Tuesday night we open!

This last weekend has been a little intense: 12 hours of rehearsal on Saturday, and another long day Sunday for Christopher, Pippa and Dan. And a special three cheers for our Lighting Lady, Ros, who’s also been logging hours big time.

Here’s a look at Ros and Christopher fine-tuning the lights…

So, can you tell that this guy loves theatre…?

******

That’s it for the countdown blog! Thanks for following us.

And we’ll see yas at curtain time!

Today, Saturday, we rehearse all day. That light at the end of the tunnel is definitely a train…

But enough of fretting. It’s time for the results of last week’s 39 Steps caption contest.

"I love it when she does this bit from 'The Sound of Music'."

"Yes, Pamela, we're together. Get used to it!"

"Hmm, handcuff's. Should have brought the horse harness and chain oil..."

CHRISTOPHER

What is your current state of mind?
The calm before the storm.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A good night’s sleep every night.

What is your greatest fear?
Spiders laying eggs in my brain.  (It could happen ya’ know.)

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
You know, that guy…from that time…who did that thing…

Which living person do you most admire?
Me mum.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My irrational notion of where spiders lay eggs.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Unkindness.

What is it that you most dislike?
Raisins.  (Why do they have to ruin perfectly good desserts? Why!?)

What is your greatest extravagance?
Sleeping in.

What do you value most in friends?
Kindness.

What is your favourite journey?
From first rehearsal to opening night.

What is your most treasured possession?
My parents’ trust.

What do you consider the most over-rated virture?
Punctuality.

On what occasion do you lie?
See above.

Which living person do you most despise?
I try not to give Hate any more time or energy than it already garners.

What or who is greatest love of your life?
Creating.

When and where were you happiest?
Anytime and anywhere I was playing in the big, warm waves of the ocean.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
The fact that I think changing just one thing isn’t enough.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Being happy.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
I wish we weren’t so quiet. (Wink.)

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Letting misery win.

What is your favourite occupation?
Teacher.  (Also: circus performer.)

What is your most marked characteristic?
So…

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Antonio from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

How would you like to die?
Mysteriously.

What is your motto?
When you see “raisins” in a recipe, read “pecans”.  The world – and desserts – will be all the better for it.

Delores has actually been helping us with our lines for quite a while now.

But our stage hands – Hannah and Kira – were there for the first time Tuesday night, following along as we did an Italian.

Which is not as bad as it sounds. No Italians were actually, um, done. An “Italian” is a run-through of the script, recited as quickly as possible, with no action. It’s a great way to review lines, and also reveals just how well we all know those lines.

So how did we do at Tuesday’s Italian? A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words…
  

Let’s just say that the realization of how far we’ve still got to go caused Michael to have a genuine, full-blown religious experience…

The set, however, is coming together very nicely. Here’s a sneak peek…

Underwhelmed? Just wait til you see what we do with this pile of props, boxes, furniture, doors and windows… (And yeah, that rag in the foreground, too.)

Michael’s Proust Questionnaire answers.

What is your current state of mind?
Proustian

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Translating John Ruskin.

What is your greatest fear?
Pulmonary abscess.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Jeanne Clemence Weil.

Which living person do you most admire?
J.-Y. Tadie

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Remembrance of things past.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Intrusion.

What is it that you most dislike?
Intrusive questionnaires.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Sesame and lilies.

What do you value most in friends?
Social climbing.

What is your favourite journey?
Within a budding grove.

What is your most treasured possession?
My cork bedroom.

What do you consider the most over-rated virture?
[Censored by admin. Ask Michael in the receiving line after the show.]

On what occasion do you lie?
When captive.

Which living person do you most despise?
Christopher Pendergast.

What or who is greatest love of your life?
A*ole France.

When and where were you happiest?
My youth in Combray.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Grasp of English.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Time regained.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
Mortality.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Sodom and Gomorrah.

What is your favourite occupation?
Librarian.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Addiction to madeleine cakes.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Gilberte Cygnne.

How would you like to die?
Pulmonary abscess.

What is your motto?
Sweet Cheat Gone!

]]> http://the39stepsbancroftplayhouse.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/7-days-to-go/feed/ 0 haroldeastman MichealSuave http://the39stepsbancroftplayhouse.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/8-days-to-go/ http://the39stepsbancroftplayhouse.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/8-days-to-go/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:39:54 +0000 administrator http://the39stepsbancroftplayhouse.wordpress.com/?p=336 ]]> Yikes! We’re in single digits territory.

Today we spend an entire 3-hour rehearsal period finalizing costumes – and how the costume changes will happen. For instance: how will Harold change from a German fighter pilot to an amorous, aristocratic middle-aged English countrywoman [whoa...too many adjectives...] in about 10 seconds.

We can’t show you much about the costumes, because Christopher would kill me because it would spoil the surprise. But here’s a brief peak. In this shot, Christopher and Pippa are getting ready for Michael to practice his flashing scene.*

*Just kidding.

And by the way, how do you like Christopher’s new buzzed look? We’re all just glad that the chemo is going so well.**

**Just kidding. Again.

And here are some shots of our studious company going over the script with appropriate seriousness…or not.

Here are last week’s caption winners…

"What an unfortunate moment - my skirt's just fallen down."

"Oh please, not another gun - can't anyone be original around here!"

"I am about to beget many more like me. Men with backed up colons who run everything."

Now it’s your turn. Here are this week’s frames from the movie The 39 Steps. Send in your caption entries by clicking on the “Leave a Comment” link above.

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

Today, in our typical spirit of service to our readers and (near) future audience members, we present our incredibly helpful guide to the geography of the play.

Actually, this won’t make a lot of sense to most of you, but it does provide some idea of the incredible scope of our production – both in terms of topography and action. Print it up, cut it out, and bring to the play so you can follow along.

• It was International Summer Solstice Blogosphere Respite Day

• It was the day before a very unlucky date.

Also, the admin was too busy to post…

*****

The clock is ticking down. Less than two weeks to opening night, which would be nice if we didn’t still have four weeks of work to do.

But even looming deadlines can’t keep these thespians – that means “actors”, just so there’s no misunderstanding – from their usual highjinks.

Here, for instance, Michael tries to teach Pippa a few steps of traditional English clog dancing. At first, things go well…

But then he throws his back out:

At that point, Dan gives it a shot in his own inimitable style:

And finally, even Harold has a go at it, with disappointing results:

*****

Things take a darker turn when Michael gives Dan an elbow in the ribs, late in the third period:

Christopher looks up the infraction in the Big Book of Theatres Bads, and declares a 5-minute misconduct:

At this juncture, Michael grabs a chair, and things go from bad to worse:

All in a days work at The 39 Steps.

PIPPA

What is your current state of mind?
Wild, like a wind blown flotilla of butterflies over a stormy atlantic.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Peace on earth, peace on earth, peace on earth, peace on earth…oh and a really great dinner party.

What is your greatest fear?
My play dream. Where I’m backstage and there’s a few minutes before the play goes on but i don’t know what the play is or what it’s about and I’m in it. I know I can make it through somehow if I can find a script but of course there’s not a script in sight.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Theseus cos he’s related to poseidon and that would just be cool, in terms of swimming and the ocean and he could feel earthquakes coming. Plus Joan d’Arc – how did she ever do what she did?

Which living person do you most admire?
I admire so many I’d have to make a long list and they would be the people I know! In terms of people I don’t know…Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan for their poetry and Elizabeth May for her chutzpah and perseverance.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Oooohhhhh…..hhhmmmmmmmm……wweeeeelllll…..let us seee, let us see, let us seeeeeeeeeee……Gosh can’t come up with a thing and I really tried to. Oh wait, wait, I’ve got It…Nooo sorry, my mistake.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Punctuality.

What is it that you most dislike?
Dog dirt; an english expression for doggy doo doo.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Socially flit flitting.

What do you value most in friends?
Reasonable tardiness, good cooking to share, conversations about the mysteries of the universe.

What is your favourite journey?
Back to my house or on the way to Clear Lake.

What is your most treasured possession?
My reading glasses, no competition there.

What do you consider the most over-rated virture?
The word morality drives me bonkers.

On what occasion do you lie?
Like never. Okay!

Which living person do you most despise?
Whoever’s in charge of the global energy plan.

What or who is greatest love of your life?
Dudley More and Dan Boileau photo finish.

When and where were you happiest?
Right now right here is as good as it gets so far.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I’d stay forties for the rest of my life.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Keeping my horse fat at 31 years old with bad teeth.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
My parent’s would be these cool ghosts who hang around [only cos they want to] and they’d give advice and hang out at parties with us.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Rainy, cold summers and oil spills. (Are they related?

What is your favourite occupation?
Singing with musicians who are okay with weird singing. The spelling of weird is weird huh?

What is your most marked characteristic?
I limp and I have wrinkles where dimples used to be.

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Reepicheep from the Dawn Treader. A swash buckling rodent is pretty cool.

How would you like to die?
Quietly surrounded by people who don’t mind too much being there, or drowning in a really great body of water.

What is your motto?
Get up in the morning, no matter what!