Folks, this is your last chance to see the only professional production of this fun musical produced to date in the Philadelphia area. Go to http://www.mediatheatre.org to get the remaining show times. Audiences have been wowed; standing ovations every night.
I'm not quite ready to write a postmortem yet. I'll wait for next week. It has been generally a great experience. I've not gotten to know many people very well but that's probably as much from hanging back as from the natural distance of being so much older than the rest of the cast. I'm really looking forward to Sweeney where I know the cast will be a mix of older and younger. Speaking of Sweeney, the first meeting is Wednesday night. Seems Pierrot Productions has a tradition of having a party at the start of their spring productions and so we meet on April first. I have no idea who else was cast at this point. Unfortunately, one of the cast of Shook Up is throwing a party after the Wednesday matinee and I will not be able to attend. There's an irony here somewhere.
One of the advantages of not being "in the loop" is that I have not been privy to people's complaints about Media, the hotel, the management, all of which I know are occurring but the details of which I am blissfully unaware. I have felt very good about all of my contacts with the staff of the theater. They are professional and friendly. I'll get more specific next week but suffice to say, I would work for this outfit again in a minute. I do have a general critique, but it applies to all regional non-profits. There has to be a better way of communicating need and soliciting money and tickets than having a pre-curtain speech. It just feels so bush league. Maybe it's just me but I note that, except for some charity appeals, like the Equity AIDS drive, there are not these speeches in the city theatres (NY or Philly). I know that funding is an issue but I favor the kind of appeals I get from Opera Company of Philadelphia; email and direct mail. I know funding is a critical issue. I don't have the magic formula but, is it really necessary to tell people what next season' s schedule is when the audience has that info in their hands and it's posted in the lobby? When I'm an audience member I resent the 10 minutes added to my evening. I come for the show. I want it to start at 8. I actually am less likely to contribute when appealed to in this manner. Then again, I can be a curmudgeon. Perhaps others don't share my feelings.

All Shook UP opened last week and, after the first 7 shows, I am still standing. I envy the rest of the cast their two days off this week. I of course am at my office seeing patients and doing evaluations. The true test of stamina begins on Wednesday as another 7 shows begins. This time I'll be working days in addition to performing nights. The results will pretty much determine whether or not professional theatre is a good idea for me. Meanwhile, All Shook Up has garnered rave reviews from the audiences with standing ovations every night. I am proud to be associated with the production, no matter that I have little to do with the enthusiasm of the audience.

Audition last night at Kelsey for Sweeney Todd. I almost canceled. I am just so tired. But I went because I knew I'd be sorry if I didn't. Now I'm sort of sorry I did. I just was poorly prepared. I tried using a song from the show that I thought I knew but, without time to practice with piano, I did not have the song down tight as I believed and so blew it. The monologue, while okay, was generic and undistinguished. In retrospect I think it would have been appropriate to do a classic monologue for this show. Oh well, the director has seen my work and knows I'm competent. The music director has worked with me before and knows I can sing. We'll see. I just can't do everything I want to do as well as I want to do it all the time. Well, the auditions apparently drew over 70 people and so the competition is going to be strong. I'll be pleased just to get a call back.

One nice thing about auditioning at Kelsey though is the number of familiar faces. It's nice to be among friendly faces at an audition and I'm always genuinely pleased to see many of my acting buds.

So Wednesday is two performances of All Shook Up and I'm raring to go.

I'm writing this on my phone while at Tech for All Shook Up. Any actor knows why this is called Hell Week; sitting, waiting, boredom, long hours, frayed nerves. It's the tedium that creates the magic.
So now that rehearsals are done I have survived the couple of weeks and have some perspective. It's not at all easy to have two jobs! It takes a toll on both of them. While my patients will be pleased when the show opens, it will be even harder on home life. Wednesday thru Saturday I might as well be in a hotel for all I'll be home. At least Sunday night thru Wednesday morning I'll be home. Family is not happy. I am conflicted. On the one hand this is what I've wanted to do my entire life. Going back to acting after so many years is the direct result of having survived cancer (so far) and realizing I could not postpone my dreams any longer if they were to be anything but unfulfilled. So I became a scuba diver and came back to theater. I also stopped working nights so that I could coach Sommer and be home more. I made a decision not to act summers to enjoy those months with Carolyn. I don't know how far I can take acting. Acting and psychology together take a toll physically, relationally, and also financially. I struggle with whether I am being selfish. When is it time to put your dreams away? Can I have it all? Can I fulfill all the roles in life I desire well; or will the attempt doom them all to mediocrity?