Chaos Attraction

Last Day of Shrek

2021-07-18, 11:14 a.m.

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Cast list as of November 2019

Nothing much going on during the day. Nobody showed up for Collage Club, sigh. I hate the "off-days." I ended up going to the arboretum and walking around for an hour. It was somewhat pleasant, somewhat super hot, and then there was the inevitable construction blocking my ability to do rounds properly.

Shrek, Day 6: Mary was asking what we were doing next and Adam is doing various things...."The summer of leads continues." -Adam. He mentioned having a "Zoom Santa" business and putting it on for the nephews. This turned into a "who's been in shows with who" conversation and how Adam has had to yell in all but one show. Steve briefly comes on and makes a references to "Mary Poopins." "It's not easy being green." -Adam, happy to get rid of that makeup later Jan's last speech: This is an experience, even though we're never doing it again, it's an experience most people haven't had. You can put it on your resume. a whole new world that only a few people have gotten to experience. Being a soloist for numbers too. Adam: he left for LA 5 years ago and thought Music Man would be his last show, happy to be back. "I said I wouldn't cry!" Our professionalism is better than some Hollywood productions, "I have to emphasize that." "You know what's worse than virtual? No air conditioning." -Steve "The answer, my friend, is Steve's blowing in the wind." -after Steve puts the AC on. "may we never ever (repeated a lot) do this again." -Steve Mom keeps calling me making vague noises about trying to record the broadcast but she can't figure out how to buy a ticket (sigh). "Pigs aren't supposed to be on the phone." -Steve "Steve, we heard your voice on the broadcast." -Carter. Apparently anyone at all talking once the stream is on is heard... "Just for that, all of you can't do any more virtual theater, that's it." -Steve, who gets a "waaaah" and ":(" in response on the chat. "I took a picture of the air conditioner. If the fire marshal came in now we would totally be shut down." -Steve "Are you gonna be there for strike? We got a lot to do. We gotta send all the backgrounds back to Google." -Steve Steve will post performances on the group "and you guys can take 'em." Dammit, I had a foulup--my mic was off and sadly, my first few lines as a pig weren't heard. DAMMIT. Oh well, 5 out of 6 with no foulups....then Judah said he wanted to go to the gift shirt to get some T-shirts. Steve: "You look gorgeous, Adam." Adam preens. Arianna finally landed in the US! Later, Steve announced that "Morgan made it through customs" and then Arianna was on the chat going "Morgan just got through customs?" Steve: "No, she was singing "The waiting" right when you said, waiting to get through customs." Followed by "travel song coming up." Arianna: "My signal is cutting out at the airport but yay! Congrats on the last show, everyone, I'm so proud!" "Judah, I found a receipt for you from Roseville Toyota for service. Does that mean I have to pay it?" -Steve (Judah shakes his head no). "Morgan, you might want to purge since you have to eat your butterfly." -Steve Steve asked for people to take pictures of their computer/prop setups. "You guys are all participating in something no one else has done. And now you know why nobody else has done it." -Steve "You just ate the butterfly, are you feeling okay?" -Steve "They're farting now! That's disgusting!" -Steve. "Donkey's about to walk through the Cloud of Death." Steve just announced "We have a problem, Jan. Look." but isn't spelling it out for everyone else. Uh....? "You're out. Eat another butterfly, maybe." -Steve to Morgan "I'm sad the show's going to be over, but I'm glad the show's going to be over. Sad and glad." -Steve. Adam: "Same. Definitely glad to not wear the face mask any more. Who's idea was this anyway?" "You know, for all the complaining of this stupid guy running the show,, this has all run quite smooth except when I panic." -Steve Me in chat at the end: "Now what do I do with my life?" Dannette:"Why...do another show, of course!" Me: "Will do!" Arthur: "Absolutely!"

And it's over, and I feel weird, like you do when you end every show, except without any cast members around and all I did was take a shower and finish watching everyone's videos of their Shrek setups that Steve asked people to post. I want a cast party, dammit. I will note that a few people said they were going to Woodstock's after they dropped off costumes, but I didn't see them (and when asked, Jean said they run very late). I did run into Mary (Mama Bear, who I had auditions with) who expressed interest in going, but said she had to help someone with some kind of academic thing. I said I felt weird at the idea of going to Woodstock's alone and waiting around and she said, "I would too." I hung out and talked with her for a bit, as she wanted Linda's phone number to see if they are doing anything in Winters. I said I hadn't heard anything. I did talk to her about musical auditioning and how pianists play during auditions and stuff like that (she asked why I didn't audition over here more), and she suggested a vocal coach and freaked out when I told her how much I paid for one before. Why did you get one? My entire office thinks my voice sucks. Whaaaaaaaat? was her reaction to that one. And also that voice lessons should be $60-90 ("about my therapy," I said). She said I'm "tiny" (except for the boobs, I said, I'm front-loaded!) IRL and that I have a lovely voice, and "who told you you couldn't sing?" "I think it's because I'm not a soprano," I said, and that's when I realized it. Aren't women supposed to be able to hit the high notes in things, after all? I couldn't replicate what the singers were doing, so.... She asked who kept telling me I sucked and I said "a lot of people since I was five?" How am I supposed to discount them? Lord, I have been headfucked my entire life. I'm all fixated on Rapunzel? Really, I should have been locked away from all other human beings so I could have NOT been told how awful I was all the time!

A lovefest has been going on on the Shrek pages. I said to Robert it was too bad we never met in person, it would have been fun, and he agreed, but said at least we got to know each other, and that I'm a delight to work with. Awwww!

Anyway, instead of waiting for castmates to show up that may never show up, I went home to watch my already-paid-for Shakespeare Sideshows, which is plays based off Shakespeare. I thought they were showing all 3 plays at once, but um, nope, they just showed one per show....and it was the one I was hoping NOT to see because I never bothered to watch the history plays. The only one they did tonight was "Henry IV, Part One, Restored? The William Davenant Version."

(I'm going to reprint the text from the program in case that goes away: "Welcome to 1664, four years into the English Restoration. The strict Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell is over, Charles II is king, and public theatre has returned to London after an absence of almost twenty years. Naturally, this new theatre includes the work of William Shakespeare. "Enter another William, Sir William Davenant, the Bard of Avon’s own godson. Rumored to be Shakespeare’s actual son as well, Davenant was born in 1606 and enjoyed success in the theatre both before and after the English Civil War....Throughout his life, Davenant was an avid theatre maker as well as a poet. He wrote plays before the Civil War, after the Restoration, and even during the Commonwealth period. He was the English court’s poet laureate from 1638 until his death in 1668. After the Restoration and Charles II’s ascent to the throne, Davenant was given a patent to start an acting company. While Davenant wrote many of his own plays, he is perhaps best known today for adaptations of his godfather’s work. Along with other playwrights, Davanent would take Shakespeare's plays and adapt them for Restoration audiences. Take his Tempest, for example. Collaborating with John Dryden, he took Shakespeare’s fantastical romance and, with the help of some brand-new characters, turned it into a bawdy Restoration comedy. And then there was his Macbeth, complete with a chorus of singing, dancing witches. In 2018, this version was revived and performed by the Folger Theatre and Folger Consort. In Henry IV, Part One, Restored? playwright Luther Hanson imagines what Davenant might have done with another of Shakespeare’s plays. Would Davenant have left this epic story of war and family alone, or would he have changed it as drastically as other Shakespeare plays? For example, would he have tried to make the final, tragic battle between Prince Hal and Hotspur more palatable for a boisterous Restoration audience? And what of Prince Hal’s journey from wayward youth to future king? Would Shakespeare’s original character arc have been good enough for Davenant and his actors, or would they have felt the need to…..improve it? And finally, how would Davenant’s cast and crew have reacted to changes in the script and extravagant special effects?"
Shorter way to explain this: what happens when you add special effects to Shakespeare in period times?

This one starts out with Lady Hotspur explaining what's changed in England, i.e. losing stages for 20 years and taking shows on the road. She's interrupted: "Excuse me, madam, your weasels are here." Um, what?! "Of course. For there are weasels." For what? "For the final scene, Sir William." William is indeed directing (and letting women be in shows!). The director notes that a previous MacBeth got blown up....BLOWN UP?! William notes that King Charles went to some plays in France and they had "spectacle" and special effects and goats, and he'd love to see them in plays.... Is it really art if we do this, the actors debate. Well, uh, it's what the king wants....There will be singing, dancing, fog! (And weasels!) Lady Hotspur suggests adding a woman 'here and there" and William is UTTERLY BAFFLED at this. Sigh. "We have a problem. A weasel bit our Jeffrey." "The actors are afraid, Sir William, they are afraid of too much gunpowder." "That is bad." Can ANYONE get William to listen? "We sing the song of robbery...." Yes, they have four ladies attempting to sing at once--I note at least one is lip-syncing and the others are trying not to step on each other. "We must please our people NOW," William says. "Is this really how we want to tell our story, sir?" one actor says, and I feel that sums it up. I think the ghost of Shakespeare showed up at the end?

I did enjoy the weasel jokes in the chat at the end, though. Playwright: "We have arranged a special deal with Incredible Pets for a good price on baby weasels. Take them home!" Delivery Guy: "Please! Not my weasels! I need them for rent money!" Olivia (in the play): "Gunpowder makes the weasels go wild."


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