Letters to Holly

Tuesday, May 19

Oh, Right.

We scrambled to cover the garden when we got home. It's a bit late in the year for a frost warning, at least in this hemisphere, but scramble we did. We used tarps and newspaper cones to cover the seedlings and the peonies. I then hustled off to the next audition for Rainmaker.

I was surprised yesterday to see so many men show up. We had no women appear though, and the director assured us he had asked three candidates to show up. Tonight, he tells us that two of them have backed out because of gas prices. Another has yet to arrive, and things are looking bleak. There were three of us there returning, and we didn't read one line of dialogue.

Instead, the director stated plainly that he might have to cancel the show because he had no Lizzie and Starbuck. That was a sudden shot across my bow, because I wanted that role. A few people were trying to talk him into casting Brick from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and my translator from the Scrooge play. I didn't know he was back in town, but I was assured he was. Last I heard, he was in New York. I know he's appearing on Law & Order this Wednesday as a jury member.

I told the director I'd like to try the role, and he gave me an odd expression. I read it as disbelief, but he said instead he was trying to picture it. He also mentioned that he wouldn't cast a seven-person show with the seven people who showed up to audition. Also, another theatre has a standing invite for him to take the male lead in On Golden Pond, and he admitted he always wanted that role.

As it stands now, if we don't have a Lizzie try out, there's no show. The theatre, I assume, would pick another play, get another director, and try to cast that.

After about an hour, the director suggested we go out for drinks, and we repaired to the local pub. It was here that I may have won him over through pure charm. I know enough about old-school pop culture that I could keep pace as they mentioned Rita Hayworth and the Andrew Sisters. I coughed up a few one-liners that went over much better than they had any right to, and I think I showed the director that I wasn't just a comely visage. I suggested I could play the female lead, but only if I keep my bread. That, I explained, is why she can't find a man. I also suggested we combine the next two plays and make Bell, Book, and Rainmaker, the tale of a mean wizard who threatens to flood the farmland unless they pay him.

I like this director, and I hope this comes together.

Your Sister decided over dinner that she would try out for Lizzie, and I gave her specific scenes to consider explaining why Lizzie is alone and how she regards the suitors. We had talked about this before. Years before. We have only done one show together -- the one where we met -- and we thought this smaller company would love to cast spouses as romantic leads. I encouraged her to try out, even if I didn't get Starbuck. She asked how I'd react to seeing her love on another guy, and I told her it was only fair given what she's seen me do onstage.

This morning, however, she reconsidered, and I think it's best for now. We'll be halfway through rehearsals when her school work ends. Those first weeks would be a hard slog for her. But I do want to act opposite her. We'd love to try Much Ado About Nothing.

Picture of the Day
Coming next summer: Iron Porpoise starring Robert Dolphin Jr.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

proof positive that i am able to read your blog.

but it seems like most of my updates will be via facebook. just easier for me,with more people potentially updated in less than a minute. it truly is a social networking juggernaut.

Gregory said...

Sure, use Facebook. I'll still let you know Debacle stuff here.

Your mom just handed me the CD case, and I've got some of your CDs in here too.

Anonymous said...

whoops. sorry about that. i hope that they are the anatomy podcasts...which could be fun for you to listen to as they are out of Oxford, England. the accent is great on the MD/PhD