On September 9, 1850, California was admitted as the 31st US state.
On September 9, 1926, the National Broadcasting Company formed.
On September 9, 1956, Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
On September 9, 2007, I auditioned for Anton in Show Business.
Despite more than 20 people filtering through this 7-woman cast, a cast was finally settled in December. Though in the time it took to mount this production I opened and closed another show, this show has finally opened. Today, for the first time in months, I have a day off that is neither a holiday nor one that will be followed by rehearsal tomorrow. I have, in fact, three days off. It's a wonderful -- and needed -- break.
Three critics visited opening night. We have since seen all three reviews, and the response is overwhelmingly positive.
Though I was noted in one review for doing "some standout work in many of [my] assigned roles" and in another as "imposing," this show is not mine to carry and even the leads were mostly ignored in favor of reviewing the ensemble of "lovely," and "talented" woman with "perfect, rigorous timing" which presented the "problems, pains, joys, and general absurdities that make theatre so much fun and so bloody frustrating."
Amen to that. And on we go. I will begin rehearsing another (smaller) show within the week: a staged reading of Neil Simon's The Good Doctor which will be presented in Carlsbad on February 11. It, too, will open and close while Anton continues.
Fate has a funny way of lining things up. Though I've never done Chekhov, both shows on my immediate radar deal intimately with him. He is the "Anton" in Anton in Show Business, which deals with casting an ill-fated production of The Three Sisters. Though veiled, he is also "The Writer" in Simon's The Good Doctor.
I have not yet delved into the subject of the still unsettled New Perspective Festival, which is currently selecting plays from nearly 50 submissions without having producers, directors, or a venue to mount them. Though I did manage to drum up interest from a local college with a booming theatre department, the college is without a dean and cannot promise us approval to use their space if our "preferred" venue -- still dragging its foundation in responding to our proposal -- falls through.
In other news, there is no sign yet of my pinky healing. Though the Scripps Urgent Care declared it was not broken, worked it through a numbed range of motion, and referred me to Physical Therapy, a second opinion after PT increased swelling and discoloration declared that it had been broken after all. Six weeks after the injury, a third opinion dismissed both previous declarations because the area in question on film and the area in question in pain were not a direct match. What the injury may actually be and how long it may take to heal are still unknown, but while the pain persists, I am to keep the finger immobile. After weeks of splinting and taping, this becomes an increasingly moot point as the joints begin to stiffen.
Perhaps by September 9, 2008 all will become clear.
