Archive for May, 2009

Unwinding on a Friday night.

{ May 8, 2009 @ 6:46 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Just listening to my new favorite artist of all time.

Got to Fly by Marian Call

My Life as a Buffy Musical

{ May 7, 2009 @ 7:17 pm } · { About me, Deep Thought }
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I am a big Whedon fan, primarily a Firefly/ Serenity fan, a Browncoat. But I have watched all of Buffy/ Angel and am totally into Dollhouse. And I find the musical episode of Buffy, Once More with Feeling, to be a favorite.  I am not a Buffy expert or uberfan, but I listen to the soundtrack on regular rotation. I was listening to it this morning and thought on how I relate to certain aspects of the characters and the songs. So I thought it would be insightful to share how I feel they relate to me.

I preface this by saying that God frequently shows me things through what I am interacting with at any given time. So several aspects of my response have a direct correlation to what I feel is the state of my faith. And that this concept will probably turn into a series of posts.

The show opens with the overture… ok I guess that is straight forward and needs no comment. But the first song is Buffy singing Going through the Motions. Buffy is lamenting about how she has no real joy or emotional connection to what she is doing or her life in general. Well this one is probably the song relate to the most at this time. She has been feeling empty because she had recently been dragged out of heaven.  And I have felt for a season or two that I have frequently been operating on autopilot. Not that I have been dragged from heaven nor do my blows have lost there touch. But my faith  and emotional state has. Let me state that my faith in God has not diminished but my active participation in my daily faith has.  I haven’t gone to church in a long time, but I haven’t missed a service in years. If that doesn’t make sense to you. Let me explain. As a staff member whose job is to support the services, I don’t go to church, I go to work. So the nourishing of my faith has taken a beating. So more often than not, I am just going through the motions.

Next song, is I Have Got A Theory.  The aspect of this song that I relate to is the concept of a group of people getting together to figure out a problem. And how off  their ideas were. Giles had the right idea  in the first stanza of the song, but had to sit through everyones opinion. Or Xander having to back down from his opinion to please those around him.  Now I don’t claim to be the master of anything, and the concept of me being the resident expert on any topic I find entertaining.  But I am smarter than average bear,(not bragging..stating a fact). And as I look around at my world I find that I am more often right than wrong and I see things in ways that most people don’t. And yet I still have to endure everyones opinions. Just find out that I am right, or that my input should be taken more seriously. 

And I always laugh at the Bunnies break and They got the mustard out.

This post is long enough. I will add next songs later. But it will have to wait, because life gets in the way.

Theatre is scared

{ May 2, 2009 @ 5:19 pm } · { Deep Thought, Ramblings }
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(Col 3:23)  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

(Col 3:23)  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

It has been pointed out to me that I get a little to serious when it comes to productions. Phrases like grumpy and hypercritical are also thrown out at times. And really, I can’t disagree nor do I feel like I should change this about me.
And here are my reasons why:
Theatre is sacred to me. Not that I have a little shrine and light candles, but it is worthy of respect or dedication. (look it up. It is one of the definitions.)
The theatre has brought me some of the most important things in my life. Pretty much all non family relationships have come from my theatre experiences. Several that have lasted for more than 20 years. The theatre has saved my marriage in many ways. But that is a story for another time.  Some of the people who have helped my faith the most are from my theatre experiences.  My greatest joys and pains have come from my time in the theatre. I try to pay my bills from the skills that I have learned from my theatre experience.
Saying all this, I hold the theatre and it’s rules and traditions in high regard. So I take the abuse and disrespect of these things pretty seriously.  And in the last few weeks as I watched my wife and girls get placed into a show that was being handled poorly, I found myself to pretty grumpy often.  It hurt my heart to see these kids taught poorly or not at all on what true theatre could be. I feel strongly about bringing up the next generation of practitioners of the art/craft. Giving them all that the theatre has to offer involves pushing them and informing them of the rules and traditions. It is not always based on the fun but the joy of hard work and discipline. But I know with that comes a lot of fun moments. I would hope that anyone who has left any show that worked with me, left with skills and a healthy view of what theatre can be. 
I would also get angry when I thought of my wife’s and daughters’ names might be associated with such a poorly planned and rehearsed play. I accept that things happen as show run. Those are things that memories are made of. But I believe that should come from the surprises of the show, not from bad or poor preparation. My poor daughter who took on the role of LD and board op, was still getting cues minutes before opening. She did fine but could have done better with more time and better planning.
The theatre is part of who I am. And it is part of my family. And I would like to be able to share it with as many people possible. But with and its grandeur and history. Not just the bare minimal, hint of theater.
I would love to teach and work more theatre, but life gets in the way.