Catch up time.

Jasper Station wrapped itself up after a full 12 show run. Tthe double-secret mystery private 13th show never occurred; whether that was due to superstition or just the fact that nobody was willing to organize it in the first place is debatible. No matter what, the entire run was a triumph, and I’m proud to have been part of it. Sterling was just one of those characters that is such a joy to play. Not REALLY a stretch on my part – he’s that neurotic kind of guy that I seem to pull off so well (think of a heftier Woody Allen), but as long as I have fun with it there is no shame in being typecast.
The reality is, I would do the show again in a heartbeat. If they called me up tomorrow and said they were bringing it back in a few months and would I want to do it again? I’d be there, and I would hope the rest of the cast felt the same way. That’s not just good ‘ole theatre blues talking (for the non thespians out there, this is the term used to describe the time immediately following a production where we don’t know what to do with our time, and often jump into a new show right away. This coincidentally is also the most often time that actors come home to find the locks replaced by their now ex-spouses), this show was so fulfilling in general that it deserves a revisit. That may very well happen. But for now, I’m taking a break.

I do get twitchy though, and my ears perk up when somebody mentions casting.

I have already been offered three different roles in as many shows, but have turned them down. In two months time, our little family trio jumps on a jet and scoots over the Atlantic to Deutschland for three weeks, so even thinking of being involved with a full production run during that time period is not only unfair to Melanie, but would be unfair to any cast and crew. Unless it’s a small role, missing that much time in rehearsals can be fairly jarring.

I’m not being idle though. I’m eyeing shows in the May-June timeframe, as well as putting in a proposal to direct a show for Theatre On Main in the 2007-08 season (revisiting ‘Early One Evening At the Rainbow Bar & Grille’ is a possibility). South Shore Theatre is asking about my availability for fall ’07 as they plan on doing Dracula…I just don’t know what version they are doing yet (there are many, but the 3 most common scripts I’ve seen include a drama, a comedy and a musical). South Shore doesn’t do musicals, so that narrows the choices down. I’m worried if it’s a drama. Even though Dracula is certainly a well known subject matter, and the assumption is that it would sell based on that….for some reasons Dramas just do not sell well in Keswick. The last one we did was Kind Lady, it even after a hell of a lot of promotion it lost a lot of money. People in that town want to laugh, and South Shore comedies typically do well. I’ll talk to the director about it, and see what they are thinking. Finally, I’m working on the idea of putting a Sketch-Comedy group together. This is an evolution of my idea of running Improv shows at Theatre on Main. I figured if parts of the show could be scripted, leaving some dynamic time for Improv and special guests then it could become a healthy fixture for theatre in the town of Newmarket.

It takes time to put all this together, and so therefore I’m not yet working on it. I just don’t have time at the moment. The day job sucks up a lot of time (especially when I’m still working on it until often 12:30am). I’m getting as much fit into a day as possible, while at least trying to fit in to being a family man. A role I honour, even if it has it’s rough moments.

Can’t complain about the job though – it’s still proving to be a wonderful company to consult for, and though my brain keeps wanting to leak out of my ear when I look at some of the data, it’s worth it. Contract just officially has been extended to the day before we head off to Germany (and there is talk of work upon my return, but that’s written on vellum only, so take that with a small pebble of sodium-chloride). They treat me well…I’m involved in all of their employee events, was at their company Christmas party, and even came to their Children’s Christmas party yesterday with Melanie and Nathaniel at Rinx (Nathaniel did not deal with Santa very well this time, but he was already tired and cranky so it’s excusable). I can see myself staying with this company for awhile if they will have me. If not, honestly that’s ok too. I’m sincerely not stressing about stuff like that.

Reason for that? I may possibly have some serious health issues involving my heart, and it’s not worth generating needless stress to cause complications with that. My doctor called me into his office a few weeks back, and informed me that my latest EKG test (ordered after my physical) showed that I had probably suffered a heart attack sometime in the past – they just don’t know when. The word probably is the only part to be concerned about. If they knew it was a heart attack for sure…great – it’s happened, therefore make some changes in lifestyle and health to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Probably could say, well it looks like a heart attack, but it could really be that alien-symbiote thing that’ll be popping out of your chest any day now, call Sigourney Weaver just in case. I go for a stress test in January (fun!), to be followed by a 24-hour monitor to see if they can make a better and more informed prognosis. To be honest with you….I’m not that worried about it.

Throw what catch phrase you want – “What shall be shall be”, “C’est la vie”, “The bird-flu chickens are roosting in the alligator pit” (huh?)…it’s all a delicate balance. One I’m used to walking by now. To love my family. To love my friends. To love theatre. To love my quiet time. To lov….well, to be good at my job. Percentage of balance required for each changes daily. Thinking about it is meaningless, just as planning for it never works. Dealing with each day as something different…that’s the only thing I can do.

Until next time.