Musings

Well good people, here am I, sitting backstage of the Crown Theater with Jose (Don Juan), Duncan (Duncan), and Jim Hancock (Burley Minstrel) as we record a "new" young talent on Jim's portable recording studio. His name is Mac McGregor and he plays a lovely Flamenco Guitar - reminiscent of our old friend Malcom (of Cantiga). As "Blind Dog Entertainment" we are recording a demo for him. He is a good talent and a nice man - we're hoping he can find work in (or out of) our community.

Last weekend, Mother's Day, is a blur to me. I know it was fun. I know we all laughed..and that is good. On Saturday there was a benefit for R.E.S.C.U. (an organization which aids finacially troubled Rennies with medical issues) whereby MPIII (an improv group here at Scarborough), Coy (our General Manager) and Orvis (Marketing) performed improv on stage and sold water balloons to the audience (us Rennies) and we got to bombard them all! Wet and wacky!! They raised over a thousand dollars! (Good going guys!)

This past week was spent writing for the next movie/filming project. Duncan and I and the Nuns hung out and have been coming up with some pretty silly stuff - can't wait to see it come to fruition this summer! Also this was he Weenie Roast - last social fling week! SO MUCH TO DO SO LITTLE TIME! The Weenie Roast was great fun - we had special performances by Weenie Man, The Pickler, The Potato Person (double-baked) and Galactic Gal! Really wonderful performances, each one of us was truly amused.

Two weekends left...can't believe how fast the time is flying...soon off to upstate New York and cooler (colder) weather and the beginning of Spring (again). This weekend is Pirate's Weekend here at Scarborough - we're going to have The Corsairs sharing the stage with us and The London Broil this weekend. I miss the Corsairs out here and am glad that they'll be here for at least one weekend. It's gonna be wild, though, trying to fit us all on this stage. Stop by and witness the madness!

Also I wish to take a moment to congratulate all those kids who are now young adults who are graduating from High School this year (Ali, and of course my little red-haired girl). Be joyful in your graduating. This is a true accomplishment in life. And, as you all experience your lives, may you be shown beauty and grace in all of your days. May your dreams come true (but not too fast) and may you always find friendship and love in your lives.

Busy Busy and Liking it!

"When it rains it pours."

After a fun-filled 4th weekend here at Scarborough.....

Tuesday, May 2, Martha Gay (the Harpist of Cantiga and soon to have her own Blind Dog release) and I went to Alexandria, Virginia (think D.C.) to see a "Command performance" of our dear friends - Patti McKenny and Doug Frew's new musical "Becoming George". Its about the famous cigar-smoking, pants-wearing French cultural icon George Sand. There was a talk-back after the show with Steven Schwarz (Godspell, Wicked). Such a great show, such a delightful experience. And, with some of the anti-war sentiment (Franco-Prussian) kind of ballsy to perform next to the nation's capital! We know Patti and Doug from the old Chicago "King Richard's" days when they were involved with writing some of the festival-wide, day-long scenarios (mostly with a strong musical bent). Plus Patti and Doug used to help out with the "Don Juan and Miguel News" back in the day. It was so cool to make a madcap dash out to the East coast (we're working Scarborough) to see our good friends triumph! We hung out with them and the cast (director and composer) celebrating, conversing, joking and laughing until the wee hours. Thank you friends

The next day (Wednesday) we had to arise in the EARLY morning hours to catch a plane back to Dallas (thank you mr) where another creative event awaited. After dropping Martha off to her home I caught a ride with those fabulous ladies of Hey Nunnie Nunnie! and went to a writing retreat on Cedar Lake. Those attending were Don Juan and Miguel, Hey Nunnie Nunnie! and The London Broil boys. We met to discuss and form the next Blind Dog film project. We spent two nights and three days in a state of creative tension and bliss. The cabins were nice, the company delightful and the ideas terrific! We hashed out what we've been learning on our journey as filmmakers so that we can use this knowledge to go to a different level of story-telling while keeping our wacky sense of humor going. We came up with a truly elegant structure and have decided to film our newest during the run of the Sterling Renaissance festival! Such a beautiful part of the country! And such a talented group of people, it will be a pleasure to film there.

The writing retreat wrapped up on Friday morning. We left feeling inspired. The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the weekend.

THE WEEKEND.... Well, weekend five threatened rain on Saturday but it never actually manifested. The night before there were fairly violent storms all around us, but we seem to have escaped the worst of it, and just got some rain during the night. The temperature was perfect on both days! I must admit that many of the performances we do don't really stick with me (I can't remember them all, I don't have enough hard-drive!) But the QUEEN OF SPAIN SHOW at 3:30 on Sunday was one of the most bizarre and silliest things I've been part of in a long time. I had so much fun! If something could go wrong, it did! As we say...It was a hoot!

Monday May 8th: The day was spent hanging with Jim Hancock and Duncan Pace fine-tuning the new Lost Princess soundtrack CD. Plus we worked on our good friend Michael Marzella's CD - The King Sings.

Tuesday May 9th: Finished the Soundtrack. All is ready. Sweltered in the heat.