Ghost Sonata

Ghost Sonata 2011 crew

Ghost Sonata is officially closed. I still have 12 hours of strike ahead of me, but the shocked feeling of being slightly lost has hit me. I felt it after A Chorus of Disapproval too. I live, sleep and breathe a show for a period of time and then suddenly it's just...bam! Done! It's so weird.

I have lived and breathed this show for the past two and a half weeks. And it has been a crazy two and a half weeks. I can't say that I loved every minute - I didn't. But I can't say that I was miserable, either. It was actually amazing. Yes, I wanted to pull my hair out some times. But I also laughed a lot and had a lot of fun. I'm just sitting at my computer, my stage management binder at my feet (yes, my feet. I can feel Nancy's disapproving look as I type this), my RDC email open, and empty, and I'm just...well, almost lost. I don't even really know how to say what I'm feeling. It's just...there. It could also be that I am sleepy because I woke up far too early after the joys of the closing night party, but that's beside the point.

I think I'm also kind of sad because this is the last show I will work with the second years in school, and I'm going to miss them. Our classes got pretty close - at least some of us. It's what happens when you interact every day this closely and work together so often and just generally hang out in the same places. And some of them I may not work with again for a while - or, who knows, ever. Which is a really sad thought.

BUT on a happy note, we ended on a spectacular note. The show was fantastic - except for maybe a bit of noise leaking in from the dance festival and the music concert going on next door - and the last four shows just got better and better and better. This is definitely a show I'm proud to say I worked on, and I made a fantastic contact (and I hope potential friend/mentor) in Mieko Ouchi.

Returning to Middle Earth

I just watched Peter Jackson's first production diary from The Hobbit and I have not been so excited about a film for...well, a really long time. Probably since Half-Blood Prince. But I'm not even sure I was this excited about HBP.

I was watching it, and just to see the old sets - Bag End, Rivendell - and the new ones - Gollum's cave - sent me back to when I was 11, 12, 13, waiting for The Lord of the Rings to come out, watching them over...and over...and over...and over again. Watching the production extras, obsessing over every single aspect of the world. Crying when I watched The Return of the King extra's and saw it ending. All of those feelings and memories came back in a huge rush and I suddenly remembered why I wanted to enter the entertainment industry in the first place. These movies are it. I want to see the magic of my own creation unfold before my eyes, see it from start to finish.

When I first started the video, I was once again shocked when I saw how much Pete has changed physically. I was almost uncertain, until he started speaking. Then it was the same old Pete. He may not have his big tummy, or his duct-taped jacket anymore, but it was the same Pete - passionate about his work, funny, the man who made me want to do what I want to do. Seeing him walk around Rivendell was just...wow. If I had been video taping myself, you would be able to see the flailing, the constant OHMYGOD look on my face. I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot here, but I just don't know how to express how much I am looking forward to these movies, or how much I wish I was in New Zealand right now, working on them. Seeing the little bit of the sets, the costumes, weapons, blocking...it made me want to be there even more. I haven't longed for something like this for a really long time - possibly since The Lord of the Rings came out on DVD and I longed to be there the first time. Or possibly since I wandered through my hometown mall, longing for Harry Potter to be real. I can't remember which was first. But anyway.

Blog Every Day In April

I haven't fully committed to the idea of BEDApril this year. I did it in August last year, when I actually have oodles of time to write blogs up. But at the same time, my life wasn't exciting then as it is now, so I just don't know yet. Which is funny, because it's April 1. Oh, self.

I know I would jump in with both feet without hesitation if I wasn't up to my teeth in Ghost Sonata right now. And that isn't complaining, it's just a statement. There's something that I really love about being so busy with a show. I mean, I am a naturally lazy person, so I would almost always prefer to be lounging at home, but there's really something about seeing the show from the barest of the bare bones to a full fledged, living organism. And we open in less than two weeks. O_O I'm in awe of that every time I think about it.

If nothing else, perhaps it being BEDA month will be a cause for posts more often than there have been lately.