An evening out.

[castalia]

What ho, all :) Returned very late last night from a rather fun evening with friends from my church choir. Doug, Karen and I had dinner with the Gary & Sandy Farlow at their house (a London Broil, salad, and corn on the cob, the latter of which was actually cooked by me, wonder of wonders). We attended a play at the Chattanooga Theater Center, entitled "Fuddy Meers" (odd, I'll grant you, but I shall explain).

The premise of the play revolved around a middle-aged lady, Claire, who suffered from a type of amnesia. She would wake up every morning with no memory, a complete blank slate. The play covered one day, and involved her current husband, an ex-husband who was revealed later and who also happened to be an escaped convict, her son, her mother (a stroke victim with garbled speech, h ence the title - "fuddy meers" was her term for the funny mirrors at a carnival), another escaped convict, and a prison cafeteria worker aiding the escapees and posing as a female cop.

Chaos obviously ensued. The plot was slow in bits, as they needed a good bit of exposition to reveal all the unknowns of the situation to the amnesiac, but was generally entertaining. Some of the actors had trouble with the blocking (ie - having their backs to the audience) and timing, but this was their opening night so I'm sure they'll improve. The sets were good, and quite ingenious considering the limited space available. It was an extremely tiny theater space.

The language was a bit much for me (I don't mind most profanity, but I don't like the "f-word"), but apart from that I had no major quibbles. It was an extremely funny script in places and I laughed rather a lot.

Funniest thing about the play? The second convict who, while in prison, had constructed a hand puppet whom he called "Inky Binky". This puppet served as a way of spilling most of the beans of the plot (since the convict couldn't "control him"), and I dare say Inky Binky got the most laughs. The actor did a fantastic job with the high-pitched voice for the slightly mad puppet.

All in all, I'd say it was worth the 8 bucks admission. We rounded off the evening with dessert at Rembrandts, where I found the most marvelous tea, a blend called Maté Latte, a sort of cocoa-y herbal blend with a hint of almonds. Must. find. more.

In fannish news, Tremors was kind of blah last night, but Stargate especially rocked. Kudos to Michael Shanks for a stellar performance, and to RDA for spending most of the episode holding vigil over Michael's character :)

Questions from rosabuddatchery to follow...

Comments

Some squees about Michael Shanks

[writerlibrarian]

In fannish news, Tremors was kind of blah last night, but Stargate especially rocked. Kudos to Michael Shanks for a stellar performance, and to RDA for spending most of the episode holding vigil over Michael's character :)

Wasn't Shanks quite amazing in that episode? He whines that he gets the crazy, padded, out of his mind scripts but he shines in them. All three characters were different. Different voices, different body langage.

Of course.. you know that I went.. hummm Sovereign.. wow... ; P

I downloaded the episode this morning. We don't get it in Canada. Grrrr.. it's filmed in Canada with a lot of Canadian money and we don't get to see it unless we break the law. My poor Canadian conscience aches.. NOT! : P


It was a good episode.

Re: Some squees about Michael Shanks

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

He shouldn't whine so much. Those are the eps we like to see :) Ditto to what you said about the different voices. Very well done.

Of course.. you know that I went.. hummm Sovereign.. wow... ; P

Lol! That doesn't surprise me in the least :)

I downloaded the episode this morning. We don't get it in Canada. Grrrr.. it's filmed in Canada with a lot of Canadian money and we don't get to see it unless we break the law. My poor Canadian conscience aches.. NOT! : P

They don't show it there?! My goodness, that doesn't seem fair since it's filmed in Canada. Didn't Sky One used to show it? At any rate, I don't blame you a bit for downloading it.

[sensefille.livejournal.com]

Wow, that must have been lots of fun. "Fuddy Meers": very cute!

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was nice to get out and have fun. The Farlows are in their early 50s, but we get along like there was no age difference at all. It's like having a second family, and I've practically been adopted :)

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Oh, I remember when that was playing here; I never knew what it was about though, thanks for the synopsis, sounds very interesting. :) Glad you had a nice time; the theatre is always a great way to spend an evening, I miss it very much.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

It had been quite a while since I had last been to the theatre, so it was a treat to go. It also made me miss being a part of such productions. I love doing backstage work.

Re:

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean; I can't think of the last time I've seen a play. Sigh, I've always wanted to do a show...you make me pine. ;p

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Have you ever done any theatre work? I'm sure there are so many wonderful plays all the time in NYC, I envy you that. We're lucky to get small productions around here.

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Nah, I've never done anything in theatre before save auditioning for a high school play and not getting a role. ;) I auditioned for a few musicals in the past but my voice has always been less than obliging, so that didn't pan out well either. You know, you'd think there would be all kinds of theatrical opportunities in NY but there really isn't, not on the amateurish scale at least. It's a good place to be for seeing them, but that's about it.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

That's odd, b/c I *was* thinking that NYC would be the perfect place to do theatre. Huh. I'd just love to do a musical! Small dream of mine :)

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

I always wanted to do a musical also; much more realistic for you seeing how you sing and I do not. ;) Keep those eyes peeled for audition notices, you never know, something may spring up. :)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Maybe you can be the playwright, and then go to rehearsals and boss everyone :) I may keep an eye out for something, you never know. Sometimes it's difficult to find parts that fit my voice, but a cool part might pop up.

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure; I'll write a play. What kind of voice do you have? I remember the choir boy spiel, but what type does that constitute? Do you sing show tunes ever? Hey, quite curious now, what kind of music do you sing?

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Let's see...I have a pretty decent range. I can sing tenor, alto, or low soprano (at the moment, an F at the top of the staff is as high as I like to go). My voice is very clear, with no vibrato at all, so it's very suited to slow music, sacred songs, etc. I can do some show tunes, I've got the volume to do it, but really fast music doesn't suit me at all.

If I had my dream role, I'd love to play either Fantine or Eponine in Les Miserables.

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I wish I could hear your voice as it sounds very interesting, unique. I have this weird infatuation with singers, I just love them. I briefly sang for a while but, well, lost my voice, so now I have to live vicariously through others. As for sacred songs, et al, I think it's great you can sing that genre; there are so many singers that wobble over those pieces and ruin the whole essence of them. Jolly, jolly good. :) :)

Heh, Fantine and Eponine used to be my dream roles also. ;)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe someday :) I have to sing this weekend at a concert thing preceeding our annual ice cream social at St. Luke's. I think I'll be doing the Lord's Prayer and Kathleen Mavourneen. No one ever records these things, but I'd love to make an album one day. Sorry to hear you lost your voice. Maybe you can get it back with practice one day. Singing voices really can be delicate things, it's scary.

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

How lovely! Best of luck this weekend, I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. :) Maybe a friend could smuggle a tape recorder in and record the performance, that doesn't exactly produce the professional quality of an album's status, but it's better than nothing, what? Eh, I've given up on singing, it happened some years ago and after trying to get it back, I finally had to let it go. Now, I try to just enjoy other people's voices and make the most of it. :)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Thank you! No matter how many years I do this, I'm convinced I'll always be nervous before singing in front of people. Butterflies, such annoying blighters.

I'm glad that you play an instrument - being so good at piano certainly makes up for not singing. Not the most portable of instruments, but very lovely :)

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Do you get nervous though or only think you will be? It is really nerve wracking to perform though, oh, it used to send me into pieces. *much luck and happy, calming thoughts sent your way*

It’s funny, I always felt really gypped about the singing. Used to think, if I had to lose something, in a flash I would have chucked piano for voice. Because of which, I’ve always been a little resentful re the piano. It’s not as bad anymore, but there was a spell when I hated the thing. Eh, music has never been very kind to me, I’ve noticed.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Well, both I think. Sometimes I stress about it beforehand and sometimes not, but I usually get a few butterflies right before I start. It's not paralyzing or anything, but dashed annoying.

Really? I think I can understand that. I'd probably rather forfeit my trumpet than my voice.

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Very annoying, I agree, but at least you can whip those butterflies into submission.

Not to go into a long detailed recounting, but piano has never been something I've loved. It was something I liked--even then, there were many times when I didn't--, but it never provoked any great sentiment. Singing, however, did. So, loosing it was a nasty shock. Bleh, they're crappy memories and I don't want to muck up the comments thread with 'em, so I'll stop.

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Aw, sorry to hear that. {{hugs}}

[rosabuddatchery.livejournal.com]

Thanks, dear. This is all, like, ancient history, so you know, it's all right. I'm not crying every night over it. ;p

kewl

[shiva113.livejournal.com]

sounds like an interesting play. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

if you find a source for the Mate Latte, you'll have to pass it on. Yerba Mate tea is wonderful.... :-)

check this

[shiva113.livejournal.com]

I just found this....

http://www.teapavilion.com/decaf.html

sounds like it might be close.

Re: check this

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That looks very much like it, although I don't think this version was decaf. It was the "Republic of Tea" brand, the one you can get at Starbucks (although this place had *lots* more flavors). I'll get it somehow, because I think I'm already hooked on that stuff :)

[viola-cesario.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds like a very interesting play.

Mmmm, I want some of that tea!!!

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Me too! I drank the last of it this (or, yesterday now, I suppose) morning on my way to church, so I'm definitely going tea hunting soon :)

Re:

[viola-cesario.livejournal.com]

I'm so gonna have to look for that the next time I'm in a store...I love fun flavored teas :)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too. I'm one of those people who, when asked "coffee or tea?", reply "both, please" :)

I believe it's the "Republic of Tea" brand. Republic of something, anyway. I'll let you know if I run across it in any particular store.

[viola-cesario.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I don't drink coffee, but I drink tons of tea.

Ooh, thanks :)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll forgive you the slight to coffee, since you have such good taste in so many other areas :)

[viola-cesario.livejournal.com]

Haha, thanks so much. I have a friend who lives for coffee and he gets so angry with me every time I get tea instead...;)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Heheh. I do the same to people who like only flavored coffees, like Irish Cream and Hazelnut *g* What kinds of tea do you like?

[viola-cesario.livejournal.com]

Hmm, there's not many kinds I don't like...I like regular, mint, jasmine, green, and a number of flavors that Starbucks offers. Plus I have quite an obsession with Chai when I can get ahold of it :)

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Mmm, jasmine, that sounds good. I need to try that. The Republic of Tea (http://www.republicoftea.com) website has tons of yummy looking teas that I'd like to try as well.