Do I wake or sleep?

I am reminded, reading Heidi's entry: she offered to stage manage Midsummer for me. YES. Very grateful--I would welcome that kind of support. I was the default stage-manager for both AYLI and Sleeping in Tomorrow and it was a lot of extra energy I could've put toward being a better Rosalind or a better director. Especially in the case of *h*d--how nice would it have been if, instead of my having to drag *h*d into the hall to yell at him for beng late (and eating pizza), Heidi could've dragged him out. And would've done an excellent job of openin' up a can o' whupass, I have no doubt.

Damn. We will have to go back to Brother Jimmy'z soon. I can still taste that raspberry margarita Heidi ordered.

My coworker Wayne (another actor) came to see the show on Sunday, and we were talking about it in the copy room this afternoon. He said against the buildup of hatred I'd set for Asshud, that he didn't think he sucked that badly. However, he did say that he didn't get a chance to read the bios until after the show (he got there late) and said Fuckhud's is the most obnoxious one he's ever read. I emailed Wayne links to both the mentalizer site, and my most recent journal entry on It. He wrote back:

His site - pure ridiculousness

Your site - pure bile

The line about pulling pencils out of his nose - priceless.

(I rather liked that line myself.)

Last night, after getting back from the game, I found an email from Peter, asking about the show and what time it gets out. Something like "I really want to see tomorrow's show but I need to know..." I replied, "You'll be out by 7:00." I checked this morning and he'd sent another one saying he'd gotten a commercial gig with some NBA guy (Tim ?--for San Antonio? Do they have an NBA team?) and he couldn't come see the show, unfortunately. I'll reply tonight and push for the Shakespeare showcase in January.

Tech rehearsal to day from 9 am-1pm. Three guesses as to who wasn't there until I called him and woke him up? Yeah. He was driving Sue and me nuts today--I've noticed she and I are reacting identically to him. Everyone dislikes him to some degree but she and I are on the exact same pinpoint of exasperation. I've started throwing in little teachable moments, like when he was asking about not being allowed to stride right up to someone and talk to them in their face the way he wants to--instead, I make him stay where he is and say his lines. He was saying that isn't how he talks to people in real like (Ehud, believe me, I know that) and I said patiently, "See, movement on stage is different than it is in real life. Just like in real life you don't always cheat out so the audience can see you face. Theater is different from real life." Dumbass.

I noticed Sue taking the same approach--when I was assigning scene change tasks, I was saying "Strike the chair" and "The table needs to be struck" and naturally he had to interrupt and ask what that meant (another I hate about him--it's always all about him, he has this incredible need to be catered to, he's constantly stopping rehearsals and saying "Did you like the way I said that line?" or "How does this look?") and Sue patiently said "to strike means to remove from the stage." More and more I'm sure he made up his resume. No one is this stupid.

And just to get this off my chest as well, I heard him talking to Lauren about an agent/manager (I didn't really hear the details), and he was also asking about that the other night. He's one of those actors that's great about sending out emails and mailings and this is my latest project and blahblahblah with the self-promotion...and couldn't give a shit about perfecting his craft. (Or learning it, in his case.) If he spent half as much energy learning his lines and incorporating the notes I've given him as he does on self-promotion, he wouldn't be nearly as nails-on-the-chalkboard irritating. Dumbass.

After rehearsal today, Paul and I stopped by Coldstone Creamery, where they have Pumpkin Pie ice cream, which I devoured (with caramel mixed in). Paul was a Coldstone virgin and was all big-eyes at the deliciousness. Then I went home and napped--I had to go home anyway to drop off Sue's suitcase (which she'd left at rehearsal) and I didn't really have time to go to the lighting store for the darn electric candles we still need! When I left for work at 4:15 I stopped by Rite-Aid but they didn't have them either. Tomorrow I'll go to Lopez Hardware, and then to the lighting store.

Thursday evening after rehearsal Sue, Jason, Paul and I went to a real divy place on 9th Avenue, between 42nd Street and Port Authority. Jason said the last time he'd gone there, they saw a drunk guy passed out on the floor who was being tossed out. Sounded good to me. The drinks were strong and relatively cheap, but no food so I trekked next door for some chips and Oreos. We chatted for awhile. Interesting--the more I get to know Sue, the more I can see the need in her to be...sort of "the one who knows," if that makes sense. She was name-dropping all over the place.

Friday morning I took the 9:30 shuttle down to DC and immediately had lunch with David Weinraub, of DC area dinner theater. He's gained weight, and his wife, Catherine, is pregnant, due in February. We had a nice chat about people we haven't seen in awhile and various shows. David cracks me up because he always says the right things but in this nasal, flat, unconvincing tone: "It's great to see you...I'm so glad you could do lunch..." You have to imagine this in a monotone. It's truly funny.

After that I napped, and then Mom and I went into Georgetown for dinner at the Old Europe, to celebrate Oktoberfest. The Old Europe is this ancient German restaurant that's been around since Mom was a teenager--all the waitresses dress in dirndls and there are stags' heads and coats of arms for various German principalities and towns all over the walls. Lots of bratwurst and dumplings and beers in steins (shipped especially from Munich every year for Oktoberfest). Mmm...

The next day was the only day I could sleep in, and I slept until 11:00. Eventually we left the house around 1:30 to hit Cox Farms, where I ran around jumping off piles of hay, eating hot, chunky, spicy applesauce, painting my face (with pumpkins, of course), riding on hay rides, sliding down slides, and jumping off the rope swing. I don't ever want to get old. There is nothing as much fun as jumping around on things. Eventually we went to the market, got our pumpkins and some other stuff (I also got a sour cherry crumb pie) and left. I love that about Virginia--the country is so close, it's so easy to drive down a country road and see the leaves and gaze at a newly-mown field.

Saturday evening I hooked up with Cami--we chatted about this and that. Good to see her.

Of course I had to wake up at the crack of ass the next morning, in order to make the 8:30 shuttle. There was no 9:30 shuttle (they often eliminate times on the weekends) and I thought the 10:30 was cutting it a little close in order to be at Ripley-Grier by 1:00 pm. I slept a bit on the plane, and then some more when I got home but I was still pretty wiped out. Rehearsal went--well, I wanted better. I should've had better. They knew they were supposed to be off book by Sunday and a few were not, to the extent that they had to hold their scripts. Huge surprise here...the worst (all factors considered) offender was Ehud *gasp*. He has the fewest lines to learn and made a fetish of appearing off book as soon as possible early in the rehearsal process. But that wasn't most annoying. Throughout rehearsals I've told him, several times (at least 4), to stop moving around in the blocking. Don't stray from the blocking, don't shift from leg to leg (he's pretty tall so it's very distracting)--just hit the mark and stay there. Well, yesterday I think he took some kind of anti-blocking drug, or maybe he has OCD. He was, literally, all over the place. Wandering here, wandering there...if this were January, he could bring a whole new meaning to Schubert's Die Wintereise. I wrote several times in my notes "STOP MOVING," my handwriting getting more and more violent. The best (worst?) was when he literally stepped in front of Elizabeth to greet Paul. Or maybe the worst was when he extended an arm in front of Sami's (?) face to offer the gnocchi. I'm starting to wonder if he made up his resume. I can't believe anyone with so little knowledge of basic stage technique actually made it through Stella Adler.

So after I gave them notes and I came down pretty hard on him. I said something like "I'm going to give this note one last time and I expect you to remember it. Stop moving. Stop wandering all over the place. Stick to the blocking I give you and don't move. You make the scene look like crap when everyone else is in these neat formations and you're all over the place." I hate embarrassing people like that but nothing else has worked. He was pretty taken aback although he still--still--tried to justify himself by saying "You should stop me in rehearsal when I do this." I said "No, I've given you this note several times--I am not going to stop a runthrough to give it to you again. We'd never get through it." After I finished with notes, he came up and again tried to make excuses--"I am sorry but you should give me these notes in rehearsal." I said, "No. Once I've given you the note--several times--it is your job to go home and remember it. [You know--like everyone else does.] I don't have time to go over this again and again." Jesus. What a fucking idiot. Get off my stage.

After that Duncan, Jason and I went back to my place and hung out. Duncan had brought his CD of potential music selections for the play, and I listened and discussed them with him. Tatiana was being her usual flirty self with them. While we were there Elizabeth called--she was supposed to be in the preview bit for the Festival we were doing, and was feeling very sick (which had been established at rehearsal) and could I do the lines? I agreed and then got dressed up for the preview. The three of us went over and hung out for awhile at the theater before we were to go on. It was actually really fun. Sami, Paul, Sue, Duncan and I were in the scene, and Jason was just watching us, and we were drinking wine and snarking on the other acts. There was one women who looked like a man--in fact, I corrected Sami because she called her a woman, and then as soon as she sang (badly) I knew it was a female. The witching hoooooo...ooooour... Duncan ran into Diana from As You Like It outside and dragged her in. We got a great reception from the scene--we had to hold several times for laughs. Always great to hear.

Rehearsal last night was pretty good--we worked more on I, ii and added some really precise stuff. This cast is really good. Their instincts are excellent and they all take direction so well. Well, certainly Duncan and I tested them for that in the audition. I look forward to when we work act I because then I can really drill the tempi of the lines.

Gah. So tired. Tonight I plan a long, leisurely evening of a tanning session, perhaps a massage, and low lights and music at home.

Out of something like 15 people called in, easily half have had to change their audition slot, or cancel at the last minute, or never bothered to confirm the audition slot for which they submitted. Idiots.

And in other news--few things in the world are quite so cringe-inducing as a bunch of bankers desperately trying to boost their sagging sense of masculinity by blustering about how they're going duck-hunting. Jesus Christ in a motorcycle. You know, you can take a pill for that now--you don't have to kill an innocent animal.