We're getting to that point...

We've reached a new point in the season...it's an important page being turned in our season.  It's the point where people are ready to go home.  Oh gosh...really?!?!  Yes, it's true.  I'm not so much screaming to get out yet, but I'm starting to miss things like favorite foods from restaurants and grocery stores.  Can't wait to sleep in my bed in my bedroom!  Looking forward to having television and an internet signal that isn't wavering minute by minute.

Other people seem to be at the point where they're getting tired of one another.  And in some cases there are reasons to be wearing thin.  For instance, in our living space there is one common room where the food is served.  Also in that room is a table that serves as a space to gather and socialize but also to eat.  I mean that's a good use of a table in the eating area of the house.  Well it appears that the table has been commandeered by three or four people who leave their stuff on that table always.  The other day it was VERY rainy here.  So eating outside on our porch (as we do just about every day) was not a great option...unfortunately it was the only option because the table indoors is not able to be used.

Please also seem to be deteriorating a bit.  One act is complaining of a badly bruised and swollen knee, we've had allergies playing a big factor on people in the house and now I have a very bad ear infection.  I've been to a few doctors, one of them is a specialist, and I've been given some antibiotics but the doctor is concerned at the severity of the infection.  So I'll have a follow up appointment with him after two weeks on two different antibiotics and I'll also have a hearing test done on that day.  It's a bit frightening to me because of all the surgeries that I had on my ears as a child.  Certainly my mind has raced back to some very vivid moments of prepping for surgeries, following up on surgeries and realizing that I had some significant hearing loss as a child.  They are guessing that at this point my right ear is operating at about 50% of it's normal function because of the infection.  Not the best diagnosis for someone who needs their ears for their career.  But, I'm getting by and I'm keeping a positive energy about it.  Stressing, worrying, complaining about it is certainly not going to help me get any better.

In wrapping up, I would like to give a shout out to my best friend from home who has recently started a new chapter of life at a new institution seeking a doctorate.  I'm very proud of you and miss you already!  Much love!

Enjoy the day everyone.
Adios from the Mountains of Musical Madness.
CK

Sorry for the delay in posting!

Sorry for the delay in posting!  A lot of things have been going on since I last wrote.  Let me catch you up to speed...

Starting with the not so good.  I have an ear infection.  Finally went to the doctor yesterday (long over due says both my roommate and my mom) and figured it out.  I am almost positive that this happened because I was doing so much swimming in the first half of the summer.  So now my swimming has been limited to above water only.  I also bought some ear plugs.  But the doctor told me that it's the worst ear infection she's ever seen.  When she described what my ear drum looked like I got a bit nauseous.  So I'm on a really strong antibiotic (which does a number on your digestive system...ugh!) to clear it up and I'm going back on Monday to have it rechecked.

Next news, the parents are in town!  They've seen two shows today and are seeing their third today!  So far they've seemed to really enjoy what they've seen.  We've had a good time and it's been really nice to have a bit of home right here in the Mountains.  

We start rehearsing the last show on Tuesday (I've been not working during the days since last Friday). I'm a bit nervous about the show for a few reasons....

1- The lead in the show is the actor that I had such a terrible time with in our last production.

2- It's a huge show with a huge cast and a lot of logistics.

3- It was written by Mel Brooks...yeah he's hilarious but he should have stuck to writing comedy...not music!  

4- Everyone is at the point in the season where they are a little bit sick of each other and ready to get going, meaning everyone is a bit high-strung.

All things considered I hope it will play out in an okay way.  

That's all for now...I'm trying to get back to the daily posts.

Cheers from the Mountains of Musical Madness.

CK

Lots to talk about today!

Alright, let it be known that TODAY IS MY FIRST DAY OFF!  I'm so excited!

Next, yesterday was among the worst days I've had here...since I've been working here!!!  We opened my 4th show of the summer (5th for the theater) last night.  In my last post I referenced Truvey, the director.  Well the process finishing up with Truvey came to a more gentle landing which is good.  BUT along the way a couple of ugly headed stressed out people reared their way to the top!  By that I mean, people who snapped during the technical rehearsal.

One of these two is someone who I work with EVERY DAY here.  He and I have been kind of "partners in crime" this summer because we are always together.  Getting frustrated and yelling at me over a microphone is not a way to further a "partner in crime" relationship.  He apologized and I told him that I understand that tensions get high but in the future think twice about how you handle your stress.

The second was one of The Pros.  He's an ass!  He's been working up to the way he acted yesterday for the whole summer.  And the problem is that his ego is so large that he never will apologize.  At this point, I would forgive him for the way he treated me.  Which was basically abysmal...so much so that the other Pros who were at the rehearsal apologized on his behalf.  So nice to know that they realize that it is not okay to treat people that way, but, as my mom says..."shame on you" for being too self centered to apologize yourself.  Unfortunately he has the lead in the last show of the summer....let's hope he knows his music well because he's not going to get a whole lot of help from me until he apologizes.  Which I doubt will happen.

I would like to say that this was the end of the "crap" for the day but it wasn't.  Anyway, that's for episode two of this post.  I'm off to enjoy a sunny day off.

Lounging in the Mountains of Musical Madness.
CK

The next endeavor

Today marks the third day of rehearsal on the next show in the rotation.  It's the show that I was most excited about as I got ready to come here this summer!  And let me preface the below comments by say that I think it will be VERY GOOD!

We have a guest director in town for this show, we'll call him Truvey.  Now Truvey has been an actor here before and I've worked with him the past two summers.  This year he is just coming from a job where he was actually in the show that he is now directing here.  so he knows it quite well!  All of that is good stuff except for the fact that he's driving me crazy.  If I hear the words "having just done the show...." one more time I might go mad!  Yesterday Truvey was actually reading in lines for the guy playing the role that he just played and using the characters voice to do so.  (RUDE!)  At one point in rehearsal he approached me at the keys and said, "What was just going on with the music right there?"  My response at a later moment was something to the effect of you do your job and I'll do mine.

Oh gosh...I see a long week ahead of me.  The thing is that I've been working with The Man at my side as the director for the entire summer so far and I'll be doing one more show with him at the end of the season.  I guess you don't realize how easy it is to work with some people until you aren't working with them.  I'm taking deep breaths and hoping to get through the week.

Until next time...from the Mountains of Music Madness.
CK

Opening

Show #4 opens tonight (third musical).  I have mixed emotions about it.  I really like the show!!!  It's a great one.  But I have a little bit of a problem doing it with such a small band as we're using.  It just doesn't sound right without all those saxes and horns in there.  The show was written by my favorite composer and I really just think that he is brilliant!  Unfortunately he thought it was a good idea to change keys every page of music and to write songs that gave the singers lots of liberties.  These two factors make it so that I have to work REALLY HARD throughout the show.  There is a lot of room for error (or messiness I suppose).

BUT, when the hardest part about it all is that the set designer decided it would be a good idea to build a platform above my head.  There are two main problems with this.  #1 it makes it hard for me to hear the singers!  #2 it makes it impossible for me to see the singers.  At one point there are curtains drawn underneath this platform which makes it so that I'm sitting inside a tent.  Now really?!?!  Who in their right mind thinks it a good idea to put the pianist/conductor inside a tent and expects them to keep the pace of a show moving.  And really thats how it works.  Once the show begins it's the job of the stage manager and the conductor to keep it all moving.

So needless to say, there is some anxiety there!  I'm sure it'll go off just fine but I'm expecting today to be a very stressful day!  The good news is that tomorrow we start working on the show that I've been looking forward to most for the summer.  And that opens next Thursday and then I HAVE A WEEK OFF!

Keeping my cool in the Mountains of Musical Madness...

CK

Looking Ahead

I've reached the point in the season now where I am looking forward to my first day off.  That'll happen in a few weeks when they go into rehearsal for the comedy that's being produced.  No music in that one so I'll be free!  In general, I am really enjoying the people here still.  I know what you're thinking, "wow that sounds kind of harsh." I mean it does, but you gotta understand what theater folk can be like.

In years past there has been a lot of issues with people being respectful and kind to each other.  I mean it's hard to work together every day and then come back to a house where everyone lives.  For instance, yesterday my roommate, let's call her The Mrs., she really upset me in rehearsal.  I left the room and she changed something in the music with my assistant while I was gone.  Not cool!  I came back into the room, found out what had happened.  Took a deep breath and approached her on the next break to say, we're not changing that.  I don't change your dances when you leave the room so you're not changing the music when I do.  You know, these things happen when you work with people.  You have to communicate...no big deal.  But then you have to come back to the house and live with that person.  Now The Mrs. and I have learned how to deal with things like that because we're great friends but that's not the case with everyone here.

So the moral of this story....I'm looking forward to a day off!

Ciao from the Mountains of Musical Madness.
CK

Blunder #2

Professional Blunder #2

So here's the situation.  Some of you may know that I've been working on an original show that was written by The Man.  Apparently, he did this show here several years ago and it went over quite well.  So he decided that it would be a good idea to revamp the show (add some new songs, modernize some pop culture references, etc).  No that's all well and good except that he really is not a trained composer. By that I mean he never was really trained in the structure of music and harmony.  For instance, it is not okay to have a G sharp in the melodic line and harmonize it using a B flat major chord.  (I know that at least of of you will know what that means.)

The problem exists when I am spending large amounts of time re-writing music that is not appropriate to give to singers or a band.  Now certainly, the person who wrote the song, played it over and over again as they created it audibly, can get through that but not another singer or instrumentalist who has never heard the song.  So basically for the past three weeks since I got here the show has been reworked and re-written to make sense.  Now it's very daunting because I really have compiled, arranged, composed, purchased more than half of the music for this show.  Unfortunately the composer (The Man) does not think that I've "composed" anything, he thinks that I've merely been an "arranger". I call that bologna!

All I'm really asking for is just to have some recognition.  This marks the third original musical that I've helped to create here.  In all of those shows, I've never been credited with any artistic ownership on the shows.  Maybe just a little shout out as a "collaborator" on the project.  Each year audiences come to see the show and in the end of the curtain speech that welcomes the audience the person giving the dialogue says, "so now enjoy 'The Man's' original musical, _________________!"  I just sit there and sigh, knowing that half the material is mine.  I just suck it up, but this year I've begun to voice my opinion and will continue to do so.  The show opens tonight and I think it'll be good.

Cheers from the Mountains of Musical Madness.

CK

Seperations

Each year at this theater we reach a point where things start to pull apart a little bit.  Those people who have been around for several years (I guess I'm one of those people now) have a forecasted amount of time that will pass be fore this starts to happen.  We've reached that point about 3 weeks early this year. It's starting to happen now....let me explain further.

By separation I mean that in a few different ways.  The first is that The Pros and The Cherubs begin to separate from each other.  This actually has been happening all along which is really too bad.  I mean in a way it makes sense because They start rehearsals working completely isolated from the other group, one working on one show and the other group working on another show of their own.  But then we do a big (and usually up beat/fun) show where people are integrated into one group.  This didn't seem to fix grouping issue for some reason this year.

Secondly by separation I mean that the actors begin to question the staff and the way the theater is run.  This is happening very quietly this year in comparison to other years... never the less, it's happening and quite early.  Yesterday in a rehearsal some of the actors decided to take a new mentality of rehearsal etiquette out for a spin.  It was quite a transition from how things have been going but in general it was just a very silly and unproductive time.  Which is not so great because the show we're working on right now is far from the point where that can be happening.  The Man and I just had to kind of keep working the best we could and be productive.

The last bit of separation is that from society and our lives at home.  We start to feel homesick and disconnected from the world outside of this place.  I think this is happening already with many of the people here.  Visitors are being talked about quite regularly.  Which is a great thing!


I guess that's all for today.  Trying to stay cool in the Mountains of Musical Madness.
CK

The Next Step

Last night we had our first "performance" for the advertisers of the theater this year. I call it a "performance" because they are told they're watching a dress rehearsal and that if need be, we will stop.  We didn't!  It was honestly, an outstanding show!  I was really pleased.  And the good news is...we do that same show again tonight and tomorrow night!   That is truly rare here...doing a show three times in a row without a different one mixed in...no way!  It's going to be great!

So will the performances happening today is the first day of the next step for me here.  Because "The Pros" are governed by such strict rules it means that my work here is essentially governed by their union as well.  Sometimes it's a beautiful thing, sometimes not so much.  One of the rules is that if they have a performance on a given day they can not rehearse for more than 5 hours in addition to that performance.  Here are some of their union produced rules:

1- They have to get a break during rehearsals every 55 minutes (a 5 minute break) or every 80 minutes (a 10 minute break)

2- They have to have a shower and a cot available in the performance space

3- They can't start a days rehearsal until 12 hours has elapsed since they walked off stage the previous night.

4- When housing is provided they have to have their own rooms with a sink in the room.

5- No pictures or videos can be taken during rehearsal or performance unless a waiver is given by their association

6- During a photocall (a session where photos are taken to document the show's existence, waiver provided by their association) they have to have snacks and beverages provided

7- If their feet leave the ground during a performance a "flight or lift call" has to take place before the show.  If a hand or object is quickly moving towards their face or body a "fight call" has to take place before the show to practice the routine.

This is just some of the routine.  So today my rehearsal doesn't start until 1:00 and that's a great thing.  "Crazy P" (who jumped up on the bed this morning) and I are on the porch (getting devoured by mosquitos) and relaxing.  It's a great day.

Ciao from the Mountains of Musical Madness.
CK

Crazy P Updated

A lot of you have been asking me about "Crazy P" and I really appreciate that!  He's doing pretty well.  Recovering from whatever it is that was going on.  I've been calling him "The Tri-pod Dog" for the past week.  But he's beginning to favor the leg a lot less.  I'm continuing to monitor him and at this point we will wait to see if he recovers or if he tweaked something and it continues to be a problem.  He still will not jump up on my bed at this point....which is NOT normal for him!  Although, I must say that not having to find a corner of available bed because my 30 pound dog is hogging the whole things has been quite nice.  I guess the long and short of it is...I'm still worried about him (of course I am) but I think he is making a slow recovery.  

In other news the theater really has come together in the past few days.  It's been rough getting things turned back on.  When the fire happened the electricity to the building had to be shut off for safety measures.  Additionally, they had to turn off the sprinkler system once the fire was extinguished.  Once both of these things are done, proper authorities and crews have to come back in and rewire the systems and inspect them.  So we've been working all week on trying to get electricity turned on so that lights can be focused and aimed, microphones can be checked, vacuum cleaners can be run.  In the process, however we have lost a few things that we're accustomed to.

One of the things we lost has been a vital part of our performances.  We have a cue light system which is controlled by the stage manager in the booth at the back of the theater.  There are a series of colored lights back stage which he can turn on as a warning and then when the light goes out, that's the "go" sign.  Well electricians told us that be cause the system for those lights was run cable that is not safe (I don't know the specific terms) we are not able to use them.  BUMMER!  This means that all of our cues from back stage might be a bit off.  The lights were used for things as simple as starting the overture before the show.  I guess we'll have to work on another system.

Well I'm off to another day of rehearsal on a show that is coming along quite well.  Thanks again for all of your thoughts about "Crazy P".  

Happy Friday from the Mountains of Musical Madness.

CK

Counting Down

Yesterday I suddenly realized that the countdown to the first show begins.  Scary!  Monday night we have an audience for the first show.  Though the performance is billed as an "Invited Dress Rehearsal", lets be honest, when people are sitting in the seats watching that is not a rehearsal.  So the pressure is on.  The actors are feeling it, directors are feeling it, designers are feeling it.  

The problem now is that the actors (most of which have never been here) are starting to realize that their brains are already full of information from the show they learned last week.  Now they're adding to it with this show, the one that needs to open first.  I'm not sure how actors do what they're doing.  It's really quite admirable.  I could never make that work.  

Thankfully, the first show is really central around 3 ladies in the lead roles.  Those three are VERY poised and seemingly confident in rehearsal.  But every 5 minutes the show breaks out into another show stopping number which showcases the ensemble singing and dancing around them.  These numbers take time to rehearse and so for the last two days we've been behind in our rehearsal schedule, almost from the moment we started.  Well, because of that fact it feels a little bit like we're playing catch up for the next few days so that on Monday when we get into the theater (which hopefully will be completed in time) we can have a show that is ready to open.  

I've been telling this to everyone but it seems like this cast and this show particularly have the potential to be some of the best work that I've seen and worked on at this theater.  That's exciting!!!

Wish us luck in the Mountains of Musical Madness.

CK

The Schmooz Fest

As promised, the topic at hand today is the Schmooz Fest.  This event took place this past Sunday.  The basic gist of the event is that people who give money and serve on the board for the organization come to our residence and provide a meal.  The thing that sucks about it, is that they basically come for one reason....to meet actors from New York.  Star-struck locals!  So a conversation at the event might go something like this...

"Hi I'm [insert wealthy donor's name here].  And you are?"
"I'm "Maestro", the Music Director."
"Oh very nice to meet you. Any idea where the professional actors are sitting?"

Now you may think that I'm kidding...but I'm not!  I suppose that over that 4 years working here some of these people have gotten to know me and are actually quite complimenting of my work.  But the other staff members here (costumers, stage managers, technicians, designers, etc) are literally ignored at the event.  It kind of sucks.  So we've been brainstorming some options for next year.

Option 1- How about if they all sit in separate places and we get the opportunity to move around in a rotating manner and introduce ourselves.  Then when their conversation sucks or they say something rude can just get up and leave.

Option 2- We could just all come up with alias names and say that we're playing made up character names in each of the shows so that they think there are over 50 actors here.

Option 3- CANCEL THE DAMN EVENT!

Well I'm off to start working.  Have a great day everyone!

Farewell from the Mountains of Musical Madness.

CK

...and I'm feeling good!

Sigh!  A good Monday morning here in the Mountains of Musical Madness.  I'm starting the week feeling great for a few reasons:
1- The sun is shining!
2- I just Skyped with the three cutest littles in the world!
3- Starting rehearsal on a new show today (one that I REALLY like)!

All that is so great.  I've spent a lot of time this weekend prepping and getting ready.  This is our first show that involved the FULL company.  So it'll be nice to have everyone in the same place working on a show rather than in separate spaces working on smaller projects.  Everyone here is in full work mode now.  The last company member (a musician) is arriving today.  The new theater is being prepped and readied very vigorously.  A couple days of rain last week set the contractors back a few days but it appears that they'll be able to get everything done just in the knick of time.

The antics have now begun with the company.  A few members of the group are really kind of pulling away, by that I mean...wow you're annoying and don't realize that people can't stand being around you.  There is one person here in particular, one of "The Cherubs" who just really doesn't realize that his demeanor is aggravating to people.  He has one of the personalities where he really likes to hear himself talk and not in a great way!  He tends to be a stereotype all on his own, which is really annoying in a community like this!  Today is my first day of rehearsal with "The Cherubs" as they've been working on their own projects with their own "Maestro".  I'm looking forward to working with them today and am a bit anxious about it too.

Over the past week and a half I've recorded a lot of music to be rehearsed outside of the rehearsal hall...and ideally AHEAD OF TIME!  Many people have been taking advantage of this and I'm expecting that the first sounds I hear today will be mostly good.  However some of "The Cherubs" (including) "The Stereotype" have clearly not been working on this.  Recreation has been a big thing for a few people.  Now, don't get me wrong, on your day off you should go to the river and swim, or catch a movie in town, or grab a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant, or go play Rock Band on a big screen up at the theater.  But you can really only do these things after you've done your homework!  Where I teach homework tends to be 40% of a students grade.  That means if you do NONE...you fail!  We'll see how this goes.

Tomorrow's topic is one from over the weekend...The Schmooz Fest...details forthcoming.

Here's to a good week from the Mountains of Musical Madness.

CK

Oh gosh!

Well this will be interesting!  "Crazy P" is having a little bit of turmoil in his life.  I noticed yesterday morning that he was walking a little bit slowly when I took him out for a walk.  He usually is way out in front of me and sometimes pulling on the leash.  That was not the case.  Then as I walked him again in the afternoon I noticed that he was favoring one leg.  I thought maybe he had something stuck in his paw or had stepped on something.  So i inspected and found nothing.  Last try, I took him for a walk last night and on the way back into the house as he began to walk up the stairs to our room he stopped and started yelping!  He's in pain!  

So I've decided to keep him calm (medication will be used) for the next couple of days and see if it get's any better.  He's been really good about staying in his bed and relaxing so far and I'm hoping to keep that up.  A little bit of puppy massage is showing me that the area that is tender is his left rear hip area.  So I'm hoping that perhaps he just tweaked something.  If it's not better in a few days I'll have to take him for an X-Ray.  Sigh!  I hear they are quite costly.

Oh well.  That's really the news for today.  No Professional Blunder yet.  I suppose given the concern of the day being on "Crazy P" I'm glad it's subsided, for now at least.

Hoping for healing in the Mountains of Musical Madness,

CK

It's that time.

Well folks, it's that time.  You're shocked (if you know me well) that I have gone this long with out talking about the food...but today is the day!  There's a reason that I really haven't talked about it much. It's great!!!  We've made a huge step up with this from last year.  We have a new chef here for reasons that are slightly round about in nature.  Basically the old chef punched had a slight altercation on the grounds of our company and had to be fired.  Yay!  He made the same thing over and over again and it was never good.  Our new chef....brilliant.  Everybody loved her, we'll call her "Betty".  She has spoiled us so much this year with her food so far.  And I must say "Betty" has a tough job.  On staff we have a vegan, 4 vegetarians, one person who is allergic to gluten and a person who follow the Paleo diet (that's the toughest one to accommodate).  But EVERY person has felt like they have choices and are really happy with delicious food.

Yesterday for we had homemade chicken wings (honey mustard, BBQ and buffalo) with homemade blue cheese dressing, home made fried rice and salad.  Wow!  And let me tell you.  "Betty" makes THE BEST Macaroni and Cheese. So good that I refer to it as "Crackeroni and Cheese"!!!

I would like to end by saying that this morning I woke up missing the three little people in my life.  Recently a picture was put up on that social network sight that you all know with two of them.  I looked at it and really wished that I could squeeze those three little guys.  Thank goodness for a Skype conversation this past Monday.  The littlest one just stared at my face on the screen looking puzzled at how I was in there.  Every now and then would stick up her little princess hand and wave....gulp!  The best part was when one of them exclaimed, "I want to come inside there with you."  I smiled so big at the innocence of that cute little girl!

Okay, I'm off to work.  Things are going quite well but I am forecasting that in the next day I will have Professional Blunder #2 for you.  It's in the works.

Signing off from the Mountains of Musical Madness.
CK

Logs or Chips

Good morning all.  The work week has begun.  STILL RAINING and forecasted to do so through the beginning of next week.  That's no good on two levels.

"The Men at Work" (see last post) are certainly being slowed down by this weather and now there is beginning to be some concern about people being able to do be in the new part of the building on the day we open.  I mean it sounds like it would be okay, right?  "Just keep people out of that part, I'm sure you could open the new wing of the building a few days late."  WRONG.  That's where the only public bathrooms are.

[I guess yesterday they went up and made plans for the 7 brand new dressing rooms.  By that I mean shelving, counter space, storage, draws, shoe racks, clothing racks.  The sure sound like they're going to be pretty swanky.  Most of you know I have a friend from home here, we'll call her "Mary Poppins"... "Mary" for short.  If you know her that should make sense.  Anyway, so "Mary" got to pretty much design the dressing rooms.  She's really good with that kind of thing.]

The second problem with the rain is that the crew is really struggling to find dry space to build and paint.  Right now, I understand the painters are mixing things and trying to find just a dry corner to get some things painted.  It really is a rough time of the season though, because they're essentially building the first 4 shows all at the same time.  I can't imagine how they keep it straight.

Okay, so you probably looked at the name of today's post and went..."What the heck does that mean CK?"  So I'd like to fill you in on a little game we like to play here.  When sitting on the porch in the morning, meal times, evening, middle of the night....okay so really anytime you can guarantee that trucks will drive past.  Huge trucks!  The kind you can't even think about talking over.  The trucks are traveling to and from a logging plant that is about 1.5 miles up the road from us.  They send out logs and wood chips to places all over New England.  So the game is really simple....as you hear the massive, deafening truck approach you say, "Logs or chips?"  Everyone around you then 'places their bets' and you await the outcome.  There's no prize, no wager, just dignity.  AND, nobody here gets paid enough to put a dollar amount on such a stupid game.  So that's really all.  I guess it's the mindlessness that is an easy break from stress, fatigue, annoyance, hunger...okay really any other human emotion.

Signing off from The Mountains of Musical Madness.  (logs just passed)
CK

Rainy Rehearsal Day

Alright, the work week begins, today is my first day of rehearsal and also the first day with our full working company all in order.  Rain!  Which wouldn't really be a big problem except that.... [here comes a lengthy story]

This past Columbus Day a major structure, the one standing directly next to the current performance space, was burned completely to the ground.  How did it start?  Not sure...electrical? arson? cigarette butts from the bat next door?  No one really knows.  Regardless, it's gone and so is every musical instrument the theater owns (save a grand piano and a crappy rehearsal drumset), music stands, amps, power tools, hand tools, years of set pieces (many of which were reused for shows over and over), dressing rooms, wardrobe space (hair and make up), and years and years of fond memories.  Additionally the performance space had a good amount of damage and we're told that in 5 more minutes of unattended fire, it would also have burned to the ground.  The facility that I speak of was very old and not in great shape but still....tragic!  However, out of disaster has come something great.  The structure has been rebuilt and now will have 7 brand new beautiful dressing rooms, a huge bright new lobby, a gigantic construction and paint shop, tons of storage and a beautiful new back stage space.  Well here's the dilemma....it's still under it's last stages of construction.

Okay so that means that the crew has no covered space to work in because contractors are still working to complete the space, install the plumbing, door fixtures, electrical, furniture, molding, etc.  So it looks like they'll put on their ponchos and hope for the best.  They've been preparing for this however and we're all confident that it'll be just fine.  Our first show will undoubtedly be bit scary however.  I'm fully expecting that they sets will be getting touch up paint and construction, the piano will be getting tuned and the floor of the theater will still be getting mopped as we are just about to open!

As for me, first day of rehearsal with the "Hired Help".  I'm excited, nervous and anxious all at the same time.  The thing that's great is that we all start on the same page.  Not knowing one another (although I do know one of the "Hired Help" from past work with the theater), we are able to have at least a few days of work together where we are all on the same page.  Inevitably, what happens within days, however, is that we (actors and directors alike) will learn each others quirks and idiosyncrasies and that inevitable leads to a summer of adjusting to each other as professionals.  Bring it on!  We theater types are all passionate about what we do and have a flair for the dramatic.  That combination is always an interesting one.

Okay I need to get Crazy P settled (he escaped from my room on Saturday...so I'm changing his pen name to "Houdini").  He'll probably end up sleeping all day because we had a busy day yesterday and he looks a bit pooped.  Then I'm off to work...the fun begins!

With excitement from the Mountains of Musical Madness....

Cheers.
CK

First Day Off

Today is the first day off for the Company (a word used to describe the whole unit of working people at this theater) here.  It's going to be an interesting day off, however.  Today all 10 of the "Hired Help" and much of the technical staff who have not arrived will be getting to the house.  Normally on Sundays we have no food provided here at the house and everyone fends for themselves.  Last night we had a conversation about how that's not so welcoming to the people who haven't been here yet.  So "The Man" and I will be grilling tonight and some of the technical staff have offered to make some salads and such.  

Before that can happen however, I have quite a bit of work to do.  Yesterday I sat with "The Man" and worked through the music for the original musical that he wrote to be performed here.  The script is quite good....it's funny!  The music however, it's very much in working stages....that means that my day off will be quite full of adjusting, transposing, re-working chords, etc.  The idea of it happening so last minute (the day before the show is in rehearsals) is very much like an episode of Smash, where the writing team is making changes until the moment it goes on stage.  Okay, so maybe it's not THAT drastic...but it's not ideal.  The goal is for the cast not to feel a sense of lacking on the first day of rehearsal for the entire season.  We'll see how this goes.  

There's a group of deserving "Day-Offers" who have planned a trip to the river since it's sunny and 80 degrees here.  A perfect day for a nice outdoor adventure...we'll see if that happens.  I'm not hopeful.

Happy Sunday from the Mountains of Music Madness.

CK

Bring on the blunders!

Back for more...to all of you nay sayers who thought I couldn't do this more regularly, I'm on to day two.  The trick will be continuing on with this next week as I start rehearsing with "The Hired Help".

The 10 hired actors (we'll call them "The Hired Help," for lack of any other term...and not knowing them enough to make up a sarcastic and possibly critical term) from NYC and Boston are beginning to arrive today and will conclude on Sunday night.  However, yesterday we were notified that "Hired Help #9" and "Hired Help #10" had informed management that they were to arrive together by car on Monday night at 6:00pm.  You could probably guess that management's reply was something to this effect:

[Dear "Hired Help #9 and #10",
     Your contract start date is Monday morning starting at 10am as clearly stated in the document that your agent has received and forwarded along to you.  Starting the season with an infringement of your contract would be a poor way for us to begin our working agreement together.  Please inform us of your alternate plans for travel into The Mountains of Musical Madness.]

This late arrival would cost the theater, collectively, a missed day of rehearsal on the first two shows that are rehearsing.  Let's see if they solve the problem...which I'm guessing is created by the fact that one of them has a gig on Sunday night that they did not get out of.  Perhaps a very late night of driving is in store.

So the first two shows (one of them being "a talking"...that is one which lacks music and dance interruptions) start rehearsing on Monday, in addition to "The Cherubs", who are in rehearsal for four different shows of their own as we speak.  Three rehearsal spaces are hard to come by, so a local church is in cahoots to help us out.  They tend to do this each year.  Thankfully the heat wave has broken here and we're looking at rain (however needed) and 60 degree temperatures for our first week working together.  This should help everyone's temperament as the last few days here have been scorching and really unpleasant to work with.

Moving on....I have my first "Moment of Professional Blunder" to share with you for the year.

Moment of Professional Blunder #1
Yesterday I spoke with the business manager, let's call her..."Godzilla" because she usually lacks any kind of grace in leadership, about a casting concern.  That is that our first show has a lot of ensemble involvement, mainly in singing harmonies for the music a certain of well endowed western/pop/broadway crossover diva.  Because of the casting of "The Hired Help" we are left with only a small number of females in the ensemble 4 ladies to 11 males to be exact. Now anyone can see that this would be a problem, especially since male voices tend to produce more sound in general than female voices....nobody needs to hear that much tenor ever...even I can admit that!  So I went to "Godzilla" and asked for some on stage support from another staff member that works under her torrential reign (notice the play on words here).  After being told by "Godzilla" that she would think about it, but had some genuine concerns about this person splitting their time between on stage duties and their assigned duties, she went immediately to the subject of hopeful relief and told her that she didn't see any possible way to have her on stage at all this summer.  [insert screeching sound effect here]

Didn't you just tell me that you would think about it?!?!  AND....what makes you think that the best way to deal with this is to not respond to myself and "The Man" who had made the request but instead to talk with the person (almost in a scolding manner) who was an innocent object of a possible solution instead?!?!  RUDE!  I brewed about it all night, thinking about how I would never respond to a professional conversation/request by going to another, VERY UNINVOLVED source.  Water under the bridge, I've concocted the response that my mom would be proud of and plan to deliver that with a smile today.  It starts something like "I'm sorry that this situation played out the way it did.  Perhaps next time something like this....blah....blah....BLAH!."  What do you think, mom?

We'll that's all for today.  I'm off to hear "The Dwellers", that is the people who live in this area, audition for hopeful spots in our shows.  Some of these people have a very rough time getting through their auditions...this should be interesting.

Happy trails from the Mountains of Music Madness!
CK

It begins!

Hello all.  For those of you who have viewed my summer blog previously, welcome back.  To those of you who are new to this....WELCOME!  My intention with this blog is to keep you informed on life here.  To keep you in the know about my life (and my dog's), but also to give you a little behind the scene's look at life at a summer theater from the eye's of the music director.  If you come to see show's here at all this summer, you'll meet some of the people that I speak of in this blog....and let's just say that there are always a few characters and undoubtedly some great tales!  Hence the name of the blog, "A Music Director's Tales"!

So I've decided this year that I won't be using anyone's real names for security purposes but that it'll be easier to keep things moving if there are some names involved.  (NO ONE that works here will be viewing this blog....hopefully!)  I'll try to use fun nick names when possible but as things grow crazy posts may get slightly shorter and nick names may become slightly more generic.  Let the fun begin...

The dog, let's call him "Crazy P", and I arrived here on Sunday night.  On the drive up here, I got an email telling me that there was a meeting to read through and original musical that is being performed here this year.  They wanted to start at the exact time that I was beginning.  So the Artistic Director, let's call him "The Man" (that's so fitting on so many levels because I REALLY LIKE HIM...despite this situation) had a moment of absent mindedness and decided that he really wanted to do it, with or without me.  Here's the kicker with this situation...it's an original musical and the plan is that the music, which has already been written, needs to have some adjustments made to fit the actors in the show.  We also need to add some harmonies and kind of add some shimmer to what already exists.  So knowing that my role will be large in the success of this show.....shouldn't I be at a read through?!?!  Needless to say, I arrived passed "Crazy P" off to a friend for dog sitting, unpacked my car quickly and then ran to my first meeting of the summer within ten minutes of arriving.  I was not so happy at the time.

All of this must be water under the bridge because in this place, there simply is no time to stay upset, hold a grudge, etc.  It's just not worth it.  I think this is one of the biggest reasons why I find myself being successful here.  I tend to be very forgiving when problems like that arise.  Part of it is because my brain shifts so quickly to the next thing and part of it is just my nature to move on with situations like that.

So this morning I start officially working.  "The Cherubs" (that's what we'll call the student interns) are auditioning for their roles in the shows this summer.  While there is not too much available after casting the pros there are a few small solos and bit parts in the ensemble of the three shows they are in.  Right now, they're scurrying around the house picking out the perfect outfit to wear while simultaneously warming up.  I wish that you could all see and hear this happen....every shower in the house is running and the sounds coming out of the watery echo chambers are the most ridiculous fits of rage you've ever heard.  I want to ask, "Seriously?!?!  Who taught you that warm up and what is the intention of such ridiculousness?"  But instead I just smile at "The Cherubs" and just think how ridiculous it is that they are all going to such lengths to prepare to audition for "The Man" and me.  I wish my "cherubs" at home worked so hard to impress!

Farewell for now from the mountains of musical madness!
CK