless... I had no cash, and no way to get cash. Without an ID, I couldn't go to the bank to get any money. I got a new temp license at the RMV in the afternoon, and went on with the show.

Not much else to say at this point. I'd say I was disappointed at witnessing firsthand the bad shit people do, but it's not like I didn't know people were capable of this kind of thing. But I'll tell you what, I'm not going to let myself become a victim again. Not ever.

I'm sitting at my desk at the home office, listening to Vince Guaraldi and watching the rain fall onto the trees and onto the deck. I think the music and the rain go nicely together; it's been a very chill Monday so far.

I got a call last night from a woman I was dating earlier this year. I'd sent her an email a few days ago to say hi, not really expecting any kind of response... she'd broken it off a little abruptly for her own reasons, so I wasn't sure if she'd be interested in hearing from me. She mailed me back though, and I made a suggestion of maybe taking things a little slower and getting together again to see what happens. She seemed pretty receptive to it. She lives in NH, but she just happened to be coming up from the Cape last night - but I hadn't given her my new cell phone number, so she just left a message on the home machine.

She might be coming down to see the play when it goes up. It would be really nice to see her again, even just to catch up and hang out.

The rain's stopped. That's a good thing.

Second rehearsal for the musical tonight - our director was in low spirits, she hardly got any sleep at all this past weekend. Things are still really fast and loose... we still don't really know anything about music, or blocking, or choreography. And the production really needs a stage manager.

Three rehearsals next week, so things will really be starting in earnest next Monday. I have seven days left, and then I have to be off book. I noticed that Ken, our male lead, has already got a good handle on his lines in the first act; and that makes me want to try just an eensy bit harder than I have been. Also, there are a lot of good singing talents in the cast... and it's been a long time since I've really sung myself. I'm a little worried that my less than stellar vocals might drag things down a bit. :/

I've also got a week left to finish up my writing project for Chad, and I'm only about halfway done there. Probably about 12-15 more hours of work; I have to make sure I put the time in for that. The cash from that will be a welcome bonus, even though it's really paying dirt wages. (I mean geez, four cents a word, hoo boy...)

The quest for changing my style also continues. Tonight's exciting suggestions included get piercings of various sorts in various places, getting a tatoo, and the usual change hair/change beard ideas. One change I'm actively considering right now though is getting contacts. That's a relatively easy one to do, and I think that'd be a good place to start (I do want to get that laser eye surgery one of these days).

And man, it is WAY too hot. I hate this weather. I really, really, really want it to not be 90 degrees and humid. Fall can't come fast enough.

Well, that went not at all as planned. Apologies to all involved for screwing up the drive-in plans; poor communication and unfortunate circumstances ruled the day. Damn cell phones for not getting calls, damn stupid drivers who rubberneck and bottle up traffic, and damn me for not being more clear with direction. As it turned out, Harrison fared no better and wasn't able to round up people for his crew either... so the whole thing fizzled out.

I salvaged my evening by going to the Price Chopper and picking up some dessert items for Ren and Justin's pot-luck-drink-the-rest-of-the-wine-dammit dinner. Got to hang with friends, drown my sorry lightweight ass in boozy goodness, and later hook up with the people I disappointed who would have attended the drive-in trip. I fully intend to reschedule a drive-in trip... and next time there will be much better preparation, having learned from the mistakes that were made.

Also - please recall that this coming Monday night is MASSIVE-SUSHI-NIGHT. I know a bunch of people would like to attend all you can eat at Zipango this coming week... look to Noah and send him your name; we'll need a head count so we can call ahead and let Wilson know we're going to inundate him.

And so, today, though overcast and cold, will be a brighter day. I'll be heading out to Jen and Aaron's for a barbecue shortly, and we're going to go see Shakespeare on the common tonight (Henry V). Should be much fun, I don't get to see Jen and Aaron nearly enough!

In other news - I have been cast in a musical! "Return to the Forbidden Planet", a retelling of "The Tempest" in the setting of a 50's sci fi movie. I am most excited about this. I haven't done theatre in some time, and I'm really psyched that I've made the decision to get involved with it again. I'm even a main character, and get to perform a song with Steve Dupree's little sister (yes, Stan-who-just-got-married-Stan). Tom Russell has been cast in one of the two male leads... it's going to be an amazing production with the talent pool we've got. Keep the weekend of October 3-5 open - I'm not sure where we'll be performing yet, but it's an MW Rep show so it'll be somewhere on the WPI campus!

Apparently a lot of people tried out, and I got picked over a bunch of other folks... I really want to do well now. And I know I can, so I really can't wait to show my stuff. :)