Rainy Day

It looks like it will probably rain all day, which is always a bit depressing.  I had hoped to run out in the early morning and get an extra screw - and nut! - to fix my bike rack, as even the extra long screw shook loose without the nut on it, which is odd, as this doesn't happen on the other side.  Anyway, this will be the third time I've gone to Home Depot to deal with this, so it's getting rather annoying.  I also wanted to pick up my pants from the dry cleaners, but it looks like that will have to wait for Wed.

I'm finding that a lot of things are just creeping up on me, so I should sketch out what I plan to do this week and start pulling together the longer-term events, so I don't miss any of them.

Ideally, I am going to stop in a U Vic library on the way to work and drop off something that is due today and see if this Anne Carson book is actually on the shelves.  I did drop off another book at Robarts, and I am a little worried it got stuck in the book drop, so I'll be monitoring that this morning.  If my 4 pm meeting wraps up a bit early, I will see about stopping by The Rex to see the early 5 pm set for about an hour, and then head off to Press Vinyl Cafe* to get what is hopefully the last installment of LPs that I am replacing.  One of the slightly more expensive LPs is this Hal Willner set, Armarcord Nino Rota, celebrating Fellini.  

I suppose I am a bit more open to buying this, even though I have the music on MP3 because I liked Willner's Monk tribute, That's the Way I Feel Now, quite a bit.  I actually picked up That's the Way I Feel Now many years ago (and digitized it) but I have no idea what happened to it.  It wasn't in the stack of records that were "saved," nor was it in the pile that went off to the dump.  It's possible, though it seems unlikely, that I sold it off as I was downsizing for one of the cross-country moves.  Anyway, they had it for a decent price at Circus Books, so I picked it up, along with a Culture Club record.  It's a bit interesting that Circus Books and Kop's Records have very good prices on some 80s groups (Culture Club, Thompson Twins and Frankie Goes to Hollywood), whereas a few are very expensive, namely The Cure and Duran Duran.  And don't get me started on jazz.  There are only a few record stores that have any jazz records under $20, so I have to be extremely selective in what I pick up, though surprisingly I did get Andrew Hill's From California with Love (I think this was from Sonic Boom).  I am finding that for mainstream pop artists like Steven Winwood and Robert Palmer, you can pick those albums up super cheap.  In fact, I will get a couple more of those type of albums tomorrow, assuming that I make it to the store before it closes tomorrow.

Wed. the current plan is to hit the Music Library before 7 and then go see a free Steve Reich concert at Walter Hall.  That should be really cool.  I've invited a couple of people to see if they can make it, but it will probably just be me.  Now Wed. is also the day that the Art Museum is open late, so really I ought to try to get over there first.  It usually only takes about 30 minutes to check out those galleries.

I haven't entirely decided, as it is somewhat weather-dependent, but I am thinking on Sat. to drop by Corkin Gallery in the Distillery (there should be a new show up finally), and then bike over to Trinity and see a matinee performance of Richard III.  I'm glad that the college theatre collectives are starting to be more active again and put on shows in the colleges (rather than only Hart House Theatre, which has really fallen on hard times! or Factory Theatre).**  Then I might see an Ethiopian jazz show at Hirut in the evening.

Sunday, I will try to get to the TMU Image Centre (I had no idea it was open on Sundays, as I definitely could have hit it last week), maybe see Wallace and Gromit and the Were-Rabbit at Carlton, and then do Warm Reads in the evening.  (I just need to check out whether it starts at 7 or even earlier.)  I'm making decent progress on the 3 Witches play, and I should be quite a bit further along if I do make it to The Rex and Hirut this week. 

I need to grab another hour or two of sleep, so I think I'll list the longer term stuff for Oct.-early Dec. in a follow-up post.  Ciao.

 

* Interestingly, I ran out there for the first time a few weeks back to pick up Bill Perkins's Journey to the East, which was the first LP I replaced, but I didn't really do much digging beyond that.

** I may have been a bit optimistic on this front.  The various websites do not have any useful information, and most of the companies that are doing something are mostly renting over at Hart House (which shamefully no longer produces its own season!).  So if there are one-off productions, such as Richard III at Trinity, I will only find out about it by happenstance.  Sigh.

Shaw Weekend

The weather was much better on Sat. than on Sun. when I was to head out to the Shaw Festival.  Still, Sat. morning was pretty overcast and even a bit chilly for Aug., so I was leaning towards ditching the company picnic altogether.  I got a late start at the gym and then did an abbreviated workout.  I wasn't too proud of that, but at least I didn't ditch it all together after getting off track last weekend.  (And on Thurs. I did squeeze in 18 laps at the pool.)  I did get on the stationary bikes and managed to skim through the script for Wohl's American Hero, which is a pretty grim comedy about the impact of late capitalism on average workers at a sandwich shop akin to Subway.

But the weather did improve a lot on Sat., and I decided at more or less the last minute I would try to bike up to Sherway Gardens, which was where the company picnic was being held.  Getting up to the Don Valley wasn't that bad, but then it was really unpleasant after that as Laird is a very high speed road without a bike lane.  Just in general trying to bike in what used to be East York (or Scarborough) is so dangerous.  So I wasn't in the best of moods when I finally made it there.  I did eat a bit, and chatted a bit, then had to turn back around and head to downtown on Mt. Pleasant Rd., which was generally better aside from tangling with a bus at one point.

I made it back downtown and had about 25 minutes before The Odyssey.  Some minor SPOILERS if you have been under a rock and not read any reviews of Nolan's version of The Odyssey.

SPOILERS

I decided to go over to Robarts and drop off American Hero and pick up a couple of poetry books on the hold shelf.  I also changed into a different shirt, as the one I was wearing was quite sweaty by this point.  I made it back to Yonge and Dundas and up to the theatre (up on the 4th floor) with about 5 minutes to spare, though of course there were 10 minutes of previews.  I liked the fact that Nolan went into some of the slightly obscure details, including the fact that Odysseus warned the men not to slaughter the cattle of Helios the Sun God, but they did anyway after they had been stuck on the island for weeks (it is much more clear in Homer that Zeus was the one keeping them trapped, but Nolan really, really downplays the gods in his movie (I suppose because he thought making this like Clash of the Titans would be too kitschy, but I do think it was a misstep)).  I also liked the detail that one of the suitors managed to break into the storeroom where the arms were stored and get some over to the rest of the suitors before he was killed.  What I really didn't like was Odysseus taking on all of the suitors on his own, like a superhero almost, whereas in Homer, Telemachus is much more active and kills many of the suitors,* and they also have a lot of help from the swineherd (who is not a blinded bystander) and one more loyal servant, the ox-herder, I believe.**  Nolan wants this ending, as he can't imagine an ending where Odysseus manages to keep his throne without Athena stepping in and putting down the uprising of the suitors' families, as actually happens in The Odyssey.  So Nolan has imposed a far more "realistic" ending on but at the cost of rewriting the Odyssey completely (and not very convincingly as Telemachus still doesn't seem remotely ready to rule Ithaca).  And as I think I mentioned already, this side-steps the whole question of Penelope bringing up the bed riddle as a final test, which in the poem sets the stage for his true homecoming, where here he has no intention of spending any time in Ithaca.  So I didn't like that at all, as I thought it undercut the entire point of The Odyssey.  I also wasn't too thrilled about how he changed the Calypso story around a fair bit, again I think mostly to avoid having to have the gods turn up and force Calypso to give Odysseus up.  He absolutely wanted this to be a human-focused epic, which seems pretty bizarre given the source material.

Afterwards, I went over to this Asian (mostly Thai) festival at Yonge-Dundas Square.  There were very few safe vegetarian options, so I just got some ice cream.  I went over to BMV and looked around a bit, though didn't see anything I really wanted.  Then I biked down to work and did a few hours scanning stuff, then finally went home.

Sunday I had to wake up fairly early, then biked downtown.  It was overcast and sprinkling just a bit, but I was glad to have my bike available at the end of the day.  The bus ride to Niagara-on-the-Lake was smooth, and we got there a bit early.  Almost too early, as the place I often eat at wasn't going to start serving sandwiches for another 45 minutes.  I wandered around downtown a bit, reminding myself why I dislike Niagara-on-the-Lake so much (it is tacky, geared entirely towards tourists (and lower class tourists at that), and there are no safe ways to cross the street in the downtown).  I did find a decent Thai place and ate there, then went to the theatre early to keep reading The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi.  

It's kind of hard to review Heartbreak House.  I will say I thought the director's vision was not a good one, very gimmicky and not at all respectful of the play.  I did enjoy seeing Tom Rooney as the enigmatic, eccentric captain, and his two daughters were entertaining as well, though their parts were shallow (and the pining brother-in-law was not welcome).  

 
But the play itself is just not very good (with much of it taken up with quips about why women shouldn't be just as ruthless in pursuing marriage as men were in ruining others (including their partners) in business -- and one of the final twists in the sphere of romance was truly stomach-curdling), and it was certainly undermined by the director and his decision to have two servants shouting out the stage directions, which reminded me unfavourably of Schimmelpfennig's Winter Solstice, which I absolutely hated when Canadian Stage put it on.  Shaw wants to be as witty as Oscar Wilde, but most of his witticisms don't land, and he is just obsessed with Shakespeare (and how in his own mind he is a much better playwright than Shakespeare).  We get it G.B., but you simply aren't better than Shakespeare.

I'm very torn because there are four(!) potential plays of interest at Shaw next season, but I don't have any intention of coming back that often (and yet I really don't want to stay overnight in Niagara-on-the-Lake).  They are doing Arsenic and Old Lace, which I've never seen as a stage production; I think I did pass a chance to see it in Hamilton, so I may well pass on it again, given the challenges in getting there.  Then Shaw's Arms and the Man, which I may have seen but it would have been 20+ years ago.  Then the Goblins are doing Pygmalion.  This will surely be fun, but it does seem just an excuse to make an appearance at Shaw.  I don't think Pygmalion is even one of Shaw's five best works...  Finally, Stoppard's Jumpers.  While I think I would prefer to see Travesties again (though I am not willing to go to Raleigh to see it!), I will almost certainly go see this, making the trek out there next year at least once.  If I knew for certain which of these would transfer to the Harbourfront, that would help with my planning, but I don't think they know yet.  My money would be on some musical (South Pacific?) and Deathtrap, but I might get lucky and they bring Arsenic and Old Lace to Toronto.  So most likely, I will go see Jumpers and call it a season, but if I can combine it with the Goblins, I might stay overnight, as much as I would prefer to avoid that.

The trip back wasn't too bad, though we got snarled in traffic (esp. on the Gardiner), and it took 2.5 hours, which is pretty typical, unfortunately.  I made it through all but the last 20 pages of my book, and those I finished up while eating dinner at Union Station (I was pretty famished).  I enjoyed it a fair bit, though it is hardly classic literature.  From the reviews of the sequel (this is part of a trilogy!), there is a huge cliff-hanger at the end, so I probably ought to hold off until the third book is published.  I have a fair bit of poetry to work through, and I think the next books I will read are Thien's The Book of Records, Harvey's Orbital and then Giovanni's Room (whenever it turns up at the library).

Overall, not a bad trip, though I certainly wish the play had been better.  I also managed to ruin yet another backpack, trying to carry too much stuff back home from the grocery store.  Sigh.  It looks like there is going to be a lot of rain this week, and I've decided to pass on Squeeze after all, and I will probably have to move the BBQ (ideally to Friday but if there are too many objections, then I will see about the following week).

 

* The death of the disloyal maids is strongly hinted at, but we don't see any of them die on-screen, and we certainly don't have Telemachus string them all up.  Again, Nolan wants Telemachus's hands to be (unrealistically) free of blood in order to set up his future rule, and again, I think this does serious violence to meaning of The Odyssey to the point the movie is visually compelling epic but, in the end, it really is just not The Odyssey.

** I certainly can't prove it, but the four of them together slaughtering all the suitors (with Odysseus and Telemachus as the main killing machines) in Homer's version reminded me a great deal of Edgar Rice Burroughs and his tales of the nearly unstoppable killing machine John Carter of Mars.  I really would not at all be surprised if he was borrowing from Homer in those novels.

Life Comes Slowly Back to Order

There are so many things I would like to commit to paper (or the Interwebs, I suppose), but I am pressed for time yet again.  I will say that as I knock off a few tasks (and finalizing the Fringe accounting was a big one), it gets easier to do other things, including whatever I am supposed to be up to at work.

Last week there were quite a few visits from contractors.  I think Friday we had the most people come in, replacing the furnace and then the water heater, though certainly Monday was close.  Monday morning a couple of guys came by to clean out the ducts.  They hadn't been quite clear on what they needed to do, which included blowing forced air down every vent in the house, even in the upstairs bedrooms, and then running this plastic tube out to their truck.  It definitely felt like a scene out of Brazil!  

More importantly, I didn't realize that the front door would need to be open, and I didn't have time to track down the cats and put them in a cage.  I was definitely freaking out, though ultimately we found Rho hiding in a corner in the study and Toby was hiding in an upstairs closet.  Then there was another moment, where we knew where Toby was but Rho had moved to a different hiding place.  But they both turned up.*

Then there was a lot of back and forth over whether the insurer would sign off on the contents list on Monday.  In the end, we agreed on the items on the list, but I would do my best to get the value updated and back to him in a couple of days (which I still haven't managed to do but it is close), and he agreed to sign off on the removal order.  Then I checked and someone did show up with a truck around 3 pm and cleared off the deck and took the refrigerator out of the basement.  (I was a little worried the refrigerator wasn't on the list, but it is there.)  It's getting a bit easier to accept the loss now that I don't have to look at it.

Also, I had really wanted to throw a BBQ for the Fringe cast, and I had set the date for Tues.  So I was a bit panicked that I would have to push it back yet again if the deck was occupied with all my stuff.  Anyway, it all worked out, and I ran off to get more food and drink and some charcoal at the mall.

The BBQ was pretty fun, though people actually showed up early, and I really wasn't ready.  I may discuss this a bit more down the line.  I have just finished the accounts, and we made $5300 from ticket sales and the costs were almost exactly $4300, not counting the stipend I guaranteed the actors.  Taking that into account, I lost $300, but really this is so much better than the last Fringe outing.  I might even be able to get $50 for the table I bought, bringing the loss to $250, which is almost nothing these days.

I've been making decent progress on the scanning of stuff and re-ripping a bunch of data CDs that were salvaged from the wreckage.  It's a bit much though, and my brain makes it hard to move on to the next thing until these tasks are done.  Still, I am finding some ways to entertain myself in the meantime.

Last weekend was incredibly busy.  On Sat. I took the GO train to Stratford to see Guys and Dolls.  It rained most of the day, but it was a fairly light rain and it didn't really spoil my trip, aside from not seeing Art in the Park.  I did, however, see a swan on the river, which I haven't seen in years. 

I took the bus back, managing to finish Station Eleven on the way.

Sunday was a trip out to Sobey Stadium near York University to see Wang Chung and Howard Jones.  I'll write more about that in a separate post.

I am probably going to see Coyote vs. Acme tonight over at Carlton. Then Sat., I think I am going to bail on the work picnic and go out to Vaughan instead to see The Odyssey in IMAX before it is too late.  Sunday I am off to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see a Shaw play, Heartbreak House.  Unfortunately, the reviews make it sound like the director just doesn't know what he is doing (or perhaps more accurately kind of resents the prominence Shaw gets at his namesake festival).  I think there's a pretty good chance I will finish up The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi on the way there and back.

I'm a bit torn between seeing Sheep in the Box at Paradise and going to see Squeeze out at the venue formerly known as Budweiser Stage.  It's not selling that well and there are lots of tickets for $30 each, though they are uncovered seats and there is a 40% chance of rain.  I think I'll check again over the weekend to decide for sure.

Then next Wed., I am planning a second BBQ (and final one of the season) for work colleagues and former colleagues.  It looks like the weather may cooperate.  Anyway, I am truly late and need to get a bunch of other things done today. 

Edit (8/29): I'm making a bit more progress getting through some work tasks, but the insurance list is still not done.  I'll try to work on that another hour this morning and then wrap up tonight.  I am finding that most nights I am simply exhausted from dealing with everything all at once and am falling asleep instead...  Anyway, I did get to Coyote vs. Acme and thought it was pretty good.  Not Roger Rabbit good, but solidly entertaining.  Then I discovered while trying to find out the IMAX times out in Vaughan, that there is an IMAX screen showing The Odyssey just down the street at Yonge & Dundas, which is a heck of a lot more appealing than Vaughan, even though I won't get as much reading in.  I'm planning on making it over to the 3:15 showing.  So this opens up the day, and I think I'll go to the gym this morning, bike up to the company picnic (which will be faster than taking the TTC because they picked such a poor location!), come back downtown, grab a couple of items from Robarts, stop in at work and do some more scanning, then go to Yonge & Dundas, stop in briefly at BMV and then go see this movie.  

I am a bit bummed out about how much rain there is in the forecast for next week.  I'm now leaning towards seeing Squeeze for $30, as the set list is entirely different from last year, though it leans very, very heavily on their new album (which is likely why the show isn't selling out!) and just hoping we get moved up out of the rain, though we'll bring the ponchos we found for the Howard Jones concerts (and didn't really need by the end).  It's probably going to rain a lot on Tues.  It looks like it will even rain most of Wed., but it will probably clear up by the evening in time for my BBQ.  I guess we'll find out.

 

* Interestingly, I was outside late at night last night, checking out the lunar eclipse.  It was cool to see (and the skies were clear for once!), though I should have gone back a second time but fell asleep instead.  I saw some amazing photos of the event, but mine aren't worth posting.  Anyway, I hadn't remembered to close the screen door, so when I opened the door this morning to air the place out, the cats were able to escape to the back yard!  I didn't even realize it for a while, that's how out of it I was...  They didn't go particularly far and came back in, but I don't really plan on letting them be outdoor cats, as much as they seem to want that.

Slow Weekend

While two and three weekends ago were completely stuffed with Fringe activities, and last weekend was Stratford and next weekend is the funeral in Iowa, I actually don't have all that much on the calendar for this weekend.  I think it is likely going to rain, but it doesn't actually look like it will at the moment.  Maybe it will wait until tomorrow.

Friday evening I had some spare time, as there really wasn't anything going on that caught my eye at the Rex or Hirut.  As the weather was nice, I decided I should hit the AGO again to simplify Sat. afternoon if it was raining hard.  I passed through the David Blackwell again quickly, as that is closing soon.  Then saw the Enda Tacon exhibit and the Impressionist paintings on loan from Dallas.  (The Monet room was still busy but not as packed as before.)  I even had time to go into the Infinity Room again.

I managed to get this one work task done pretty quickly, using my "unauthorized" copy of SPSS, since work still can't get around to getting my license activated, so I am using a home version.  I still haven't finished my time sheet, but that is a tonight problem...  (I have a pretty major CRA thing to deal with as well, but that is also going to have to wait.)

I was up fairly early this morning cleaning up some computer files.  I have tried a couple of times to get Disney+ working on Roku again but am pretty close to giving up, esp. as Roku aggressively discourages people from contacting them.  What a completely shit company/service provider they are.

I went back to bed for a much needed nap (and much longer than I expected) when I was woken by the house foundations shaking due to Ontario Line construction nearby.  I really am going to have to find that number to force them to do an inspection and take some photos, so they will pay for the damages if the house really does crumble due to their digging and tunnelling.  Sigh.  One more thing I really don't want to have to deal with...

I'm about to go off to the gym.  I think after this I will briefly hit the galleries in Yorkville and 401 Richmond, then come back.  Depending on how I feel and if it has started raining, I might try to weed the front yard which badly needs it.

Sunday, I plan to go swimming at noon, and then meet a friend at Video Cab to see Our Town.  I decided to hold off on getting tickets to see Herbie Hancock at Massey Hall.  There are still quite a few left, the last time I checked, so I'll try to get rush tickets and see what those cost.  So not exactly a restful weekend, but certainly less crammed than usual...

Edit: I ended up dawdling for so long that I went downtown first.  I ate (too much) at an Indian buffet, then hit 401 Richmond and Yorkville.  I'll probably post a few pictures of things I stumbled across shortly.  Then I went to the gym and did groceries.  I'm pretty close to winding down for the day, but I think I'll try to do a bit of weeding in the front yard, so quite an inversion of the way I thought the day would go. 

Edit (7/27): Sunday did go more or less as planned.  I got to Jimmie Simpson just after noon.  The fast lanes were basically empty.  I got my swimming in, wrapping up at 1.  Then did a bit of shopping and window shopping on Queen St.  Saw Our Town with my friend and hung out at a coffee shop afterwards.  I actually managed to clean up the front yard a fair bit.  The main difference was that Massey Hall didn't have any reasonable rush tickets for Herbie Hancock, so I passed on seeing him and went to see Mike Murley at the Rex instead (for $20 instead of $100+).  This does decrease the likelihood that I go back to the Rex tonight, however.

A (Nearly) Sold Out Show!

Yesterday afternoon was the best ticket sales so far.  I knew it was going to be a big crowd, but I was expecting around 75 people.  In the end, with a few last walk-ups, we had 101!  

Here we see people actually wrapping around the corner, waiting to get in!

Alumnae is one of the bigger theatres, seating 123 (or so), so it wasn't sold out, but very close.

It was a solid show, though we had some problem with the sound cue between scene 1 and 2, and then a rushed entrance midway through scene 2.  But people seemed to get the jokes and generally had a good time.

I didn't hang out with the actors this time around, but I talked briefly to the Fringe staff (one of whom wants to do more producing of her own, so we may connect) and then biked up to Tarragon to see You Choose (again).

I haven't had much luck passing out postcards at Soulpepper, but I have always had better luck at Tarragon, and tonight was no exception.  In fact, as I was passing out the cards, one guy said that he didn't need one, he had seen the show.  I asked if he had liked it, and he said yes.  Then I passed out the postcard to the next person, and he said to her that it was a fun show.  So that's amazing, and that's exactly the word of mouth we need for a strong second week.

In fact, sales for this second week of Fringe are pretty good, with the exception of tonight, where sales are on the low side (20) but I'm expecting some late sales and walk ups.  I think every show after tonight is at least 30 and usually 40 or more, so we should have a strong second week to close out Fringe.  As ever, more info and a link to buy tickets to see the show yourself can be found here.

I've kind of personally hit a wall, and am a little tired of all the hustling.  I wouldn't say I really want Fringe to be over, but I don't want to feel responsible for stirring up more ticket sales (or trying to break even, a more or less impossible task) or if anything goes wrong at one of the shows.  I'd rather just focus on the shows I have booked to see and let everything else go for now...

 

2nd Show over

There is so much more I wanted to write, but I am running so late today (and I absolutely need to get my time sheet in before I run off to MOCA!).  I'll see if I can add more tonight after I am back from our 3rd show and You Choose.

We have our own mini Fringe tent right outside Alumnae Theatre. This does attract a few passers-by, which is great.  We're pretty close to the Fringe Hub, but Berkeley is still a little bit out of the way.

 

 

Last show of the night at Alumnae

Last night was always the lowest in terms of sales, but the Daily Discount helped.  In fact, we had been stuck at 9 for days.  Then I got word right before the start of the show that we were up to 20.  There were a few people buy tickets at the door and had two more volunteers get rush tickets (which is itself a good sign).  In the end, we had 27, which is not bad for an evening show on Sat.

It was a very good performance of the show, and the audience was engaged (and laughed at the funny parts).  It ran 54 minutes, which is incredible.  I think we're pretty much in the groove from here on out, and I'll see if we want to add in any shout outs tonight.  Still, it is tight, and there are always a few people that run out immediately after curtain call.  There was also one guy who left mid-show, which is a bit odd, though I wouldn't be surprised if he thought Eric Peterson was involved and then wasn't so interested after that...

Definitely looking forward to the rest of the run. Link with more info (and tickets) here. 

Edit: I really thought I would make it over to MOCA today, but I think it's just one too many things.  I'll get ready to go swimming, then see Medusa at Soulpepper and then make sure to run off a few more programs, as today's show will have close to 100 people!  I don't think I'll have time to hit MOCA.  I'll see if I can go another time, or wait for the first weekend in August when it will be free (again).

Opening Night!

I think, all in all, it went off incredibly well.  There were a few snags, as always.  They let us in 5 minutes late, so we scrambled a bit.  Next time we'll set up the stage first and then get into costume.  The sound was a bit low at the very start, but they fixed that.

There were a few line drops but nothing too significant and nobody froze.  The most significant misstep was when an actor skipped pretty close to a whole page, leaving out a song!  (In fact the only song, though intentionally it wasn't an amazing song.)  Amazingly, the other two actors in the scene were able to keep going, even after he realized his mistake and redirected back to the song.  (I would have been upset for the actor who is supposed to sing if his whole moment was lost.)  So it feels like things are under control, and I can probably just leave the script at home from here on out.

One slight downside is that while Alumnae is air conditioned, it is so loud, they only run it between performances, so the audience did start to wilt and I think the second scene suffered a bit due to that.  But there were good laughs in the first and third scenes.  

We had over 40 people for the opening, which is terrific.  Most night we are doing pretty well, though Sat. evening is low, so I will make it one of the Daily Deals.  We have 75 people booked to show up on Sun., which is incredible.

We're sitting at just over 240 seats sold (plus passes).  I will have to adjust my expectations somewhat, as I thought we would be doing pretty well if we got to 250, and we will clearly surpass that.  Maybe 300, with 350 as a stretch goal.  We still won't actually break even, that would take probably 500-600, but it isn't going to be a complete financial disaster...  I thought there was an outside chance we might be Patron Pick at Alumnae, but we are up against a ringer -- Every Fringe Show You've Ever Seen All At Once.  I think the only way we would get it is if they had too many schedule conflicts (as they are already performing on Sunday!) and bowed out, which they would be crazy to do.  So I think I will likely be able to see Whose Lineage is It Anyway again on Sunday, but again I will hold off for a while.  Hopefully that performance doesn't sell out.  (I mean I do have an unused voucher, so I could book it anyway and pass it to someone else if we somehow do end up being Patron Pick for Alumnae.)

Today, I am off to see Little One, by Leroy Company.  I'm still looking forward to it, but am still also annoyed that they moved the venue from Bloor down to Queen, so getting between Little One and Fray will be challenging, particularly if this when we get hit with the sporadic thunderstorms in the forecast.  I wouldn't have constructed my schedule this way if I had known beforehand what the ultimate venue would be.  Interestingly, Fray is in a tiny black box theatre not far at all from Aluna, where we did all our rehearsing.  There is an outside chance that I will hit Potato Potato Saves the World at Soulpepper.  (It's more or less on the way back, though I would have to dip a bit further south, but it is at the brutal time of 10:30 pm.  In fact, I see they made this show a Daily Discount, though I would use my rush pass, given I don't want to commit to going until I know how I feel, and if I get soaked in the rain...)

 

 

Day One (and a Half) of Fringe

Day One got off to a pretty good start.

I stopped by Fringe Central (in the Distillery).  I was there to try to get the artist lanyards, but they still weren't ready!  They will have some temporary lanyards, apparently on Thurs.  Then I will need to stop by one last time when the real ones come in.  Sigh.  I was able to pick up the artist rush passes, so I'll bring those to the show on Thurs.

I also talked to someone about upping the number of comp. tickets I can request for each show, which I do need to fix before I book the next round of comps.

I saw our poster has a decent position on wall of posters in Fringe Central in Distillery.  It has decent but not amazing positioning on the wall.

 

I was also able to leave a decent amount of postcards inside the Soulpepper atrium.

Then I swung by Equity, which has an office on Victoria St.  I was pretty late on the paperwork, and I really wanted to get it in before the first show.  I had to call someone, since you can't just go up to their floor.  Then I got a voice mail saying they had closed early.  I was a bit miffed, but I saw a security guard and asked him if they had a drop box or something.  He actually agreed to drop off the envelope to the floor, which I thought was great.  Then he came back down and said the receptionist was still there, and she wanted to talk to me.  This was pretty baffling to me, but I quickly realized she had thought I was Eric Peterson (whom she knew), but she then told me twice that she wasn't disappointed I wasn't him...  Anyway, she had my cheque and said it would be processed on Thurs.  At any rate, she said she knew Mark Terene, who is playing one of the leads in At Home with the Bards, and that she and a few others were coming to see the show.

I had a very short stint at work after this, mostly coming in for Book Club, where we were discussing Murata's Convenience Store Woman.  I didn't really care for it, as I am just not feeling up to reading books about autistic characters.  It was a quick read, however.  And Nermean brought in rice cakes as a snack.

On the way up to Tarragon to see You Choose (an improvised murder mystery by the Howland Company), I was able to stop by Robarts and return the book.  It wasn't a bad ride up there, though it was hot.  I was wearing the cast t-shirt and passed out a ton of postcards.  My 5 second pitch is "Stratford bed and breakfast comedy" and hand over a postcard, which worked pretty well.  In general, I think Fringe audiences really respect the hustle more than anything.  One couple I talked to already had tickets, which is a pretty great feeling!  Inside the theatre, I was sitting close to the actor who was in King Gilgamesh.  We didn't really talk about it, but I said I liked it, and then handed over a postcards.  I definitely convinced the woman sitting next to me at the show to come to see our show.  

You Choose is quite good, though it doesn't quite hit the same heights as Entrances and Exits, which was truly next level improv.  I'm actually seeing it two more times, so we'll see how it goes the other times.

I thought the next show was at 9 at Tarragon, so I would go around the corner to grab some pizza and get back in line (as I had almost no postcards left!).  However, it turns out Whose Lineage is It Anyway? is at Factory, so I biked straight down Bathurst to see that (and didn't eat after all).  Because they have added red paint and made the central lanes streetcar only, the cars are in the right lane, and it truly feels like a deathtrap for cyclists.  I certainly hope I don't have any other days I need to go straight from Factory to Tarragon or vice versa!  I'll have to investigate some other routes, as I really want to avoid Bathurst from here on out.

I ran into our stage manager, Victoria, at Factory.  We were both going to the show.  I told a few people in the line about our show (and displayed a smaller poster I had with me).  One woman is going to be at opening.  

Whose Lineage is It Anyway? was outstanding.  They do an improvised show in the style of a Shakespeare history play (using Victoria's prompt no less!), and often manage to speak in rhyming couplets.  It really is impressive.  I'd like to see it again, but I think the only time I could go is late on the last Sunday.  I'll forebear from booking that time slot for a little bit longer, even though I just realized we are up against a ringer for Critic's Choice at Alumnae.  Every Fringe Show You've Ever Seen All At Once is almost certainly going to be the show at Alumnae that gets the extra show on Sunday, and we'll likely come in second.  (Which means I might go see Whose Lineage is It Anyway after all, though I won't book just yet...)

We're still doing quite well.  When I checked on the numbers, we had jumped from 150 to 190 in a single day.  I know I can't take credit for all of that...

Canada Day is a more low-key day, as there are very few shows going on, not least because it is super hard to convince the main venues to open up, so it is mostly stuff happening at Fringe Central and the unconventional venues.

I had certainly considered going to see Such Ado, but it was sold out today!  And I might still have run up and tried to use my rush pass, but I was actually proctoring my daughter taking a math test at that time!

I did get to the gym a bit later than I hoped, and it was so very crowded.  I put in about half a workout (and I still need to make up for skipping the gym last Saturday!).  Then I biked straight over to Fringe Central and participated in the Fringe parade.  Brian (the actor playing Robin Bard) was there, along with the director.  I'm glad I turned up, as they didn't have any posters to promote the show.

The crowds watching the parade were on the thin side, probably due to the extreme heat, as well as competing activities (like watching the World Cup).  Nonetheless, I talked to several people, and I think I convinced some volunteers to go.

Our first performance is tomorrow after work.  I'm excited and yet still nervous all at the same time.  I guess at this point, I just have to let it all go and let the actors do their thing.

More Fringe odds and ends

I do wish I had been just a bit more prepared, as I really should have had the Equity info printed out for the 5 Equity (and ACTRA) members to sign last night.  I've been meaning to deal with this, but the form was lost in a deep email chain, and I have been so busy (including being behind on some work work).  I'm pretty sure as long as I drop this off with Equity (with the cheque* to cover insurance!) they will overlook this, or in the worst case I can get the signatures before the show on Thurs.  (I did get the cast to sign one of the big posters, as discussed here.)

I also got everyone to sign off on their bios in the program, so I will run a bunch of those off, as well as one more round of postcards from the printer.  If I had had them ready, I could have done a bit of a folding party last night at my place.  Oh well.  It would have been premature in case someone needed any rewrites; then I would have had to reprint the programs.

Anyway, the cast came by and we did two more run-throughs of just the lines.  I don't think it was a mistake doing this, though a few of them found it hard to do their lines without all the blocking and the set, etc., since it is all tied together in their mind now.  I'm actually at the point where I don't need to hear the play again; I need to see how outsiders react to it, which is why Thurs. and Sat. will be so exciting and terrifying.  (Tickets here!)

The lanyards still haven't come in, which is annoying, though I worked pretty late on Monday anyway, which would have made it hard to break and mosey on over to Fringe HQ.  I sure hope they are in soon, though I am not sure if there will be a way to get them on Wed. (Canada Day!) if they aren't in today.  I'm not even sure how I would pick them up today, though maybe if I took the Queen streetcar over, then I could hit Equity as well.  That's probably not a terrible plan...  But it does depend a great deal on when the lanyards actually come in.

Our t-shirts came in and look quite snazzy.  (They do run a bit small, which I was pretty sure would be the case.)

I'm off to Tarragon this evening to see two improv shows, so I will wear the t-shirt and hand out some of the remaining postcards while I am there.  Two birds with one stone, as it were...

 

* Between the extra fees and more postcards and covering part of the cast t-shirts, we are back in the red (appropriate given the t-shirts, I guess).  I'm not sure I really want to know how many tickets we would need to sell to cover everything.  Maybe 500 or 600.  Probably even more than that now that I think about it.  But we are at 150 sold, and the Fringe is just starting, and I'm actually hoping for pretty good word of mouth, so here's hoping...

Drawing a Blank at the Doras

The Doras are the local Toronto theatre awards.  Curiously, a few years back Mirvish pulled out from the umbrella organization that supports these awards, perhaps miffed that they often lost out to much smaller theatres in the musical awards' categories, so the awards now generally go to mid-sized theatre companies like Soulpepper, Crow's and sometimes Tarragon, and sometimes to even smaller indy companies.

Generally, I find there is relatively little overlap between what has won an award and what I enjoyed (or even seen).  I had debated going to see The Division at Crow's, but it just didn't grab me, and of course that was one of the big winners of the evening.  I also passed on The Neighbours at Tarragon.  I don't even remember if I heard about Through the Eyes of God, over at Theatre Passe Muraille, but I probably did and decided it was just too damn depressing (like A Fine Balance will be and thus it will inevitably win a Dora next year...).  I actually had wanted to see Camus's Le malentendu (which won in the costume design category), but I thought the tickets were too darn expensive and the one night I could go (when they finally announced there would be rush tickets) they sold out.  Now perhaps I should have still dropped by just to see what would happen as often something does open up, but the Theatre Centre is nowhere near my house.  I probably would have if Theatre francaise was still putting on shows at the space on Berkeley Street.*

Now it isn't literally a complete shut out.  I did see Red Hats' Narnia and Octet at Crow's, and they both won Doras as well.  But it does suggest I am not particularly attuned with the critical community in Toronto (and not just Joshua Chong at the Star).  Well, so be it.

 

* I actually have already subscribed to Crow's for one more season, even though I think this next season is a bit weak, but I am really appalled at the prices, so I think this will be my last go around.  In addition, I am even more appalled at their rush ticket policy, which is if you show up an hour before the show, looking for a rush ticket, they still will charge full price, which I find unconscionable.  I wasn't willing to do that so my wife didn't go see Primary Trust (which was ok but vastly overpraised for what was a low-key retelling of the movie Harvey!  And absolutely not worth $100 for a ticket!!!).  I actually find this abusive, and I told the house manager that, that these policies and overall high prices were going to drive me away from Crow's completely.  She said she had been hearing a lot of that... 

Tech Date

I now have the photos from our Tech. date on Sunday.

Here we are, just slowly getting set up, deciding how much space we need between the table and the cart and so on.  We actually have much more space in front of the furniture, though the stage isn't actually as wide as I had thought, due to how the side curtains are arranged.  (And oddly enough, their back curtain has a bit of a gap in it stage left, which really shouldn't be that hard to fix...)

This is the view from the stage out into the audience.  Not a view I am used to...  (And the ladder will be gone during the actual performances...)

Then we worked on the transitions and the sound and lighting cues, and then had nearly enough time for a full run.  Probably needed 10 more minutes.  So things are definitely falling into place.

Here are some shots from that last run-through.

.

And practicing for the curtain call...

We may or may not have time for shout-outs to other companies.  I don't think we'll really know until we've gotten through an actual performance or two.

Anyway, it is all very exciting to see it come together finally.  More info on the schedule and links to tickets here.

The Fringe poster out in the wild

I do apologize for posting about almost nothing except Fringe these days.  I'll see if I can sprinkle in a few other topics, but mostly Fringe is going to be all-consuming for three more weeks, so check in after that if you are looking for a change of pace...

I will be picking up the larger posters and the postcards today from the printer.  We actually have a run with a mis-spelling of my name, which I could live with, and "playright" instead of "playwright," which I couldn't.  But I guess they could become rare collector's items.  If you want to put in a bid for a misprinted poster, just let me know.

I was going to put up a few on the Danforth on my way over to Robarts yesterday morning.  I even bought a mini-stapler from Dollarama, but the darn thing refused to unlatch and swing open.  So frustrating!

After hitting up Robarts, I made an extra stop at Staples on University and found a stapler that will work.  I put up a couple of posters downtown, and then one in Regent Park and two by Riverdale Library.

 
I even put one up on my front gate.  It does look awfully small at this distance, but I thought I would show off that after many years, I finally managed to train the flowers to start crossing (partway at least) over the trellis.

The only other thing of note is that I had to call this IRS this morning to prove my identity.  Nothing's ever smooth with them, but it could have been a lot worse.  I managed to sew up a tear in my shirt sleeve while on hold.  (One of many small tasks that keep getting deferred while I am gearing up for the Fringe...)

P.S. We've jumped from 80 tickets to 100+ tickets.  Maybe joining Instagram helped, or maybe it was the mention in the Stageworthy podcast, or maybe it's just that we are getting closer to the time people make their last-minute picks for Fringe.  Don't be left out!  Tickets here.

Dueling posters (and a podcast shout-out)

Through a strange chain of events, we actually have a second poster design now.

It is definitely a cleaner, more polished and professional look, though perhaps the original poster captures the inherent chaos at the Bards' better.  

I like both, though of course I am biased towards the original, as I was much more involved in creating it, even taking the photo.  (No AI here...) 

Anyway, let me know your thoughts in the comments.

In other exciting news, we have a very, very brief shout-out as a production that caught someone's eye in this Fringe preview podcast from Stageworthy!  We're mentioned right around the 39:30 minute mark.  I'm almost certain that two of the five critics (and hopefully three, since I know Phil Rickaby pretty well) will make it out.  Of course, we hope they like it!  

We're back to rehearsal tomorrow, getting ready, and our Tech date is this Sunday.  Fringe will be here before you know it!

 

More Fringe rehearsal

Tonight was overall ok, though not all the actors were off-book.  A few swore they would be by Wed.  Let's hope so.

Taking notes at the end

One thing that is gratifying is that the actors are helping to start promote the show, taking some of the smaller posters and agreeing to take a bunch of postcards.  (I mean one would certainly hope they believed in the show by this point; I think a few of them are excited about it.)  

Ted has been helping out a lot on getting the final images together for the posters and the postcards, and then Alex created the QR code to get added to everything, which adds that professional touch (and will hopefully lead to more ticket sales).

Lynn is taking charge of getting matching polo shirts for herself and Brian (to be a bit of a uniform for the Bards) as well as the cast t-shirts, so that is all quite cool.

We've sold 80 tickets (though a few are going to reviewers!).  I think if we manage to sell 300 tickets we'll basically break even, aside from the stipend I plan to guarantee the cast and crew.  It might take more like 400 tickets to cover that, and the math may still not work, but it isn't really about the money, for me at least.  If you are interested, you can use this link (since I am behind the times on QR codes...).

At Home with the Bards: the Poster

I think this looks pretty snazzy. 

I'm off to try to get a bunch printed off and have them (and a huge stack of postcards) ready by Wed.  Ticket sales aren't much higher than they were last week, but still decent for this far before Fringe starts.  Still, if you want to make sure you don't lose out, tickets can be purchased here.

Arts Interlude

I'll be back to promoting my Fringe show any moment.  I was looking over all the things I ought to post about that I have been up to.  

Since I didn't enjoy it, it won't take too long to go back and discuss The Caged Bird Sings over at Tarragon, which I saw last Thurs.  I was supposed to see this, basically as theatre in the round at Aga Khan, but it was in the open courtyard in the middle of the museum, but that day there were storms all day and the show couldn't go on.  I couldn't make any other dates, so I got a refund (but still saw the rest of the museum...).  I don't think I would have liked it any better in that set-up, though it would have been more intimate.  I think it was just too chopped up and there really was no emotional payoff, largely because they were trying to illustrate various poems and legends that Rumi had written, so there was no connected story.  I might have been ok with 45 minutes of this, but it was 90 minutes without a break.  I will say I think generally the audience was on the same wavelength, as only one or two people rose to give the obligatory standing O.  There was also a talkback, which I had zero interest in attending.

I had tentatively planned to go over to Hirut on Friday, but ended up working until 8!  I got some Thai food over at the Well, though I didn't enjoy it as much as I usually do (maybe because I had anticipated having Ethiopian food).  I was really bummed that the Samosarie seems to have closed.

I was reasonably pleased that I made it over to the library and got my swimming laps in by noon.  Then on the way back, I picked up the second print from the framers, and I'll get that hung up tonight or tomorrow.  I'm about to hit up a few small art galleries and perhaps the AGO if there is time.

Then I'll probably drop by work for an hour or two, and then aim to get to the Rex at 7:30.  I have a ticket for a show that starts at 8 and runs until 9:15, though I'll probably split at 9:05, since I am seeing Pearle Harbour at the Royal York Fairmont at 9:30!  So it will likely be a fairly packed day after all.  I guess I better get going...

Edit (6-21): I did make it to Corkin Gallery and Thomas Landry over in the Distillery (though they didn't have much new on, so I needn't have bothered), then I decided to go up to Dundas to get to the AGO.  I remembered that there was something new at the Image Centre at TMU, so I ran in to see that.  The AGO visit was extremely brief, as it turns out it is next week that the big new exhibit (Impressionist masterpieces on loan from the Dallas Museum of Art) opens next week.  Oops.  So I'll have to go back right away.  Then I hit 401 Richmond for the last day of the Selling Canada exhibit at Red Head Gallery and there was a new exhibit at Gagne Contemporary, so definitely worth swinging by.  I went to work a couple of hours before the Rex and then the Royal York Fairmont for Pearle Harbour Walks into a Bar.  So a pretty busy day in the end.

As I was biking home, I ran across some night bike ride, all glowing and having a good time.  Nonetheless, they acted far too much like Critical Mass for my taste, and I made sure to go in the opposite direction.  

I also stumbled across another Luminato installation called Pyramid Fields.  I haven't seen this during the day, but I think it must have a greater impact at night.

Fringe Postcard - First Draft

I'm having someone spruce this up a bit, but this was the early incarnation of the Fringe postcard for our show.  (I actually tried to post on Instagram, but something keeps going wrong.  I definitely won't last long there if I keep running up against these glitches.)

Anyway, here is the link for a bit more info and to book your tickets!  Ticket sales are actually not too bad, given we are still about two weeks out.  We had 70 tickets sold and 3 reviewers showing up (gratis).  Every date has at least a couple of people so far, and two night already have decent-sized crowds.  It's a hit!  Hope to see you there!