How I Spent My Summer Vacation (Part One)

The first week of June was spent saying goodbye to students. It was very sad, very emotional, and a lot harder than I imagined.

June 7th was the last day of school. Finished packing up one office sometime around noon.

First rehearsal was that night.

From June 7th until July 16th I didn't have a day off. I worked 12-15 hours every day, for the most part. (Sometimes I was lucky and only had to work 5-7 hours.)

Directed one play, produced another, shepherded a third (from my original from 5 years ago), and more or less watched the fourth. (Although I did get to finally be a filmmaker and direct some film sequences for Singin' in the Rain. I'll post some video later.)

Ate a lot of Caesar salads (not for the irony--there's an excellent Italian restaurant just up the road from the stage), shed some teacher weight, avoided graduate school responsibilities once again, said no to friends over and over (regrettably), and finally made vacation plans (Ireland, of course.)

And I started working on a new play. Heroes and Villains. It's about college.

This is, of course, the short version. I felt a post was needed, though, since I have been horribly neglectful towards this blog for some time now. Thank you, readers, for being patient with me as I direct my creative energies elsewhere for a while. It was very necessary that I get this blog out of my head for a while, so as to focus my attention elsewhere.

More to come soon. The hour is late, and I need some sleep.

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Regular writing should resume shortly. For now, a few more pictures from the performance:


Lots more pictures here.

Such a kick-ass show. Charmed from the start. Great cast, great ideas, great assistance from everyone. I shall speak more of it later. We still have two more different shows to get through before we're done.

And Ireland awaits!

JC 2007

Two more days, two more performances. We sweated it a bit the last few days, but it's turning into an outstanding show. Catch it while you can, people...

And Happy 30th Birthday to The Duder, to Eric, to a good friend. My sincere apologies for not being able to spend it with you properly. We shall raise a glass to it soon, though.

Live! Tonight!

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Opens Tonight!

A few pictures from the first rehearsals of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Brutus' final stab

Metellus' plea to Caesar

The Conspirators circle around Caesar's corpse

Portia's late-night discussion with Brutus

Two casts: one masculine, the other feminine. Men of power and the female interpretation of the same story. Blocked the assassination today, threw out some different ideas, had a great day. Hope the actors trust me with where I'm going with this story: Thom Yorke as the Soothsayer, the red thread of life, and the abstract, dreamlike quality of the sets and costumes.

The Tragedy of Julius Caesar performs on June 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th at the Oswego East High School Performing Arts Center. More information can be found on the Limelight Theatre Company website, of which I am the humble webmaster.

Variations on a Sunset, Central Illinois Back Roads

Spent a Sunday driving from the north side of rapid Chicago down to the quiet pace of central Illinois. Listened to music, stopped every once in a while to scribble down ideas in a notebook, and wished my cousin Jake a Happy Graduation.

Ate beef sandwiches hunched over the kitchen table, which is where my family always feels most at home. It's where we celebrate birthdays, mourn deaths, and hunker down during times of crisis or calamity. A bag of Fritos and a couple of beer bottles and the creak of old wooden chairs passed down through families.

Sat for a long while with my cousin Ben in his dark bedroom, cracking jokes and talking of Japan and life and books, and before I knew it the time had slipped away along with the rest of the northern Illinois contingent of my family.

Said my goodbyes to everyone, including a couple of distant middle-aged cousins that I had never met before but could have talked to for hours. They just had that easy familiarity that apparently comes with being of the same ancestry. Scots-German-Pennsylvania Dutch farmers spending the early part of the 21st century trying to hold on to that sense of land and family and tending to something.

Spent the car ride home listening to the same song over and over again, sculpting Caesar's assassination in my head as the sun set on my left. By the time the sky grew black I was back in the suburbs and the stoplights, and you couldn't see a goddamn star in the sky.

Damn

14 hours of callbacks, 3 hours of a damn-fine Damn Yankees! production, a lot of scotch, a lot of Radiohead, a lot of conceptualizing and Caesar-y goodness, and a Sunday morning playing theatre games with Maria and Mike from The House.

What did you do this weekend?

Caesar Concept Discussion

I never expected to get as much response to my thoughts about Caesar and the use of The Fates as I did, so thanks to everyone who offered up their suggestions.

And as long as we're experimenting with this form of Radical Transparency, let's continue with this thread: I am deep in thought about what the overall look of JC should be. I'm not interested in doing it straight trad, with lots of white togas and fake sandals. I'm also not interested in doing a modern version either, with lots of suits and jumpy politicians and Important Things to Say About Our World Today.

What I'm going for is something deeper, more constant: the idea that this same damn story repeats itself over and over again. People desire power, or fear power, and make lots of bad decisions. And usually things wind up worse than when they started. Okay, so I guess that does say something about Our World Today. But you get what I mean: All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again (for you BSG fans out there.)

So I want to echo this idea in the dress of the characters, make it a mix of classic and new, medieval and modern. Slightly exaggerated costumes, a lonely stage, and a menacing, dreamlike feeling of dread flowing through the whole thing. The Wolf at the Door.

Something with the idea that we're watching all of this through the Soothsayer's eyes, or perhaps the Fates'. They see beyond the now: they see before, and after. To them, it's all one and the same, with slight variations in color and light. They are passive, and watchful, the Three, and he, the truth-speaker, jumps from scene to scene, role to role, urging the action towards its inevitable conclusion.

Trouble is, this whole mish-mash thing's been done before; Julie Taymor's Titus is what was brought up when I first started talking about this. But it's a start. A beginning.

Oh, and I should probably mention that we're doing two casts: one male (excepting Portia and Calpurnia) and one female. I like the idea of doing this power-struggle story with a largely-female cast; I think some interesting ideas should come out in the rehearsal process.

So. That's where I'm at right now. Lots to think about and develop over the next few weeks. Feel free to respond to this, fearless readers; I value your thoughts and opinions. I want to make this show interesting and original without getting preachy or self-indulgent.

Which, after reading all of this, sounds kind of artsy and indulgent, but I guess you have to get like that every now and then. Such is the life of a tortured artist.

Questions That Need Answering

I've certainly become as busy as I thought I would, and the lack of blog entries on here proves that. I'm sure I'll start writing on here on a more-frequent basis, but right now my thoughts are generally concerned with the following questions:

1. In the final weeks of school, what meaningful work can I still accomplish with my students? Also, how many classes will be canceled due to end-of-year activities and meetings that I must attend?
2. What role should the Soothsayer play in Julius Caesar? Puppetmaster, or a pawn in the game? In addition, should the Fates have a presence on the stage?
   
3. What shall I get my mother for Mother's Day?
4. When will this cough go away? (I've been fighting some serious allergies for the past week.)
   
5. Will that theater workshop be canceled?
6. Should I buy a new car? And if so, what kind?
7. Why did Spider-Man 3 suck so bad?
8. Where shall I go for my vacation this summer? (Related question: why does the dollar's value continue to fall, thereby lessening my chances of a trip to Europe this year?)
9. Should I just go for the trifecta of new job, new car, and new home?
10. When is Wilco going to play Chicago again?
    

Summer Prep

The updates will most likely be few and far-between for the next few weeks, as I have a lot of plates spinning in the air right now. Summer prep for Limelight and especially Julius Caesar is taking up most of my free time, and the last six weeks or so of teaching should be pretty hectic as well.

Plus, I just signed up for three graduate classes. Online, though, so I can get 'em done during my free time.

In the meantime you will find me over at Limelight's new website every now and then, as I get it and the new summer season up and running. Site has a long ways to go, but I've got a basic version ready for public viewing.

Regular writing on here should resume in a few weeks. For now, though, I need to direct my attention elsewhere. I'll update when I can, though, so check back when you get the chance.

Prologue

Tried once again to come up with something interesting to post, but I just stared at the blank field of the Create Post page and nothing came to me. All my creativity went into about ten pages of conceptual ideas for Caesar, so it's not like I didn't do shit tonight.

Came across this, though: something I scribbled down not too long ago, in an attempt to tell the story of my three-year battle with This Fucking Job. More to come on that tale later, but consider this the Prologue:

August, 2004.

The walls of my office are made of concrete blocks. A thin layer of primer coats them, laid carelessly, unconcerned about who would one day be staring at these walls in numbed disbelief.

This is supposed to be a storage room, or maybe a workroom for the lunch ladies. There’s a bathroom in here and some of the teachers like to come in and use it while I sit at my desk. I like to turn up the sound on my stereo during these moments. The room echoes a bit.

There are two tables, a desk, a filing cabinet, and a chair with a broken back and stains on the fabric. New blue carpet has been laid on the floor. When you close the door, you are completely cut off from the noise and the flow of the building.

This is now my home, at my new school, in my new job.

I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.

Writer's Block

Reasons I haven't blogged much lately:

1. I have been Deep in Thought. Sometimes, when I have big decisions to make, I tend to get so focused all up in my head that everything else tends to get tuned out. This has happened before.

2. It's Spring Break. Since I didn't go anywhere, that means sleeping late, reading books, going for hikes, and staying up late.

3. Writer's block. (See #1, above.)

4. I've been busy with other projects. Met with some of the Limelight players to work on some ideas I have for Julius Caesar on Wednesday, and for the past couple of days I've been putting together a revamped website for our theatre company. Debut to follow soon.

5. Report cards. Which I'm working on right now. Here endeth the post.

FAIL

Technology is failing me left and right. Had to shell out some serious cash to fix the car yesterday, and now gmail is crapping out on me.

I've probably started about three or four entries on here over the last day or so, but I just can't seem to make the words come out right. So no fancy sentences or melancholy insights into my soul today, just a list. Because that's all I seem to be able to do today: list things.

1. Get haircut.

2. Clean garage.

3. Prep Julius Caesar for tomorrow's workshop.

4. Get rid of writer's block.

The Wooden Breeks

Snow's melting a bit today and I'm trying to get some work done so I can go out and play; maybe head over to the Arboretum and go for a walk, now that the temperature's gone up a bit.

President's Day, so I have a day off. Combined with last week's snow day, the shortened work weeks have been a much-needed break from a long six weeks or so. Lot of work, lots of strange moments, lots of irons on the fire, but that's good. It's work worth doing.

This is mostly a place-holder post, with nothing too exciting to report. Back in the city once again this weekend, saw The Wooden Breeks at Lookingglass. Disappointing play: hard to understand, too silly at times, no real clear idea of who the characters were supposed to be. Good acting, and great set design, but... meh. Just confirmed the greatness that was The Sparrow from The House.

Okay, time to go do some thinkin' about theatre. The summer season's a long ways away, but there's so much to do. Need to conceptualize The Tragedie of Julius Caesar, redesign a website, and come up with some advertising ideas.

Oh, and I got a decent tax return for the first time in my life, so I'm starting to think about travel plans again. Maybe I'll finally get over to the 'Dam and hang out with Bicyclemark and JaG. We could talk about evil governments and hot sex and Heroes. It would be awesome.