HOLY SHIT! I haven't written in almost a month. Completely unforgivable.

First off, I kind of fell off the map due to the stars aligning for three different shows all at the same time, which was quite overwhelming. I've been so busy casting things, sewing costumes, making copies, finding rehearsal space, paying for things, trying to get paid back for paying things, doing creative accounting to not bounce checks while waiting for said payments, sewing costumes, opening shows and just generally running around like a chicken with no head.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

We got reviewed by the Reader and got a blurb in the Sun-Times after our opening night. It was nice to see two reviewers in house when at times we have to fight to get anyone to come out at all. The Reader called us "distractingly abstract" and "painfully human". Cholley wants to have shirts made with that quote. The cast is having fun and we've been getting good feedback from our audiences the past few weeks. It makes me happy to see people post nice things about the show and the cast on the Improv Chicago board or wherever.

JOE BILL'S ASS 2

I have no idea what Joe's show will be called, so in honor of the infamous US Improv Festival premiere (and finale) of a performance piece directed by Joe that came together basically by pulling the idea out of his ass several hours before the show took place, I've been calling the next Series show Joe Bill's Ass 2. We cast the show about two weeks ago, before Joe and a bunch of people from Chicago jetted on down to Orlando for the second FoolFest fringe festival. Damn, we had a tremendous group of talent come out for the audition. It was a really hard choice to even pair the group down for a callback, but we managed to cut things down from around 45-50 people to 16, and then to 10 at the callback. A lot of people I'd never seen before because I don't get out to the other theaters around town as much as I should, and I was pleasantly surprised at a few of the Playground folks that I've never had come out for a Series audition before.

Pause for a momentary rant.

IF YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY PLANNING ON GOING TO AN AUDITION, DON'T SIGN UP FOR AN AUDITION TIME. WE HAD A WAITING LIST TO AUDITION, AND YOU BASTARDS THAT DIDN'T SHOW FUCKED OVER YOUR FRIENDS. THIS IS MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE EVER. EVER. I HAVE A SPECIAL LIST FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

Rant mode off. Sorry. I just really hate that shit. You'd think people would learn by now.

Anyway, the show started rehearsing this week. We'll be trucking along twice a week until two weeks after CIF when we open. Yay.

MORE SERIES STUFF

Finally managed to get the rest of the Director's Series looked at and voted on for 2002 by the Playground Board. I wanted to present the whole year's worth of shows in January, but we didn't have a Board meeting due to the all-member meeting. The proposed season passed, so in addition to Cholley and Joe's shows, we have Jen Ellison directing a piece for this summer, Andy Eninger working on his "EPIC" idea and the annual bout of Sybilization. It's nice to have things planned in advance.

MIDNIGHTS AND THE KITTIES ARE SLEEPING

Bedlam opened last weekend. Yay... I'm so happy that I can now resume a semi-normal sleep schedule and not have to sew loincloths anymore...

First off, after producing a gazillion improv shows, I kind of forgot what tech week was like. Especially tech week for a prop and costume heavy show. Bedlam is nowhere near as bad costume-wise as several shows I did in college, but it was close enough from my long stretch of improv nothingness bliss. Amanda Cohen, our prop and costume goddess, had to leave town to be with her mom who was having surgery the week before tech hit. While we had a marathon shopping day and got a lot of the damage done at wonderful places like Unique Thrift and Metro Crafts, there was still a lot of stuff to do before dress rehearsal.

Now I can handle shopping for stuff, especially cheap stuff, but I'm retarded at sewing. I can whip stitch with the best of them and remember glimmers of the four weeks of home ec from junior high, but that's about where things stop making sense. Christine Sinacore was gracious enough to loan me her sewing machine and only laugh a little bit at me when I called her about ninety times with stupid questions on how to use it. In the week before opening night, I sewed a complete fat suit, three Egyptian costumes, several sets of curtains, a courtesan-esque hat, and a few other minor pieces. My apartment sort of looked like a small tornado hit a fabric store. Mark was very tolerant about the fabric scraps; my cats enjoyed all the string.

I spent every night for a week getting stuff ready. I didn't get much sleep, so when opening night rolled around and I was a bit of a walking zombie. All that stuff doesn't really matter though because the cast is great, the show looks and sounds wonderful - Andy did a really good job on it. I'm happy with Bedlam, the Playground has a great first effort at a late night show and the audience seemed to have fun.

TERRORSLIDE

is coming this summer. Mr. Fancypants presents all the suspense of a good mystery, wrapped in the bone chilling thrills of a horror flick, seasoned with good old fashioned bits. Terrorslide. Midnights. Coming soon.

TIRED

So much other stuff happened in the last few weeks, but I'm tired and I'll have to get to it later.

Oh, and my mom thinks I'm weird for writing on online journal. Well, sure. I'm weird, but there's a lot stranger things out there than an online journal... #