Audiobooks on the Bucket List

I love audiobooks when I'm driving and when I'm cleaning or when my eyes are too tired to read but I'm still awake enough to listen. (I must admit, there have been times when I go to sleep while listening to an audiobook in bed; but then I also find myself asleep when the book I'm reading lands on my face. I have got to start reading books at other times during waking hours.)

I would love to learn the art of being an audiobook reader. There are some great narrators. Jim Dale comes to mind (Harry Potter; Liesl and Po). Man, can he do voices. I've enjoyed David Hyde Pierce (The Phantom Tollbooth) too. There are many others. I guess I'll put "Learn how to audiobook and record a book" on my list of things to do. Time to practice reading out loud. Do I have that kind of patience? That's the big question, for sure.

The whole reason I was spurred on to write this blog post is because an indie author, Megg Jensen, whose books I've been collecting and enjoying is having a giveaway of an audiobook....and I love audiobooks. So if you'd like to try to win her audiobook, just click here. (And may I be so greedy to ask that you not click on that link? I'd like to win. Thank you ever so much.)

My Apologies!

To All the Kids and Adults I Have Ever Directed:
I'm sorry for making you suffer through auditions and then having to get paragraphs and paragraphs of words perfectly memorized!

In February, I decided to audition for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in my own community. It was supposed to be primarily for children to perform in. There were a few openings for adults. I figured I could be a grandparent that shows up in the first scene or maybe a parent that shows up at Wonka's factory until my kid gets sucked up a pipe or blows up like a blueberry. What a surprise to be cast as Willie (the female version of Willy) Wonka! How delightful! But...that character never stops talking! There are thousands and thousands of gallons of words to memorize. I. Am. Feeling. The. Pain! My head hurts from memorizing; my throat hurts from projecting.

BUT THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

So, I am sorry for being a demanding director--and I thank you for all your hard work--but I'm afraid I'm not changing. I still must insist you memorize lines, get your blocking right, and act well your part. At least you know I've suffered as you have.

Shake It Up

Right when I catch the pattern, things change. I used to think change was no problem, but even as I type this, I can feel my pulse start to go faster. Excuse me a moment while I deep breathe...still breathing...okay, tension in my head is easing. About the C word: in the middle of Dec, my daughter and I traded roles. Not like in the movie Freaky Friday; as in, we have a Christmas play we perform every year and I've been playing the silly elf Tinsel and she's been playing Evergreen, the uptight, busy one that has lists for everything and just does everything her-elf instead of getting help. Hm. Which one sounds more like me? The only reason I've been Tinsel for so long is because that's the character who gets most of the help from the audience throughout the show. When my daughter started performing with me, she was a little young for being in charge of an audience. We switched roles this year. It was a great show, better than it has been! She was so enthusiastic and playful as Tinsel, and I had a blast as Evergreen, adding some uptight physical comedy that made the audience laugh. It brought new energy to an old show. So - Face the change! Shake it up! Try something different and the pulse be darned! 
To paraphrase John Stuart Mill: The person who never tries what he cannot do, never discovers what he can.
(Actual quote: "The pupil who is never required to do what he cannot do, never does what he can do." John Stuart Mill.)

Cool Uniqueness

Last month my 17 yo daughter auditioned and got a major role because her Irish accent was so good. Of course she does because we watch movies such as Darby O`Gill and the Little People, Waking Ned Devine, and The Magical Legend of the Leprechaun. Then we go around the house speaking in Irish accents to each other. Doesn't everyone?

Yesterday, she took some period shoes into rehearsal. The directors were impressed and wondered where/how did she come across those shoes. Well,  we have costumes at home. Doesn't everyone?

Sometimes we don't realize our individual and familial uniqueness, and we should. What's yours?

Split Focus

During the summer, I teach/direct a mime troupe of kids, ages 10-12. When the kids are creating group skits, I often have to help them so they don't have split focus. You know, where one kid is playing something up big, but so are kids 2 and 3. I'm so busy watching the two on the right, I miss what the kid on the left is doing. Split Focus. I have the kids practice downplaying some actions or even freezing so the audience will be looking at the performer whose movements are required for the story to move along.

So here I am, looking at the last date I posted and it's been six (6) months! Why? Split Focus. I get it even when I'm not on stage. I've been working hard on my writing projects and keeping my author website updated (including the blog there); then there's my business website; and life (laundry, cleaning, fixing, books to read, movies to watch, FB to post to).

And yet when I pulled it together to focus hard, I managed to get another book edited and uploaded! The Other Art: Theater Skills to Help Every Child (Home Edition) got uploaded to Smashwords two days ago and tonight I finished formatting it for Kindle and I uploaded the book to Amazon as well. Wow! I may have to focus more often.

Could Shakespeare Be More Wordy?

Well, I suppose he can't since he's no longer living.
I'm in the midst of directing his comedy Twelfth Night. 
Wait. I must start further back...
In high school, I read Much Ado About Nothing and didn't really follow. Then I SAW it performed! The physical action made it understandable and hilarious.
Back to the present...
Directing 12th Night. I cut it. A lot. I kept all the parts I thought I could make physically funny as well as verbally funny and keep the storyline intact. But I still cut a lot. I did keep one part though that I suppose I could have cut or reduce. It's that of the Priest who enters to tell the group that he just performed the marriage ceremony of Sebastian and the Countess Olivia. Does he enter and say, "I just married them a couple of hours ago"? No, he says: