Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
This year is the first year I haven't dressed up. It's also the first year I haven't gone trick-or-treating. I haven't had time for either.
We celebrated today in school by having 1:00-2:30 off to just do whatever we pleased, but I, the class nerd, just sat in a corner and read Bill Clinton's autobiography.

I ponder the scheduler's reasoning

Tomorrow we have a 7:00 show, instead of the normal 8:00 time. I ponder if this is because the person who scheduled it thought that a lot of people wouldn't realize that daylight savings time had started (or ended?). We will be going back an hour tonight (fall back). I bet a lot of people will forget to reset their clocks and will come at "8:00" looking to see the show, when it will really be 7:00. But it will be OK, because it will actually be 7:00, but they'll be right on time. Whereas if the show had been scheduled for 8:00, they'd come, but they'd be an hour early. Although, as Vince Lombardi said, "If you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late, and if you're late you're fired." It's confusing, but what I'm trying to say is I applaud the person who made the show at 7. They were brilliant, whoever they were.

Thanks to C. Rex

I, like many others, like to give Chris Jacobs a hard time, but he really stepped up to the plate Saturday night saving our collective asses (mine in particular). Anyway, one of our understudies thought she was only needed Friday night, and not Saturday night as well. Chris was running box office that night, and gladly accepted the task of stepping into the affected scenes. Fortunately, the scenes he was needed for were not line intensive for him, so it wasn't too difficult a task. Anyway, I just wanted to give a sarcasm-free thanks to Chris.

The Curse of Deathbed and other musings

So for the third consecutive night, something has gone wrong in Deathbed, a scene that should be very easy...I have one line, skip out, get my velcroed-on arm cut off, push down a little trigger in my pocket, and have blood come up a tube and out of my shoulder. Sounds simple, and it is. BUT.... 3 nights ago my arm never came off and I didn''t notice it until the scene was over, 2 nights ago my arm came off prematurely and I didn't notice it until I was already falling down, and {drumroll please} tonight, everything ran smoothly in terms of my arm coming off, but when Jenni lifted the knife up to cut off my arm, blood that had collected on the end of it flew off into my eye, so I was covering my eye and falling and screaming in REAL pain because it stung like nobody's business. Before the show, I was like, "It should work tonight...it didn't come off, then it came off early, tonight it should come off at just the right time." And I was right, to an extent, but I believe Deathbed is cursed for me. Also, during our late-nite shows I'm havin trouble, like I said. But now I'm talkin about my change from one of the scenes to another. In one, I'm wearin a bra and high heels. In the next I'm wearing wings, disco pants, small gloves, and an annoying seal cloak. Time allowed to change: about 30 seconds. Hard? Um, ya think?

Now introducing Will Riley, age 13, whose initials spell WAR.

So when Nick started the blaaahhg I was like, sweet. But I didn't have time to ever write in it, plus I wasn't sure how to join. But now I'm here. Anyway, Crypt 9 has been pretty stressful, but actually not as stressful as I thought it was gonna be...until last nite. I HATE THE LATE-NITE SHOWS!!!!!!!!!! Last night was our first one, and I had so much trouble getting my crap around after it, and I lost three costume pieces in the process (or misplaced them). I like the whole concept of a late show, don't get me wrong, plus it's an awesome learning experience (as is every Corn show) but I'm havin trouble.

Girls Gone Wild

Here is a pic of me when my dress fell off the other night that I just recieved. My favorite part is that Will's head is blocking some of the poster print so it just says "Asses" under my almost bare butt.

Fantastic.
Oh yeah, WE OPEN TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Think I Pissed Off Ms. Lansbury...

...because my preview performance was a complete disaster. Not the worst of it being that I ripped my skirt in Sweeney Mom, forgot my lyrics and when I died my skirt fell down. So there I was, dead, bent over head first in a cube, dead, with my pantyhosed ass sticking up in the air while the photographer snapped pictures. Dead. I know I said it a couple-a times before but it felt worth repeating.

Also I realized that I may need to re-think some of the blood effects. A few of them failed miserably last night and I am realizing that there are serious functionality issues. What I mean by that is no one in the cast has giant gorilla hands to squeeze big syringes full of blood. I wanted big ones for lots of blood, but what is the point of having lots of blood if it never comes out. It will be better tonight. In the words of the late, great stand-up comic Mitch Hedberg: "This joke stinks. It's broken. I'm gonna take out all of the words and put in new ones. Then it will be fixed."

Oh and speaking of blood...

I got a recipe off of the internet that I saw on several sites on how to make blood using a laundry detergent and food coloring. This appealed to me because it seemed to be less sticky than our usual recipe, and I figured it would wash out very easily since it is made of detergent.
Well, first of all, it doesn't like to come out without bleach. This should tell you something about the super powers that red food coloring has in its possession. Don't mess with that stuff in a dark alley.
Oh yeah, secondly, it isn't the best stuff to use when it could be flying around. I thought about the costumes far more than I thought about us actors on stage apparently and last night I paid for it. During the failure of my big bloody moment, my syringe emptied into my pocket instead of my neck. In a moment of panic trying to save the gag, I brought my hand up to smear some blood on my neck, but slipped in the puddle of goo that had dripped out of my pant leg. So instead I busted my knee and proceeded to put blood right into my eyeball.
I couldn't wash it out because there wasn't really any time to do so (the glory of live theater) so I just kind of wiped it away and put some drops in after the show.
To make an already long story a little shorter, I just got back from the doctor after finding out that I have a chemical burn on my right eyeball that is starting to get infected and that it may take 4 or 5 days for it to heal. At least my sight isn't messed up at all. The doctor was very frightened of that.

So to everyone who uses blood in the show, I love you and I am sorry I put your eyes in danger. There will be new blood tonight. At least it was me who got hurt. I would rather feel like a dumbass, then a really sorry and guilty dumbass.

And to end this posting on a happy note. I am having so much fun, and at least now I know it can't get much worse. Oh, and I told you all there was plenty of time for things to go wrong. :)

Wicked Mad Props

Nick -- wicked mad props on the blood and the sound design.

Robert -- wicked mad props on keeping it together, or together enough for you to be able to tell the rest of us what's what.

Everyone else -- wicked mad props on stepping up and pulling this puppy off. This is a really fun show and I, too, will miss it when it's all over. Though I may still bitch a little about the sleep deprivation factor until then. And the fact that I can't stop singing "cafeteRIa." :D

Mercy to none!

*burp*

MK

Update from the Tech Geek

It works, I can't believe it works. And by it, I mean everything so far I have tried to do in this short amount of time. Scott Lamberty and I collaborated to create an awesome sound design for this show and it is working. It will be even better when we get the original scene change music from Stephan Germain. ( It would be even better if people would actually come and listen to my sound design for Don't Turn Out The Lights II, C'mon people. Where u at?)

We even bought a new dimmer pack and lights for the theater and I had to rewire everything so they would work in our space, and it is all working.

I really wanted to try something new for the blood effects this year and, if my test last night was any indication of what is to come, they are working too and someone may puke. I think Robert may be right about this being the bloodiest Crypt. It is definitely the most blood I have had to produce at one time. My feelings are mixed, however, about not being covered head to toe in blood this year. Ahhh memories.

One of my favorite things is that people in this cast have all been so awesome about busting their behinds, to make sure that I don't have to do everything, and have been picking up hammers and sewing machines to take on jobs themselves late at night. I love and thank you all, because you are also working.

And last but cer-tant-leet not least, I am finally done with Sweeney Mom. Let me give you a little background on myself. I am a drummer, I don't really read music all that well, I don't play piano, I love Sondheim and I think it is a cardinal sin to destroy his music and I have done Sweeney Todd twice in the last 10 years. So when Robert told me he wanted to do a 12 minute spoof of Sweeney Todd, because he thought it would be EASIER than trying to do a Tiff and Mom spoof of The DaVinci Code, I almost pooped my pants. I obviously then decided that this was going to be so hard that I wanted to arrange the music myself and musical direct it because....um....I am an idiot. BUT IT WOOOOORRRRRKKKED!!!!!!!!!!! It sounds so good, and it works, and it looks great, and it works, and the cast sounds so amazing that I get chills, and it works.

So for the love of God, if for nothing else come see this show just to see if I will be eating my words. There is still plenty of time left for things to stop working!

I Hate Sondheim

Not really, but I am very burned out from working on music for Sweeney Mom. I will have maybe half of it done by rehearsal tomorrow. Who would have thought that trying to arrange the score from a 2 1/2 hour musical into a 12 minute parody would be a challenge? :)

The only thing keeping me going is that it all sounds SOOOOO friggin good that I can't wait to hear it all when it is done. Very exciting!

Fine... I will post something that is actually informative.

Hi everyone in cyberland,

We are halfway thru our second "hard core" week of rehearsals for Tales from Mom's Crypt 9: Beneath the Planet of the Tiffs and things are shaping up very well. It is going to be an exciting show with lots of laughs and a good number of scares as well.

We start learning choreography (that's right, there is dancing :0 ) this weekend and will begin runthroughs on Monday. It has been a very fast paced and fun process so far but, with only having 3 1/2 weeks from first blocking rehearsal to opening night, I am sure we have many a stressful night ahead of us yet to come. Can't wait!

The big question that remains to be answered is this... when will the elusive Drunken Robert actually post something prolific. Also, is anybody who isn't involved in the show actually going to read this post. We shall see.

Gotta go learn lines now.

Nick

Hmmm...

You know, there's a lot of sticking that happens at the Stick 'n Licks, but not a lot of licking.

We should work on that.