24 June 2008

I'm thinking of a dirty word...

It's easy to be inspired to new heights of verbal obscenity when you stub your toe in the dim glow of a nightlight, but one cannot holler @#$%&!! with a drowsy baby draped over one's shoulder.

I settled for giving the footstool a dirty look.

On the plus side, I have found the perfect diapers for our small boy. Junior is now snugly wrapped in nappies adorned with John Lennon artwork. But wait, there's more! The artwork just happens to be...

Sheep and music notes. Cool, eh?

In other good news, Himself's birthday party went well. Very little cake left. It was my favorite kind of party: minimum effort, maximum enjoyment. Great refreshements (if I do say so myself) and even better music. The fact that his mom is doing much better was an ultra-groovy bonus.

On the downside, I'm growing... dissatisfied with the USO show. Himself and I have a long-standing pact that if something stops being fun, we no longer do that thing. So far, this has meant two different bands and a couple of theater projects. Oh, and going to movies! We love music, and nothing suits us better than making a group of any size happy by way of sound. Unfortunately, some projects are like government proposals.

It looks great on paper, but goes to hell when you factor in the human equation.

Himself and I like to be prepared. We don't want to rehearse something into the ground, but it's important to know what's supposd to happen. What the cues are, what key something's in, the lyrics; all the stuff that makes a show successful as far as the performer's obligations go.

Especially when the audience is paying to get in.

It seems like things are going downhill with the show. The powers that be don't act terribly interested in adding new material, or rehearsing, Or helping set up equipment, or doing much of any of the "behind the scenes" stuff that makes a show pop. It's becoming Not Fun. Himself and I are weary of hearing the dreaded line, "Oh, the audience loves it when we screw up!"

NO, they don't. And neither do we.

An accidental gaffe that is covered well can be a fun part of a show. Once. When you deliberately try to goof up, and let the audience know that you've goofed, it's extremely unprofessional. The laugh that comes after that kind of moment is unpleasant and awkward, to say the least. This is not the kind of work we want to take on the road, and it's not the kind of reputation we want to have.

We're doing two shows this Saturday, and Himself and I have decided that if it turns into the kind of CF we're afraid it might, we may retire from the troupe. At least for road tours. We don't get paid for these gigs, gas is outrageous, we want to spend time enjoying the baby, and we'd rather have fun than stress.

I still haven't forgiven the director, anyway. After specifically telling him that we were keeping the baby news a secret for a while longer, just until we knew that everything was okay, he deliberately told a large gathering of our friends. Prefaced with the words, "Now, I'm not supposed to tell anyone, BUT..."

Sigh. I need some coffee and a cuddly baby on my shoulder. That'll cheer me up! Yoo-hoo, Junior!

3 comments:

Judy said...

You need to get you some houseslippers with headlights. Don't laugh, they do make them. Bill Engval does a skit about them and I have seen them. Google them and save your toes. :)

If something stresses you and you don't NEED to do it then drop it and enjoy your baby, he will grow to fast to waste time on something you don't like, or need.

Judy

Dianne said...

Life is too short to do something for fun that isn't fun anymore! Stupid people - they mess things up all the time! I cannot believe someone would "out" your pregnancy like that. What a ... I can't think of a bad enough word.

Mags said...

Hey~
Sorry I missed the birthday...happy belated wishes to the 'Mister'...glad you all had a good time at the party.
If it doesn't feel right or good don't put yourselves out there.
Say..wouldn't Junior enjoy being an audience of one....