Parenthetically Inclined (Babbling About the Show, Really)

I finally got a copy of the script last week! Yay! And today we finally had something for sound, so I could start putting the cues in my script. It's a good thing that I have my own, updated copy, because the sound designer has an older version of it that has a couple small things missing. That wasn't usually a big deal, except for a phone conversation that gets cut into two separate ones, so that's an extra phone ring. There's a nasty spot with a gunshot following immediately after another cue, but it isn't set up on the soundtrack that way, and the closest gunshot sound is ten tracks away. But, I may not have to worry about that one because we have other things to use for that sound, and I hope we go with that instead. Makes things easier for me, and it would give the mackerel more to do.

We open on Friday, and most of the actors were still calling for lines today. Except for the critic and mackerels, who don't have many lines, and Stark, who was sick and sort of out of it but still managed to nail his lines. And some people still need to speak up, dammit. I'm up in the booth, behind noisy things, and I need to be able to hear the lines because we don't have headsets. The mackerels were fine, and I think Stark was too. Maxine and Mercy sometimes dropped down, the critic could stand to be a bit louder, and Bone drops his volume quite often. Sometimes I can't even tell that he said his line until Mercy responds. (I'm referring to everyone by their characters' names. Their real names are kind of secondary in my mind, although I do know them. First names, anyway. Though I think I keep confusing the critic and the male mackerel.)

Yesterday we got most of the set ready. I painted the door, and other people put up the platform and TV frame and hung the lights. All we need now is to paint the stage, which will happen Wednesday. I also painted the tables. The are fabulously hideous. Both are black, and one has blue and yellow sponge painting and the other has bright green and dark orange Jackson Pollock-type paint. The latter appears to be broken. For the last act today the top was at a slant. The legs attach by screws into metal plates on the underside of the tabletop. How they managed to break it, I don't know. Actors...

We went early today to paint a couple more things, but Gabrielle forgot that the space was already in use, so we didn't get much done for an hour or so. Paul Ford's been using the space, so I got to see him when PlayWrite was over. He invited me to come back to see the TitM people, so I think I'll go tomorrow. (For those of you wondering what the hell I'm talking about, I worked with Paul Ford five years ago in Theater-in-the-Making, which is a program for young folk. I played Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night, and Alanna was Malvolio.)

In other news, I totally did not earn myself a free lunch on the Drugs & Lit. midterm. There were three questions I couldn't even answer. I think I did well on the rest, though. Also, I went shopping for new pants today only to find that no one sells pants that have good, functional pockets and/or are not capris. I hate capris. One of the dumbest fashions ever. Why can't I find any damned cargo pants with pockets that aren't at my shins or are large enough to fit my wallet? Arg.