Kyoto Palace Karaoke

So, my birthday was on Saturday, but since my sister and I both work weekends, we all decided to go out for my birthday dinner the night before Thanksgiving (yesterday, as it turns out). Well, my sister's a vegetarian, my dad is pretty much against all cheese, my mom hates sushi and teriyaki (the rest of us love sushi) and I don't like most vegetables, so it's pretty hard to find someplace all four of us can agree on for food, which generally leaves Kyoto Palace as our usual place for dinners out. It's a hibachi grill, by the way. Anyway, last night was Wednesday, and apparently, they do karaoke there from 7-11. So, my sister and I both like to sing and we're good, too. So, during dinner, we decided we were totally gonna do karaoke after dinner. Anyway, we conned Mom & Dad into staying after dinner so we could do karaoke. Okay, so Mom went done to the car cuz she had a migraine. Anyway, so my sister and I signed up for our songs and waited and listened to everybody. Also, we were clearly the only sober people there. After probably 30 minutes or so, my sister was up. She sang Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. She did a great job, but unfortunately, it was a little hard to hear her. =( Oh well. Anyway, I was up after her and sang Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves. I thought I was terrible, but my sister said I did great. So, yay! =) Karaoke rules!!

Directing

I've decided something. I'm so never directing a scene with either of the two girls I just directed. One of them blew me off a few times and totally didn't seem to care. The other got all pissed at me because the first one wouldn't show up, like it was my fault. For the love of all that is holy, I cannot control the actions of other people! Not to mention, they argued with everything I said. Dude! I'm your director! I get the last say! Just because you think one of your lines is supposed to be a lie doesn't necessarily mean it is...and when I tell you I want you to play it like it's true, you do it! Gah!

Weekend Shows

So, the three weekend performances are over and we've had a great time. Yay. I've only had a few prop related problems (a flashlight for one of the scenes crapped out in the middle of the scene last night). Mostly, though, it's just been great. Exhausting, yeah, but great. Anyway, so last night, we finished up and after we put everything away and the actors got out of their costumes, some of the cast decided to go out to The Garret to hang out afterwards and since I was dressed and lookin' hot (that was what one of the other techs said before the show last night), there was no way I wasn't gonna go hang out. So, I figured I'd stick around for a bit and then head home. But, of course, some people I really wanted to spend some time with were there, so naturally, I didn't end up leaving until 1:00 (along with pretty much everybody else) and had to get up for the play today. Anyway, I got home, went to bed around 1:30 and was still exhausted when I woke up at 9:45...oh well, at least I got to sleep in like three hours later than I usually do on a Sunday.

Today's performance wasn't too bad. We screwed up some of our cues and some of the jokes fell flat (I think it might have had something to do with the geriatric audience...)

I'm just glad I've got a few days off before I need to do anything play related. Yay.

Opening Night

...was amazing. The house was packed, the actors were on fire and the technicians (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...) didn't screw up their cues. (much, anyway) We had a minor sound gaff a little while in, but I don't think anyone noticed. I had to deal with some prop issues during intermission, but other than that, everything was great. One performance down, seven to go. Yay!

Tech Day

GAH! The hatred I have for the play I'm working on right now...I can't even begin to find a word to describe! The tech rehearsal went from about 9:30am until about 7:15pm (yes, you read that right) and we didn't even break for lunch until 4! (I failed epically at the betting pool we had going on in the booth as to when we were breaking for lunch) Not to mention, I got snapped at by three different people within the first 15 minutes of being there. And then, while trying to work my magic on my part of the technical stuff, actors were pestering me about props and therefore, some of us techs were missing cues because A) we were distracted by props (that was just me, really) and B) because there was too much freakin' noise to hear the stage manager calling the cues! So, that got me some crap too, despite it totally not being my fault that people were talking to me. So, I'm in the middle of trying to run my cues, which I'm only marginally amazing at, and I'm trying to concentrate on which props we don't have and where I'm gonna put the food props. For the love of all that is bright and shiny and holy in this world, people, WORRY ABOUT YOUR PROPS ON YOUR OWN AND LET ME WORK THE SLIDES!!!!!!!! That is, unless it's a prop we don't have, and then, just write it down and let me know when we're in a break. Then, I had to stress because Mom & Dad couldn't find where we were so they could drop off the food for our pot luck, and I couldn't talk them through it cuz, dude, I was working. But, eventually, we suffered through everything and lo, lunch came! Yay! An hour break after taking about five hours to do the cue to cue. Aaahhh...I got to chill. Deep, calming breaths. I am breathing deeply and calming myself so I won't snap at anyone when they ask me irritating questions about props or when they hover over me. Anyway, we go back to work around 5 and start the runthrough. (I failed again at the betting pool on this, too, but not as epically as the lunch one) The runthrough went pretty well, and my mood was improved by some cute and harmless flirting. Eventually, we got through it and put everything away and finally, I got to go home! And now I have to go to work tomorrow morning and repeat this hellish week all over again. Woo.

Work

Dear Work,


You suck.


Love,

Jen

More blog things

Yeah, I know. Stop already, right? These are my Americanesque (it's a word!) blogthings

You Are 84% California

You're totally Cali. Sweet!

How California Are You?

You Belong in San Francisco

You crave an eclectic, urban environment. You're half California, half NYC. You're open minded, tolerant, and secretly think you're the best. People may dismiss you as a hippie, but you're also progressive, interesting, and rich!

Where Does Your Inner Californian Belong?

But! But! I wanna live in the suburbs! *whines*

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?