Am I the only one...?

I spent a very long but satisfying day yesterday driving to and poking around a costume shop that my employer uses in order to find pieces for "Macbeth" so I can start figuring out what pieces I'll make. This morning I went into my fabric closet to pull some fabric and wound up pulling almost everything out to re-order, re-organize and purge. It's not the first time I've done it. I do this before almost every new project. It seems to clear my mind and set me on a new path although it's really a terrible waste of time. I know what's in there and where to find what I want. Why do I have this compulsion to make a huge mess only to have to clean it up before I can start the real work? Does anyone else do this? And what am I going to do now since my new system isn't holding as much and it still looks like the stash threw up all over my bedroom?

Getting started on "Macbeth"

The big project of the theatre season for me will have to be "Macbeth". I've done some Shakespeare with this director before but he's always put a peculiar twist on it; mostly by setting it in a different time. He's staying traditional with "Macbeth" though and I'm excited to be doing a late-medieval-with-liberites-taken kind of style. I'm seeing alot of faux leather, heavy upholstery, breaking out the crown pattern I've always wanted to use and a few gallons of fake blood. Coolness!

Doubly excited because my youngest child auditioned for the first time for this and was given a role as a Macduff child. She plays a boy, which suits her to a 'T' since she prefers to act and dress as one anyway, and is tickled that she gets to be murdered. And to think I was happy when I was cast as Jan in "Grease" because I got to eat Twinkies...

I have quite a bit of fabric to start with and we will be renting some pieces because we don't have the space to store what we make (drat!). Pictures soon-

Working-The Musical

"Hey somebody do'ya want to hear the story of my life?"

So begins the narrative of my latest project, simply titled "Working''. It's based on the book by Studs Terkel in which ordinary working class people were interviewed about their jobs and Studs wrote their exact words into a book. Then some brilliant musical minds wrote songs to accompany their stories and what you have is two hours of humor, pathos, hope and the good feeling that comes with knowing you're not alone. It's not a difficult show to costume--- it's everyday clothes with a few uniform pieces thrown in--- and it's a tremendous burden lifter that the cast brought in pieces of their own for much of it. The challenge in this show is the sheer size of the cast and keeping up with all the individual pieces. I am really enjoying this group. They're true 'amateur professionals' and they sound fabulous. I was not looking forward to the usual hanging around the dressing room, waiting for a button to pop so I asked for another job during my 'since I'm here anyway' hours. So, in a throwback to my college days, I will be sharing the lightboard operations with the lighting designer. ALWAYS excited to learn something new 'bout theatre work! "Working" opens this weekend but before then I will be 'working' on my sketches for "Macbeth". Now THAT is going to be a challenge! I see alot of leather and studs in my future...