All About Sleeping Beauty

1st Setbild - Sunday 4th November

2007-11-05T18:00:00.000Z

What a lot we got done!!! - Everybody who attended the first Sunday set build yesterday worked their socks off, especially King Howard who worked his socks off so hard that there were huge holes in them by lunchtime!!

Eleven people went out delivering postcards advertising the show in the village.

Four of the boys put the banner up on The George pub, advertising the show.

APB/Wardrobe Mistress finished three skirts and started alterations on various outfits. She also got Setman and Dangerous to set up the costume show rail in the loft and started adding costumes to the rail.

TechnoBod started work on the hardback for the set whilst FairyJ and the Dame dresser painted the forest drop - and a fab job they made of it too.

Sandwich club happened as always - minus the Hilarious Bovine and £1.00 was added to the swear fund, courtesy of Maleficent.

At the end of the day, APB/Wardrobe Mistress scooted home quickly to purchase a waistcoat and some silver tiaras on EBay as the auction finished, then PB, Vera, Setman, APB plus one went to The Toby Carvery for a roast as we were all too tired to cook. We had to wait a bit for our dinner though as the local Gypsy's beat us to the front of the queue - three kids had come in with a woman who had diverted the staff's attention whilst the three kids nicked the three meat joints on the carvery and scarpered before the staff knew what they were doing.

Outrageous!!!

APB slept very well last night - and suspects that everyone else would have done so too as they all worked so hard. A good day at the office !

Staging - The saga continues 3

2007-10-25T11:26:00.000+01:00

Well.... It doesn't look like the staging will be leaving berkshire today by the sounds of things....

Another phone call from the Buyers wife to say that she can't arrange anything with my courier contact to get the staging removed to a storage facility for someone else to collect it at a later date. So - she now plans to arrange a lorry (WITH A TAIL LIFT) and a driver to drive down from Inverness and pick up the staging this coming weekend.

She has also confirmed that my final date for her to collect the staging by is the 31st October.

I have told her when I am/ am not available. I am waiting for another phone call.

Staging - The saga continues 2

2007-10-25T10:12:00.000+01:00

15 mins later - approx. I get another phone call from the wife of the buyer of the staging.....

The haulier who is coming this afternoon now knows my telephone number and is sending "a curtain sider". I asked were addition people turning up to lift the staging - she said no.

She then asked whether I could get 3/4 guys together for this afternoon to lift the staging and she would pay them. Unfortunately, as amateur theatre is only our hobby and everyone works, I said no - there was no way I could get 3/4 people available at the drop of a hat to lift.

The wife then confirmed what I had "as good as said" in my email which was that if the staging wasn't collected by the weekend it would end up out on the street. I said yes!!!!!

I then suggested that it might have been better if her husband had gone with the original quote from the couriers that we suggested who had seen the staging, noted what sort of vehicle was required and quoted appropriately. I suggested that she might want to speak to this person again.

Here's the funny bit.... Whilst searching on my phone for the person's number to give her - assuming that she was dealing with this because maybe her husband is away - she was arguing with someone in the background...... Interesting conversation!

I'm now sat here waiting for - another phone call.

Staging - The saga continues

2007-10-25T09:59:00.000+01:00

Following the debacle with the van that was too small and the van that arrived when I wasn't within two hours of it, I received a communication from the buyer to say that a guy from a hauliers would be ringing me.... He had an arctic.

He rang and the first questions he asked were whether an arctic would fit down he village road near the hall (well - maybe but difficult) and whether I had a tail lift as the arctic is 5 foot off the floor and drivers don't do lifting. Well - I am an individual who attends a theatre group at a village hall - or course I don't have a ******* fork lift.

I emailed the buyer back and waited..... and waited..... and waited......

I emailed him 3 times and asked when the staging would be collected as I had been told by the Parish Councillor that it had to be out by mid September. It is now nearly November.
So I emailed him again before the weekend and advised that I was waiting for a phone call from "K" to tell me that we no longer had access to the hall, which was likely to be by the end of this week.

Yesterday afternoon at approx. 3.30pm I had an answerphone message from the WIFE!!!!! of the buyer saying that she had arranged a haulier and they would be with me this afternoon. So, today, I am working from home. I rang the lady to confirm that I was at home and was waiting for a phone call but for some reason - she hadn't given the haulier my phone number. I told her this might be a good idea as I am a 10 minute drive away and wouldn't know whether they were there or not.

Whilst on the phone I thought it best to ask casually whether they were sending the "right sort of vehicle" this time so of course she queried what was the right sort of vehicle to pick up staging.....I advised her that it must have a tail lift as I was only opening up the hall and that in the past drivers had refused to lift, only assist....... She said she would get back to me......

Catching Up

2007-10-22T11:05:00.000+01:00

Yes - I know - It's been a while so I thought I do an update you before I get moaned at AGAIN!

The Production team have been doing the Hokey Kokey. Some are in, some are out and some are just shaking it all about a bit!

The blocking is going well - we are nearly there. The songs all sound fab - apart from 3 which sounded awful as they were in the wrong keys etc and with no band or MD they can't be transposed. New songs have been selected and are being rehearsed.

Going is now looking after the Box Office and doing a grand job

King Harold nearly wet himself on Thursday night during rehearsals whilst Director Blonde (DB), Sebastian and Belle debated lesbian kissing on stage!

Technobod is doing a fabulous job of the set designs

Producer Blonde (PB) is "living in a box, is living in a cardboard box" having moved last Monday and doesnt know where ANYTHING is. The cardboard boxes make a great coffee table for a pizza delivery though!!

Assistant Producer Blonde (APB) is cracking on with the costumes. She spent rather a lot of money on EBay yesterday on costumes (Shh don't tell the Treasurer) but is confident that they will hire afterwards and both APB and DB are VERY excited. Setman has also been buying costumes on EBay for APB but more about this on the "Costume Blog" later today

Yep - that needs updating too !!!

Lyric of the Blog: " One finger, one thumb keep moving"

Q is for

2007-09-28T00:01:00.000+01:00

Question - Can things get any worse? Answer - Yes they can - lots.

Staging

2007-09-27T14:10:00.000+01:00

For those in the know - the stuff we transported from the other side of Slough (a year ago).

For those who don't - http://allaboutdick.blogspot.com/2006/11/too-good-to-resist.html

Anyway; The story continues!!!!

After 8 mnths of no use or any hires and the prospect of loosing the temp storage at the Community Centre, the committee decided to sell the staging and convert the cash into something smaller which we can store more easily and make use of.

Two attempts to sell the staging privately came to nothing so after 3 hours of internet communication and decision making Setman and I put the staging on EBay. It sold within 5 days. Phew. All that was needed was for the buyer to collect it.

But the buyer lives in Inverness! This didn't seam to phase him one bit so I got quotes from GuyMan's company and the buyer got quotes in Scotland. His were £250.00+ cheaper. I received an email via EBay on Tuesday evening saying that the courier comapny "would be in touch about collecting the staging"

Wednesday 25th September - I get a phone cal at 10:15 from a lorry driving advising me he will be with me iin an hour. Useful. I'm in Aldgate, the keys are in Langley and the staging is in Colnbrook. The courier was annoyed. Huh? I contacted the buyer who assured me that I had read the email right and the curiers ffice were suposed to haver rung me to ask when to collect, not just turn up. Phew.

Thursday 26th Septmber - I work from home waiting for a phone call. Eventually I get one to say that the courier will be with me at 11:45 to cvollect the staging. No warning. AGAIN. So I drive to the hsall and wait, and wait and eventually at 12:05pm a transit van turns up with a postie looking guy in shorts who has been asked to pick up "a box".

I try to explain that less than half of the staging will fit in his van, which he then tells me is nearly full anyway. he rings his boss. His boss rings me. I go home. AND WAIT.

Prefereably for a lUton van to arrive that the ******* staging will fit in. We shall see.

Thought of the Blog: All the world's a stage - Ours just causes more drama when it's folded up and unused than some do with performers on

Why?

2007-09-25T18:46:00.001+01:00

Monday 24th September

Tonight's rehearsal was .. um .. interesting.. disjointed .. unbelievable

DirectorSB tried desperately to block further scenes from Act 1 despite

a). The fact that we were working in reduced facilities due to the bar being closed, R1 and R2 being cleaned and the bar furniture being in the hall.

b). Being distracted on several occasions (I'm being polite, here!).

DirectorBeauty interjected with some character analysis work with various cast members whilst the blocking was being done, with obvious improvements.

Later the two choreographers set to work on a couple more of the chorus dance routines.

The rehearsal finished somewhat early.

Lyric of the Blog: " These are the tears...The tears we shed. This is the fear. This is the dread. These are the contents of my head And these are the years that we have spent. And this is what they represent. And this is how I feel. Do you know how I feel. Annie Lennox

Tufty

2007-09-21T18:45:00.000+01:00

Thursday 20th September.

Sebastian "Shined" in Room 2 whilst Director SB set to work blocking various scenes from Act 1 with the people he had available including Queen, King and Churchill (oh yes!). Again some were missing, some were sick and some were just AWOL.

Tufty (Cyril the Squirrel's understudy) rose to the occasion although Tufty did spend an awful lot of time on the floor laughing helplessly with tears rolling down it's face whilst being tickled by Sebastian and sniffing Albert's nuts.

It is also worth mentioning that Tufty is the only nut allergic, tree climbing, acorn and passport carrying squirrel understudy in show business.

The following working day, Tufty was bored at work and went "Googling" little did Tufty or DirectorSB realise but Cyril the Squirrel was REAL!!!!! You don't believe me do you. Here you go .....http://www.scarysquirrel.org/history/cyril/

Lyric of the Blog: "We want to gather nuts, but people splatter our guts. When they're on a country drive, it isn't easy to survive" The Beastie Boys
(the rest of the lyrics are even worse!)

Lapse

2007-09-18T18:44:00.000+01:00

Monday 17th September. So I've been a bit busy and haven't updated what's been occurring and yes - I have been nagged. I'll attempt to put that right and actually try to remember what happened on what nights.

To quote ProducerSleep in her email the following day "Nothing much happened really (!)"

Unfortunately we have lost one chorus member and someone who wasn't going to be in the show, decided that they would be and then changed their minds and decided they wouldn't be after all. Another who wasn't going to be in it - is.

Three people phoned in sick and a further three were on holiday. One further has been AWOL since auditions and not heard from since. ProducerSleep is very upset by this.

Unfortunately Ralph (described as "the oldish chap with the lovely smiley face, hairy ears, hearing aids and braces") who worked behind the CVH bar died last Friday. Apparently he had a heart attack on his way to the hall. Very sad.

The choreographers taught choreography whilst Sebastian taught singing to the principles in Room 2

Some young chap turned up. This pleased one chorus member and annoyed another.

TechnoBod has drafted one set for the village which looks fab and DirectorSB and Producer briefed him on the rest.

Sleeping Beauty was still there - hurrah

Lyric of the Blog: " Life is a rollarcoaster, just gotta ride it" Ronan Keating

Block Bookings

2007-09-13T17:58:00.000+01:00

Woooooo. We're on our way. I received an email today from a uniformed organisation who came to see Dick Whittington last year and want to come again. To quote the leader's email...

" hope this is OK - the kids had a blast last year and begged to return"

So now we have approximately 100 seats plus matinee boxes "sold" to two local groups of cubs, scouts and brownies who saw us last year.

YES!!!!!!!

Lyric of the Blog: " Hard days, good times, blue skies, dark nights. Baby, I want you to take me ... wherever you're going to. Maybe say that you'll save me ... a seat next to you " Bon Jovi

The Casting

2007-09-10T23:02:00.000+01:00

And they all lived happy ever after …. Well, except the Production Team that is…

One of whom said very little
One who was very diplomatic and said the right things to the right people
One who left in tears and is now very angry
And One who is very disappointed but will get over it

Oh … and the rest of the cast didn’t live very happily ever after either……

Two people left before the end of the read through having “made their feeling known” about how they felt about their parts siting friendship, length of service in the group and ability.

What they hadn’t quite grasped is that if parts were handed out based on length of service, they would actually be in the chorus themselves and would not have a part at all as about 6 people have been in the group longer than they have. Ah well…….

Two people at least are genuinely happy about their parts – although one seemed more concerned about ensuring that the team knew that they had 90% of their costume already so we didn’t need to worry. That really could have waited until another night.

To be completely fair – there are probably at least 6 people who are genuinely happy with their parts, they just aren’t openly shouting about it because they know that there are as many people again who are unhappy. One thing is for sure - with so many amazing people in the chorus alone, it’s going to be a damm fine and strong show.

Some people are happy – both brand new and old. Some people are annoyed, disappointed and down – both new and old. But then I guess that’s life really. We all get knock backs in life and we don’t always get what we want out of life but we carry on or do the alternative.

All’s fair in love, war and amdram ;-)

When I started this blogging process with “AllAboutDick” I always wanted to be completely honest with what was happening and to document everything – warts and all. And now I have the opportunity to do so… and to see how things pan out in the long run through the duration of the show because it’s not all going to be plain sailing….So here goes…….

What will Thursday bring - I wonder... Will the cast still be the same?

Lyric of the Blog: "No, you can't always get what you want" The Rolling Stones

Auditions 2. Thurs 6th September

2007-09-07T07:58:00.000+01:00

Yep - Same format - same auditions but different people! More dancing, more singing and lots more script auditions for everyone.

Another 3 new people plus some returnees from other recent shows who swelled the numbers of potential cast members.

Sporting an elastciated bandage from an argument with the stairs that morning my Maleficent audition was more Long John Silver than Evil Queen but never mind. It got laughs. I'm hoping that just maybe that will be the only injury I incur before 9th December this year. Some hope.

One thing is for sure, following last night, Director SB has a very hard job on this hands this weekend to cast the show, keep everyone happy and involved. Not a job I would want to be doing, that's for sure.

Lyric of the Blog: " So come on, come on, get it on. Don't know what you're waiting for. Your time is coming don't be late, hey hey" Take That

Auditions 1 - Mon 3rd September

2007-09-04T07:51:00.000+01:00

This evening brought the usual mix of excitement and nerves.

The evening kicked off with a dance audition for everyone to get us limbered up to "Spice Up your Life". Lots of laughs had by all - then everyone got a chance to warm up their vocal chords as a group before the individual singing auditions started.

The latter part of the evening was spent doing script auditions for individual characters.

Two new potential memebers turned up - hopefully they will stay with us.

Lyric of the Blog: " When you're feeling sad and low. We will take you where you gotta go. Smiling, dancing, everything is free. All you need is positivity" Spice Girls

The Read-Through

2007-08-31T07:39:00.000+01:00

ok - Well ..... here we go again - as it were.

This evening's read-through saw 21 people at CVH sitting in a large square around the outsides of tables, armed with scripts, character assassinations or is that descriptions!, auditions forms etc. So what happened? well;

DirectorSB introduced everyone on the production team including Director Beauty and Producer Sleep. For the purposes of this production, I am in fact Asst. Producer.

I think everyone was happy to be back after the break and some great characters and accents came to light during the process. There was also a period during the read-through where everyone was performing "understated panto" which was very funny and the three blokes who ended up reading in Flora, Forna and Merryweather, the good fairies amused everyone.

So; Here come the auditions........