Friday Back On Track Random Ten - SKIDOO!

Another few days of clowns and foot pain. Normally I might joke that the clowns are worse, but we've had some damned fine luck this year, Berit and I, in teching a number of excellent groups that have come in for the Clown Theatre Festival, and, while tiring, it's been a joy working with all of these cool, interesting people from around the country and world.

Today, I have to dry-tech Bryan Enk's The Crow: Final most of the day, and I was going to go home and rest after, but tonight will be the last chance I have to see two great shows, Solo and Tapate/Cover Yourself, so I guess I'll stick around and rest tomorrow. Also tonight is The Maestrosities, a great clown band show, which I have to run board for on Sunday, so I should see it again. So another 12+ hour day at The Brick.

The ankle gets better, but in a way that would look like a sharply rising jagged line if you were to graph it. Most of the time it feels like nothing happened, but if I'm on it too long it reminds me that something did. So I keep using the walking stick even when not "needed" to be as easy on it as I can.

Plans for next year's shows becoming clearer. Current plan: Original New Show #1 in the June Festival with possible July extension; then, in August -- Harry in Love: A Manic Vaudeville by Richard Foreman, Original New Show #2 (possibly known as Spell), and That's What We're Here For (an american pageant revisited) if I can get most of the cast back (if not, Original New Show #3). Either original shows #1 or #3 will have the subtitle "(Invisible Republic)." Possibly the title "What Are You Looking At?" Show rehearsal and/or creation and/or revision for all pieces will begin in January and shows should be near-"finished" including full tech, sets, props, costumes, by the end of May with further runthroughs/refinement of the August shows to happen in July. I'm tired of rushing things. I'm giving myself time with all of these. And still, yes, there's some kind of energy in doing this many shows all at once that keeps the mind active in ways I like, so I want to keep doing it. Just over a long enough period of time to give each show more attention than I've given myself the last two years.

I have script fragments and ideas for Spell, and various image, theme, rhythmic, sonic, light, and movement ideas for the other potential original works (enough to suggest titles, if not much else). Berit and I have been reworking That's What We're Here For to strengthen the "trade show performance" framing structure and fix the weak Act II. One of the new pieces will need a cast of dancers, or at least people with LOTS of movement skills.

And all of this depends entirely on The Brick's plans, of course.

I left the iPod in the car, so today's Random Ten comes off the even larger iTunes on Berit's computer:

1. "Keep On" - Keith Mansfield - Soundsational Sampler
2. "Oh Girl" - Young-Holt Unlimited - Oh Girl
3. "Suffocate" - Ralph Smedley - Real Gone Garbage
4. "Someone I Know" - Margo Guryan - Rato's Nostalgia Collection 15
5. "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" - LCD Soundsystem - mix disk from my Dad
6. "In Dark Trees" - Brian Eno - Vocal box set
7. "School Is a Gas" - The Wheel Men - Pebbles Volume 4 - Surf'n Tunes!
8. "Fine Di Una Spia" - Ennio Morricone - The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly soundtrack
9. "Flower" - Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
10. "Blowin' in the Wind" - Marianne Faithfull - My Songs of the Sixties

Mark Evanier has been promoting an important cinematic event on his blog, a meaningful one to me, and has now created a banner to share to remind everyone of this upcoming event, even months in advance:

If you haven't seen and don't know about this film . . . well, there's a little about it on Wikipedia HERE - maybe enough to whet your interest. All I can say is, reputation as a disaster notwithstanding, I love this goddamned movie, it's funny and touching as hell, forms the first part of an great unintended trilogy with Head and 200 Motels, and should be seen. It's never been released on video - I have a bad bootleg copy, but saw a good print at Film Forum a few years back - and it's shot with full use of the widescreen frame, so I NEED to get a copy from this broadcast - as it's on TCM, it will almost certainly be a lovely, clean print, letterboxed.

I will be reminding you more and more as the date approaches. Just to warn you.

Off to write light cues . . .