On The Road — Page 46

On the Road: Day Off

February 1, 2016 at 8:16 am by Claudia

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It’s Monday. My day off. No lolling around for me, though, I have to type up lots of notes for the actors after yesterday’s run-through of the play, I have to go grocery shopping, I have to do laundry, I have to pay bills and I have to go to the post office. Then it’s back at it tomorrow with another day of individual actor coaching and another run-though. We’ll be running the play almost every day now as we head toward the end of the week and the move onstage.

I made it through the day yesterday and, though I was fighting pure exhaustion after my night of too-little sleep, I went out to dinner with some old and new friends and had a wonderful time. I’m so glad I did. A truly lovely evening with lots of great conversation and lots of laughter. And you know I love to laugh.

I’m thinking, looking at the schedule, I’ll be able to get home for a couple of days this weekend. The actors move onstage on Saturday and the first day of tech is on Sunday. I usually stay away from the first day of tech simply because it’s not about me and my work. It’s about lights and costumes and sound and the set and all the new elements that are being added to the production. It’s not fair to the actors for me to be taking any notes on their speech and voice – they’re concentrating on other things.

But I’ll be there off and on for the second and third days of tech – that’s when I can start taking notes on the actor’s voices and how well they carry in the theater space, as well as how clearly they are articulating the text.

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I picked up this little globe at the Museum gift shop the other day. I love globes and this one is just the right size for the desk here in the apartment and the desk back home. It sits on a pretty wooden circle.

I have to get moving. Too many things to accomplish today!

Happy Monday.

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Sunday. That’s the Best I Can Do for a Post Title.

January 31, 2016 at 7:42 am by Claudia

To say my sleep patterns have been erratic since I arrived in Hartford is putting it mildly.

Today I woke up at 5 am – too early for the long day that lies ahead.

Sigh.

It isn’t the bed, which is quite comfortable. It isn’t the noise because it’s fairly quiet here. All I know is that sometimes I wake up and it’s still dark, but I’m sure it’s later than it is – maybe around 6:30 – and my brain starts going or I get up to go to the bathroom and I look at the clock at it’s not even 5 yet. I try to go back to sleep but it’s too late, usually, because I can’t turn off my brain.

So I get up and make some coffee.

I wish it would all even out, but I don’t think it will, so I simply have to go with it.

We start early today, working through some key scenes, and eventually do our first stumble-through of the entire play. A mutual friend of ours from the Old Globe days is in town and we’re all going to dinner after rehearsal.

I’m not going home on my day off because there’s really not enough time make it worthwhile and I’m tired. I think I’ll be able to grab a couple of days back at the cottage at the end of the week, when we move onstage.

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The Hartford Public Library, taken last Saturday, right before the snow arrived. If you look closely, you can see the café. I’ve never had the time to dine there, but maybe I will this time around.

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There’s a Jazz series every Sunday afternoon.

Oh, and I wanted to share my new favorite hand cream with you.

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Inexpensive and really lovely and smooth. And no animal testing. I really want to eliminate any products that are tested on animals from my life. It might take a while, but that’s my goal for 2016. I saw a photo recently of cats being tested and it sent a chill down to my very core. There’s no excuse for using a living being as a test subject. And I’m very firm on that one and no amount of debating will change my mind.

So I haven’t picked a ‘word’ for 2016, but I am vowing to do as much as I can to research the products I routinely use and throw them out if there is any animal testing involved. It’s time for me to step up.

That’s my goal.

I’m not preaching, except to myself.

Happy Sunday.

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Sunset: City Edition

January 30, 2016 at 9:31 am by Claudia

As I was walking back to the apartment after rehearsal yesterday:

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That’s Trumbull Street, by the way, not Bull Street.

It seemed like every few seconds I saw some incredible view of the sunset and whipped out my iPhone to record it.

No one else seemed at all aware of the staggering beauty of the sunset (though I’m sure many were.) But no one else was taking any pictures. End of the work week, tired, on their way home – I’m sure all of those things were at play for the commuters trying to get out of the city and back home again.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’s all in the timing, isn’t it? I happened to be walking home at the perfect time. Any later, and it would have disappeared.

It’s not the end of the work week for us, of course. Sunday is the end of our week. On any given day lately, I find myself confused as to what day it is. This morning, I slept until 7:15, so it was light when I got out of bed. I looked out the window wondering why the parking lot across the way was empty.

Beat.

Oh…it’s Saturday.

Three more weeks after this one. We’re heading into our last week in the rehearsal rooms and then we’ll be moving onstage. Three and a half weeks isn’t a whole lot of time in which to do table work, stage the entire play, work with the actors, and have several run-throughs before hitting the stage. I don’t know how Darko and the cast and stage managers and crew do it. In the old days there was more rehearsal time available. But it’s a costly endeavor, and most non-profit theaters have had to cut back on rehearsal time. Certainly, way back when I was working at the Old Globe, there was more time allotted for the rehearsal room. But every theater I know of has had to cut back.

So, I’d use the word ‘miracle’ but it really isn’t. It’s hard work and planning and dedication and drive and all the things that theater artists do without blinking an eye to create a fully-realized production.

Some of you have recently asked me what I do when I’m working on a play and what ‘coaching’ means (in my case.) I’ve written about it before on the blog and this post (from 2009, when I was working at the Old Globe for 10 weeks) pretty much covers it.

Book review on Just Let Me Finish This Page today.

Happy Saturday.

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On the Road: Day Off

Sunday. That’s the Best I Can Do for a Post Title.

Sunset: City Edition

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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