Auditions for the summer musical are in a month and a half so it's time to pick out a piece. I looked through some Broadway books, and Nice Work if You Can Get It is the song that stuck out this year. The version I know best is Sting's from the album, The Glory of Gershwin:
Nice Work if You Can Get It was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1930's musical Damsel in Distress, and it was also used in the 1992, Tony-winning musical Crazy for You. Last night, I wandered around YouTube listening to different versions. My favorites are Ella Fitzgerald's, Billie Holiday's, Sarah Vaughan's, Fred Astaire's, and this instrumental version by Claude Bolling and Stephane Grappelli:
I actually have an evening with time to blog, and I don't even know where to start. Christmas was wonderful - daughter was home for almost a month, older son was off from college, no major illnesses, and we had a great time. Daughter didn't go back to college until after younger son's birthday on the 10th so January has actually felt shorter than usual. Some of the weather has been really cold, and we had snow and sleet on two different weeks. Today was beautiful with a high around 70 so I took a long walk this afternoon.
Dear husband and I took an anniversary trip for the first time in quite a while. We were trying to decide between Blowing Rock, NC and Richmond, VA (both about the same distance). That was the weekend of the snow so Blowing Rock would have been really pretty, but it was also going to be colder there, and there aren't as many things we do inside there. If it got too cold in Richmond, there are lots of stores and museums.
It turns out that we didn't spend much time inside. It got warm enough in the afternoons to go to Maymont Park and the Ginter Botanical Gardens. I took lots of pictures (of course!), but my camera hasn't been working right lately so the photos will require a lot of fixing up. The light meter has gone rather crazy, and the focus has a mind of its own. The camera is now at a local repair shop, and I'm left with a sad and empty camera case. I probably won't blog that many of the photos.
I've had a number of bad doctor's appointments (including the worst one ever) having to do with my blood pressure, asthma, and allergies. It's gotten to the point where my blood pressure goes up a day before a doctor's appointment because I'm dreading it, and it usually stays up for a week after because I'm so angry at how the appointment turned out. I talked to my doctor about the way my blood pressure tracks with how tense I am,* and she agreed that I should see someone about better ways any way to handle stress. Three doctor's appointments later, I still haven't found anyone in the regular health system who will help with that.
However, I've been getting occasional massages for the last half year. They're wonderful, and I slow down so much. I really can focus on things and appreciate beauty for the next few hours after a massage - before I go back to normal. Because it's so expensive, I alternate massages with voice lessons - which means that, if my voice isn't up to having a voice lesson, which happens all too often, I use the money for a massage instead. My massage therapist actually also specializes, not surprisingly, in how the emotions affect the body so I'll be talking more to her about that next week (because I lost my voice (and voice lesson) last week).
Home schooling is going wonderfully right now. Younger son has gotten into programming in the last week. He's also started enjoying math. Along with the algebra he's doing, we've been doing the constructions from Ruler and Compass (for those of you familiar with homeschooling math books, although he liked the other Key to... books he found the Key to Geometry books boring). I think younger son is past the worst of the past year's growth spurt, with the migraines and dizziness that went along with it. He's got a lot more energy for things. I'm glad because, even though we were still homeschooling, I felt like I missed him during his 13 yo hibernation year.
Unfortunately, the second session of the Swing Dance class that Dear Husband and I were taking is on Sunday evenings so we aren't taking it. On the happy side, the Broadway Dance class is back on Thursday evenings. So far, we've done One from A Chorus Line and Forget About the Boy from Thoroughly Modern Millie.
There are lots of posts I've thought of in the last month, but didn't have the time to write down (and edit, and edit...). I will mention one thing from one of them: I loved Les Misérables. It's one of my (many) favorite musicals. As I said to my kids at the theater, I've been waiting for this movie for about twenty years. I did see a student production onstage, but I haven't ever seen a professional production before. Were all the singers ideal? No, but I think that, given the usual need for box office stars, they did a fantastic job, and they got the spirit of the musical.
* Whereas, my bp hasn't changed at all when I've gained or lost weight or when I added lots of fruits and vegetables - and, now, I'm on to the low sodium thing.** By the way, do you know that, if you feed three hungry guys taco salads with no salt at all, none of them will have their usual seconds, but two of them will be back in the kitchen later for snacks?
** Which means no soups in the cold parts of the winter because canned soups have so much sodium. :(
I haven't really taken my netbook out of the house much - in fact, it's mostly taken up residence in younger son's room, because Minecraft, even slow-running on the netbook, is better than no Minecraft. I brought it along this evening because I haven't blogged much lately - for a few different reasons.
Rehearsals for this summer's community theater production, Dames at Sea started four weeks ago, and we open two weeks from tonight. They're rehearsing Raining in My Heart, which is one of my favorite songs in the entire, extremely fun, musical.
Dames at Sea is a late 1960's homage to the big musicals of the 30's and 40's. It has an ingenue, a wise-cracking chorus girl, a diva, romance, misunderstandings, reconciliations, a Nelson-Eddy/Jeanette MacDonald-style waltz, and, of course...
A wistful rain number.
Although she started acting professionally at a young age, Bernadette Peter's performance as Ruby, the ingenue, made her a critically acclaimed star. Here she is singing Raining in My Heart in concert:
Along with the musical, lots more has been going on here. That's why I'm actually writing during a part of the rehearsal that I'm not involved in. I don't blog in the evening because by the time I've got time, I'm too tired.
Because photoblogging and the internet have gotten so slow on my six-year-old computer, we ordered a new computer for me in late May. It's a computer specifically designed to handle Photoshop easily (apparently it's a memory hog of a program). Dear husband has spent lots of time getting it set up for me!
Not this week, though - for such a happy reason!
Dear husband started his new job this week. He started out working for a local company, which was eventually bought by a company in South Carolina, which was eventually bought by a company in Atlanta. He's been going out-of-state to the company headquarters for over nine years now. They closed the local office a few years ago so he's been working from home when he's not traveling. His new company is headquartered in California, but he'll be spending most of his time at the local office.
I'm so happy he'll be actually working with others at the office rather than always talking on the phone. [Although, I already really miss having him home to talk to at lunch.] Great company, great benefits, and he's got so much to learn.
Fun.
We've been trying to get lots of stuff done around the house in the last two weeks because we knew we wouldn't have much time once rehearsals get into high gear and while he's trying to get up to speed at work.
[They're still working on the harmonies so I'll go on to a book review of a book that has captivated me lately.]
Maybe I've gotten spoiled the last month in Broadway Dance. First we did All That Jazz, and I already knew the choreography, then we did Steam Heat, which I also knew, and last week was Copacabana - also knew.
I got there this evening to find that we were doing Popular from Wicked. I have to learn new choreography?! Had I gotten lazy in learning?
I worried for a few seconds then I got into the new steps and had a wonderful time. Actually, the hardest part was that we were supposed to be cutesy, and that's not at all what I am.
Here's Popular sung by Glinda (Kristin Chenoweth) to Elphaba (Idina Menzel):
I was gloomy on Monday. After a fun weekend up in Asheville (well, fun - except for the part where we said goodbye to daughter at UNC-A), dear husband was out of town, younger son was playing with friends all day, older son was at NCSU, and I was cleaning. I was looking to Broadway dance to cheer me up.
It did!
We started with Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries from Fosse (and we sang along). Along with other songs, we did a warmup to Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat from Cats.
We did the across-the-floor moves to You Can't Stop the Beat from Hairspray.
The major dance, however, was to one of my all-time favorite songs, I Can Do That, from A Chorus Line. It was a fun dance, and it also was one of the most exhausting dances I've done at a Broadway class.
I've looked at many videos. The movie version isn't done in the original style, and there aren't any videos of the original Broadway version, which is what we danced to. However, I found a version from the PBS series, The Best of Broadway, with the original Broadway Mike, Wayne Cilento, singing and dancing. It's not exactly the same version - the orchestration is different and it's longer. It gives you a feel for the energy, though - and I love the Dixieland part at the end!
Our choreography was totally different, though. The dance starts at about 0:54:
You can get a small taste of the original version, which is a crisper and more Dixieland-ish, at Pandora.
We dropped daughter off at UNC-Asheville this weekend. More about that when I'm in a better mood. I'm glad that younger son is out playing with friends today. They go back to school later this week so I want him to make the most of the time. Older son is at NCSU. Dear husband is out of town.
I'm cleaning house - all those things that I haven't gotten to all summer. Okay, I'm making a small start at cleaning all those things.
I just spent fifteen minutes doing research on the internet trying to find out how to get the shower clean. It just gets browner and browner, and nothing I try helps. The internet is no use: "Use your favorite household cleanser..."
I don't have a favorite household cleanser because none of them is any BLEEPING good! Vinegar and baking soda? Doesn't clean the shower. Comet? No. Clorox? No. Tilex? Just streaks. Oh, and of course my asthma LOVES all these things (Of course I open the window. I still get asthma from them). Stupid internet. Stupid people who give useless, NAUSEATINGLY PERKY, cleaning advice on the internet. "Just do this and your shower will be sparkling clean." No, it won't you stupid idiot. I've tried that. More than once. As "green" as I normally am, after years of scrubbing fruitlessly at this shower, I'm ready for the most toxic air-out-the-bathroom-for-a-week cleanser I can get just to get this over with!
On the way back from Asheville yesterday, I was thinking of all the things I needed to clean and straighten. A large part of the problem, for me, is that I get no sense of satisfaction from them. Other women can be really pleased at how clean they get their closets. I clean, say, "Good, that's over with!" and go on to something that I do get a sense of satisfaction from.
I told dear husband and that I'd be better at keeping things like closets clean and organized if I actually found that Ifelt a sense of achievement from doing so. For me, it's all discipline.
Younger son piped up from the back seat, "Mommy, if you were that way, my life would be so boooring!"
I replied, "Then I wouldn't have dragged you to rehearsals all summer." [I don't feel comfortable leaving him home after dark alone yet so he came along when dear husband was out of town - which was most rehearsals.]
He said, "That's great because theater is aaawwwwwesoooome!" [He didn't feel that way at the beginning of the summer. I don't have the change quite thoroughly in my head yet.]
Okay, my shower is discolored, but I'm doing something right!
I've known all summer that today was going to be bad. After having my family around lots all summer, and after being around lots of theater people for weeks, I've known that today, when everything is back to "normal," was going to be like a bucket of cold water in the face. I could either get really depressed about the next few rather lonely days, or I could sing loudly with John Jasper (played by Howard McGillin) in A Man Could Go Quite Mad* from one of my favorite musicals, The Mystery of Edwin Drood:**
I'm going to go sing and finish the stupid bathroom. :P
* I love the way Rupert Holmes puts the words together in this song - lines like:
Unblessed are the dull. One ceaseless, peaceless lull. One wondrous night, Storm-struck thund'rous light Will cast me right
or
A sculptor lacking arms, a sorc'ror lacking charms, A fiend who frightens no one for there's no one that he harms. Whose clutches clutch at only desp'rate respite From this dim tableau!
Sing along with the part in italics - it trips wonderfully off the tongue!***
** The tape of which (you can't get it on CD), I found in daughter's closet when I went in her room to get library books to return.
*** From shower cleaning to how it feels to sing the lines of an obscure song in one post**** - I just can't be normal.
We danced to this song and did this choreography at the Broadway dance class the last two weeks. Today's class was the last one for daughter. We take her back to Asheville on Saturday.
[::::Internal monologue: "I will not whine. I will not whine...."::::::]
This dance was a lot of fun to do, but it's very intense for my back. I was sore last Tuesday after class.
I don't want my posts about the angst of auditions or even the joy of rehearsals to come up in searches for the community theater group (for their sake, not mine) so I don't mention the group by name in more personal posts.
I am so excited about opening night!!!!!! As much as I enjoyed the musicals the last two summers, I've enjoyed this one even more. It's really one of the most fun things I've done my entire life. I have a few blog posts percolating in my head about it, but I don't know if I'll get around to writing them.
The costumes for this are so beautiful! We look great!
If you want to come, all the information is on my previous post. Daughter will be one of the ladies in waiting at the Saturday morning Tea mentioned there. If they don't get enough ladies, I might be there too.
If you come, I'd love to talk to you in the lobby after.
More photos on the community theater's Facebook site:
I'm in costume By the way, I haven't mentioned that I love my costume for this!!!! It's made for someone about half a foot taller so it had to be shortened, and the sleeves had to be fixed (our wonderful neighborly friend who is also the jester's mother did this).
As you can tell by the lack of written blogging, the community theater musical this year has been much more involved for me.
In other words…
I’M HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!
I had a wonderful time in the musicals the last two years, but this one is even more fun than those were. The chorus numbers are very involved and humorous. The teen chorus is with the adult chorus this year so I’ve gotten to know more of the teens than I usually do. That’s one of the things I love about community theater – you just end up talking to whomever you’re next to, or working with, onstage (or backstage). You get to know all sorts of people.
I’ll back up. We’re doing Once Upon a Mattress this year. It’s a musical based on The Princess and the Pea, only this is a princess with more attitude.
Who swims.
The music was written by Mary Rogers, daughter of Richard Rogers who wrote the music for The Sound of Music, The King and I, etc.
Since most of the members of the chorus play lords, ladies, knights, and musicians, the costumes are particularly beautiful. Some of the chorus members are scullery maids, but they have a lot of fun things to do. I’ve been helping with the costumes this year, although, one morning last week, younger son and I went and helped paint sets.
I’ve never painted before, but, if you volunteer, they’ll find something at your skill level to do. That’s one of the (many, many, many) things I love about this group! I painted the fronts of some of the steps, and younger son and I painted the ladder to the bed. I occasionally look at the front of the steps: “I painted that!” – and now I know how to use a paint roller.
Younger son has painted sets and helped with props. He sprained his foot a few weeks ago so he’s had that foot in a “rigid shoe” to keep it from bending or putting stress on the sprained area while it heals. He’s sick of it so we now call it the “wretched shoe.” He’s had to come to lots of the rehearsals because dear husband has been traveling a lot, and I don’t feel comfortable with younger son being home alone after dark. This week, he said he’s caught the fever – he now loves coming to rehearsals and helping with theater work.
Oh, and I haven’t had a chance to mention – I’m dancing in this one!!!!!
There was a try out for six women dancers for one brief scene. I knew it was a long shot because there are a lot of good, younger dancers in the chorus. I tried anyway – at least I could dance during the try out – and you never know what happens.
What happened, was that 5 teen/20’s dancers and I tried out. I was in!!!!!
I’ve been bouncing around the house for weeks: “I’m dancing! I’m dancing!”
After me, the next oldest dancer in the formal scene is at least 10 years younger than I am (probably more).
Also, in this musical, there’s a really good dance scene for the chorus in general, too.
There are rehearsal pictures posted on the group’s Facebook page, and they’re open to the public so you don’t have to be a Facebook member to see them. Here are some of them:
Learning the dance (The dance teacher is in white, daughter and I are both in green (how did we do that?), and older son is in sage green behind us)
We've got a wonderful cast. Click here for a video of Sir Harry and Lady Larkin singing the first part of their love song. I wish they'd recorded more - they harmonize in the second part and it's beautiful!
If you're in Central NC, and you'd like to see it, here's the information:
Performances will be at the Orange High School auditorium in Hillsborough, NC:
July 28 - 8:00 p.m. July 29 - 8:00 p.m. July 30 - 8:00 p.m. July 31 - 2:00 p.m.
