Potpourri

Just some odds and ends things today.

As for Miracle on 34th Street, I do not yet have much to report. I have not yet been needed for a rehearsal. Nonetheless I have been working on my lines the last few days, and I am about one 4th of the way to being entirely off book. In an ideal world I may be totally off book by the time I show up for my first rehearsal. No promises though. It is merely a possibility. We shall see. (Before that impresses anyone, I have a small role this time.)

You have to love the small roles sometimes, people. While I take every single moment I am on stage very seriously, having more time back stage or off stage during a show certainly has its advantages. (Such as time to rest.)

I had little if any such advantages in my last show. (Joe DiPietro's Over the River and Through the Woods) I was on stage I would say about 85-90% of that play. I love the challenge and importance of the big roles, but I am looking forward to this smaller part this time around.

I also want to get to Goodwill to see if there are any potential costume pieces that present themselves to me for this character. (You find great stuff there for shows.) I have a few ideas already, but I need to talk to the costume designer before I share any of them on here.

In different news, I also plan to go buy a mask for Halloween today. No, I do not go trick or treating at my age. I do however have a very specific mask in mind. One that is just a very pale white face. Wearing that under a hooded sweatshirt, and walking around a town on Halloween night has its own entertainment value. (I will either do that, or just sit in front of my nieces' house as they give out candy, being perfectly still, and having people wonder if I am real.)

My theory is this; if you have one of those gruesome, 100-dollar masks on, they may be grotesque, but how scary are they? They all seem cartoonish to me. However, if you maintain a certain calmness to your movements and a certain stiffness to your posture, as you wear the simplest of masks, you present a scarier proposition. The imagination of those around you takes over.

It's all sort of like a mini-performance for me. It's the one night of the year where almost everyone is doing some kind of obvious performing. (No it's not art, it's just performing.)

But it is fun, nonetheless.