Well, believe it or not, our last rehearsal was in fact cancelled due to the illness going around The Apotex and then to top it all off, I had to travel home to Winnipeg this past week to visit my family.
So… our group hasn’t met in almost a month! Eek!
I feel good about where we are, but I’m anxious to get the group back together again. We have such a good thing going on and we don’t have much more time together.
Things like this are bound to happen when you have a group in a nursing home but at least it’s not the final performance that was cancelled (knock on wood)!
Instead of the rehearsal I had some one-on-ones. I scheduled a meeting with Ned to go over his introduction, but one of us got the time mixed up, and he waited for me for an hour in the rec room. He even told me that his granddaughter had wanted to meet me, and had sat with him for forty-five minutes before she had to go to work. It was such a shame, and I felt so guilty!
Nevertheless we had a great meeting and he really is going to be a wonderful MC for the evening.
I also met with Nora to finalize her monologue. She has expressed concerns to me over the last few months that her stories aren’t interesting enough, but if only she knew! Her monologue is terribly charming – it’s the story of how she and her husband met and fell in love as teenagers in the early 1940s… I don’t want to give too much away, but I’ll just say that it includes some confessions about breaking the rules at a summer sleep-away camp.
With just a month left, I’ve had a lot of planning to do, so most of my time has been spent on coordinating the performance, publicity, technical requirements, a reception, etcetera etcetera. So, in order to ensure that I keep on top of all of this while mostly focusing on the artistic side of the project, I’ve brought a Production Assistant on board.
Grace Smith is working on her PhD in Canadian Theatre History at the University of Toronto, and works in theatre in her spare time (which of course she has very little of), mostly as a director and dramaturge. I’m really looking forward to working with her.
And… big news:
We have finalized our performance dates!
There is an open dress rehearsal on Monday August 13 at 2:30 pm, when we are inviting interested Baycrest staff, residents, and researchers to come see what we have been doing. It will be our first time performing in the space and audience members can expect a bit of a work-in-progress if they come to this performance.
Then our final performance for family and friends will be held on Tuesday, August 14 at 7:00 pm.
If you are interested in coming to either the dress rehearsal or the final performance, I would be delighted.
Please email me at aynsley@aynsleymoorhouse.com, and I’ll be happy to reserve you a seat and send all of the details.
Until next week!
Aynsley Moorhouse 