Backstage Diaries

There are no happy endings.

2008-11-28T21:21:00.004-04:00

I dreamed of a journey, but now that dream is done.

I dreamed of mountains of grey rock and green trees, of lakes made of glass and seas made of foam. I dreamed i was aboard a ship with wheels, as a black sea raced by beneath me. I dreamed of tiny, unheard-of paradises on the edges of oceans, where the sun sets behind gods made of stone and the people remember the names of their great-great-grandparents. I dreamed of rolling green hills and soil the colour of rust. I dreamed of one long, twisting road and an endless chain of unfamiliar beds and stages.

And i dreamed of being someone else, a different person with dreams of his own, for an hour or so every day. That hour was always the same, and always a little different.

It was a good dream. But now that dream is done. I've awakened to find myself in a tower, in a half-familiar city, both far from home and close to home. "Home," as a concept, is more complicated than you'd think.

My companions have all departed, each gone their own way, to their own idea of home. Tomorrow i'll be gone, too.

There are no happy endings, because nothing ever ends. The journey's not over, just the job. I don't know what comes next, but then, i never do. I just know, more and more, that all i want to do is tell stories for the rest of my life. For a few weeks, i got to do that. That's why it was a good dream.

If i ever have another one like it, i'll try to remember to tell you about it.

Til then, so long.

Carbonear, Pt.2: The Sound of Diamonds

2008-10-29T11:30:00.003-03:00

Geologists, biologists, and chemists will all tell us that long, long after humans have left this world, the oceans will remember us. But really, that would be obvious to anyone who's ever been on a beach, where alongside the countless rocks and twisted bits of driftwood lay our every fingerprint: rusted steel, broken glass worn smooth by water, and of course, plastic, as ageless and unkillable as the stones themselves. It says something about this place that even with the litter, it's still so beautiful.

Just a tiny piece of beach here in what is basically our back yard, looking out onto what i'm told is Carbonear island. Many of the stones on this beach are too square and regular to be natural, as if they were once shaped into bricks for some stone building, long since crumbled.

For a small place, though, they've got a heck of a lot of young folks. The crowd here was the biggest yet, around 500 students, and they were terrific. We're now five shows in, with something like twenty still to go.

I fear it'll all go by too fast.

Carbonear, Pt. 1: The Sound of Coal

2008-10-28T21:30:00.003-03:00

Carbonear is a real place, and on a foggy night it feels like what i imagine being a ghost must feel like.

Everything is far away, hazy. The sound of small waves breaking on rocks could be right at your feet, or a mile away, but even if the water is close enough to get your boots wet, it looks like a blurry photograph, taken a long time ago. There is no horizon, just a flat grey progression from water to sky. You could be standing at the shore of a tiny lake, or the edge of an endless ocean.

I was about to say it was a haunted feeling, but as day turned into night here and i tried to notice, it felt more like i was the one doing the haunting.

Tomorrow is more kids, more driving, another strange place. In the meantime it's time to see what dreams those fog-shaped waters bring.

obligatory overdue update

2008-10-26T23:57:00.002-03:00

Wow, so that was three weeks.

I can't remember if this got mentioned already or not, but our three-week rehearsal period was cut a little short when we left St. John's on Wednesday for a quick jaunt to a place called Churchill Falls, Labrador.

Let me tell you a little about Churchill Falls, population 700. It's only existed since the early 70's, when a massive underground power plant was built there. Virtually everything in the town belongs to the hydro-power corporation that runs the plant, and virtually everyone in the town works there. It is the very definition of a Company town. One school. One hotel. One pub. No streetlights. No cabs (which made getting from the airport to that one hotel kind of a challenge). And one very appreciative graduating class of about 30 making up the first audience of this tour.

Thursday night, after the show, we got a free guided tour of the power plant, which is about 91 stories underground, cut into solid granite. I tried to remember all the details of just how massively big everything in the place was, but after a while all the stats about millions of litres per minute and thousands of megawatts a day and hundreds of tons per what-have-you, started to run together. In layperson's terms: It's really big, and it's really far underground. There's something to do with water, and it makes a big pile of electricity, most of which goes to Québec.

So that was Thursday. Friday we flew back to St. John's, where we spent this weekend making sure everything's ready for when we hit the road. Tomorrow we blow the minds of a few hundred St. John's area teens, and the day after that, we set sail for parts unknown. Well, unknown by me. I rarely pay attention to our travel schedule. I like to be surprised. Hey, is Carbonear a real place? That sounds made-up to me.

Hey, i should really get to bed. We have an early morning (which, by my standards, is any morning that starts, well, before the afternoon), and we've been told that the media and/or the Money People will probably be in attendance for at least one of tomorrow's two shows.

So, here we go.
I'll see you on the road.

On the left: a row of eleven 50' transformers, each weighing about 250 tonnes. On the right:a wall of solid, 3 billion-year-old granite.
Yeah. Human hands built this place.

Keep reading. It gets interesting.

2008-10-19T15:01:00.016-03:00

Good Sunday afternoon, dear reader. It's been too long. How've you been? You look terrific. Me? Oh, pretty good...

We're now two weeks into our rehearsal period, which in fact means that we're just about to hit the road. A little problem involving our schedulers apparently not knowing the size or shape of Labrador has resulted in a minor change of plans: instead of leaving St. John's at the end of next week, we'll be hopping on a plane on Wednesday to do a show for 30 kids on Thursday. Or something like that. I can never keep the schedule straight for more than a couple of days in advance. The long and the short of it is that we pretty much have to be stage-ready now, almost a week early, despite not having practiced with our sound equipment or rehearsed our French script. Which is okay. Because we're that awesome.

Anyway, i don't really want to talk about all that right now.

The past two weeks have been pretty standard; everyone getting to know each other (everyone's really nice and we're all getting along fabulously), rehearsals, shopping trips to acquire the needed wardrobe and props (yay to free clothes that i get to keep after the show's done!), as well as a brand-new keyboard.

Yes, a keyboard. See, depite the fact that i'm playing the same character in the same show as last year, a few small changes have been made to the script, so now i'm singing and playing a song. In front of people. Hmm. I really must get around to freaking out about that some time soon. No, no, i'm cool. I've played piano and sung in front of crowds before. Sort of. I can handle this. I'm almost sure i can handle this.

Anyway, i don't really want to talk about that either.

What i feel i should tell you about right now is how i came to find myself running half-naked through the halls of a large hotel in St. John's this past Thursday.

Now, the first thing you need to know is that the Battery Hotel, where we're staying, is on Signal Hill, which, if you've never been to St. John's, is, like, this really big hill. The second thing you need to know is that it's actually been quite sunny and warm most of the time we've been here. Warm weather, plus steep hill, plus being dressed more warmly than necessary, equals being kinda sweaty.

So, here i am, Thursday afternoon, the day's errands run and rehearsals done, having walked back up to the hotel, gotten into my room, and hung my room-key on the doorknob, to prevent me from leaving the room without it. These things done, my next step, being, as i mentioned, a little sweaty, was to take my shirt off, with the intention of replacing it with a fresh one. Before i proceeded to that step, however, i noticed my breakfast dishes from that morning were still in my room, so i decided to pop them out into the hall for collection by housekeeping.

Looking back, this may have been where things started to go wrong. I wasn't going far. Just going to reach out into the hall and set the breakfast-tray down. It was so simple. So innocent.

So i step out into the hall, set down the tray, turn back to the door.

Slam.

Pause.

...Oh, damn.

I look at the door. Look at my skinny, pale, shirtless chest. Look down at the doorknob, on the other side of which hangs the key to my salvation. Cast an accusing eye down at the breakfast dishes. They stare back, indifferent to my plight.

Look back at the door. Still closed. Try, by the sheer force of my will, to summon the key through the door and into my hand. No luck.

The thermostat in the hall was set to 15ºc. Despite this, i found i was starting to get sweaty again.

Look left. Look right. Nobody in the hall. Thank goodness for small favours. Can't remember the room number of my male castmate, so i can't go ask to borrow a shirt. No phones in sight, so can't call front desk and beg them to come let me in. Don't panic. Think, man.

Okay, there's a small gym up two staircases and down three hallways (this hotel has a really weird shape). There must be a phone there. If i can get there, i can call the front desk for help, or something.

And i'm off, sprinting as quietly as i can down endless corridors, peering around corners like an underdressed secret agent on the run from beshirted assassins. I get to the gym unseen, look around, find no phone. Look around again. Still no phone. There are, however, some clean towels stacked in one corner. So, draping one over my shoulders, i sigh and make for the lobby.

The biggest, most densely populated lobby in hotel history. Or, so it seems as i walk across to the front desk, trying with all my might to behave as though i'm not clutching a small towel to my chest. Relax. Just act casual. Casually, i ask the front-desk person if i might please have a spare key for room 206. Casually, i take it from her, casually thanking her before i casually walk back to my room, where i casually put on a shirt, and take a moment to laugh hysterically at myself. Casually.

Anyway, since then, it's been largely uneventful. I avoid eye contact with the front desk people whenever possible, although that's difficult at the moment as i'm writing this on a public-use computer in the lobby. That's the other bad news: i'm going to do my best, but updates on my current location and/or state of undress might be hard to come by in the coming weeks; you see, my poor old laptop appears to have bitten the proverbial Big One. It's been acting up for days, and today it decided it just wasn't going to start up at all. I fear i may be without it until i can get it sent away for repair.

But i don't really want to talk about that right now.

bus. train. train. bus. bus. plane. plane. cab. bed.

2008-10-07T01:06:00.008-03:00

Hey, the bus thing worked! So well, in fact, that i got to the airport a good two and a half hours before boarding started for my flight. Basically, it was smooth sailing the whole way here; after fifteen-minute connection in Toronto and an arrival in St. John's an hour later than expected, i'm here at the Battery Inn on Signal Hill. It was this same building where our journey ended the year before last, and it's here that i'll be living for the next three weeks.

And for the first two weeks of that, give or take, i'll have a whole suite to myself. Over the past two tours there have been many instances of us having larger and more luxurious accomodations than we would have expected (like the time two of us had a whole house to ourselves in PEI two years ago), and so far the pattern seems to be holding. I've got a bedroom and living room, separate dining area, two TVs, and a full kitchen (sink/fridge/microwave). I don't wanna say this is nicer than my apartment...well, anyway.

The other great thing about this place is that every room has a Newfoundland place-name painted on the door. Just in this hallway there's Lark Harbour, Capahayden, Winterland, and Open Hall. And, of course, my room:

I haven't gone exploring the other floors yet. I wonder if it's too much to hope that there's a Dildo Room.

And with the obligatory "Dildo, Nfld" reference out of the way, i'm going to bed. Tomorrow morning, cast-members old and new will meet and get to work. Til then, i leave you with a commercial for the Discovery Channel, for no other reason than that i really like it...

It's a gamble.

2008-10-06T13:07:00.002-03:00

This is just a quick one to let you know i'm about to leave my house. I've discovered there is actually public transit service right to the airport, a much cheaper alternative to the $20 shuttle service which i had thought was my only option. The drawback being, of course, that i might get on the wrong bus, miss my flight, get lost in Montréal-ouest, and never be seen or heard from again. Hey, everything in life is a trade-off.

Wish me luck. See you in St. John's...i hope...

Year Three: Revenge of the Rock

2008-10-05T14:31:00.003-03:00

Man, oh man, am i ready to get the hell out of Montréal.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love this city. I love just about everything about living here: the cafés, the bookstores, the adorable hipsters with their elaborate scarves. I love my tree-lined street and the way it's been raining golden leaves onto the sidewalk for days. And i love, love, love the theatre.

I'm just not that wild about being unemployed. And that's been going on for a while now. And i'm getting a little restless. There's always acting to be done, and that's great; i've been meeting theatre-type people and film-type people and other struggling actor-type people. But at some point you actually have to earn money, which means taking the kind of job i left Saint John a year ago to get away from. The kind of job i'm no good at. The kind of job i worked at here until earlier this summer.

Allow me to take a moment to apologize to anyone whom i may have told my job was going great earlier this year. That was a lie. I hated that job. Hated it. Largely because i sucked at it, which was probably why they let me go, and why i didn't mind leaving.

Then someone reminded me that i once had a job i was good at, and really liked. Then they told me i could come do it again. Back to the East Coast, and the little dream job that first inspired this blog two years ago.

So, tomorrow afternoon, i board a plane for St. John's, Newfoundland (via Toronto: apparently to fly from anywhere in Canada to anywhere else in Canada, you have to go through Pearson. It's a law or something.), where i'll be spending the next three weeks rehearsing a short play aimed at informing the youth of today of the risks associated with compulsive gambling. The same short play, in fact, as we did last year, which i assume means i'll be playng the same character.

One other cast-member from last year is returning this year, as well as Soundman v2.0, who was with us last year as well. So, two new castmates, whom we'll meet on Tuesday, when we begin rehearsals. We spend three weeks in St. John's, and then we hit the road, travelling across Newfoundland, Labrador, P.E.I., and New Brunswick.

I'm going to try to update this thing regularly (just in case anyone's actually reading it) with stories of where i am, and what's going on there. And maybe photos, if i'm feeling really ambitious.

In about twenty-four hours, i'll be leaving for the airport. I should probably go pack, or something.

Coffee and autumn leaves.
I hope they have this kind of stuff in Newfoundland.

Once more, from the top.

2007-09-23T16:00:00.000-03:00

Sometimes, when i was a little boy, there were nights when i couldn't sleep.

Usually it was if i knew something big was supposed to happen the next day, i'd get too excited to drift off. The night before the first day of school, maybe. Christmas Eve was a bad one; how's a kid supposed to sleep knowing there's a magical man going to break into his house and leave presents behind? So on Christmas Eve i'd be up all night, usually reading A Christmas Carol or Miracle on 34th Street, until it was time to get up. I did eventually outgrow this. When i got older, though, i found the same thing would happen on the night before a play. If tomorrow was opening night, there was no way i'd be able to sleep tonight. Even auditions would sometimes get me too pumped to sleep beforehand. But in the past few years i seem to have outgrown that, too.

Last night, i did not sleep a wink.

It could be nerves. Knowing that i'm about to start rehearsals with a director i've never met, working on a play i've never read, with a cast i don't know but will be living with for the next month and a half. Could be that. Could just be excitement about travelling. I've been living in Montreal for less than a month, and i wasn't even sure i'd be able to find my way to the airport in a timely fashion. That, coupled with the fact that the flight arrangements and accomodations in Moncton (where i will be meeting these people and rehearsing for the next two weeks) were only finalized yesterday. Twenty-four hours ago i had no idea how i was going to get to work on Monday, and i wasn't entirely sure it was all going to go as smoothly as (knock on wood) it has so far. So maybe that's why i didn't sleep.

Or maybe it's just that working night shifts in call centres for the better part of nine years has left my circadian rhythms so hopelessly damaged that i'm now permanently unable to go to sleep if it's dark out. I hope that's not it. I was sort of hoping i might not have to work those jobs anymore...not for a while, anyway.

I'd like to be an actor instead.

So, imagine my surprise when the theatre company that hired me last year to travel around helping get the message to East Coast Youth about the risks associated with compulsive gambling offered to re-hire me this year. They didn't really even make me audition again. I thought that was nice.

The tour will, once again, take us through Newoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, but with a new show and a new cast. Well, a partly-new cast. One other cast member from last year's tour (we'll continue to call him Jack here) is returning as well. It'll be nice to have a familiar face around, and we got along pretty well last year. There will, i believe, be two other actors in the show, plus the director (a different one from last year; he will assume the name Director #2), none of whom i've met.

The rehearsal process will keep us in Moncton for two weeks, but last year we were generally given weekends off, so Saint Johnners be warned: i may be coming down for visits.

Today is a travel day. On foot from home to the nearest Metro station. Take the Metro to the bus station. Shuttle to the airport. Moving sidewalk to the Gate. Fly to Moncton. Cab (or another shuttle, if i'm lucky) to the hotel. Elevator. Hallway. Into room. Collapse on bed.

At some point, take a moment to marvel once again that this is happening because someone, somewhere, decided to pay you to act. May i never cease to be amazed at that.

As i type this, i'm sitting in the airport in Montreal. Boarding for the flight to Moncton doesn't start for another hour. I got here a bit earlier than i needed to. That's okay. I like airports.

I just wish i'd realized there would be nowhere to get a coffee in here before i went through security.

time to go. I'm going to miss this place...

...this block...

...this city. Why am i leaving again?

...the endless moving sidewalks of Trudeau Airport.

...and here i am in sunny Moncton. The first of many hotel rooms has a stunning view of the local tattoo parlour. Time to finally get that flaming skull tattooed on my chest? We'll see...

Home again, home again

2006-11-11T13:01:00.000-04:00

Well, i'm home. It's all done. Back to real life.

I probably won't be updating this site much (i.e., at all) from here on, seeing as i'm no longer "elsewhere."

I want to thank everyone who followed my wanderings over the past weeks. I appreciate all the kind comments, both on the site and in person. Knowing y'all were out there made me feel a lot less alone while on the road.

I suppose i might resurrect this thing eventually (who knows, maybe someday there'll be another trip of some kind to document), but for now, i'm signing off.

Take care, everyone. I'll be seeing you.

Exeunt, with flourish

2006-11-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

..and that's that.

The last show felt like it was the best. The audiences today were among the biggest, and the theatre at the school this afternoon (the only proper theatre in any school we've seen in Newfoundland) was among the nicest we've seen in any school. The crowd was awesome.

It's drizzly but warm in St. John's as we go through the final steps, finishing things up. Our sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is being dampened with annoyance at a lot of little things that aren't being handled well by those in charge, preventing this moment from being as relaxing and fun as it should be. But that time will come soon enough. In general, things feel good right now. We've done the job, and done it well.

The rest of the cast is going to be partying pretty hard tonight. Not me. I'm going home.

Last Night.

2006-11-08T22:51:00.000-04:00

Last stop. Last hotel room. Last leg of this journey, bringing me back where i came from.

Two shows tomorrow, and that's that. In 24 hours i'll be on a plane, somewhere between Halifax and Saint John.

The show this morning in Gambo was great. The audience was totally attentive, and the post-show interaction was fun and lively. Afterwards, the stage was swarmed with students, talking to us and getting us to sign their programs. What strange fun.

We're hoping to videotape at least one of the shows tomorrow. Somewhere in my mind is the idea of making some kind of video resumé thing, so potential future employers could see some of the acting i've done (mental note: must get Second Stage DVDs). I guess that means i'm thinking seriously about trying to get more work as an actor at some point. Maybe.

It's weird to think that in a few days i'll be right back in the call centre. Right back at the old job. Right back in the old life. How's that going to feel? Is that where i belong? Is this?

Hey, i'd love to sit up all night pondering it, but it's a long drive to an early show tomorrow. I should probably get some sleep.

Hopefully i'll be seeing some of you soon.

Three to go.

2006-11-07T21:52:00.000-04:00

Into the home stretch now.

I'm sitting in the Albatross Motel in Gander, Newfoundland, for the second time this week.

Friday night we had dinner at castmate Jack's parents' house in Grand Falls. Their hospitality was amazing, the sort of people who, five minutes after meeting them, you feel as if you've known them all your life. Having heard that one of their son's coworkers was a non-meat-eater, they had prepared a delicious vegetarian lasagna for us for dinner. After eating in restaurants and hotels so much lately, it was amazing how good a home-cooked meal tasted (even if it wasn't, strictly speaking, my home).

After that it was a pretty uneventful couple of days in Grand Falls. Director started feeling really under the weather on Friday, and as a result she missed out on dinner Friday night (although Jack's parents did of course send some food back to the hotel for her - what's with these people?). She also hasn't been to any of the shows since then, which isn't as big a deal as it sounds. We've done the show so many times at this point that everything always goes smoothly (which also means that the actual job is now pretty much the least interesting part of this job).

Sunday we made our way to Gander, Marlon's hometown. (I'm now the only member of the cast who hasn't been able to have the group over for some home-cooking. Fortunately i don't think they blame me for the fact that we didn't do a show anywhere near Saint John.) Marlon's family, too, were warm and welcoming. We even gave a command performance of the show in Marlon's parents' family room.

Yesterday morning we did a show in Wesleyville, and afterward we went to Twillingate Island for some sightseeing. Twillingate is the epitome of Newfoundland's scenic splendour, but after having travelled the length and breadth of this beautiful island, i'm pretty near scenic'd out. Even so, it's pretty hard not to find the cliffs on the island's coast impressive.

(I assure you that at no point while taking these photos did i fall to my death upon the rocks below.)

Tonight we're back in Gander. Matter of fact, i'm right back in the same room i was in two nights ago, although at this point they're all starting to look the same. I never thought i'd live to see the day, but i'm actually getting just a little tired of staying in hotels. There are definitely some things about coming home that i'm really looking forward to, but i'm not going to let that cause me to neglect or underappreciate every moment that remains of this experience. I may never have another opportunity like this again; i don't want to look back on it and find that at the time i was always looking somewhere else.

We have a show in the morning in Gambo, then two on Thursday in St. John's. Thursday night, i'm on a plane for home.

From here on,
every stretch of road
brings me closer to home.
Wherever that is.

"You're not at the edge of the world, but you can see it from here."

2006-11-03T23:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, after the day's one show was done, we drove to L'Anse Aux Meadows, the site where, in the Eleventh Century, some Vikings became the first Europeans to set foot in North America.

This place is cold, haunted, and beautiful.

We followed the paths along the flat land, roamed the rocky hills, and climbed to a high lookout point right on the land's edge. No-one was there but us, and a few moose.

I've started to realize that this job is largely just an excuse to see a lot of places that i might never otherwise have seen. Places i didn't even know were here.

We've started back southwards again. Tonight we sleep in Grand Falls. Only about five shows remain. A week from now, i'll be back in Saint John.

I feel so far away.

We Crawled At The Feet Of Giants...

2006-11-01T23:00:00.000-04:00

October 31 - Deer Lake to Corner Brook and Back:

November 1 - Deer Lake to Rocky Harbour to Plum Point:

And my first attempt at posting a video (turn your sound down first):

Labrador is a bust.

2006-10-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

Well this weekend's been a whole lot of nothin', especially considering how much we went through to get here.

Friday morning i got up bright and early after our last night in beautiful P.E.I. Marlon, Jack, Meryl and Soundman had been rejoicing into the wee small hours the night before, but as we knew we'd have to clean out Moby Truck before dropping it off at the Charlottetown airport, i had stayed in with the intention of getting a good night's sleep so's to ensure a smooth morning departure.

The trouble started about a half-hour before departure time, when Director called to advise me that Soundman (who you might recall is also Driver Man) had sustained an injury the night before, and was still feeling pretty severely under the weather when we boarded the plane in Charlottetown. By the time we got to Halifax (our connecting point), he was sure he was in no shape to get onto another plane. After some brow-furrowing in the departure lounge, it was decided that Marlon and Soundman would stay in Halifax and head out in a day or two when Soundman was up to it. (This should have presented no problem, since our first show in Goose Bay wasn't until Monday).

So as Marlon and Soundman made their way to a hotel in Halifax, we boarded a flight for Goose Bay. About two and a half hours later, we were touching down...in Halifax. Seems about two-thirds of the way to Labrador, a mechanical problem necessitated returning to our place of departure. By the time Director, Meryl, Jack and i finally got into Goose Bay, it was nearly six o'clock.

Labrador's, uh...nice. To be honest, i really didn't see very much of it that weekend. There was very little within walking distance of the Inn in Goose Bay, and i wasn't much in the mood to do a lot of exploring. Jack went for a long trek on Saturday and came back with tales of breathtaking views of forests growing out of great fields of sand (there's fine beach sand everywhere in Labrador - does anyone know what that's about?), and i was going to check it out on Sunday. However, in keeping with the weekend's theme of everything going horribly wrong, Sunday in Goose Bay looked like this:

So, no fields of sand, and no wandering for hours, admiring Labrador's natural beauty. Mind you, it's not like the snow lasted all day, just a few hours. Just long enough to cancel the flight Marlon and Soundman were taking from Halifax to join us in Goose Bay. So, they were stuck in Nova Scotia for a couple days longer, and we were without a lead actor or sound technician. Sadly, that meant we had to cancel the two shows we had booked in Labrador for Monday. Yes, after all we had gone through to get there, Labrador ended up being an expensive (for the Money People), frustrating (for us and for the schools we had to cancel on), and ultimately fruitless (for everyone) detour.

The four of us flew out of Goose Bay last night, arriving in Deer Lake at 9:30pm local time. I'm living a half-hour ahead of most of you reading this right now (don't worry, i won't tell you what happens). We had today off, so we spent the day in Corner Brook, a nearby town which is not much bigger than Deer Lake but seems to have a bit more to see. The neat thing about Corner Brook is it's basically a big bowl, with hills and mountains on all sides, closing all around this sweet, quiet (and today, rainy) little place. Scenic as it is, though, the real treat was the drive from Deer Lake to Corner Brook. I simply didn't know there were sights like this in this part of the country. Jack, a native of the Rock (and one of its most fanatical admirers), assures us the views only get better from here.

Tomorrow, we do a morning show here in Deer Lake, then drive to Rocky Harbour. Tomorrow night we stay in a place called Plum Point (i can't get enough of these Newfoundland place names!).

We haven't seen Marlon or Soundman in four days, and we haven't done the show for an audience in five. Here's hoping we actually still remember it.

Surrounded by water (and images of Anne of Green Gables)

2006-10-27T00:32:00.000-03:00

This should be a quick one, as it's already later than it should be and i've got an early morning. Just a note to let all you avid fans out there know i'm still kickin'. Alive and well and, for the next seven hours, living on Prince Edward Island.

They've got us staying at the fabulous Inns on Great George, and due to what i can only assume was either an availability issue or some serious misunderstanding of our importance, castmate/roommate Marlon and myself have been given a freaking house all to ourselves. Three nights in a townhouse with a full kitchen, dining room, master bedroom, washer/dryer, all modcons. We really don't want to leave, but sadly, we've run out of schools to visit on this bonny wee isle.

It hasn't stopped raining since we've been here (i guess the constant watering explains the lush green of all those rolling hills). The show continues to go well, despite the occasional whine of feedback on the P.A. Now and then i sense some negative vibes amongst the team, but that's probably inevitable given the amount of time we're spending around each other. Everyone else is out partying together right now, so obviously on the whole everyone is getting along. (I elected to stay in for the sake of getting to bed at a proper hour -- guess that plan didn't work out).

I really can't believe i'm not sick to death of this show yet. I'm used to doing a play three, maybe four times over the course of a week. We're at a dozen or so thus far, and i'm still enjoying every one. Travelling around, staying in hotels, seeing different places all the time, all of this should be great -- and it is, but it takes its toll in a way, and some nights home feels really far away. But no matter what else is going on, i know i have at least an hour or so of peace and focus while we're on that stage.

We've seen quite a bit of this island while driving around the past couple of days, but i wish there had been more time to get to know this place. One more place i'll be hoping to see again some day.

Tomorrow, bright and early, we get on a plane for Labrador - another place i've never been. We've been told to expect cold weather. I'll let you know.

Enjoying the gentle breeze outside the truck while on the bridge.

Well, i'll be damned -- it really is red!

Obligatory shot of hotel sign. (The lobby of this place always smells like pie. It's like visiting Nana, if Nana had a friendly, uniformed staff.)

The street we're on. Charlottetown has a few nice old buildings...

...like this one: Province House, Birthplace of Confederation. (It's a block away from me right now.)

Moncton. Shoot. I'm still only in Moncton.

2006-10-23T23:30:00.000-03:00

Well, the New Brunswick leg of our whirlwind Atlantic tour is now officially over.

The last French show of the tour (until the very last day, that is -- apparently there are Francophones in Newfoundland. Who knew?) was this morning, right here in scenic Moncton. It went reasonably well, except for some technical nastiness involving bad feedback noise throughout the show. We chose to blame the sub-par acoustics of the venue - another cafeteria space with a stage at one end. (What's with that? Do these schools do a lot of dinner theatre?)

Sound issues notwithstanding, we (cast and crew) did fine, and the show went reasonably well. The audience, however, was a disappointment. The students and faculty alike seemed to have come down with a serious case of the Mondays. It's an all-Francophone school, and when we got there, one of the teachers (apparently unimpressed that our programs were printed in both official languages) started demanding assurance from us that no English would be spoken in the presence of the students. Having set her mind at ease that we weren't there to subvert Acadian culture, we were allowed to proceed, but the students weren't enormously responsive. We did what we could, but all in all it wasn't our best show -- which was a shame, really, since today also marked the return of our dear friend and erstwhile pseudodirector, the representative from the Money People whom you may recall we met at the end of the rehearsal period. The technical glitches we ran into during the morning show were apparently enough to put her in a bit of a foul mood, which in turn had Director on edge all morning.

All this was leading up to the Main Event of the day, which was the afternoon show. No group of drowsy schoolchildren, this one. This was for the biggest of wigs, the Money People's Money People, the handsome, well-coiffed head of the very Corporate Body to whom we owe this dream job.

I didn't know who any of them were, of course. They were just another audience, albeit an older and better-dressed one. But the point of the show was to demonstrate to them that this project is, for them, money well-spent, and that they should perhaps consider more and larger tours in this region in the future (that's the great thing about high schools: they keep coming out with new audiences every year). This was why Money People were in attendance this morning, and why Director's head looked like it might pop if anything went wrong.

Fortunately, nothing did.

Despite the Money Lady's best efforts to stress us out before showtime by walking around glowering, and Director's quavering grip on her nerves, and the fact that the auditorium was a conference room not much bigger than a classroom, despite all these things, the show itself was a rollicking success. We were right on our game; the sound was pristine, the audience was attentive and receptive, and the performances were, of course, brilliant. Turns out grown-ups are as happy to get out of the office for an hour as students are to get out of class, and the wigs got to hear exactly what they wanted to about how well the students in general respond to the show and the messages cleverly hidden therein. Afterwards, Director was beaming, obviously pleased with how it had gone off (this thing is her baby, after all), and even Money Lady told us we made her proud. It was beautiful.

But seriously, it was a good way to kick off the week, and finish off the province. Enough even to cheer me up after finding out i'll shortly be losing some of my clothes. Oh, yeah, that thing.

Once we get to Newfoundland, we're going to be in a different vehicle that won't be of Moby Truck's gargantuan proportions, which means we're going to have even less room onboard than we do now. Translation: no room for big bags. So, my bare-minimum number of shirts and socks is getting pared down even more, as the whole cast will basically be living for a week or two out of whatever we can fit into airline carry-on luggage. So...that'll be fun.

Speaking of fun, we hit the Big Bridge tomorrow; first show outside NB is Wednesday. Castmate Meryl, a native of the land of Red Mud and Red Pigtails, is beside herself with excitement. Too bad we're only there for two or three days.

Forecast for tomorrow calls for a 70-85% chance of photos of Confederation Bridge. Man, i hope they have the Internet over there!

You Wake Up in Moncton. You Wake Up in Tracadie. You Wake Up in Saint John.

2006-10-22T21:53:00.000-03:00

Well, here i am, back in Moncton again, having spent a long weekend in Saint John.

Our last two shows of last week were on Thursday: a French show in the morning in Tracadie, and then an English show in the afternoon in Miramichi. I remember virtually nothing about either of these shows, except that the Miramichi school (which wasn't actually in Miramichi but rather someplace called Sunny Corner) was the first one so far that hasn't had a proper theatre. It still had a stage, but it was conveniently located at one end of the school cafeteria. The steady hum of the pop machines and fluorescent lights were the first real challenge we've faced in the audio department; thank goodness for Soundman and our trusty collection of hands-free microphones.

The plan had been to stay Thursday night in Miramichi, but instead we made for Moncton as soon as the last show was done, and i hopped on a bus for home. I got into town just in time to catch the end of a gathering at the SJTC loft; they were screening some DVDs of Second Stage's greatest hits. I missed most of that, but still had a chance to see and talk with quite a few theatre friends. Any opportunity to catch up is a welcome one, these days.

The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key, but a good time. All indications are it'll be the last time i'll get home before the tour's done. Last night (Saturday night) there was still more reunioning with friends at Elwood's; there was a show going on that was quite well-attended and all the acts i saw were very good, but i didn't stay very late.

Finally, this afternoon, i drove back to Moncton as a part of a sort of mini-convoy. The Theatre Company had rented a big truck to transport some materials into town for an upcoming production, and so i accompanied the rental truck back to Moncton rather than taking the bus.

So now i'm sitting on a bed in the Rodd Parkhouse Inn in Moncton. It's an hour or so past when i should have been in bed, but i feel like i've been going nonstop for days, and forcing myself to wind down for sleep is sometimes a little tricky.

I'm looking forward to getting back to doing shows. The longer we go between performances, the more this whole thing starts feeling surreal again. Being on-stage, preparing, performing -- those things i understand, those things make sense. All the other stuff that's built around it: sitting here in a hotel room, so far from home, driving countless miles from one school to the next and one province to the next...this still seems strange to me. Not bad. Just strange.

Our last French show in NB is tomorrow morning right here in beautiful Moncton, and then in the afternoon we're doing the show for the original Money People, the bigwigs who are funding this whole affair, at their head office. To some degree, this performance is to demonstrate to them that they haven't been wasting their money on us. So, no pressure there.

Actually, i'm not worried. The feedback we're getting from all sides (Director, schools, and previous avatars of the Money Gods) has been really positive. We just need to go do what we do, and i'm sure they'll like us just fine.

And if not, well, the headset farm is right where i left it.

Sweet dreams, everyone.

Good morning

2006-10-19T05:30:00.000-03:00

Yawn.

This is just plain too early to be up.

We'll be on the road in less than an hour.

Foreground: Moby Truck.
Midground: The Tracadie River.
Background: The freaking night sky.

Comme le rivière qui nous a salué ici, on n'arret pas.

2006-10-18T17:23:00.000-03:00

We come to you now from the banks of the Tracadie river.

Our first English show was yesterday morning, and despite being so used to speaking the lines in French, it went well. It's interesting; going back and forth with the languages all the time, as well as being in a new theatre in a new school every time, all this keeps the show from getting boring. Every time we go onstage, something in the environment is different, and, likewise, the performances are never exactly the same. Director even commented this morning that she's enjoying watching the characters grow and change from one show to the next.

I hope it stays this way.

Yesterday afternoon, there was another new element in the equation that made our second show of the day a little more interesting. There was a newsman from Radio-Canada with a camera, recording both the show and the post-show. It was a good show and a good audience, and we did our best not to let our impending celebrity in Francophone New Brunswick distract us. The story was supposed to go on the provincial news today, but we didn't see it. Oh well.

We had some relaxed time last night that i used to take a little walk around Tracadie. Our hotel is right across the street from the river, which has a really nice boardwalk alongside. This is a quiet, beautiful place. One of the things i'm noticing about the tour so far is that we're seeing all these lovely comunities, but we're passing through them all so quickly that we have no time to really take them in. I hope someday i'll be able to come back to some of these places and take the time to really enjoy them.

I'm glad we were able to spend two nights here.

There was only one show today, but the group didn't do much with our half-day off. A few of us (myself included) are feeling a little sick; some minor flulike ailment is making its way through the cast. Nothing serious, but it was nice to be able to relax and nap the afternoon away. Speaking of sleep, we're getting going at about 6:30 tomorrow morning, so it's probably just about bedtime.

The water of the Tracadie river can be seen from the window of our Motel room tonight, as black and as silent as the starless sky. Before the sun returns, restoring colour to the sky and the river, we'll have left this place.

Tracadie streetlights are really spiffy.

(Please note: This sign is really only about 5' tall. I'm just really, really tiny.)

First day (now with photos!)

2006-10-16T22:30:00.000-03:00

Greetings from scenic Dalhousie, New Brunswick. Day one of our whirlwind tour of Atlantic Canada has come to a successful close.

We left Moncton yesterday once Soundman (who doubles as Driver man) got our Great Big Fat SUV from the rental place. Getting all of our things, as well as a big pile o' sound equipment, while still leaving room for, like, you know, us, proved to be something of a challenge, despite the Great Big Fatness of our rental behemoth. However, we are the Tetris generation after all, and we eventually figured out how to arrange everything, ourselves included, in the truck, and we were off like a very heavy shot, bound for the depths of Acadia.
We got into St-Quentin around 7 last night, and stayed at the thoroughly charming Hotel Victoria. It was the start of a lifelong love-affair with old hotel signs (see below).

Our first day of performances got off to a slightly rocky start when technical difficulties caused both me and my roommate/castmate Marlon to oversleep just a bit. After a quick shower...one each, that is (with a hotel soap the size of a postage stamp!) and a semi-frantic packing job, we made our way into the frigid St-Quentin morning to load everything (all our bags, big pile o' sound equipment, etc) into Moby Truck and set off for our first school. There was no time for a leisurely morning coffee, but we didn't make the group late. That's what counts.

Monday morning, it turns out, is a pretty good time to hold a high-school assembly. The students were too sleepy to be overly rambunctious, but were really attentive and appreciative. After the play there's a post-show game kinda thing where we're interacting a lot with the students, which we were all a little apprehensive about -- especially for the French schools -- but they actually went pretty well. In any case, they didn't run us out of town when they heard our French, in fact the students at both schools today really seemed to appreciate our efforts and we got compliments from several students and teachers. Plus, both schools had really nice theatres, which makes the job just that much more fun. All in all, not a bad first day of shows. Not bad at all.

Tonight we're staying at Art's Motor Inn in Dalhousie, where we'll be doing the show in English in the morning and in French in the afternoon.

By the way: if you've never been to Edmundston, you should go, if only for the drive. Go in autumn. Take a loved one, and a camera.

I'm gonna be a walking tourist brochure for Atlantic Canada by the end of this thing.

(note: This post was written on Monday evening, but technical difficulties prevented it from being posted until Wednesday morning.)

shortly after arriving at the Hotel Victoria in St-Quentin.

...the next day, with Marlon, at Art's in Dalhousie. (Also pictured: Soundman's shadow.)

And away we go...

2006-10-15T21:20:00.000-03:00

Alright, it's been another slack and updateless week. To recap, Francophone Person spent a day with us and determined that we are, in fact, not mangling the French language, and gave us some general pointers and translation assistance. Soundman joined our little group and was immediately embraced as one of the family. Rehearsals continued with wild abandon, complete with microphone-headsets and a rockin' soundtrack. The week actually seemed to go by really quickly.

But rehearsals are no more. This morning we bid farewell to our home away from home in Moncton and set sail aboard our white behemoth of an SUV (working name: Moby Truck). Destination: Saint Quentin! (incidentally, if anyone can tell me how the name of this place is actually pronounced, i'll owe you one.) Tomorrow morning, this town plays host to our first show. Afterward, there's not a moment to waste as we're on to Edmundston for show #2 in the afternoon -- in front of six hundred and fifty students. Oh, and did i mention those shows are both in French? We've been referring to the first day of performances as our Baptism By Fire. If we can handle tomorrow, we can handle anything.

There will be more detailed updates to come, but now we've got to get some things ready for the shows tomorrow.

This show is officially on the road.

Home Sweet Hotel

2006-10-10T20:36:00.000-03:00

And so begins our third and final week of rehearsals in sunny Moncton, New Brunswick.

It was a lovely long Thanksgiving weekend in Saint John. We had a great big family dinner on Sunday, a chance to see many family members i don't see very often -- some of whom apparently read this site (hi, uncles and aunts and cousins!). This weekend was largely about trying to spend as much time as possible with some of the most important people in my life, as it's now going to be a little while before i can see you again. You know who you are. I miss you already, again.

Yesterday my parents drove me back into Moncton again, and it was as nice a drive as it was last week. If they enjoyed the drive and the conversation as much as i did, we might have to make a habit of these road-trips.

Once we got into the city, we once again did dinner at the Pumphouse (did i mention they have beers?), before i headed back to the hotel and settled in for the night. My two male castmates (i'll call them Marlon, and, uh, Jack. I can use whatever silly fake names i want. It's my blog.) didn't get into town until this morning, so i had the room all to my lonely self last night, which was alright since it left me little excuse not to study my French lines.

Did i mention we're doing the show in both English and in French, at different schools? Yeah. We are.

Director seems satisfied that we're basically ready to go with the English version of the show, so rehearsals this week are going to be mostly about getting the French up to the same level. We were expecting to be joined today by Francophone Person, who will be listening to the French version of the show, in order to a) correct any translation errors in the script that we didn't catch, and b) help correct any errors we're making in our spoken French, so that we might not humiliate ourselves in front of french-speaking highschoolers. However, Francophone Person isn't getting in until tomorrow, so today we were left pretty much to our own devices to go over (and over and over) the French lines, correcting ourselves and each other as we went, which actually ended up being very helpful.

I had actually been just a teensy bit concerned that i wasn't as well-prepared with my French lines as i would have liked to have been, since the plan was for us to all be off-book in French today, and despite the hours - hours! - i spent studying those lines this weekend, i was still a little shaky. However, right off the bat today it was clear that the whole cast was in the same slightly wobbly boat, and a day of practicing together was just what we all needed. I can honestly say i feel just about as confident with this play in French as i do in English -- something i hadn't been sure would ever happen. Now, we'll see what Francophone Person thinks when she hears us, but i think we're in good shape.

And finally tonight, we've had an addition to our little group. Soundman arrived tonight. Soundman is a superhero of sorts; he will travel with us and during the show he will have the power to amplify our wee little voices so that they can be heard clearly no matter what venue we find ourselves performing in. He will also use his strange abilities to heighten the emotional responses of the audience through the use of music, between and during the scenes. At first glance he seems like a mild-mannered, agreeable sort, and i feel sure he will use his powers only for good.

It's looking like we'll be rehearsing on Saturday this week, and we set sail on Sunday for the first show, so the faint possibility of making it home this coming weekend is looking very faint indeed. Like, it's pretty much not going to happen. No more coming up for air until we reach the end -- one month from now.

One thing at a time, though. Tomorrow, we meet Francophone Person and do our best not to mangle her langue maternelle. Here's hoping we're doing as well as we think we are.

In six days, we will have already done our first performance.

Stay on Course

2006-10-05T18:14:00.000-03:00

I just climbed onto a bus at the Moncton Acadian station. In about fifteen minutes, i'll be homeward bound, having brought an enjoyable week to a mildly aggravating conclusion.

I had previously mentioned how relieved and happy i was to find that our Director has been approaching this play like one would any piece of theatre; i.e. from the perspective of someone trying to tell a story as well and as engagingly as possible, not simply using an arbitrarily-constructed narrative peopled with paper-thin characters to deliver a "message." And she has, bless her heart, and as a result we've got a nice little play going here. Turns out that ensuring the play is a message-conveyance mechanism first and an interesting story second was someone else's job.

And so, today we met with the representative from the organization i think of affectionately as the Money People. It was a fascinating study in pain-tolerance, and an object lesson in what happens when people who know nothing about theatre attempt to control it. I never realized how much i knew about character and scene study until i found myself taking direction from someone who apparently understood next to nothing about it.

Fortunately, the play seems to have survived her contributions more or less unscathed, and we can continue onward from here.

And when we get back on Tuesday, when we dive right back in again, it'll be in French! If you see me this weekend, do me a favour and make me recite a monologue or something en français. I'll need the practice.

Hey, the bus just started moving. I'm on my way home.

I bought a jean jacket, and spoke some French. There, you're up to date.

2006-10-05T00:47:00.000-03:00

Yeah, i've been slack on updating lately. I've, uh, just been so busy...you know, working hard...well, anyway, i'll be heading back to beautiful Saint John for the long weekend, and since i've disconnected my Internet access at home, updates might continue to be scarce for the next few days. Technically, though, since this is supposed to be a travel journal, posting from home seems wrong somehow.

If i don't see you while i'm home, have a safe and sensational Thanksgiving. Aw, heck, have a great one even if i do see you.

Have a dice weekend!
(This terrible pun brought to you by Photobucket and the Canon PowerShot)

Under the Weather

2006-10-03T00:14:00.000-03:00

"Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drench’d our steeples, drown’d the cocks!"
-King Lear, III:2

Well, okay, it wasn't quite that bad, but we were all under some rather nasty weather here in Moncton today. A cold, wet wind has blown away the last lingering scraps of summer like so many dead, soggy leaves. If it didn't feel like autumn before, boy, it does now.

However, in the case of our female castmate (whom i'll call Meryl, although her real name is Melissa {no, it isn't}), it's the actual truth. She's battling what is, by all reports, a decidedly ugly flu, and so she was sort of in isolation today. We're under strict orders from Director to avoid Meryl, if not like the plague, then at least like a really bad flu.

So Director, who actually played Meryl's role in a previous life, stood in for us in a couple of scenes during rehearsal today. It was fun to have a new version of the character to play off of, especially since Director also wrote this play. Mostly, though, today was about working around the scenes in which Meryl's character appears, giving us fellas a chance to really focus on a few other key scenes, getting lines, blocking, and various bits of business properly co-ordinated.

In short, it's like every rehearsal any of us have ever been to. I keep expecting someone to come along and tell me to stop slacking off and get to work. I keep wondering when the hard part comes along. These rehearsals, this script-study, character analysis, all this stuff that we're doing doesn't seem any more like work to me now than it ever does at home. If not for the fact that Director seems genuinely and consistently pleased with the progress we're making from day to day, i'd almost be worried.

I guess i'm just really not used to liking my job this much.

Mind you, we'll see how i feel after a few weeks living in a minivan, doing the show two or three times a day.

Speaking of which, before you ask: No, i don't know where we'll be performing, nor when (okay, there's a good chance you personally weren't going to ask about that, but trust me, someone else reading this was.). We'll be getting our itinerary any time now; Director is just awaiting certain confirmations to be...well you know, confirmed. If you're one of the few lying awake at night wondering when i'll be playing an inveterate gambler in a highschool gymnasium in Gander, Newfoundland, rest easy: when i know, you'll know.

And finally, speaking of resting easy (i love a good segue), i was very very happy to hear tonight that our dear friend Bob is in good shape and mending well, having undergone something of a tune-up today. Lord knows he's got better things to do than read blogs right now, but my thoughts, best hopes, and love are with him, as are those of many, many others tonight. I hope to see him soon.

And, of course, if any of you nice folks can keep me updated on how he's doing, i'd be most grateful.

Okay, it's getting late. Whatever i'm forgetting is gonna have to wait til next time. Hugs and kisses, all.

Back again

2006-10-01T22:47:00.000-03:00

So, at some point last week i decided to go home for the weekend. I was starting to feel like i should take every opportunity that presents itself to spend time with loved ones. Once the touring starts, those opportunities won't be as easy to come by. And anyway, it saves my kindly employers a couple of nights' hotel costs.

We got an early start at rehearsal on Friday, so we were more or less wrapped up by early afternoon. We (the cast and Director - that's her real name, you'll recall) went for lunch, but i had to skip out on the food (i abandoned hummus! HUMMUS!) lest i miss the Saint John bus.

I enjoyed seeing the few people i did get a chance to see, however briefly, while i was in town. The weekend went by so quickly that there wasn't time to see everyone or do everything that i would have liked. (If i didn't see you, don't take it personal. It just means i don't love you. Just kidding.) I will say that i definitely made the most of my short time at home. I will say that.

Then, this afternoon, rather than taking the bus, my parents kindly insisted upon driving me back to Moncton, after which we had a little dinner at the Pumphouse. (They have beers there, you know.)

And now, here i am, again, back in the beautiful Moncton Comfort Inn, wondering what i should do with myself. Alone, for the moment, and just a little bit lonely. I could be trying to track down my castmates and co-workers and see what they're up to, but i'm not. I should be going over my script, since we're off-book as of tomorrow morning, but i'm not doing that either.

For the moment, i'm just adjusting to being back here in this temporary little life again.

I miss you all already.

Time to focus.
Time to get back to work.

Another day...

2006-09-27T18:51:00.000-03:00

This is the first dollar i was ever paid for acting.

First, we shuffle. Then we deal.

2006-09-26T22:30:00.000-03:00

Woke up bright and early at the crack of eight this morning for our first day on the job.

After a hearty free breakfast ("free" in this sense meaning "not paid for by me") of cereal and muffins in the hotel lobby, it was off to the rehearsal space in the other hotel. We met our fourth cast member in the lobby, so we were able to arrive together.

After a bit of discussion about what to expect while on the road, including some ground rules (apparently, verbally abusing castmates and drinking heavily before performances are frowned upon. Good to know.), we did a first read-through of the script. No, wait; back up a step. Before the read-through, there was the small detail of recasting the play.

Each of us had been told which character we would be playing when we were emailed our scripts several days ago, so we'd be able to get started studying our lines, thinking about our characters, and all the other stuff we actor-types have the nerve to call "work." However, once Director (that's her name. Really.) got us all in the same room together, she seemed to start questioning her original casting decisions.

Now, of course, with any play, each actor has to fit their role in a particular way in order for the thing to come together as a whole. Your flawed and troubled protagonist must have vulnerability (but not too much vulnerability) and likeability, your bad-egg antagonist must have charisma (but not too much charisma) as well as a certain "edge"...well, you get the point. I arrived for rehearsal thinking i was the supportive (but not too supportive!*) best friend, but upon reevaluation of the cast as whole, i wound up as the bad guy. I guess i was deemed to have sufficient "edge" for the part.

It wasn't just me, the whole cast ended up being shuffled around (except the girl. She's still playing the girl.), and none of the roles are more or less important than the others (well, i guess the main character is a bit more important). Initially i was a little thrown by the change, but on the whole i'm actually happy about it. I think the new character (Tom. Tom the bad guy.) will be fun to play.

It was a pretty short work day - most of the time was spent talking about the ins and outs of the job. I was glad that the rest of the cast seemed to have as many questions as i did, and we all know a lot more about what to expect now than we did this morning. After an initial read-through (and going over a few scenes a few more times to make sure the actors were all a comfy fit for their parts), we called it a day, and went our ways to do some homework.

I'm so glad to see that Director is treating this thing like a real play, and us like real actors. Even though the principal reason for this production is to get a message to highschoolers about gambling addiction, we're still approaching it like you would any other play - as actors telling a story as believably as we can.

Hey, that reminds me. I should probably be learning my lines right now. Since that's, like, sorta my job.

Man, that still sounds weird.

There's a lotta work ahead. I can't wait.

*This was where i got sick of this joke.

"I'm normally...uh...reticent."

2006-09-25T22:09:00.000-03:00

Met two of my new co-workers, tonight, including my new roommate. Nice people, so far. Grabbed a bite to eat, and did that usual getting-to-know-you chitchat. I'm no good at that stuff; i can never think of anything to say to people i don't know so i probably come off a bit distant and untalkative. It takes time to really get to know a person, anyway, right? Well, time we've got, and we'll all get to know each other pretty well soon enough, i reckon.

...And here i am.

2006-09-25T17:49:00.000-03:00

Just a quick, four-hour bus trip (Geography hint: Fredericton is not a logical connecting point between Saint John and Moncton!), a sunny 4 km stroll (s'okay, this bag's not heavy!), and a brief misunderstanding regarding the reservation at the hotel (complete with visions of myself, stranded and broke on the streets of Moncton, holding cardboard sign reading "Will Act For Food") and i'm here, settling in nicely, waiting to meet my roommate, and wondering what i should do with myself tonight.

Now, I should spend this evening reviewing my scripts, like a good little actor, but dangit, i'm just a hop and a skip from Champlain Place, and i can hear that Chapters store calling my name.

First rehearsal is tomorrow morning. Maybe then all this will sink in. Right now it still seems a little surreal.

So long for now to beautful Germain St...

...and onto the bus.

These things'll come in handy in case i forget where i am.

Here goes...

2006-09-25T08:35:00.000-03:00

In an hour, i'll be getting on a bus to Moncton. From here on, i no longer know what to expect.

Time to get this show on the road.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

One More - No, Wait, Two More Sleeps.

2006-09-23T10:36:00.000-03:00

...getting close now.

Rehearsals for this little play, which will be occupying most of my time in the next month and a half, are to begin on Tuesday. I will depart for Moncton, where rehearsals will be taking place, on Monday. Two short days to finish whatever needs finishing here, and then this life goes on hold, and i hit the road.

I had been expecting to leave tomorrow, but got word yesterday that others in the cast won't be joining us until Tuesday, so i'll go up on Monday.

I will be staying at the luxurious Comfort Inn, which i'm assured by their website has high-speed Interweb access and a free Continental Breakfast. Ah, the life of a professional actor.

Well, this is where they've told me i'll be staying. The hotel itself doesn't seem to know this yet (i called this morning and to date they have no reservation for me), but i remain unflinchingly optimistic.

Meanwhile, autumn has arrived right on cue in Saint John. Dried leaves scuttle across the sidewalks of my tree-lined street, whispering secrets as they go. The air grows crisp with a chill that's not quite unfriendly, and a kind of potpourri is hiding on the breeze, like a hundred pies about to be cooling on a hundred windowsills.

Autumn always feels slightly ominous to me, carrying as it does the promise of another wicked winter well on its way. But this one feels different. Something peaceful and optimistic about the way the summer's winding down.

I do believe i am going to miss this city while i'm gone.

But, before i can get to missing it, i've got to leave, and before i can do that, i've got to prepare. There are bags to finish packing, there's an apartment to be tidied (the last thing i'll need greeting me on my return is an unkempt home), there is a script to study. These people are paying me reasonably well to do the only thing i really love, so by heaven i can at least show up prepared.

The Swiss Wristwatch Sank Swiftly

2006-09-21T08:52:00.000-03:00

Uh, so there aren't really any posts here yet. This thing's just getting warmed up.

Stay tuned. The show will be beginning shortly.