New Perth, Prince Edward Island
I guess it's real now - in about 10½ hours we'll be having our first rehearsal with the 2009 cast. It's kind of funny to say that as if this happens every year, since this is only our second, and when I first started keeping this 9LoLMM blog the idea of a cast was so far in the distance that it barely merited thinking about. But now, here it is - again!

It's very late and I have to get to bed, so this is going to be uncharacteristically short. (Or at least I say that now. LOL) It's just, like last year, a little surreal to be starting rehearsals. Not only does it mean we're actually opening in 4 weeks (4 weeks! What happened to 4 months?), but, because the show has evolved since last year, it's like putting it front of folks for the first time all over again. It's always one thing for Leo and I to bandy words about it; it's only part of our universe then. But rehearsals mean the beginning of putting it in front of the world - or at least the Island. :) That, of course, is what you want when you create something, whether it be a musical or a book or a song or any kind of art - you want it to be seen and/or heard by "the public". Yet, it's always a little unnerving - especially if you're the kind of artist who puts a lot of yourself into your work. I'm definitely one of those. But I think I always go through this process - I did before the workshop in '07 and I know I did when we started rehearsals last year. And I'll go through it again on opening night. I guess it just comes with the territory!

Well, that was rather philosophical. Happens when I'm up late and I'm overtired!

So, are y'all ready for two thousand nine? Because it starts tomorrow afternoon whether we're ready or not! :)