I love the first one

Christmas Carols for the Disturbed

Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....
Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why
Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy, can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Costumes, et cetera

We worked our way through costumes last night--most people looked pretty good. I'm still tweaking Don's costume--they had him with a white, ice-crusted, glittery crown and I said that would be great for his last appearance (when he turns older in one night) but he should have a wreath of holly leaves on his head for most of it. His mustache is a little uneven and I kept fiddling with it.

There was a reporter there last night who took a bunch of pictures. She took my contact information and is supposed to be calling me this afternoon. That would be great to post on my website if she follows through. She's also supposed to be at the runthrough tonight.

Daphne looked adorable as Tiny Tim. The costumer seemed to have a thing for head coverings for the women--he had Mrs. Cratchit with a shmatta covering her hair, and Xmas Past with some sort of...band...lopsidedly covering her head. No, no, no. Mrs. Cratchit looked as though she got lost on the Fiddler tour, and Zoe has such a sweet, delicate, youthful beauty, we can't cover that up. I told Zoe to leave her hair loose and we would have her wear maybe some kind of circlet. She needs to be able to wear the cap at the end of her scene.

The Cratchit family sounded GREAT during "Once in Royal David's City"--first time they nailed it. All in tune.

The little girls in the cast are KILLING me, they are so adorable. They've figured out how much I love kids, especially smart little girls at that age, and have been showing off for me ever since, all "look what I can do!" and "listen to this!" So, so cute.

Karen, one of the assistant producers, was taking some production photos last night, and she mentioned to me that Carl has been saying that this is going to be his favorite Christmas Carol. I'm not sure if he meant ever or at DeBaun but regardless, I'm thrilled. Dave had told me that Carl and Giovanni both had been saying good things about the show--very nice to hear. Karen said that she remembered the interview and how very sure I was about what I wanted to do with the show--"and it's obvious you've done that." I said well, I have a great cast who give me what I want.

This Saturday and Sunday, I have to spend the entire day at the theater--Gina said we'd be lucky if we only spent 12 hours (each day). GAH. Apparently I have to approve all the tech calls. I dearly hope they pay for my dinner (not that I need the money, it's just the principle!). My throat is starting to feel really raw--it's like my experience two years ago with DeBaun A Christmas Carol, except that this time, I don't have to sing! I think I may try to nap for a little bit in the house between tech discussions.

Here is a partial cast and director photo--there are some cast members missing including my friend Ashley (in the specialty choir) and a Cratchit daughter.

This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

I just got off the phone with the Hudson Current reporter from last night.She asked me a lot of questions, like would I say there's more music in this production of A Christmas Carol than others I've seen (I said well, there are about 15 pieces in this production but they're not set pieces, they're used in a variety of ways--to comment on the action, to underscore certain themes, to add tension, to prepare the audience--so maybe it will feel like more, or less). She asked about my "take" on the show--I talked about our focus on the language, the authentic (and yet not beaten into the ground) music. She wanted to know about the tablework process--I told her about the early rehearsal, talking about classical technique, studying poetry, hearing the cadences. She also asked if I thought my version had more thpoookiness--I said that I was always interested in ghosts and even as a child, my favorite ghost was Future, with the long creepy robes and talon-like fingers*. I said I took some liberties with the Ghost of the Future--I didn't want to give it away but I tried to add thpoookiness there. She asked why did I think Dickens used the ghosts? I thought about it and said perhaps he was saying that some changes are just too big for us mortals to accomplish on our own--you need supernatural intervention. I mean, he does it all in one night! As she was typing this up (I could hear her typing over the phone) something else occurred to me--I said "actually the very first phrase in the book bears this out." I started reciting it and she joined in--"Marley was dead, to begin with." And at the end of the passage he finishes with "this must be distinctly understood--or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate." So he gets in both worldly, inescapable fact of life and death, and the otherworldly miracle with which the story ends--in the very first passage. Alpha and Omega.

The article should be out on Wednesday.

*I was showing Duncan this picture



of the Ghost of the Future--it kills me. I just love that prissy little finger pointing down--it's so precise and showy. Like he just got a manicure and doesn't want to mess it up.