Waiting Until 12:01 AM, Sunday Morning...
I am a technical “Medusa!” If anything can go wrong with a piece of electronic equipment, it will happen as soon as I touch it. It turns into a very expensive stone paperweight. Well, obviously that’s an exaggeration since I was able to type (usually very poorly) this entry and post it on my website. Speaking of my website, please take a few moments to review the other pages; you might find them interesting, more grammatically correct (although I don’t make any promises) and/or mildly entertaining. There are even some sound files/links so that you can get a sample of my cabaret and voice-over work. Listening to me sing, you’ll realize the old adage is true…that you don’t have to have a great voice to do cabaret! I mean I can sell a song, but nobody is going to hire me to sing a requiem mass. LOL!
And I really can’t believe I got some theatre nominations this season for musicals/cabaret revues. The winners are going to be announced this Sunday. If the Desert Theatre League, the adjudicating organization, follows the pattern they used for listing the nominations, then the winners will be announced at exactly 12:01 AM Sunday morning. I’m certain there will plenty of red-bull overdosed theatre artists waiting up to see the final results. I suppose I’ll be one of them, although my pandemic bedtime is usually 10:00 PM (or earlier!). Normally, there is a huge exciting awards ceremony and dinner to review the nominations, announce the winners, and present the awards. Everyone works to lose a few pounds to look their best, and dress to hilt. Well, at least I try; a big flashy rhinestone brooch draws the eye away from the beer gut. Please note: I hate beer, but I suppose the “chardonnay gut” sounds silly.
And it really is wonderful seeing all your colleagues showered. Usually we spend time with each other wearing grubby rehearsal clothes or sweaty costumes. I’ll write an expose’ of the “glamour” of backstage life to all you non-theatre folk soon…although maybe not….all of the theatres’ casting directors might not want to hire me again! Let me just say that everything onstage hides a great deal of blood (yes, I’ve had mishaps….although not since moving here), sweat (I’ve soaked through my costumes before…you could wring them out!) and tears (Oy! Tech Week deserves its own column!).
But this year, I’ve transferred all my usual excitement regarding the awards ceremony (it’s cancelled due to the pandemic) and directed it towards the local theatrical community. Hell, this is directed to theatre worldwide. The 2019-2020 season has been especially troublesome (that sounds like a nice word…as opposed to the more accurate word: “crappy!). Everyone seems to focus on the fact that the season was cut short in mid-March, but there were some wonderful productions earlier in the season. But, of course, the future remains uncertain. We just don’t know when live performances will start up again. God bless, Zoom, but it simply doesn’t create that wonderful energy between and audience and the performance on stage. But it is providing actors with some outlets. You know things are rough when the most in-demand performer says they feel like a “has-been.” (and no, I’m not talking about myself – I can only wish I were as talented as this person!)
Of course, it would be nice to win an award this year – I crave affirmation…it’s like crack cocaine to an actor! – I’m just very proud of everyone in the theatre community. We’ve had the joy of performing, the heartbreak of having productions suddenly close, and we continue to have the faith that live theatre will return more vibrant than ever.
Wow, I think I just wrote my concession/acceptance speech.
A list of the nominees (including yours truly) can be found at:
Wishing good luck to everyone!
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