Summer of Horn |
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An electronic journal of my summer as a member of the 50th anniversary cast of ''Horn in the West''. HOME Archives: 
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Saturday, June 30, 2001
Got back from Trade Days a little while ago. It's basically a big yard sale held in Trade, TN, which is just across the border from Boone. Not much to it, really. I expected THOUSANDS of people there, but there were only a couple hundred at most. Then again, it was pretty early yet.
We did songs from the show, as well as a couple of the Preacher's prayers. Unfortunately, someone forgot to bring a banner or brochures with us, so that show was basically all the publicity we had to go on. About the most exciting thing that happened was that one of the people in the group got bit by a ferret. We saw it on the ground and she let the critter hide in the shade under her dress. For this act of kindness, she got a bite right in the... well, let's just say it was under her dress and leave it at that. Not much else to say at the moment. Until after the show tonight... Friday, June 29, 2001
Good show tonight. No major accidents or props failures to report. Actually, two cool things happened tonight. First, as our quartet was preparing to sing for the masses, someone came up to me and recognized me from my days at Snow Camp. And here I thought Mark Woodard would be the only one to ever do that. :)
Then, I learned from Gail Powell that I will indeed be doing The Actor's Nightmare at the Powderhorn in a few weeks. Auditions will be next week sometime (she has to make a schedule of all the shows first, to be sure of performance dates and such). I'm looking forward to it. One thing that has sort of dampened my mood though. I feel kind of downhearted 'cause it seems that my friends from Aiken and elsewhere outside of this area have forgotten me. I haven't received any kind of e-mail from anyone acknowledging me or my return to acting. I realize that what I'm doing isn't exactly "high profile", but it'd be nice to at least know that someone out there cares. In any case, tomorrow is Trade Days. A group of us are headed to Tennessee to do PR for Horn. Hopefully all will go well, and we will make our audiences even bigger and better than ever. RAIN UPDATE: Every Friday, I will make a list of the number of times the show has gone through rain delays and rainouts, as well as the number of times we have been instructed to go to "rain pace", which basically means "go fast so everyone doesn't get wet." Through June 29: Rainouts: 0 Rain Delays: 0 Rain Pace calls: 2
Last night went well, if you consider shredding costumes and breaking props to be "going well". :P I caught the sleeve of my Act I shirt in a tree as I was exiting and ripped it open, and then a crutch that I use in Act II broke during the scene, so I had to pawn it off to my "Wife" Kathy and told her to take it off with her. I then limped offstage to end the scene.
It wasn't a banner night for me in a choral sense, either. In fact, the choral director took us aside after the show last night and warned us that we were getting sloppy. No arguement from me there. Becky, Lexi, Mike and I went up to the Powderhorn Theatre before the show to entertain a dinner group, and we kinda sucked. Part of it was that we didn't warm up beforehand. Part of it was that I felt intimidated by the fact that I didn't know all of the songs by heart, and Becky came down on the rest of us for that fact. On the other hand, understudy rehearsal went relatively well. We didn't get to say any lines during rehearsal, because the principals had to show us their blocking. Believe me, saying no lines was a godsend, at least for me. Now I have an extra week to work on these lines. Midsummer cast list came out yesterday. I AM Flute, again. This is actually gonna work out fine for me. When I read the monologue for Michael S. the other night, it took me about 10 minutes of going over it before I remembered the lines and did the monologue pretty much as I did it in Augusta. At least I can (nearly) auto-pilot this show and leave room to worry and fret over The Actor's Nightmare (that is if I'm doing it. I find out tonight). Thursday, June 28, 2001
Not a bad show tonight. I sang in the house with my quartet tonight, as we will for the next week. Got off to a rough start, seeing as we weren't warmed up properly. Once we moved from the concession area to the front of the house, however, we did well. "Soldier, Soldier" especially rocked, IMHO.
I submitted my directorial proposal to Gail today. I'm really hoping that I get to direct The Actor's Nightmare. I think I could do a good job with it, if given a chance. Speaking of the Powderhorn season, I had callbacks for Midsummer tonight after the show. It's more than likely that I'll play Flute again, as I did in '96. At first I was a bit disappointed, but the more I look at it, the more it'd make sense, seeing as how I am up to my ears in activities at the Horn already. I'll know tomorrow. Wednesday, June 27, 2001
Last night's show went alright. I kinda felt my enthusiasm lagging during the second act however. Sometime during the wedding dance, it just kinda leached out of me. However, by the time the battle hit, I was rarin' to go again. A couple of people took pics with me and Kathy at meet and greet, and we had a nice chat with one woman who was there with a church group from Raleigh. I'm just glad I don't have to clean out the dressing room any more this season.
It was nice to go back to Mike's yesterday, mostly for the monetary recompense. I'm working there today and Friday as well. I don't know if I will have very many days there next month, but I hope I can use the tip money to suppliment my Horn income. We also had auditions for Midsummer last night at the Horn. I did a monologue from Hamlet, and read one scene ("Pyramus and Thisbe"). In retrospect, I shouldn't have auditioned for it, since I've already done the show. I just have the feeling that IF I'm cast, I'll end up being Flute/Thisbe again. Besides, I (hopefully) have The Actor's Nightmare to worry about. I'm turning in my directing proposal to Gail today. She's familiar with the show, and it's been done here before, apparently, so I'm hoping it'll be approved. Tonight, affter spending the last several days being in the "town" quartet, I get to be in the "show" quartet, which is hunky-dory by me. Last night Lexi wasn't there to tote us around, and my car is still a mess from my rehearsal/ignition switch trauma, so we ended up going in Jenny Cole's truck. Mike Tuten and I rode around in the back, wondering if a sudden stop and a precariously balanced bicycle was going to put an end to the both of us. I REALLY need to clean out the car soon. Tuesday, June 26, 2001
Here I am, making my first post in this blog. This is kind of an experiment, so bear with me.
Soooo, I'm working at "Horn in the West", an outdoor drama celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. An environment that I am not unfamiliar with, but a place I am growing to love with each new day. Since I live relatively close to the theatre, I'm commuting each day to and from the theatre. In case you're wondering, I am a chorus member in the cast. Which means that I get to sing during the show, as well as participate in crowd scenes during the shows. I also have the honor of dressing as a Native American (going so far as to spread Texas Dirt on my body) in one scene, and firing a rifle and a cannon during the climactic battle scene. Of course I'm also understudying two major roles in the show, so I have a pretty full season in store. I've met some rather interesting people in the cast. One is actually someone I worked with at The Sword of Peace in '96, and a couple more know another fellow "Camper" from back in the day. And then there's Kathy. Who is that? Well, let's just make it the question of the day for now. I'm going to bed now, 'cause I have to go to work at Mike's (my "normal" job, as a waiter) tomorrow for lunch, and then I have to go to the theatre. Tomorrow I'll tell you all about rehearsals and how the first few nights have gone. Until then, true believers. :) |