We open in 12 days!

The article I wrote for Talkin' Broadway went online today. One of the most interesting aspects of this show so far has been people's reaction to the fact that such a show is about to premiere.

The promotional postcards came in Friday so after yesterday's makeup and wig workshop I drove to the juggling festival in Lodi. I handed out about 50 postcards and the reaction was overwhelmingly favorable. "Amazing! How can I get tickets?" A majority of those who hear about the show seem to feel this way. But reactions have been virtually 100& extreme. Either you have to see this show or you have to stay at least 100 miles away from the theatre.

The amazing thing is, if those people who think they so can't handle such a production would only see the show they would realize that a good majority of what they're saying and thinking about the show at this point is without much merit. Diana treats Diana very fairly. We like Diana. What we don't like is Diana being treated as some sort of perfect creature set on Earth to do nothing but good things for others. She was never perfect. She was never the Diana so many people want to remember her by. The odd thing about the death of famous people, perhaps less famous people as well, is that we tend to remember them by only the good they did and anything less than that is seen as disrespectful.

Days after President Kennedy's assassination, Lenny Bruce opened his stand up act with, "President Kennedy needed a trip to Dallas like he needed a hole in the head." Deal with it! Lighten up and realize that the best way to remember someone and respect what they did in life is to remember them by who they truly were. "Warts and all." Realize that the problem lies within the antiquated practices of the British royal family.

The purpose of satire is to get people to think in new ways by stretching the boundaries of what is acceptable. Remember Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal"? It suggested that the problem with the poor in Ireland could be solved by simply eating Irish children. Things that make you go hmmm...

The problem being dealt with now is how to deal with the overflow of people wanting tickets who will soon be unable to get them. Apparently an extension would be difficult as The Heidi Chronicles opens very soon after we're set to close and running the two shows at the same time would be extremely difficult for all involved. So, the current game plan, instead of extending the run, is expanding the run, adding more performances to the original three week run.

I had my costume fitting last week. Would have been better to have had it weeks earlier as one of the things I was asked to do was to start growing a moustache. With less than two weeks? Fine, we'll see what happens. They'll have something but prediction number one is I'll be shaving in a week and using a handy dandy moustache from the theatre's hair department. :) My character, Sir Ralph, is very John Steed'ish. Very dapper with his black bowler hat and umbrella.

The choreographer is coming in early this week to tweak "Poisons" and a few other numbers. The 11x17 inch showcards arrive on Tuesday. We start Cue to Cue rehearsals mid week and full costume/wig rehearsals early next week. Invited dress next Thursday and opening night next Friday.

- mark