A weekend's ruminations
Nov. 25th, 2002 09:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saxikathWow, I'm tired.
Busy weekend, what with the show, and getting ready for my mom to visit.
The show went well. For what it is, very well. Yes, there were still things, musically, that made me twitch, and things that I think could have been fixed with better rehearsals... but. It took me a long, long time to get this through my thick skull and into my snobby Cambridge-intellectual brain, but the fact is, that wasn't the point. This show was community theater, with the emphasis on "community" -- and that's a good thing. Everyone had a lot of fun doing it, the audience loved it, and we raised money for a good cause. And I got to sing "Can't Help Lovin' That Man," which is a glorious song anyway and happens to suit my voice splendidly. And I met some really nice, welcoming people whom I problably would never have encountered if I hadn't done the show. So yeah, the rehearsals were frustrating, but I'm glad I did the show. I might even do it again next year!
Saturday afternoon, I went to see Pirates of Penzance at MIT. Now, I've been in a lot of G&S shows, and I've seen a lot of G&S shows, including quite a few at MIT. I would say that this show was the best I've seen at MIT, and one of the best I've seen, period. Everyone looked like they were having a good time, and it looked and sounded excellent. I was glad to see so many new faces in the cast; that bodes well for the future of the group. The staging respected the traditions of the show while at the same time being fresh and clever, and managed to be wonderfully silly without going overboard into slapstick. (I knew it was coming, since I saw it at a rehearsal, but I still loved the pirates "hiding" as a hedge. And I liked the women's chorus imitating a marching band during "When the foeman bares his steel," and the cathedral window during "Hail, poetry," and ... well, everything, really!) Musically, it sounded good too; the orchestra was quite strong, and the voices were very good.
And I didn't even recognize![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chanaleh at first when she came out as a pirate -- and I knew she would be! Nice facial hair, Erica. :)
All in all, a superb show, and I'm really glad there was a Saturday matinee that I could get to!
My mother is in town for a conference. She's been at the hotel, but tonight she's coming to stay at my house. Which means I've had to clean and all that stuff. And finally got the landlord to come fix the disposal and the toilet, both of which had been acting up lately.
It's going to be an awkward visit, because I'm leaving Wednesday night to go up to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving, but she isn't welcome at my aunt's house (see previous entries), so she'll be doing something else and then coming up to my other aunt's house on Friday. I chose to go to NH instead of staying with her, which disappointed her, but I can only think that if I stay away from the family Thanksgiving to stay with Mom, it'll only make matters worse. *sigh* I hate this.
I'm making rolls to take as my contribution to the dinner. I need to make them after work today, before Mom arrives, because it seems unnecessarily cruel to make them while she's here. Especially since they're her recipe.
When I got the recipe for the rolls out, I had a rather melancholy reminder. Written on the page is an authorization number and the note "8 appointments." It was four years ago that just before Thanksgiving I had what was as close to a nervous breakdown as I ever want to come, and apparently the recipe page was the handiest piece of paper for taking notes while I was on the phone setting up my initial appointments with a psychiatrist. Thank goodness, this Thanksgiving won't be as bad as that one!
Now I suppose I should do some work, except that I don't seem to have any to do yet this morning...
Busy weekend, what with the show, and getting ready for my mom to visit.
The show went well. For what it is, very well. Yes, there were still things, musically, that made me twitch, and things that I think could have been fixed with better rehearsals... but. It took me a long, long time to get this through my thick skull and into my snobby Cambridge-intellectual brain, but the fact is, that wasn't the point. This show was community theater, with the emphasis on "community" -- and that's a good thing. Everyone had a lot of fun doing it, the audience loved it, and we raised money for a good cause. And I got to sing "Can't Help Lovin' That Man," which is a glorious song anyway and happens to suit my voice splendidly. And I met some really nice, welcoming people whom I problably would never have encountered if I hadn't done the show. So yeah, the rehearsals were frustrating, but I'm glad I did the show. I might even do it again next year!
Saturday afternoon, I went to see Pirates of Penzance at MIT. Now, I've been in a lot of G&S shows, and I've seen a lot of G&S shows, including quite a few at MIT. I would say that this show was the best I've seen at MIT, and one of the best I've seen, period. Everyone looked like they were having a good time, and it looked and sounded excellent. I was glad to see so many new faces in the cast; that bodes well for the future of the group. The staging respected the traditions of the show while at the same time being fresh and clever, and managed to be wonderfully silly without going overboard into slapstick. (I knew it was coming, since I saw it at a rehearsal, but I still loved the pirates "hiding" as a hedge. And I liked the women's chorus imitating a marching band during "When the foeman bares his steel," and the cathedral window during "Hail, poetry," and ... well, everything, really!) Musically, it sounded good too; the orchestra was quite strong, and the voices were very good.
And I didn't even recognize
chanaleh at first when she came out as a pirate -- and I knew she would be! Nice facial hair, Erica. :)All in all, a superb show, and I'm really glad there was a Saturday matinee that I could get to!
My mother is in town for a conference. She's been at the hotel, but tonight she's coming to stay at my house. Which means I've had to clean and all that stuff. And finally got the landlord to come fix the disposal and the toilet, both of which had been acting up lately.
It's going to be an awkward visit, because I'm leaving Wednesday night to go up to New Hampshire for Thanksgiving, but she isn't welcome at my aunt's house (see previous entries), so she'll be doing something else and then coming up to my other aunt's house on Friday. I chose to go to NH instead of staying with her, which disappointed her, but I can only think that if I stay away from the family Thanksgiving to stay with Mom, it'll only make matters worse. *sigh* I hate this.
I'm making rolls to take as my contribution to the dinner. I need to make them after work today, before Mom arrives, because it seems unnecessarily cruel to make them while she's here. Especially since they're her recipe.
When I got the recipe for the rolls out, I had a rather melancholy reminder. Written on the page is an authorization number and the note "8 appointments." It was four years ago that just before Thanksgiving I had what was as close to a nervous breakdown as I ever want to come, and apparently the recipe page was the handiest piece of paper for taking notes while I was on the phone setting up my initial appointments with a psychiatrist. Thank goodness, this Thanksgiving won't be as bad as that one!
Now I suppose I should do some work, except that I don't seem to have any to do yet this morning...
no subject
Date: 2002-11-25 08:04 am (UTC)It is a wonderful song; wish I could hear you sing it sometime! I just don't have the right voice for that one, but I love to play it.
Hope you have a terrific Thanksgiving in spite of the family issues.
no subject
Date: 2002-11-25 08:47 am (UTC)I have no idea how that would actually work, but it sounds fun. :)