You're The One For Me Fatty

So I have a job, I guess. It is only for a week but there is the possibility of the show being extended (again, apparently it has been extended thousands of times). There hasn't been a clear offer but both the Assistant Production Manager and the Stage Manager (who I will replace) spoke as if it is a done deal. Any way I drove to Vienna and rode the Metro in, and all in all it was a lovely trip. I got into the city far too early so I got to bum around Dupont Circle for 30 minutes or so. For those of you unfamiliar with DC, Dupont Circle is sort of the center of DC's gay and lesbian community. The theatre is gorgeous. They have a huge building with three theatres (Poppa, Momma and baby sizes). They are very contemporary looking. Very classy. I only was able to check out the theatre I will be in but it was quite nice, very stylish. The play (Fat Pig) is typical Neil Labute. Very well written but almost difficult to watch at points. You sort of agree with and are repulsed by the characters at the same time. The acting . . . was honestly a little disappointing. I saw understudies for both the male roles, but still, I just expected to be blown away and wasn't. I have seen better. Many times. I have also seen worse. The design of the show is lovely and I am looking forward to calling it. I am a little scared though, I only have 3 performances until the current SM leaves. So I will have to learn fast. I am actually going in tomorrow gratis just to have an extra chance at watching. The job pays bubkis (it's Equity SPT) but I am looking forward to a new adventure.

Madame Secretary

Check out this op-ed by Madeline Albright

. . . .the administration must stop playing solitaire while Middle East and Persian Gulf leaders play poker

Doubleday
Originally uploaded by Johnxiv.

I love the way the tree shadow plays on the tombstone. This is Abner Doubleday's grave at Arlington Cemetery.

Project Bizarro World

So I really don't want to be this guy but I must. I must write about Project Runway. So Chloe won, which I am happy about. But here's the thing. The last two episodes were so weird. Did anyone else notice how it was like we went to bizarro world. e.g. The Second to last episode. The one that recapped what the designers did with their time to prepare their runway shows. Tim visits each of the contestants separately. By the way Tim Gunn is hot, I mean the man is an international hottie. I am in love. Anyway back to bizarro world Project Runway. So Tim visits Santino. Santino the bad guy. The one we love to hate. Suddenly we see a Santino that we feel sorry for and actually love what he is designing. No scary Tonya Harding-esque dresses. And Tony Ward. What the hell, Santino knows Tony Ward? That whole connection terrifies me. Santino is supposed to be an asshole and hear we are rooting for him because he has had such a shitty life and has self-esteem issues. A completely different Santino then we have been shown previously.
When Tim visits Daniel we find he now sports a Mrs. Brady hair cut. That really should have been addressed. Tim really should have taken him to task over that. Daniel has been the star thus far the cute guy we root for. Suddenly he gets his inner asshole on and starts to complain that Tim didn't compliment his collection enough. I am sorry golden boy but you have to have your ego stroked in every episode? By the way Daniel and Nick are totally sleeping together. I can't remember the specific episode (one of the challenges Daniel won) when Nick came back off the runway the camera showed him embracing the few others back there and when he moved to Daniel he was clearly moving in for some deep tongue action and the camera dropped like someone kicked the camera guy in the nuts. Anyway back to bizarro world . . .
Tim visits Chloe, her mother and her 609 sisters. Chloe's mother clearly does not want a homosexual in her home. As Tim walked thru the door it seemed like Chloe's mom was going to spit on him. So Chloe is presented to appear completely unprepared and unready which continues into the final episode. Then when she wins they judges cite here abilities as a business woman. This is the woman who didn't have any finished pieces or renderings when Tim visited. Really bizarro world. I know the producers didn't want to have the winner be obvious but it was like a different director shot the last two episodes. It was kind of disappointing. One final thing, anyone notice how Heidi completely tripped over introducing Debra Messing? It was like she had never heard of this woman before. I shouldn't complain it was a small price to pay for not seeing Heidi's hideously pregnancy engorged belly-button. Still I can't wait for season three.

Inferno

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.

Ahi quanto a dir qual era é cosa dura
esta selva selvaggia e aspra e forte
che nel pensier rinova la paura!

~excerpt from Inferno I by Dante Alighieri

Ok so I am not exactly "nel mezzo" of my life but it the rest of the quote fits really well. I am so freaking bored! I need a job in the worst way. The vacation feel of this time off has ended somewhat abruptly. I feel rudderless and adrift. It is very strange after eight years of really hard work I thought I would enjoy being free for a longer period of time. Sadly that is not the case, I am stir crazy. I need a job before I go insane. It is so hard to figure out which direction your life should go. I keep waiting for a giant hand from heaven to point the way while secretly knowing it will never show up. It doesn't help that I live in the Orange County of the East Coast. Where everything hinges on how much money you make and how expensive your car is. It seems like there is no room for a member of the artist caste up here. Everything is so expensive and fake and everyone is so self-involved and unhappy. Sorry didn't mean to sound so Dawsony but the mood struck.

Some other random information from my trials and tribulations:

~Finally got the new Fiona Apple album, I heard bits and pieces when it was leaked onto the internet a while before it was released but didn't remember much. I usually hate the way recording artists can play the "record companies are the devil" bit but I really like the album, it is very Fiona Apple, not destined to win her new fans but simply to please the fans she already has.

~Saw Reefer Madness the Movie Musical. While not the best musical with a few great and a few bad performances it was a lot of fun. Ana Gasteyer has a great voice, I would have loved to have seen her in Wicked.

~My folks and I saw the National Tour of Les Mis at the National in January. For those of you who haven't seen it, the first act occurs in real time. Literally twenty-five years pass before intermission. And we saw the reduced version! We saw the standby for Valjean and Threnardier but both were really good. But the sound sucked, there were several late mic cues that really pissed me off and the kids were terrible.

~In the packing and unpacking trauma that was the month of January I realize that I have lost the fifth season of Buffy. Which is a terrible, terrible thing. I am truly lost without it.

~I am slowly been sucked into the television. I have fallen in love, in absolute love with the television show Wonderfalls. It airs on Logo. Yes I watch the gay channel, and No I'm not proud. I watched the mini-series Rome on HBO. It was great. I want to be a bitchy roman domina.

~I am currently on my 5th cell phone in a little over a month.