Beautiful Clean

I was showing some of the research I've been doing for Midsummer to my Directing Class at Emerson, and one of my students started talking about these reverse graffiti artists, who paint by cleaning the filth off city walls. She sent me some links. This stuff is really cool:

And here's another link that talks some more about it.

Off we go.

So we started rehearsals for Shrew last night. All in all, it went pretty well. I was rather dreading the whole meet and greet part of it, and sure enough, it was AWKWARD. I have welcomed and introduced 17 productions at ASP, and to just sit there while others did it was a bum out. Plus, all the higher ups in the company, staff and board, who are responsible for my current situation, were sheepish and weird, and I was not about to make it easier for them.

Once we got started, things improved, thank god. The reading was fun and exciting. But, it's a strange play. Reading aloud those later scenes where Petruchio keeps saying, "Say what I tell you to say, or you don't get fed", it's hard to see how we are going to find that larger theme of the value of compromise in civilized life and not the "oh my god this play is so mean to women" feeling.

But, Melia has great idea for the frame - we're doing the induction, and there's going to be a crazy, CRAZY meta-theatrical twist to the whole evening - with actors playing characters playing actors playing characters playing characters! And Jason has done a great job on the space. It's a new and really organic use of the Basement, and will make for a very dynamic evening. And with Sarah Hickler and Rob Najarian both there working on movement, we have high hopes for the physical comedy and slapstick to be intense.

As long as I can steer clear of most of the stuff that comes in from outside the rehearsal hall, I should be okay.

Baby he's back

For anybody out there who has started to lose faith in our President, and didn't watch his speech last night, you should watch. All of it. The man is in the house!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

We're number 37

I found this on the Huffington Post. Pretty funny. I'm really hoping the "You lie!" controversy is finally going to swing the tide back toward some kind of sensible action on this health care thing.

Home.

5470 miles. 40 days.

We are back home. It was an amazing trip - we had a great time as a family.

I'm glad to be home, but I'm also trying to wrap my mind around this working thing. I have to make my syllabus for Emerson, learn lines for Shrew, start production meetings for Midsummer, and try to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Again. I kind of feel that at 45 I should be coasting a little bit more than this. Ah well.