New Perth, Prince Edward Island
OK, so I haven't journaled in forever. It's down to a lot of factors, really. Back in the beginning, it seemed important to document every little thing - and the novelty of that has certainly worn off! Plus, a lot of what's been going on has been on the business end of things, and not only is that not particularly appropriate to write about, but it would be incredibly boring if I did! Finally, I just always seem to be too busy. I thought things would cool down after the run ended in August, but they just kind of haven't - always five new things to do for every one thing I accomplish! Such is the world of "Nine Lives"!
But I'm not complaining. Remember, two years ago I was doing data entry. At least everything I do now is toward the show! And the interesting part of it is, last year we were almost totally flying blind with everything; this year we've got last year's experience to work from, and it does make things easier to a point. Or at least more informed!
So, undoubtedly you've heard by now that we're doing it again - the show, that is - this time at the Carrefour in Charlottetown. We don't open 'til 11 July, so you'd think we'd be able to breathe a little bit for a while before things start getting crazy, but they already kind of are. Now that we're able to get an earlier start, we're just trying to be better about getting things into place earlier. So I suspect things might hit a lull once we get a lot of these initial things scratched off our to-do lists. See - I told you that kind of stuff is boring to read about!
But what's got me finally on here is...well, kind of a throwback to the old days. You may recall that, last year, we had to make changes to the show in the middle of the run. Leo kind of takes stuff like that more in stride, but it was pretty tough for me. It's hard to write under that kind of pressure, and there's nothing particularly creative in writing in that atmosphere, at least not for me. Was I ultimately glad we made the changes? Yes. I think it ended up playing well and the audience response seemed to prove it. Still, I knew more changes would have to be made, but I was so burned out after the show that just thinking about the script was exhausting.
But slowly, Leo and I have discussed some things, and, now that there's a new production in the works, I sort of am feeling my mojo coming back. I read through the 2008 script and made tons of notes. There's still a lot of things I'd like to do with the material that I'm not yet sure how to accomplish, but I had a rather nice moment with it tonight. I knew I had to start getting back to it, so I thought I would at least transfer some of the easy changes from my handwritten notes - a different word here, a line out there. You know, to start building up to the big stuff. One of the things Leo was talking about doing was cutting a chunk out of It's In My Nature. I resisted it at first but then saw where he was going and agreed - only thing was, the part he wanted to cut included the line the power of imagination just won't be suppressed. Considering the power of imagination (AKA The Law of Attraction) is our throughline, I wasn't sure how to make the cut and still retain the line. Really, I have felt much more laboured in my writing lately - it doesn't seem to come as easily. So I'm sitting there with this song thinking I didn't know how to make it work. And suddenly...it came to me...I knew exactly what to do! And when I did it, I wondered why I didn't do it before and what took me so long to think of it! I know that's probably not a big deal to anyone, a couple of lines in a song, but it was kind of like "the old days", sitting in the office at the Field-Cech Agency in '06 writing the first draft when everything just poured out of me. I really needed that glimmer, and I hope it's just the first of many. I've still got some work to do!
That's pretty much where things are right now. I get overwhelmed a lot, feeling like everything I have to do in the next 5 months is a big mountain in front of me. But then, as Leo reminded me, I just have to do what's in front of me today. True, that. I just have to know it'll all get done. Hey - we pulled it off last year! And so we shall pull it off again. And I honestly do think the show's going to be even better this year. That's the plan, anyway!
So if I don't end up journaling again for a few months, you'll know why...although I will do my best to at least pop in every few weeks or so. It's good to have my journaling mojo back again as well!
OK, so I haven't journaled in forever. It's down to a lot of factors, really. Back in the beginning, it seemed important to document every little thing - and the novelty of that has certainly worn off! Plus, a lot of what's been going on has been on the business end of things, and not only is that not particularly appropriate to write about, but it would be incredibly boring if I did! Finally, I just always seem to be too busy. I thought things would cool down after the run ended in August, but they just kind of haven't - always five new things to do for every one thing I accomplish! Such is the world of "Nine Lives"!
But I'm not complaining. Remember, two years ago I was doing data entry. At least everything I do now is toward the show! And the interesting part of it is, last year we were almost totally flying blind with everything; this year we've got last year's experience to work from, and it does make things easier to a point. Or at least more informed!
So, undoubtedly you've heard by now that we're doing it again - the show, that is - this time at the Carrefour in Charlottetown. We don't open 'til 11 July, so you'd think we'd be able to breathe a little bit for a while before things start getting crazy, but they already kind of are. Now that we're able to get an earlier start, we're just trying to be better about getting things into place earlier. So I suspect things might hit a lull once we get a lot of these initial things scratched off our to-do lists. See - I told you that kind of stuff is boring to read about!
But what's got me finally on here is...well, kind of a throwback to the old days. You may recall that, last year, we had to make changes to the show in the middle of the run. Leo kind of takes stuff like that more in stride, but it was pretty tough for me. It's hard to write under that kind of pressure, and there's nothing particularly creative in writing in that atmosphere, at least not for me. Was I ultimately glad we made the changes? Yes. I think it ended up playing well and the audience response seemed to prove it. Still, I knew more changes would have to be made, but I was so burned out after the show that just thinking about the script was exhausting.
But slowly, Leo and I have discussed some things, and, now that there's a new production in the works, I sort of am feeling my mojo coming back. I read through the 2008 script and made tons of notes. There's still a lot of things I'd like to do with the material that I'm not yet sure how to accomplish, but I had a rather nice moment with it tonight. I knew I had to start getting back to it, so I thought I would at least transfer some of the easy changes from my handwritten notes - a different word here, a line out there. You know, to start building up to the big stuff. One of the things Leo was talking about doing was cutting a chunk out of It's In My Nature. I resisted it at first but then saw where he was going and agreed - only thing was, the part he wanted to cut included the line the power of imagination just won't be suppressed. Considering the power of imagination (AKA The Law of Attraction) is our throughline, I wasn't sure how to make the cut and still retain the line. Really, I have felt much more laboured in my writing lately - it doesn't seem to come as easily. So I'm sitting there with this song thinking I didn't know how to make it work. And suddenly...it came to me...I knew exactly what to do! And when I did it, I wondered why I didn't do it before and what took me so long to think of it! I know that's probably not a big deal to anyone, a couple of lines in a song, but it was kind of like "the old days", sitting in the office at the Field-Cech Agency in '06 writing the first draft when everything just poured out of me. I really needed that glimmer, and I hope it's just the first of many. I've still got some work to do!
That's pretty much where things are right now. I get overwhelmed a lot, feeling like everything I have to do in the next 5 months is a big mountain in front of me. But then, as Leo reminded me, I just have to do what's in front of me today. True, that. I just have to know it'll all get done. Hey - we pulled it off last year! And so we shall pull it off again. And I honestly do think the show's going to be even better this year. That's the plan, anyway!
So if I don't end up journaling again for a few months, you'll know why...although I will do my best to at least pop in every few weeks or so. It's good to have my journaling mojo back again as well!
1 comment:
It's so good to see you back! I know you must feel like Sisyphus on your own steep Alpine Path but you have created a really sweet stage story -- I just listened to Epoch again, you guys nailed it!
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