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! :)
13 June 2009
09 May 2009
New Perth, Prince Edward Island
I'm up way too late - quelle surprise! As I'm sure many of you know, working on web sites takes time. But this "retrofit" was for a good reason - tickets for this year's production at the Carrefour go on sale in 8 hours! On May nine, of course! Click here if you want 'em!
It's been pretty well non-stop since I last left you - didn't I predict it would be? Not a day off, pretty much not a waking moment where something having to do with the show isn't being done. Hard to believe we're only 2 months away from another opening! Aside from all the administrative and promotional stuff I've been up to, in April we went to Toronto, and then in the middle of everything I worked on the rewrite. I had the hardest time finding opportunities to work on it! The last few rewrites, I at least had committed chunks of time for them. Not this time. It was pretty well whenever I could spare, with a few of those chunks available if I was lucky. I know Maud talked about having to write that way and, if I didn't know what she was on about before, I do now!
But, I think it was worth it. I feel pretty good about this one. I stripped out a lot of the detail that I thought was important before and consolidated some things and shortened down others - I just tried to get to the point of things faster and put more emphasis on the characters. We've also been reimagining the staging, since last year's - in retrospect - could have used a little more energy. I think it'll be more kinetic now. I even wrote a whole new song. When I first started it, I thought it was going to be impossible. It had been too long since I wrote the other material and there was so much story that had to be worked into it and I wasn't feeling the magic. But somehow, a piece at a time (even at one point with a lyric coming to me in the car on the way to dinner, which I wrote down on a menu when we got there!), it fell together. Leo just finished orchestrating it. And it will serve to replace some of the talky sections of Act II. I feel pretty good about the song, and pretty good about this new version of the show. You still never know what it's really going to be like until it gets onto the stage, but having already gone through this process now has been a big help to me - kind of overall!
Anyhow, auditions are done (and now you know where a lot of the administrative work went) and I'll be able to announce the cast by the end of the month. Bringin' back some old faces, bringin' in some new faces!
That's the best I can do at 2 in the morning...I'm really wiped...that web site stuff is deceptively exhausting. But we've got a show, and now we've got tickets. Hopefully you'll have tickets, too! (Plug plug.)
Funny...it seems like a lifetime ago since last year's show - yet it feels like this year's show is tomorrow! There's still so much that has to be done...many times I wonder how it's all going to happen. I just know that it did already once, and that's what I base my faith on! For as burned out as I was when we closed last year (secret: I was burned out before we closed!), I do find myself looking forward to doing the show again - only because I think we'll be able to do it better this time! No sophomore slumps allowed in this show!
Sleep really shouldn't be allowed either, not with all the work that needs to be done - but one must have it. So, good night and see you next time!
I'm up way too late - quelle surprise! As I'm sure many of you know, working on web sites takes time. But this "retrofit" was for a good reason - tickets for this year's production at the Carrefour go on sale in 8 hours! On May nine, of course! Click here if you want 'em!
It's been pretty well non-stop since I last left you - didn't I predict it would be? Not a day off, pretty much not a waking moment where something having to do with the show isn't being done. Hard to believe we're only 2 months away from another opening! Aside from all the administrative and promotional stuff I've been up to, in April we went to Toronto, and then in the middle of everything I worked on the rewrite. I had the hardest time finding opportunities to work on it! The last few rewrites, I at least had committed chunks of time for them. Not this time. It was pretty well whenever I could spare, with a few of those chunks available if I was lucky. I know Maud talked about having to write that way and, if I didn't know what she was on about before, I do now!
But, I think it was worth it. I feel pretty good about this one. I stripped out a lot of the detail that I thought was important before and consolidated some things and shortened down others - I just tried to get to the point of things faster and put more emphasis on the characters. We've also been reimagining the staging, since last year's - in retrospect - could have used a little more energy. I think it'll be more kinetic now. I even wrote a whole new song. When I first started it, I thought it was going to be impossible. It had been too long since I wrote the other material and there was so much story that had to be worked into it and I wasn't feeling the magic. But somehow, a piece at a time (even at one point with a lyric coming to me in the car on the way to dinner, which I wrote down on a menu when we got there!), it fell together. Leo just finished orchestrating it. And it will serve to replace some of the talky sections of Act II. I feel pretty good about the song, and pretty good about this new version of the show. You still never know what it's really going to be like until it gets onto the stage, but having already gone through this process now has been a big help to me - kind of overall!
Anyhow, auditions are done (and now you know where a lot of the administrative work went) and I'll be able to announce the cast by the end of the month. Bringin' back some old faces, bringin' in some new faces!
That's the best I can do at 2 in the morning...I'm really wiped...that web site stuff is deceptively exhausting. But we've got a show, and now we've got tickets. Hopefully you'll have tickets, too! (Plug plug.)
Funny...it seems like a lifetime ago since last year's show - yet it feels like this year's show is tomorrow! There's still so much that has to be done...many times I wonder how it's all going to happen. I just know that it did already once, and that's what I base my faith on! For as burned out as I was when we closed last year (secret: I was burned out before we closed!), I do find myself looking forward to doing the show again - only because I think we'll be able to do it better this time! No sophomore slumps allowed in this show!
Sleep really shouldn't be allowed either, not with all the work that needs to be done - but one must have it. So, good night and see you next time!
11 February 2009
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!
27 October 2008
20 July 2008
Kings Playhouse
Hard to believe it was a month ago tonight we took to the stage. Even harder to believe I haven’t had a chance to blog since then! I’ve really kind of fallen off the wagon with documenting the show, ironically, right when there’s the most to document. As we speak, Haley (Batchilder, Ingenue Maud) is on stage performing An Orphan No More. During shows is sometimes the only chance I get to sit for a while, so I thought tonight I would take advantage of the time and tap out a few words to y’all! Especially since I’m not up until I Am A Newspaper Woman! Yes, I ended up being in the show – OK, deep down I really wanted that, but once we got everyone cast I thought it wasn’t really my place to snag a role. Turns out I have four of them!
Anyway, it’s been one heckuva ride, and it’s hard to believe we close two weeks from tonight. In so many ways, it feels like the show is out of my hands – taken on a life of its own. That’s only right, I suppose, and I don’t think about it much at this point, but at times it’s still weird considering it was just something of mine and Leo’s for so long. Now thoughts of what comes next keep coming up, and I get very attached when I’m doing a show – I find myself not wanting to think of what happens when we say good-bye to the cast I’ve gotten very used to having around on an almost daily basis.
Over the last month, a production company that’s producing a documentary about Maud and the 100th anniversary of Anne followed us around with cameras for a while, the Japanese network NHK also followed us around with cameras (the piece aired 4 July; I can’t wait to see it even though I won’t be able to understand it!)…what else…well, there was the L.M. Montgomery Conference, where I spoke, and also where a bunch of us from the show performed An Epoch In My Life and Maud Meets Her Public. And then the apparently inevitable time came where we’d gotten the show up on stage in full only to find out certain things didn’t work, so we ended up trimming off close to 20 minutes to make it even tighter, and not as dark. I don’t think we realized it had gotten as dark as it did. But we fixed it, and we’re pretty pleased with the show the way it is now. Then there’s been the bit about getting out and promoting the show. We didn’t have a show last night, and my fellow cast members keep asking me “Did you have a good day off?” Pshaw! AMJ does not get days off! :)
Now Maud is finishing up More Important Things. You know what’s weird? I’ve been mentioning these titles in this journal for close to 2 years – now people are downstairs performing them!
Now Maud and Ewan are asking What Do You Propose. I just got done with Publishers’ Relay (an instrumental where us four publishers unilaterally reject Anne of Green Gables – curs, ain’t we!). It’s my understanding that there are some folks from The Confederation Centre in the audience tonight, which could mean that some of the actors that were in our workshop last September (was that 10 months ago? Dang!) are here. Boy, has the show changed since then!
Gotta go do Maud Meets Her Public. Plus I like to listen to An Epoch In My Life first. Shame I don’t get a chance to see it, though!
Well, that’s it for me until the top of Act II. Which isn’t long from now! Maud Meets Her Public is my favourite number to perform. What I also enjoy is being down there during certain visuals – even though I can only see them backwards because of the rear-projection! And hey – how many people do you know who get to hug Anne every night? :) I get to dance with her, too, sometimes, during Folly In Love. I rather like our Anne!
I really forget most of the time now that I wrote all of this. That’s probably the trippiest part.
I think I’ll just journal periodically through the to the end of the show. Give y’all a chance to know what it’s like during a show – and maybe it’ll make up for my lack of posting! Right now, Ingenue Maud is getting married for the end of Act I and discovering it’s Too Late. Adult Maud takes over for her from there.
I still can’t believe how fast we were able to pull this off. Some say it takes 10 years to put a show like this together. And here 5 months ago we didn’t even know for sure if we’d be able to do a show this summer. I forget that tiny detail more often than not. It hits me once in a while during the show, at random times. “Wow, this was just in our heads not that long ago.” But I’m sure that’s not the first time I’ve expressed a sentiment like that!
Well, before I forget, I have to change my vest for the top of Act II. Congregation Man doesn’t do much except stand there with his hands behind his back trying to look serious, but he must look right. Although there have been times where Michael Farrell (Ewan) and I whisper silly comments to each other and almost start to laugh!
OK, just did 1917. I found out who a couple of the people are who are here from the workshop. I just think back to that workshop version…it’ll be interesting to hear what they think!
Gotta get back down to do “backing vocals” for Eternally Lost!
Well, that’s it for me! Got through The Dream Life Waltz, and now no more Congregation Man until the curtain call. But I usually hang out backstage through most of this Act after I’m done for some reason. One night last week I took the video camera back there to get some documentary footage, but it was just too dark to get anything. Even after I tried this trick of shooting it at 4 frames per second, which I discovered lets you “see in the dark”, essentially. The only down side is that it looks like a slow-motion security camera – or at least the way it used to be when you looked at videos on-line in the late ‘90s!
Ah, yes…Character Analysis…we usually get a little silly down there. Can’t resist doing it again!
I guess this is long enough for now – not really telling you much at this point! Besides, Adult Maud (Lori Linkletter) is down there doing the “new and improved” Where Is My Happy Ending? Which, aside from The Alpine Path reprise, is our happy ending for the night. So I guess I’ll pop back on here the next time I get a moment – hopefully it won’t take a whole month to do it!
This is over in two weeks already? Lord, that was fast.
07 June 2008
Georgetown, Prince Edward Island
I have really wanted to journal more on here in these weeks leading up to the show, but it's just been impossible. There's been way too much to do with precious little time to do it - rehearsals, props, visuals, posters, programs, press...the list goes on. Plus, Leo and I moved from Stratford to New Perth in the middle of all this; we're essentially living out of boxes because we haven't even had time to unpack!
But now I write from Kings Playhouse in Georgetown, where, in 13 days, we will unleash our show on the world after pushing 3 years. The cast and crew have gone home, but Leo is working on painting the train facade; I was working on re-editing the visuals for Eternally Lost, which I just finished. Then I wanted to see if I could get onto the Internet with our new laptop. Success!
It's a kick to write you from the theatre. Heck, we've been here more than home these days anyway! And, while it feels like there are still so many elements up in the air and part of me is wondering how on Earth we're going to pull this off in less than 2 weeks, I have to say that the show is really coming together. We have a pretty talented group, and they ask lots of questions in their effort to put forth their best performances. Some things are still a little rough, of course, but, considering the amount of material we're asking them to put out there, it's really going pretty well.
And you can now include me in their number. We had a little trouble casting our Ewan; what ended up happening is we shifted some roles around so that Michael Farrell, who's playing Hugh, could take on Ewan as well. It wasn't our intention to have the actor playing Maud's father also play her husband - what message does that send! LOL But he's really tackling it with gusto, and we're glad to have him. What it means, though, is that Michael's former peripheral roles were left without an actor - so it's me to the rescue! Oh, OK, I admit it - I very much wanted to have a cameo role in at least this first production. I haven't been on stage for 6 years and I really missed it. So I'm playing things like Congregation Man and Publisher Holt and Reporter #1. But it's nice to be in our own show - at least I know the material! :) Not that knowing it hasn't stopped me from going up on a line or two. That's show biz!
It is tricky, directing and acting at the same time. Generally, as we're now doing complete run-throughs of acts, Leo and I are to sit and watch and take notes to give to the actors afterwards. I can do that now only up to a point before I have to go around and get on stage to do my thing, and I can't exactly take my notebook into the wings. So I don't always get the most accurate notes. Fortunately, our stage manager, Andrea, pays incredible attention to detail, and Leo certainly makes notes of his own - between running the backtracks, that is! But boy, has it been an experience.
An experience I haven't really had much of a chance to...well, experience. There's so much to do and so much to remember, and I feel quite overwhelmed by it all, and pretty soon this part of the show will be over and I'll be lucky to remember any of it! I'm also disappointed because I really wanted to thoroughly document this process on video and have only gotten a percentage of the footage I wanted - if only because I've had to man the video camera myself, which wasn't what I had in mind. So, the slant of my eventual/hopeful documentary may have to change. I wanted to have it end with opening night, but I may have to go into the actual run. After 20 June, once the show is up and running, we won't have much to do in terms of directing anymore, so that might free me up to do some of these other things...the documentary...and the pop tie-in I've been absolutely aching to write and perform...
I can't believe we're already 4 weeks into rehearsals. Things are only going to get more intense over these next dozen days, so I may not get another chance to blog before then unless I can get on-line here at the theatre again. I admit I haven't paid nearly as much to the Law of Attraction/power of the imagination as I'd like to - but the fact that we've come this far hasn't escaped me, and I guess I'm just sort of assuming everything's going to come together in time. God knows we've had more than one miracle even recently - admittedly we could use a few more!
Oh - before I forget...you may be interested to know that we filmed at Green Gables yesterday. The weather finally cooperated (mostly!) and the leaves are finally out. But so were the bugs! I had to edit them out of the footage - the suckers would fly right into the lens, and, given the size of our screen, they'd look like 747s! We got some nice footage in Lover's Lane, and we went back to the homestead (where Maud lived with her grandparents) and got new footage there. I've essentially got everything except for two sequences - three if you count the 1919 movie version of Anne, but we're shooting our own version of that tomorrow. We're also recording the voice-overs that will be used in the show tomorrow. Who said Sunday was a day of rest!
Anyway, I'm rambling, but I wanted to get a decent post up here to make up for the lack of them these past weeks. I'm grateful we're getting to do this finally instead of just talking about it, and we will soon see what people have to say about it. The one thing I'm most proud of is that we're getting to world premiere on the exact 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne, which is what we wanted all along, even when we first started doing research in 2005! Whatever happens, we'll always have that. And that, my friends, is the power of imagination at its best!
Now I'd just like to bring some more sleep into my reality!
20 May 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Dare I say it? - one month.
It's pretty wild, after thinking of 20 June 2008 and marking 18 months, 12 months, even 6 months. To be down to one month is...well, let's not even think about that!
But things are pretty well full tilt over here. We started rehearsals with the cast 10 days ago and we're chugging along. Sometimes I think we're making amazing progress and sometimes I think it's all going too slow. Which probably means things are progressing at exactly the speed they're supposed to. I have been feeling pretty stressed out lately - I keep saying "I don't have time" for this, "I don't have time" for that. And what have I been preaching about all along? The power of imagination, right? Law of Attraction? Sure, Mike - keep saying you don't have enough time, and you won't! So I'm doing my best to correct my thinking. Things have been in pieces today, but I'm trying to just pay attention to the forward movement.
Today has been about the visuals, since the cast had the day off. Some of it's been cluttered by which computer to use, which program, blah blah blah. Still, even that's moved forward. The visuals are actually the thing I've been most stressed out about, simply because we decided to have so much of them!
And I have never paid so much attention to leaves in my life. Call me crazy, but my memories from my childhood paint a picture of leaves budding way earlier than this. I thought we'd be able to get some decent footage of nature in late March, early April...here we are heading up late May and we're only now starting to see the trees do their thing. Thank heaven for small mercies. Maybe by the weekend or early next week we'll finally get that footage. In the meantime, I've gone around and gotten as much footage as I could that doesn't involve leaves! Bluffs, ocean, water. It's getting there. It's all getting there.
I really want to be enjoying this ride more - it's the fruition of close to three years' worth of dreaming and working - but I'm finding it difficult. Still, every once in a while it hits me. The first time I heard one of our songs rehearsed at Kings Playhouse, it became especially apparent. But I guess I feel if I don't ride herd on all of this stuff, it won't get done in time. Which goes back to changing the way I've been thinking.
Anyway, one month from tonight, we're on. Our cast is on. And they're an amazing group, which at least puts my mind at ease about one thing!
Gotta get back to work. More video stuff to figure out. Come on, leaves - make it happen over here!
Dare I say it? - one month.
It's pretty wild, after thinking of 20 June 2008 and marking 18 months, 12 months, even 6 months. To be down to one month is...well, let's not even think about that!
But things are pretty well full tilt over here. We started rehearsals with the cast 10 days ago and we're chugging along. Sometimes I think we're making amazing progress and sometimes I think it's all going too slow. Which probably means things are progressing at exactly the speed they're supposed to. I have been feeling pretty stressed out lately - I keep saying "I don't have time" for this, "I don't have time" for that. And what have I been preaching about all along? The power of imagination, right? Law of Attraction? Sure, Mike - keep saying you don't have enough time, and you won't! So I'm doing my best to correct my thinking. Things have been in pieces today, but I'm trying to just pay attention to the forward movement.
Today has been about the visuals, since the cast had the day off. Some of it's been cluttered by which computer to use, which program, blah blah blah. Still, even that's moved forward. The visuals are actually the thing I've been most stressed out about, simply because we decided to have so much of them!
And I have never paid so much attention to leaves in my life. Call me crazy, but my memories from my childhood paint a picture of leaves budding way earlier than this. I thought we'd be able to get some decent footage of nature in late March, early April...here we are heading up late May and we're only now starting to see the trees do their thing. Thank heaven for small mercies. Maybe by the weekend or early next week we'll finally get that footage. In the meantime, I've gone around and gotten as much footage as I could that doesn't involve leaves! Bluffs, ocean, water. It's getting there. It's all getting there.
I really want to be enjoying this ride more - it's the fruition of close to three years' worth of dreaming and working - but I'm finding it difficult. Still, every once in a while it hits me. The first time I heard one of our songs rehearsed at Kings Playhouse, it became especially apparent. But I guess I feel if I don't ride herd on all of this stuff, it won't get done in time. Which goes back to changing the way I've been thinking.
Anyway, one month from tonight, we're on. Our cast is on. And they're an amazing group, which at least puts my mind at ease about one thing!
Gotta get back to work. More video stuff to figure out. Come on, leaves - make it happen over here!
27 April 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
A real quick one, even this late. The last few weeks have pretty well been a whirlwind - and it's only just starting! Tonight I've been working on initial blocking plans, which all could go out the window once we start physically putting things onstage. It's a start, anyway. And while being sick, too! There's just no time to stop now, not even for a sore throat.
Spring has not sprung just yet - at least, not in the way I'd hoped, which means we're going to have to get most of the rest of the screen footage in May. A bit tight, considering rehearsals start 10 May and there's no telling how long it will take to have all the video processed. I'm just going on faith on a lot of this stuff. If I start thinking about how much time we don't have, it'll make me insane. So, using what little of the law of attraction I've been able to muster in the midst of all this craziness, I'm just assuming it will all come together and be ready in time. What else can I do?
Leo has to conduct Bugs Bunny on Broadway next week in Fort Wayne, Indiana - while he's gone, I'll be jetting off to Toronto. I have to look into adding to our kitty of costumes, but mostly I have to get more elements to display on our screen. I'm going to pop by The University of Guelph to see what I can get in terms of photos Maud took (especially interiors and exteriors of where she lived). But I'll be driving up to Lake Muskoka at Bala, Ontario where Maud and her family vacationed in 1922 to do some filming. You may recall we were up there in October. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I don't even mind if it's a little cloudy or foggy - when Maud used Bala as her locale for The Blue Castle, she did fictionalize it as "Lake Mistawis". To me that evokes mist! I guess we will, as they might say in Avonlea, leave it up to Providence.
It's been a really intense time and there are moments where it all seems very overwhelming. And stressful, particularly. It helps me to remember where we were a year ago, 6 months ago - even 2 months ago - and just how far we've come. That usually gives me the juice to keep going.
Well, there you go, April practically over. I don't know when I'll be able to get on here again, but who knows - I may be pleasantly surprised. Somewhere under all of this I am extremely grateful, and hey - I could be back doing data entry like I was this time last year! Hard to complain when I put it that way!
A real quick one, even this late. The last few weeks have pretty well been a whirlwind - and it's only just starting! Tonight I've been working on initial blocking plans, which all could go out the window once we start physically putting things onstage. It's a start, anyway. And while being sick, too! There's just no time to stop now, not even for a sore throat.
Spring has not sprung just yet - at least, not in the way I'd hoped, which means we're going to have to get most of the rest of the screen footage in May. A bit tight, considering rehearsals start 10 May and there's no telling how long it will take to have all the video processed. I'm just going on faith on a lot of this stuff. If I start thinking about how much time we don't have, it'll make me insane. So, using what little of the law of attraction I've been able to muster in the midst of all this craziness, I'm just assuming it will all come together and be ready in time. What else can I do?
Leo has to conduct Bugs Bunny on Broadway next week in Fort Wayne, Indiana - while he's gone, I'll be jetting off to Toronto. I have to look into adding to our kitty of costumes, but mostly I have to get more elements to display on our screen. I'm going to pop by The University of Guelph to see what I can get in terms of photos Maud took (especially interiors and exteriors of where she lived). But I'll be driving up to Lake Muskoka at Bala, Ontario where Maud and her family vacationed in 1922 to do some filming. You may recall we were up there in October. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I don't even mind if it's a little cloudy or foggy - when Maud used Bala as her locale for The Blue Castle, she did fictionalize it as "Lake Mistawis". To me that evokes mist! I guess we will, as they might say in Avonlea, leave it up to Providence.
It's been a really intense time and there are moments where it all seems very overwhelming. And stressful, particularly. It helps me to remember where we were a year ago, 6 months ago - even 2 months ago - and just how far we've come. That usually gives me the juice to keep going.
Well, there you go, April practically over. I don't know when I'll be able to get on here again, but who knows - I may be pleasantly surprised. Somewhere under all of this I am extremely grateful, and hey - I could be back doing data entry like I was this time last year! Hard to complain when I put it that way!
07 April 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Just a little sense of déjà vu tonight. Tomorrow is our first day of auditions, and I'm spending the evening printing out "sides" - pages of dialogue for the actors to read. A little over 7 months ago, I was doing the same thing in preparation to audition the company of the Confederation Centre - you may recall their cast stepped in for the workshop. How much the same printing these sides up is, and how different!
Obviously, the main difference is that back then it was for the workshop and now it's for our own production. But the thing that strikes me the most is the libretto! I had to reference some of the older drafts over the weekend while I did a little cleaning up on the current version (I'd love to say "final version", but we still have to get a pesky 6 minutes out of this thing) and I about cringed! It's not that it didn't have its merits, but I've learned an awful lot about this the last several months and...well, it's not so much that it's painful looking over the old versions, but more awe-inspiring that there have been so many changes. And yet, it's essentially the same story, just reinvented.
There's a line in An Epoch In My Life, the duet where Maud and Anne marvel at the publication of Anne of Green Gables, where Anne says "To-day I go out and meet the world!" - and that's kind of how it feels. It's not just Leo and I discussing the script anymore. It's not even putting it in front of dramaturgs. Now we're really bringing other people into it. I'm not nervous, actually...it's just an interesting experience.
Well, back to work...and I don't dare count the number of days just now!
Just a little sense of déjà vu tonight. Tomorrow is our first day of auditions, and I'm spending the evening printing out "sides" - pages of dialogue for the actors to read. A little over 7 months ago, I was doing the same thing in preparation to audition the company of the Confederation Centre - you may recall their cast stepped in for the workshop. How much the same printing these sides up is, and how different!
Obviously, the main difference is that back then it was for the workshop and now it's for our own production. But the thing that strikes me the most is the libretto! I had to reference some of the older drafts over the weekend while I did a little cleaning up on the current version (I'd love to say "final version", but we still have to get a pesky 6 minutes out of this thing) and I about cringed! It's not that it didn't have its merits, but I've learned an awful lot about this the last several months and...well, it's not so much that it's painful looking over the old versions, but more awe-inspiring that there have been so many changes. And yet, it's essentially the same story, just reinvented.
There's a line in An Epoch In My Life, the duet where Maud and Anne marvel at the publication of Anne of Green Gables, where Anne says "To-day I go out and meet the world!" - and that's kind of how it feels. It's not just Leo and I discussing the script anymore. It's not even putting it in front of dramaturgs. Now we're really bringing other people into it. I'm not nervous, actually...it's just an interesting experience.
Well, back to work...and I don't dare count the number of days just now!
26 March 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
It's kind of weird how things come together. First off, I pretty well finished that new replacement song I was talking about before - all except for 2 lines I want to re-examine. Didn't have a title for it forever, and suddenly it came to me - Character Analysis. It's almost out of place among the other titles, but since in the song the characters are chatting about Maud it creates this trippy double meaning, and I love those. But it was a hard labour - I spent the whole weekend trying to write it!
Conversely, we changed the opening of Act II - more to the point, we pushed it forward by 2 years. Fine, except it made half of the lyrics in Mistress of the Manse obsolete. And, after a previous attempt at fixing it that didn't work, I was really dreading tackling it again. But today I decided to take a whack at it, and it didn't end up being nearly so hard! Of course, I didn't have to rewrite the whole thing - just certain sections. I think we now have something that works. I'll know tomorrow - I usually have to let lyrics sit overnight and come back to them to make sure. That, and Leo gets back from L.A. tomorrow, so they will also require approval by his eyes!
Mistress of the Manse, though, is kind of the set-up for how Maud felt she had to put her duties as a minister's wife above her writing. And here I am today, trying to write new lyrics in between finally getting to multiple chores that have sat undone for too long. Just sort of got into what I call my "Donna Reed Syndrome", and when that comes, I have to clean, because once it passes I don't feel like it anymore. So I'd work on a line, go do laundry, work on another line, clean the bathroom, have to come back to the song in the middle of it because I got an idea, and so on. But it was strangely fitting considering the subject matter!
Now I just have to bridge one gap that occurred when Leo shortened the 11 o'clock number, and I may have a workable libretto. Although I still have to get 6 minutes out of the thing! I did some consolidations and somehow only lost 17 seconds. Time for the dramaturg again, because Mikey's stuck. But I do intend to read it through again for continuity, and maybe something will come to me then.
85 days and counting.
It's kind of weird how things come together. First off, I pretty well finished that new replacement song I was talking about before - all except for 2 lines I want to re-examine. Didn't have a title for it forever, and suddenly it came to me - Character Analysis. It's almost out of place among the other titles, but since in the song the characters are chatting about Maud it creates this trippy double meaning, and I love those. But it was a hard labour - I spent the whole weekend trying to write it!
Conversely, we changed the opening of Act II - more to the point, we pushed it forward by 2 years. Fine, except it made half of the lyrics in Mistress of the Manse obsolete. And, after a previous attempt at fixing it that didn't work, I was really dreading tackling it again. But today I decided to take a whack at it, and it didn't end up being nearly so hard! Of course, I didn't have to rewrite the whole thing - just certain sections. I think we now have something that works. I'll know tomorrow - I usually have to let lyrics sit overnight and come back to them to make sure. That, and Leo gets back from L.A. tomorrow, so they will also require approval by his eyes!
Mistress of the Manse, though, is kind of the set-up for how Maud felt she had to put her duties as a minister's wife above her writing. And here I am today, trying to write new lyrics in between finally getting to multiple chores that have sat undone for too long. Just sort of got into what I call my "Donna Reed Syndrome", and when that comes, I have to clean, because once it passes I don't feel like it anymore. So I'd work on a line, go do laundry, work on another line, clean the bathroom, have to come back to the song in the middle of it because I got an idea, and so on. But it was strangely fitting considering the subject matter!
Now I just have to bridge one gap that occurred when Leo shortened the 11 o'clock number, and I may have a workable libretto. Although I still have to get 6 minutes out of the thing! I did some consolidations and somehow only lost 17 seconds. Time for the dramaturg again, because Mikey's stuck. But I do intend to read it through again for continuity, and maybe something will come to me then.
85 days and counting.
22 March 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Whew! Quite a flurry since my last post - and I don't just mean the fact there's been new snow the last couple of days. I think in normal circumstances I wouldn't mind the late appearance, but we have more footage to get for the screen and I need things to be green again before long so we're not cutting it too close to the opening! As we have to have video processed and synched up to music - which theoretically I could do myself but A) I'm not really hooked up to do that high-quality of HD video, and B) I'd really rather not have to do it - I don't want to be filming stuff into May if I can help it!
Anyway...lots of press releases to send out and lots of stuff to do to get auditions under way. I'm only in the last couple of days really able to put that aside and get back to work on finishing The Rewrite That Wouldn't Die. I'm reasonably certain this is the best one, though. If anything, I'm juiced by certain new things.
The irony of the whole thing is...well, you may recall in late '06 I wrote a reprise for Maud called Why Did I Say Farewell, which depicted Maud visiting her father's grave for the first time some 40 years after the last time she saw him. Months ago, I realized it just sort of sat there and didn't advance the story any. So we were going to pull it. Then we got the idea to bring her father into it as a ghost, using a shorter version of the song. And we were pretty settled on it. Then it was just a matter of setting up a shot in a graveyard while snow was gently drifting down to use as a backdrop. Easier said that done. Of course, as I write, the snow is doing almost exactly what I would have wanted it to do. Not so the few times I tried to film it while Leo was away in Toronto. Usually it was a matter of too much wind that was blowing really wispy snow right into the lens. You should have seen me stomping across this one graveyard, trying to get to the other side, accidentally bumping the tripod into headstones! Anyway, finally on a different day I got a halfway decent shot - not enough snow, but at least the wind wasn't howling. Then when Leo got back, we gave it another try - again in oppressive wind, but at least it wasn't right into the lens.
Then, as we went over the last version, we realized that the song still was kind of bringing things to a stop. So what ended up happening was, Leo suggested actually giving the fictional characters a song to help consolidate events of the period. Only some of the characters had sung so far, and usually duets with Maud. This would be just among themselves - or at least, the characters that were in existence at this point in time. We've had our struggles over certain ideas lately, but this wasn't one of them - and we said a final farewell to Farewell. Leo recorded this new song pretty well on the spot, and, as we speak, I am trying to put lyrics to it. Always harder to insert lyrics into a predetermined rhythm - the only song I did that for was An Epoch In My Life, and that was only because I was so in love with the tune. But, on this snowy day, it's formulating. Of course, I'm journaling now as sort of a stalling tactic! :)
And, oh, yes, the irony...all that fussing to try and get graveyard footage, and now we're not even going to use it! I did wonder through all that trouble if someone was trying to tell us something.
Double oh yes! I almost forgot to tell you...I'm really psyched, because today I heard Two-Timin' Timmy and Folly In Love in their proper form. Leo did his best on these Big Band numbers - which come up during the throes of Chester's affair - but, as he's in L.A. again, he took his scores to an actual Big Band band. I just got the MP3s of the mixes a few hours ago and WOW! Are you guys going to be surprised. In a good way!
Well, I'd best get back to it. In the meantime, here's a pic from our press conference on 10 March while we were at the podium, speaking to the press.
Also, a shout out to Tickled Orange, a resource site for all things Anne and Maud - they plugged us on their site, and one good deed deserves another! They have all kinds of great stuff I wish I had time to go through! :)
89 days and counting...
P.S. If you want to see the newspaper bits about us, check out our Press page on the 9LoLMM site...
Whew! Quite a flurry since my last post - and I don't just mean the fact there's been new snow the last couple of days. I think in normal circumstances I wouldn't mind the late appearance, but we have more footage to get for the screen and I need things to be green again before long so we're not cutting it too close to the opening! As we have to have video processed and synched up to music - which theoretically I could do myself but A) I'm not really hooked up to do that high-quality of HD video, and B) I'd really rather not have to do it - I don't want to be filming stuff into May if I can help it!
Anyway...lots of press releases to send out and lots of stuff to do to get auditions under way. I'm only in the last couple of days really able to put that aside and get back to work on finishing The Rewrite That Wouldn't Die. I'm reasonably certain this is the best one, though. If anything, I'm juiced by certain new things.
The irony of the whole thing is...well, you may recall in late '06 I wrote a reprise for Maud called Why Did I Say Farewell, which depicted Maud visiting her father's grave for the first time some 40 years after the last time she saw him. Months ago, I realized it just sort of sat there and didn't advance the story any. So we were going to pull it. Then we got the idea to bring her father into it as a ghost, using a shorter version of the song. And we were pretty settled on it. Then it was just a matter of setting up a shot in a graveyard while snow was gently drifting down to use as a backdrop. Easier said that done. Of course, as I write, the snow is doing almost exactly what I would have wanted it to do. Not so the few times I tried to film it while Leo was away in Toronto. Usually it was a matter of too much wind that was blowing really wispy snow right into the lens. You should have seen me stomping across this one graveyard, trying to get to the other side, accidentally bumping the tripod into headstones! Anyway, finally on a different day I got a halfway decent shot - not enough snow, but at least the wind wasn't howling. Then when Leo got back, we gave it another try - again in oppressive wind, but at least it wasn't right into the lens.
Then, as we went over the last version, we realized that the song still was kind of bringing things to a stop. So what ended up happening was, Leo suggested actually giving the fictional characters a song to help consolidate events of the period. Only some of the characters had sung so far, and usually duets with Maud. This would be just among themselves - or at least, the characters that were in existence at this point in time. We've had our struggles over certain ideas lately, but this wasn't one of them - and we said a final farewell to Farewell. Leo recorded this new song pretty well on the spot, and, as we speak, I am trying to put lyrics to it. Always harder to insert lyrics into a predetermined rhythm - the only song I did that for was An Epoch In My Life, and that was only because I was so in love with the tune. But, on this snowy day, it's formulating. Of course, I'm journaling now as sort of a stalling tactic! :)
And, oh, yes, the irony...all that fussing to try and get graveyard footage, and now we're not even going to use it! I did wonder through all that trouble if someone was trying to tell us something.
Double oh yes! I almost forgot to tell you...I'm really psyched, because today I heard Two-Timin' Timmy and Folly In Love in their proper form. Leo did his best on these Big Band numbers - which come up during the throes of Chester's affair - but, as he's in L.A. again, he took his scores to an actual Big Band band. I just got the MP3s of the mixes a few hours ago and WOW! Are you guys going to be surprised. In a good way!
Well, I'd best get back to it. In the meantime, here's a pic from our press conference on 10 March while we were at the podium, speaking to the press.
Also, a shout out to Tickled Orange, a resource site for all things Anne and Maud - they plugged us on their site, and one good deed deserves another! They have all kinds of great stuff I wish I had time to go through! :)
89 days and counting...
P.S. If you want to see the newspaper bits about us, check out our Press page on the 9LoLMM site...
12 March 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Oy! I stay up way too late on this computer. But I wanted to update the web site, and that always seems to take way longer than it should. Mostly, our artwork for the show is starting to crystallize, in the form of Maud's signature - which I'm proud to say the Heirs have authorized us to use.
But better than that, peep THIS!
I told you it was going to be huge. :) There's so much else I'd like to say right now, but it's so late...suffice it to say this was mostly the reason I've been so quiet and cryptic on here in recent weeks. Lots of meetings, lots of figuring out, lots of stuff I couldn't really talk about. But this is what it's led to. And now the fun begins!
And the work, too - but it's not like I'm not already used to that!
Stay tuned...so much more coming...we have main engine start!!
Oy! I stay up way too late on this computer. But I wanted to update the web site, and that always seems to take way longer than it should. Mostly, our artwork for the show is starting to crystallize, in the form of Maud's signature - which I'm proud to say the Heirs have authorized us to use.
But better than that, peep THIS!
I told you it was going to be huge. :) There's so much else I'd like to say right now, but it's so late...suffice it to say this was mostly the reason I've been so quiet and cryptic on here in recent weeks. Lots of meetings, lots of figuring out, lots of stuff I couldn't really talk about. But this is what it's led to. And now the fun begins!
And the work, too - but it's not like I'm not already used to that!
Stay tuned...so much more coming...we have main engine start!!
09 March 2008
19 February 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
It's waaaaaaay too late - but I wanted to announce that the web site has been officially updated. New look, new pix, new...well, I won't tell you here. I'll tell you with a new video! Peep it below.
I really need to get to bed!
It's waaaaaaay too late - but I wanted to announce that the web site has been officially updated. New look, new pix, new...well, I won't tell you here. I'll tell you with a new video! Peep it below.
I really need to get to bed!
18 February 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Well, after a long and difficult labour, I seem to have given birth to the new version of the rewrite. I'm timing it as we speak. Pray to whatever you believe in that it finally comes in at the proper length!
I've also been working on something else like crazy. And that is the web site. There's been a change to the show, one that needed to be reflected on-line. At least it was an excuse to reinvent the look and add some more pix and other goodies. There will be some audio coming - excerpts from the demo recordings. Now how can you resist that? ;) Anyway, I'm going live with it tomorrow, so check 'er out and let us know what you think.
I feel confident the libretto will at least be closer. I did some major stuff! That, and I just cleaned up a lot of things, made it less expositional - apparently I am Exposition King of the Universe! But now I've seen the error of my ways.
Well, back to timing. Not much else to do on a rainy day, is there?
Rain in February? Thanks a lot, global warming! :p
Well, after a long and difficult labour, I seem to have given birth to the new version of the rewrite. I'm timing it as we speak. Pray to whatever you believe in that it finally comes in at the proper length!
I've also been working on something else like crazy. And that is the web site. There's been a change to the show, one that needed to be reflected on-line. At least it was an excuse to reinvent the look and add some more pix and other goodies. There will be some audio coming - excerpts from the demo recordings. Now how can you resist that? ;) Anyway, I'm going live with it tomorrow, so check 'er out and let us know what you think.
I feel confident the libretto will at least be closer. I did some major stuff! That, and I just cleaned up a lot of things, made it less expositional - apparently I am Exposition King of the Universe! But now I've seen the error of my ways.
Well, back to timing. Not much else to do on a rainy day, is there?
Rain in February? Thanks a lot, global warming! :p
02 February 2008
24 January 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
"Rip and tear! Rip and tear!"
That's a quote from SCTV's "Dr. Tongue's 3-D House of Stewardesses" skit - but it's terribly apt considering what's being done to the libretto! :)
I'm attempting to continue this rewrite - in between the increasing administrative stuff, that is. In some ways, grateful as I am for the progress, I'm reminded of how frustrated Maud would get trying to write in between all her minister's wife duties. I'm kind of only able to do this in drips and drabs. So, working on a scene that should've only taken a day at most has so far taken four.
You may or may not recall I had written two songs, The Correspondence of Edwin and The Further Correspondence of Edwin, all by way of describing the pseudo-triangle between Maud, Edwin Simpson, and Herman Leard. Well, the one thing that struck me during the workshop in September is that the whole sequence had a way of dragging, and now that we're trying to "stick to the through-line", I've had to reimagine things to make it tighter and more relevant. So, I've had to combine the tracks into one, and rewrite all but a few lines to make it reflect the new direction of the scene. It was much fluffier before, only leading up to the engagement. Now, the song is the engagement. I'd been used to the old version for well over a year, so when I started putting new lyrics to it, it seemed really odd. Fortunately, Leo likes the direction I'm going, and I think it actually makes the song more substantial while retaining its sense of fun. Obviously these are not changes I can implement in a 5-minute session! I'm having to go back through the journals, and even initial drafts of the libretto to try and make things make sense. Exhausting by itself! Let alone the three jillion other things that keep coming up to be taken care of.
That being said, I'm certainly grateful there's stuff to come up, considering not that long ago all was way too quiet on the Western front. And it's all leading to...well, something I hope to announce in the not-too-distant future; alas, I must remain quiet about it yet. :) I can tell you that we're not just trying to do this by ourselves anymore - more and more, we're getting help, and if that's not something to be grateful for, I don't know what is!
Speaking of reinventions, I hope to do one to the web site before long...if I can ever get the time, that is! (Wow - I really channeled Maud in that statement! LOL)
"Rip and tear! Rip and tear!"
That's a quote from SCTV's "Dr. Tongue's 3-D House of Stewardesses" skit - but it's terribly apt considering what's being done to the libretto! :)
I'm attempting to continue this rewrite - in between the increasing administrative stuff, that is. In some ways, grateful as I am for the progress, I'm reminded of how frustrated Maud would get trying to write in between all her minister's wife duties. I'm kind of only able to do this in drips and drabs. So, working on a scene that should've only taken a day at most has so far taken four.
You may or may not recall I had written two songs, The Correspondence of Edwin and The Further Correspondence of Edwin, all by way of describing the pseudo-triangle between Maud, Edwin Simpson, and Herman Leard. Well, the one thing that struck me during the workshop in September is that the whole sequence had a way of dragging, and now that we're trying to "stick to the through-line", I've had to reimagine things to make it tighter and more relevant. So, I've had to combine the tracks into one, and rewrite all but a few lines to make it reflect the new direction of the scene. It was much fluffier before, only leading up to the engagement. Now, the song is the engagement. I'd been used to the old version for well over a year, so when I started putting new lyrics to it, it seemed really odd. Fortunately, Leo likes the direction I'm going, and I think it actually makes the song more substantial while retaining its sense of fun. Obviously these are not changes I can implement in a 5-minute session! I'm having to go back through the journals, and even initial drafts of the libretto to try and make things make sense. Exhausting by itself! Let alone the three jillion other things that keep coming up to be taken care of.
That being said, I'm certainly grateful there's stuff to come up, considering not that long ago all was way too quiet on the Western front. And it's all leading to...well, something I hope to announce in the not-too-distant future; alas, I must remain quiet about it yet. :) I can tell you that we're not just trying to do this by ourselves anymore - more and more, we're getting help, and if that's not something to be grateful for, I don't know what is!
Speaking of reinventions, I hope to do one to the web site before long...if I can ever get the time, that is! (Wow - I really channeled Maud in that statement! LOL)
16 January 2008
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Well, there's a whole lot going on - but I can't tell you about most of it! Not yet. But there are some really exciting things in the works, and, as soon as I can make any kind of announcement, you better believe I will right here.
All the craziness in trying to get a show on its feet aside, my world recently has been about rewrites. Yes, it's certainly not the first time, as you know. But this time, it's kind of more about learning. And study. I got detailed notes from a theatre staffer and one dramaturg, plus Leo's had me reading this book called Naked Playwriting. So there's a lot of stuff that's been percolating in my head. In some ways, I can see where I made some tactical and structural errors, which I'm planning to fix. But the one thing I've learned about dramaturgy in the past few weeks is that, while they can give you suggestions, you don't have to take 'em! Things were suggested to us that I wouldn't do in a million years. Of course, it's all made me look at our show in a different way. Some answers I have - I just haven't implemented them, because I wanted to wait until I finished the book (which I did this afternoon). Others...well, they haven't made themselves known yet.
One thing I'd like to say here and now is...I hope you'll all forgive me! There are certain things I'm going to have to cut and certain characters that I'm going to have to cut, all of which is going to dilute the accuracy somewhat. Or at least the amount of it. I know some of you will be sitting there going "Where's such-and-so?" But something else I've become more acutely aware of is the through-line - and the necessity of sticking near it. For me, that through-line is and remains the power of the imagination - whether that's Maud's creative process and books, or the way she "imagined" positive or negative things into her experience. If you know anything about The Law of Attraction, or have read or seen The Secret, you know what I'm talking about. The school of thought that suggests the inner creates the outer, or that our thoughts create our experiences. I'm a rather stringent student of that particular school, even though I'm nowhere near mastering it. So, whatever doesn't contribute to that through-line - with a few exceptions - has to go. There are two characters in particular that I hate cutting, and never imagined cutting, but the story drags when they're there. It isn't just about getting the thing down to 2hrs 40mins or less anymore. Now I've got to make it make more sense structurally. In the beginning I was just determined to do a straightforward biography. And I'd still like to, but I see now that the only way to make this stageable is to have a theme and follow through on it. People have been telling me that right along, but...well, my skull is a bit on the thick side. :)
Anyway, it is still my aim to put something out there that accurately reflects Maud (I may have to leave some things out, but I'm not about to start making things up!) and that you'll all still enjoy. But don't hate me, OK, guys? :)
Well, there's a whole lot going on - but I can't tell you about most of it! Not yet. But there are some really exciting things in the works, and, as soon as I can make any kind of announcement, you better believe I will right here.
All the craziness in trying to get a show on its feet aside, my world recently has been about rewrites. Yes, it's certainly not the first time, as you know. But this time, it's kind of more about learning. And study. I got detailed notes from a theatre staffer and one dramaturg, plus Leo's had me reading this book called Naked Playwriting. So there's a lot of stuff that's been percolating in my head. In some ways, I can see where I made some tactical and structural errors, which I'm planning to fix. But the one thing I've learned about dramaturgy in the past few weeks is that, while they can give you suggestions, you don't have to take 'em! Things were suggested to us that I wouldn't do in a million years. Of course, it's all made me look at our show in a different way. Some answers I have - I just haven't implemented them, because I wanted to wait until I finished the book (which I did this afternoon). Others...well, they haven't made themselves known yet.
One thing I'd like to say here and now is...I hope you'll all forgive me! There are certain things I'm going to have to cut and certain characters that I'm going to have to cut, all of which is going to dilute the accuracy somewhat. Or at least the amount of it. I know some of you will be sitting there going "Where's such-and-so?" But something else I've become more acutely aware of is the through-line - and the necessity of sticking near it. For me, that through-line is and remains the power of the imagination - whether that's Maud's creative process and books, or the way she "imagined" positive or negative things into her experience. If you know anything about The Law of Attraction, or have read or seen The Secret, you know what I'm talking about. The school of thought that suggests the inner creates the outer, or that our thoughts create our experiences. I'm a rather stringent student of that particular school, even though I'm nowhere near mastering it. So, whatever doesn't contribute to that through-line - with a few exceptions - has to go. There are two characters in particular that I hate cutting, and never imagined cutting, but the story drags when they're there. It isn't just about getting the thing down to 2hrs 40mins or less anymore. Now I've got to make it make more sense structurally. In the beginning I was just determined to do a straightforward biography. And I'd still like to, but I see now that the only way to make this stageable is to have a theme and follow through on it. People have been telling me that right along, but...well, my skull is a bit on the thick side. :)
Anyway, it is still my aim to put something out there that accurately reflects Maud (I may have to leave some things out, but I'm not about to start making things up!) and that you'll all still enjoy. But don't hate me, OK, guys? :)
01 January 2008
North York, Ontario
2008 is here! Funny how when we first started up with this show and decided to get it ready in time for a 2008 début, it seemed like this far-away, mystical number. And now it's here! And I have a feeling it's going to be the busiest year yet. Hopefully with the biggest payoff yet!
Anyway, Happy New Year to all Lucy Maud Montgomery fans and to everyone who's followed and supported us on our Nine Lives journey. May whatever you wanted that eluded you in '07 show its face in abundance in '08!
And happy official 100 years of Anne of Green Gables!
2008 is here! Funny how when we first started up with this show and decided to get it ready in time for a 2008 début, it seemed like this far-away, mystical number. And now it's here! And I have a feeling it's going to be the busiest year yet. Hopefully with the biggest payoff yet!
Anyway, Happy New Year to all Lucy Maud Montgomery fans and to everyone who's followed and supported us on our Nine Lives journey. May whatever you wanted that eluded you in '07 show its face in abundance in '08!
And happy official 100 years of Anne of Green Gables!
24 December 2007
20 December 2007
17 December 2007
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Much as I'm liking the we-haven't-had-a-winter-like-this-in-10-years snowy weather, 9LoLMM seems to be in the "uphill battle" stage. I think we knew this part of it was going to be a challenge, and it's not like we're anywhere near giving up, but everything is up in the air - we're not sure where it's going to be, we're not sure where the funding is going to come from. And we're playing the waiting game on pretty much all levels - can't do much of the way of rewriting until I get dramaturgical notes, Leo's left phone and e-mail messages all over the place and they're not getting returned. And now, of course, you throw Christmas into the mix. So, with just over 6 months left, things are getting a little tight.
Leo's been in L.A. the past three weeks - that's slowed things down to a point, although he's certainly done plenty from there. It just suddenly feels like we're in this kind of vacuum where we've ceased to exist. I've been pretty much relegated to doing administrative stuff - writing out all the character names on cards for the purpose of figuring out who's going to play which characters and reducing the cast (currently we have 18 adults and 7 children - still considered a bit large, but I don't see how it's going to go lower than that at this point), as well as making lists of costumes and props so we can start amassing some sort of budget. Everyone wants to know "How much?" Well, I can make lists from now until Doomsday, but I have no way of knowing what things cost. We have some feelers out on that one, too, but...we're in the vacuum!
To add to my frustration, I finish what I considered (and still consider) to be a kick-ass rewrite after 4 weeks of agonizing over it in 3 locales in 2 countries - but when I sat down to time it out, it wasn't nearly as much shorter as I anticipated it would be. Needless to say, I was very much not happy about that. It means having to do yet another rewrite and cut even more out of this thing. It's almost there, damn it! I'd personally like some outside, professional feedback before I make another attempt. But, The Waiting Game persists. I don't wait well. So, in the spirit of remaining proactive, I'm printing out this latest version and I'm going to make some notes of my own in terms of what else could be cut or changed. If I get some feedback by the time I'm done with my notes, great. If not, I'm just going to do it myself.
Next week, it's back to Toronto until the second week in January. Barring any more family emergencies (saints preserve us), we'll turn over some more rocks while there. And we're talking about going to see some more theatre. We went to see The Elephant Man last time out and it actually was very helpful in terms of seeing how things are physicalized on stage and it gave me some ideas, which I implemented in this last version.
Give up? Oh, no. Aside from the fact that I didn't come this far - figuratively and literally - to pack up my marbles and go home, one thing keeps coming to mind. Maud. Anne of Green Gables got dissed by four publishers. Did Maud give up? Yes, at first - by putting the manuscript in a hatbox. But eventually she made up her mind to put it back out there - and look what happened. If she had given up, Prince Edward Island would be a much different place and everybody whose lives have been affected by Anne - fans, scholars, writers, the works - would have had much different experiences! There would certainly be no reason to celebrate anything next summer! So I'm not going to give up just because it's gotten hard - even if only so we can tell the story next year of how things got difficult but we didn't give up and look where we are now! If ever there was a time to work the power of the imagination...it's now.
But you guys may have to remind me once in a while.
Much as I'm liking the we-haven't-had-a-winter-like-this-in-10-years snowy weather, 9LoLMM seems to be in the "uphill battle" stage. I think we knew this part of it was going to be a challenge, and it's not like we're anywhere near giving up, but everything is up in the air - we're not sure where it's going to be, we're not sure where the funding is going to come from. And we're playing the waiting game on pretty much all levels - can't do much of the way of rewriting until I get dramaturgical notes, Leo's left phone and e-mail messages all over the place and they're not getting returned. And now, of course, you throw Christmas into the mix. So, with just over 6 months left, things are getting a little tight.
Leo's been in L.A. the past three weeks - that's slowed things down to a point, although he's certainly done plenty from there. It just suddenly feels like we're in this kind of vacuum where we've ceased to exist. I've been pretty much relegated to doing administrative stuff - writing out all the character names on cards for the purpose of figuring out who's going to play which characters and reducing the cast (currently we have 18 adults and 7 children - still considered a bit large, but I don't see how it's going to go lower than that at this point), as well as making lists of costumes and props so we can start amassing some sort of budget. Everyone wants to know "How much?" Well, I can make lists from now until Doomsday, but I have no way of knowing what things cost. We have some feelers out on that one, too, but...we're in the vacuum!
To add to my frustration, I finish what I considered (and still consider) to be a kick-ass rewrite after 4 weeks of agonizing over it in 3 locales in 2 countries - but when I sat down to time it out, it wasn't nearly as much shorter as I anticipated it would be. Needless to say, I was very much not happy about that. It means having to do yet another rewrite and cut even more out of this thing. It's almost there, damn it! I'd personally like some outside, professional feedback before I make another attempt. But, The Waiting Game persists. I don't wait well. So, in the spirit of remaining proactive, I'm printing out this latest version and I'm going to make some notes of my own in terms of what else could be cut or changed. If I get some feedback by the time I'm done with my notes, great. If not, I'm just going to do it myself.
Next week, it's back to Toronto until the second week in January. Barring any more family emergencies (saints preserve us), we'll turn over some more rocks while there. And we're talking about going to see some more theatre. We went to see The Elephant Man last time out and it actually was very helpful in terms of seeing how things are physicalized on stage and it gave me some ideas, which I implemented in this last version.
Give up? Oh, no. Aside from the fact that I didn't come this far - figuratively and literally - to pack up my marbles and go home, one thing keeps coming to mind. Maud. Anne of Green Gables got dissed by four publishers. Did Maud give up? Yes, at first - by putting the manuscript in a hatbox. But eventually she made up her mind to put it back out there - and look what happened. If she had given up, Prince Edward Island would be a much different place and everybody whose lives have been affected by Anne - fans, scholars, writers, the works - would have had much different experiences! There would certainly be no reason to celebrate anything next summer! So I'm not going to give up just because it's gotten hard - even if only so we can tell the story next year of how things got difficult but we didn't give up and look where we are now! If ever there was a time to work the power of the imagination...it's now.
But you guys may have to remind me once in a while.
30 November 2007
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Well, today is Lucy Maud Montgomery's birthday! She was born on this day in 1874 in Clifton (now New London) - maybe about a half an hour's drive from here. Knowing how particular she was, it's not surprising she was a Sagittarius! She must have had a funky rising sign or something, though, because most Sags I know are much more on the pragmatic side than the roiling cesspool of emotion side. Sometimes I think Maud must have been a Cancer - a sign I have lifelong experience with!
But anyway, enough of all that. It being Maud's birthday, I thought it a good time to give this journal a little face lift. So it is now being hosted by Blogspot! Quite honestly, doing it through AMJ On-Line was becoming a bit of a chore - every month I'd have to create a new page, and then go back through the increasing amount of them to add links to the other months. And, I could only ever post anything here at this computer. Blogspot does all the archiving automatically, and now I can post from anywhere - extremely helpful as there's another trip to Toronto coming up, and who knows where the show will ultimately take us? So, it's as much a present to myself as it is to Maud. :) And now you guys can make comments. Hopefully that's a good thing!
There's one more bit of newness that I've been saving to commemorate Maud's birthday - and that comes in the form of the video you're going to see below. Here, all along, I've been telling you what's going on and throwing information at you. Now, I'm going to ask you what you think. If you want to know about what, check out the vid - and it's an important enough question that I've decided to go interactive about it!
By the way, it's a serious faux pas to ask a lady her age - but Maud would be 133 today. I kind of wanted to go back to 1907 and see if there was a journal entry there, but she didn't make one - she didn't tend to journal on her birthdays. I always tend to as a way of looking over the previous year and looking forward to the looming one; I usually do that on New Year's, too. But I guess Maud wasn't given to that particular sentimentality. I guess she's more Sagittarius than Cancer after all!
And now...my question. Looking forward to your answers - and hope you like this Blogspot set-up!
Well, today is Lucy Maud Montgomery's birthday! She was born on this day in 1874 in Clifton (now New London) - maybe about a half an hour's drive from here. Knowing how particular she was, it's not surprising she was a Sagittarius! She must have had a funky rising sign or something, though, because most Sags I know are much more on the pragmatic side than the roiling cesspool of emotion side. Sometimes I think Maud must have been a Cancer - a sign I have lifelong experience with!
But anyway, enough of all that. It being Maud's birthday, I thought it a good time to give this journal a little face lift. So it is now being hosted by Blogspot! Quite honestly, doing it through AMJ On-Line was becoming a bit of a chore - every month I'd have to create a new page, and then go back through the increasing amount of them to add links to the other months. And, I could only ever post anything here at this computer. Blogspot does all the archiving automatically, and now I can post from anywhere - extremely helpful as there's another trip to Toronto coming up, and who knows where the show will ultimately take us? So, it's as much a present to myself as it is to Maud. :) And now you guys can make comments. Hopefully that's a good thing!
There's one more bit of newness that I've been saving to commemorate Maud's birthday - and that comes in the form of the video you're going to see below. Here, all along, I've been telling you what's going on and throwing information at you. Now, I'm going to ask you what you think. If you want to know about what, check out the vid - and it's an important enough question that I've decided to go interactive about it!
By the way, it's a serious faux pas to ask a lady her age - but Maud would be 133 today. I kind of wanted to go back to 1907 and see if there was a journal entry there, but she didn't make one - she didn't tend to journal on her birthdays. I always tend to as a way of looking over the previous year and looking forward to the looming one; I usually do that on New Year's, too. But I guess Maud wasn't given to that particular sentimentality. I guess she's more Sagittarius than Cancer after all!
And now...my question. Looking forward to your answers - and hope you like this Blogspot set-up!
19 November 2007
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
It's done! It's DONE! It's DONE! Oh - did I mention it was done?
I'm talking about the libretto, of course. I essentially finished it Saturday night and then Leo read through it and made a few suggestions, and the finished version of this incarnation has just gone out to the dramaturges. And now we shall see!
It's a bit what I imagine sending a child out on his first day of kindergarten is like. Will the other kids like him? Will they tease him and beat up on him? Something like that. At any rate, it's a relief to finally have this version done - I'd essentially been on it for 4 weeks. I started it in Florida and continued in Toronto and finished it here. It almost feels weird not having it to do now!
Anyway, over the weekend we went up to Silver Bush at Park Corner - for those that don't know, it was the home of Maud's cousins, and she used to hang out there with them. She immortalized it in her books Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat. So, we decided we needed to film it for our screen, and George Campbell - a descendant of the original Campbells! - kindly gave us permission to do it. It actually ended up being a very gray day and the trees are more bare than we envisioned, but we might end up using the shot because of where those books come in in our story. Below are a couple of interesting shots of that process.
20 June 2008 is seven months from tomorrow. Can we do it?
It was an easy shot - just point and shoot. But it was cold!
An interesting perspective of Silver Bush.
It's done! It's DONE! It's DONE! Oh - did I mention it was done?
I'm talking about the libretto, of course. I essentially finished it Saturday night and then Leo read through it and made a few suggestions, and the finished version of this incarnation has just gone out to the dramaturges. And now we shall see!
It's a bit what I imagine sending a child out on his first day of kindergarten is like. Will the other kids like him? Will they tease him and beat up on him? Something like that. At any rate, it's a relief to finally have this version done - I'd essentially been on it for 4 weeks. I started it in Florida and continued in Toronto and finished it here. It almost feels weird not having it to do now!
Anyway, over the weekend we went up to Silver Bush at Park Corner - for those that don't know, it was the home of Maud's cousins, and she used to hang out there with them. She immortalized it in her books Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat. So, we decided we needed to film it for our screen, and George Campbell - a descendant of the original Campbells! - kindly gave us permission to do it. It actually ended up being a very gray day and the trees are more bare than we envisioned, but we might end up using the shot because of where those books come in in our story. Below are a couple of interesting shots of that process.
20 June 2008 is seven months from tomorrow. Can we do it?
It was an easy shot - just point and shoot. But it was cold!
An interesting perspective of Silver Bush.
13 November 2007
Stratford, Prince Edward Island
Well, we're back on the Island after a month's absence. And it seems to have turned into winter over here. The plan was to film some fall colours for the screen, but the Fates seem to be consipring against us in that regard. Between the drop in temperature and the remnants of Hurricane Noel blowing through here, and then the wind and rain (and snow!) since we've been back, I haven't seen much in the way of yellow, orange and red!
Word is The Confederation Centre of the Arts has to make their decision about next season by the end of this month. Of course, you can imagine there's a certain amount of suspense there...
There's so much going on, I barely know where to start. I won't bore you with details about our attempts to get funding, which are continuing. The main thing - and I know I keep going on about it - is the rewrite. I thought I was mercenary back in August - this time I've really had to take a weed-whacker to the thing. But you know what? I've been able to make cuts in places I had thought was impossible before. I guess I'm just seeing things a bit clearer. We met a couple of dramaturges in Toronto (a "dramaturge" being a theatre professional that helps to shape a libretto into a more theatrical form and helps you get the kinks out of it), and, although I wasn't necessarily crazy about certain suggestions, others really seemed to make sense once I had a chance to process them. It looks like I'll be done with this latest version by the end of the week, at which point it will be sent to said dramaturges, and we'll see what they have to say.
Remember before I said I knew the answer to shortening down the libretto was in the back of my head, and it was just a matter of setting it free? Well, it happened - and without outside assistance! The one comment that kept coming through during and after September's workshop was how much people enjoyed Maud's fictional characters coming to life. People enjoyed acting it, people enjoyed watching it. And so it became apparent to us that the answer lies with them - with Kilmeny, Anne, Sara, Emily, Valancy, Marigold, Pat and Jane. We'd had an unwritten rule before about the characters only being seen when they were interacting with Maud. Even in one scene where three of them show up, they reference each other, but never interact with anyone but Maud. So we broke that rule. Or, rather, changed it. Does it work? I'd like to think it does - but I haven't yet had a chance to read through the new version as a whole, and I won't be able to do that or show it to Leo until I clean a few things up, check for continuity flaws, etc. But it's definitely a start!
The other thing is that I've tried to cut some of the extraneous characters out - characters that either only show up a time or two and don't drive the story forward in a major way. More of them may end up on the cutting room floor yet. But it's making for some new challenges. For example, we decided to take out Grandfather Montgomery - while he was a Senator, and essentially responsible for bring Maud out to live with her father in Prince Albert, he died shortly after, and he'd had only one line in one scene and maybe two in the next before we don't hear from him again. But we'd put him in the "train" in the An Orphan No More sequence. Extracting him physically isn't that big a deal, and he still gets mentioned. But, with him not there, I have to rewrite a few lines in An Orphan No More. Most of the other missing characters don't leave that big a hole. But, the way this was structured, if you change one little thing it can reverberate in unexpected places. Fortunately, I'm a bit of a continuity hound - it's no fun watching movies with me because I'm always catching these kinds of mistakes! But I'm an even worse critic with my own work. Call it quality assurance!
So, I don't know how it's going to play out. All I can do right now is finish up this version of the libretto, and hope it meets with that much more approval. I have no way of knowing yet how long the thing is - but I think the changes are significant enough that we're almost within range, if not actually there. It's definitely a difficult process - especially knowing that a lot of this is riding on the length of the script that I'm responsible for! No pressure there! :)
And so, we shall carry on. We'll probably have an interview, or at least a feature, up soon on the web site for The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society. I'll let you know when that happens!
Back to the libretto...of course, getting you guys up to date is also very important to me, especially after such a long gap!
Well, we're back on the Island after a month's absence. And it seems to have turned into winter over here. The plan was to film some fall colours for the screen, but the Fates seem to be consipring against us in that regard. Between the drop in temperature and the remnants of Hurricane Noel blowing through here, and then the wind and rain (and snow!) since we've been back, I haven't seen much in the way of yellow, orange and red!
Word is The Confederation Centre of the Arts has to make their decision about next season by the end of this month. Of course, you can imagine there's a certain amount of suspense there...
There's so much going on, I barely know where to start. I won't bore you with details about our attempts to get funding, which are continuing. The main thing - and I know I keep going on about it - is the rewrite. I thought I was mercenary back in August - this time I've really had to take a weed-whacker to the thing. But you know what? I've been able to make cuts in places I had thought was impossible before. I guess I'm just seeing things a bit clearer. We met a couple of dramaturges in Toronto (a "dramaturge" being a theatre professional that helps to shape a libretto into a more theatrical form and helps you get the kinks out of it), and, although I wasn't necessarily crazy about certain suggestions, others really seemed to make sense once I had a chance to process them. It looks like I'll be done with this latest version by the end of the week, at which point it will be sent to said dramaturges, and we'll see what they have to say.
Remember before I said I knew the answer to shortening down the libretto was in the back of my head, and it was just a matter of setting it free? Well, it happened - and without outside assistance! The one comment that kept coming through during and after September's workshop was how much people enjoyed Maud's fictional characters coming to life. People enjoyed acting it, people enjoyed watching it. And so it became apparent to us that the answer lies with them - with Kilmeny, Anne, Sara, Emily, Valancy, Marigold, Pat and Jane. We'd had an unwritten rule before about the characters only being seen when they were interacting with Maud. Even in one scene where three of them show up, they reference each other, but never interact with anyone but Maud. So we broke that rule. Or, rather, changed it. Does it work? I'd like to think it does - but I haven't yet had a chance to read through the new version as a whole, and I won't be able to do that or show it to Leo until I clean a few things up, check for continuity flaws, etc. But it's definitely a start!
The other thing is that I've tried to cut some of the extraneous characters out - characters that either only show up a time or two and don't drive the story forward in a major way. More of them may end up on the cutting room floor yet. But it's making for some new challenges. For example, we decided to take out Grandfather Montgomery - while he was a Senator, and essentially responsible for bring Maud out to live with her father in Prince Albert, he died shortly after, and he'd had only one line in one scene and maybe two in the next before we don't hear from him again. But we'd put him in the "train" in the An Orphan No More sequence. Extracting him physically isn't that big a deal, and he still gets mentioned. But, with him not there, I have to rewrite a few lines in An Orphan No More. Most of the other missing characters don't leave that big a hole. But, the way this was structured, if you change one little thing it can reverberate in unexpected places. Fortunately, I'm a bit of a continuity hound - it's no fun watching movies with me because I'm always catching these kinds of mistakes! But I'm an even worse critic with my own work. Call it quality assurance!
So, I don't know how it's going to play out. All I can do right now is finish up this version of the libretto, and hope it meets with that much more approval. I have no way of knowing yet how long the thing is - but I think the changes are significant enough that we're almost within range, if not actually there. It's definitely a difficult process - especially knowing that a lot of this is riding on the length of the script that I'm responsible for! No pressure there! :)
And so, we shall carry on. We'll probably have an interview, or at least a feature, up soon on the web site for The L.M. Montgomery Literary Society. I'll let you know when that happens!
Back to the libretto...of course, getting you guys up to date is also very important to me, especially after such a long gap!
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