Monthly Archives: June 2011
Radelaide Cabaret Festival: a brief debrief
Fiona O’Loughlin told me many, many moons ago that her family understood that the first couple of days after she got back home from a festival, she wasn’t really BACK. Night 1: almost certainly take-away.
Oh how I get it.
As such, just a quick (and mostly pictorial) debrief from my most excellent time in Adelaide.
I went with the goal of testing the waters with the show, getting some photos and if I managed to score some nice quotes to pull out of any reviews, that would be all the sweeter. Like the double dip on an already awesome Tim-Tam.
Mission accomplished. Topped off with some fabbo vintage browsing, market trawling and defeating the headcold that kept threatening to spoil the whole damn thing…KAPOW! It’s enough to make me want to serenade the whole damn city of Adelaide itself, with “Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You.” (Note to self: file that one away. Could be good publicity.)
Anyhoo, I returned to my beautiful and suitably happy to see my clan. My boys promptly returned to their default setting of ‘caffeine jitters without the caffeine’ while my daughter took all of 5 minutes to unpack my new wig and make it her own.
Ah. Yes.
I am almost back.
Opening Night Photos!
So, I wanna gush about last night (so, so wonderful. AGH! I can’t wait to do it in Brissie!) but first I’ve gotta tell you about my Opening Night to my work-in-progress version of this show a couple of years ago in Calgary.
That was as part of the Calgary Fringe, where, as is the deal with many festivals (and indeed, professional shows in general!), at the prescribed starting time the CURTAINS GO UP. Even if a Tibetan yak somehow makes itself backstage, reaking havoc and spurting milk out of its bosum all over the stagehand, at starting time the show WILL BEGIN!
So…my opening night. It’s three minutes to go til the show begins and I’m backstage, feeling a little frazzled for two reasons:
1) In the chaos of gathering my (far too many) props, costumes, etc, I have somehow neglected to pack my make-up bag. That’s right. I have no make-up. My lovely friend Kath is madly scrummaging around to see what she can find. She finally locates some makeup in her handbag, however I am struggling to put it on, namely because…
2) I am breastfeeding my five month old who, despite my best efforts to time this better, will NOT GET OFF MY BOOB. He refuses. Every time I try to pry him off he goes all “Magneto getting taken from his family” on me. I swear, bits of metal start bending and everything.
Tick.
Two minutes to go.
It is at this moment that I distinctly remember thinking a thought I had never ever before felt bubble up: “WHY AM I DOING THIS?!”
Was I insane? Why not just wait until life is actually manageable? This is RIDICULOUSH!
Plus, ny hubby and I were so stressed with each other that night – we had all three kids running screaming through the theatre seats during my tech run as they’d been booted out of their make-shift greenroom and Mummy was…yes, not coping.
But, at the end of the show (of which, if you get to see it, you’ll see my hubby is a major, major part), he came backstage and we had the longest hug ever.
“Babe,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival: Episode 2
Wow. Just, wow. Had such a beautiful time tonight, I really wanna write more when it’s not almost 2 in the morning and I am not still crazy and buzzing.
But in short, lovely crowd, I enjoyed myself hugely and I think it went pretty well. Will have photos soon too so will pop some up!
In the meantime, here are a few random shots from my day.
P.S. Just want to say a huge (and by that I mean “very, very large) thank you to each of you who have taken the time to wish me luck, encourage me and/or cheer me on. You are part of this. I mean that. Thank you!!! Xxx
Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Festival: day 1
I am here! Yes! In Adelaide!
This is nothing short of a miracle as this time yesterday, it looked likely that flights would be canceled thanks to a certain volcano that just couldn’t contain itself for a few more centuries. Bloody volcanoes. Can’t live with em, can’t live without em..actually hang on a second, actually I totally could. Yeah, on second thought: Volcanoes, you can go suck it.
When I rocked up at the airport in the wee willy winky hours of this morning, I was greeted with this:
8 hrs after I left my house this morning, (yes, 8!!) I arrived, just in time to sit my butt down in the 5AA studios for a lovely interview with a mama tour-de-force after my own heart, Amanda Blair.
Walking home I found this:
And this:
It warmed my innards.
Which was lucky. It’s freaking cold.
The Good, the Bad and the Good (and the Bad)
THE GOOD:
Loving my iPhone. Just worked out how to upload pics to twitter. This excites me. I am excitable by simple things.
THE BAD:
Our bank balance.
THE GOOD:
Picked up my dress last night and it is so adorable I want to hold it by a fire. But not too close. That thing is flammable.
THE BAD:
Our bank balance. And family dramas. And our bank balance.
THE GOOD:
The show is coming together beautifully, I have found a data projector for hire in Ads (woohoo!) at a reasonable price (woohoo!) – which was a late but important addition to the show – and I am so looking forward to performing it this week.
THE BAD:
Our bank balance. And, after only just moving into our new place three weeks ago, we’ve just been told that the owner is now selling the house.
THE GOOD:
I am in denial.
THE BAD:
I am in denial.
xxx
Interview in Adelaide ArtBeat!
Hehe, I quite like this one actually. You can check it out in all its glory (or at least, text) here.
Getting a Little Big Emo and a Lot Overwhelmed…
Ahhhhh, those were the days...
I don’t even know what to write right now. My head is a bit all over the shop, truth be told.
Allow me to outpour.
I’m crazy busy rehearsing every night, doing publicity stuff between tantrums during the day, trying not to beat myself up too much for not being mother-of-the-year, trying to motivate myself to get the slow cooker cranking before 3, and trying to deal with the emotions that are coming up from doing this show. I am TRYING!
Because this show, if I haven’t mentioned it before, is insanely personal. And I do mean insane, as in, sometimes I question whether I’m nuts doing it.
But then, as I said to my sister-in-law last night, the show is now at a point where for the first time ever I can honestly say that it doesn’t even matter to me whether or not it’s a “success”. Because the “success” has already happened in a way: I have a show that – for better or for worse – is authentically me.
Very excited. And emotional. And crazy.
xxx
5 Ways I’m Spending My Days at the Mo…
1. Toddler wrangling. The more I do it, the more I realise that their cuteness is really just a self-defence mechanism.
2. Rehearsing my show. Only eight days to go til I jet off to Adelaide for the Cabaret Fringe Festival, possibly my once in a lifetime opportunity to say that I performed at the same festival as Olivia Newton-John. I may just die happy.
3. Taking acting classes at La Boite! This is something I’ve long desired, but only just mustered the balls to do. I was worried that my obsession with improv would prove a problem, but as I’m discovering (with lightbulb after lightbulb moment), spontaneity and a willingness to deviate from “my PRESENTATION!!!!” of the script is actually a good thing. Loving this so, so much!
4. Reading most excellent blogs such as this.
5. Dealing with deep personal turmoil. And/or looking at the latest Ikea catalogue. Whichever you choose to believe.
The Road Less Travelled: Will the Money Follow?
A study into business school graduates tracked the careers of 1500 people from 1960-1980. The graduates were grouped into two categories:
Category A: students who wanted to make lots of money first, so they could do what they really wanted to do. 83% (1245) of the students fell into this category.
Category B: Students who wanted to pursue their passions immediately, sure the money would eventually follow. Only 17% of students (255) were risk takers.
Can you guess what happened? Of the 1500 graduates, 101 were millionaires in 1980 – 1 from Category A, and 100 from Category B. Source: The Practice of Leadership.
This excerpt from the e-book I’m currently reading: “Unleash the Beast: Releasing Your Inner Creative Monster” by Steff Metal (downloadable for free here) is timely. Not that I’m expecting to become a millionaire, but it’s comforting to think that maybe the road less travelled doesn’t always have to be paved with home-brand.
