I changed my mind during the tech rehearsal week. The music which I had put together earlier, and never used, just sounded too dated for this play, Who Maid Who. It was a lot of 40's music, which really had no reason to be the soundtrack for this play. So I redid it.
Now it's a lot of more modern stuff, mostly easy-listening and soft jazz vocalists. I don't go back any further than the 60's, and then just stuff that fits into the mould. Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Cash are the vintage ones. Pretty much everything else is from the last fifteen years or so.
The producer, after I had made the new Preshow and Intermission music, called out from the audience and asked me if I had ever heard of the song "Paper Doll" by the Mills Brothers. Of course, I answered, cued it up and played it from my computer. "That song would be perfect in this show!" he said. I hesitated. "Uh, why?" I asked. Nothing about dolls, or paper in the show. Oh, it just would be, he said. It's from the 1930's, I told him. Nothing else that old is in the show. Fortunately the director piped up, "Oh, I like it just the way it is." Thank you Madam director! Hey, "Paper Doll" is a great tune. I just couldn't see any reason for it to be in this show.
And I'm using the cork pop after all. During a rehearsal I played it anyway, right on top of "Let's Get It On" and the director called out from the audience "I heard it!" so I left it in. Probably half the audience doesn't even notice, but I do.
I think that's all. The play is going along tickety-boo, and is getting lots of laughs. What are you waiting for?
Michael
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Who Maid Who
So, the latest play at the dinner theatre is "Who Maid Who" by David Lassig. It's pretty easy in terms of sound. I started off with two (count 'em, two) sound effects. After the first technical rehearsal last night, one was cut, and I now have one (1) sound effect, a cell phone ringtone in Act 2.
The one that was cut was a champagne cork popping. It wasn't in the script, but right at the beginning the male lead walks in with a champagne bottle, goes into the kitchen, then returns with the bottle opened and two glasses. I faded the music to play the sound effect (you'd never hear it over the music anyway) then there's silence until he makes a phone call. Since the director felt the music was more important than a cork popping, she cut the sound effect.
Music was pretty easy too. The whole play is one, long scene, no blackouts. So basically, I needed preshow music, something to start the show, something for the blackout leading to intermission, intermission music, something to come out of intermission with, curtain call music, and something for the audience to exit with.
When we did "Prisoner of Second Avenue" earlier this year, I put together preshow and intermission music. When I got to the theatre for the first technical rehearsal the producer asked me if I had put together some great, groovy 70's music for the show and I realized, for the first time, that the play was set in the 1970's. Whoops. I made an excuse, said it would be ready tomorrow, and everyone was happy. The next morning I did put together a great 70's soundtrack for the show.
So this show I am using the preshow and intermission that I put together for that one. It fits, as "Who Maid Who" is pretty timeless. Cell phones are used throughout, so it's modern times. And my music is just a mishmash of mostly romantic stuff, again perfect for the show.
The show is a farce about a guy trying to have an affair with a waitress from his favourite coffee shop, but everything goes wrong. His wife arrives, his parents, etc. So I needed sexy music. Top of the show (the one that cancelled the cork pop) is "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye. Before the intermission I have "Lollipops and Roses" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. After the intermission is "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" by Barry White. The curtain call music is "Like a Virgin" by Madonna, as is the ringtone of the cell phone. For exit music I have "Midnight at the Oasis" by Maria Muldaur. If needed (it rarely is) I have "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye, in case of a particularly slow moving group.
Lights will be a little more of a challenge in this one. There is a bedroom, a little raised above the stage, that needs it's own lighting. Most of the time there is nothing happening in there but, when there is, I will bring the lights a little brighter in the bedroom (and dim the other lights slightly) so the audience knows where to look. It's not hard but it happens quite a few times during the play, which means I'll be needing to pay attention to the script a little more closely than usual. Oh well, that's what I'm paid for, I guess.
We're running from this weekend to July 7th, so come and see us!
Michael
The one that was cut was a champagne cork popping. It wasn't in the script, but right at the beginning the male lead walks in with a champagne bottle, goes into the kitchen, then returns with the bottle opened and two glasses. I faded the music to play the sound effect (you'd never hear it over the music anyway) then there's silence until he makes a phone call. Since the director felt the music was more important than a cork popping, she cut the sound effect.
Music was pretty easy too. The whole play is one, long scene, no blackouts. So basically, I needed preshow music, something to start the show, something for the blackout leading to intermission, intermission music, something to come out of intermission with, curtain call music, and something for the audience to exit with.
When we did "Prisoner of Second Avenue" earlier this year, I put together preshow and intermission music. When I got to the theatre for the first technical rehearsal the producer asked me if I had put together some great, groovy 70's music for the show and I realized, for the first time, that the play was set in the 1970's. Whoops. I made an excuse, said it would be ready tomorrow, and everyone was happy. The next morning I did put together a great 70's soundtrack for the show.
So this show I am using the preshow and intermission that I put together for that one. It fits, as "Who Maid Who" is pretty timeless. Cell phones are used throughout, so it's modern times. And my music is just a mishmash of mostly romantic stuff, again perfect for the show.
The show is a farce about a guy trying to have an affair with a waitress from his favourite coffee shop, but everything goes wrong. His wife arrives, his parents, etc. So I needed sexy music. Top of the show (the one that cancelled the cork pop) is "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye. Before the intermission I have "Lollipops and Roses" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. After the intermission is "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" by Barry White. The curtain call music is "Like a Virgin" by Madonna, as is the ringtone of the cell phone. For exit music I have "Midnight at the Oasis" by Maria Muldaur. If needed (it rarely is) I have "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye, in case of a particularly slow moving group.
Lights will be a little more of a challenge in this one. There is a bedroom, a little raised above the stage, that needs it's own lighting. Most of the time there is nothing happening in there but, when there is, I will bring the lights a little brighter in the bedroom (and dim the other lights slightly) so the audience knows where to look. It's not hard but it happens quite a few times during the play, which means I'll be needing to pay attention to the script a little more closely than usual. Oh well, that's what I'm paid for, I guess.
We're running from this weekend to July 7th, so come and see us!
Michael
Monday, May 6, 2013
Collecting Watches
I blame my daughter, Victoria. She's the one who started collecting watches. She had a decent watch, then she bought another one. Then another one. I thought she was crazy, until I realized that she was collecting watches she liked. It had never occurred to me before.
I usually had a Timex. It would be reliable, and tell me the time for five or six years, until I wanted a new, unscratched one. But usually just one at a time.
Somewhere in the mid-eighties I won a watch. A jewellery store was having a promotion where if you added the numbers in your birthday, and it totalled the price of a watch in the window, you won that watch. I added the numbers in my birthday--23 + 6 + 55 = 84, and sure enough, there was an $84 watch in the window. I thought it couldn't possibly be that easy, I went into the store, showed my driver's licence, and they gave me the watch. I tried the birthdays of my wife, my family, her family, heck, everybody whose birthday I knew, and nobody else won a watch. Anyway, eighty-four dollars was way, way more than I would have ever spent on a watch in my life, but I didn't have to pay for it. I still have it today. It's a Lorus, with an analogue dial and an electronic day/date/alarm and time. It requires two batteries that have to be put in by a jeweller so it will go for years, not working, and eventually I have it serviced and it works again for a couple of years.
When we're at the mall Victoria gravitates towards the jewellery stores and department, and watches. So I started looking too, and decided I really liked the look of Bulova watches. And they're reasonably affordable, at least compared to the Rolexes that my daughter is looking at. I guess she heard me admire a couple, and guess what I got for Christmas? Yep, a Bulova watch.
A few months later I was on eBay, and happened to punch in Bulova. OMG, hundreds of watches for sale, everything from a few bucks to thousands. I browsed for hours, and put in some bids.
First one I got was a 1951 Academy Award model. After doing my history I discovered that in 1950 Bulova signed a deal with AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science), licensing the name and images of the Oscars for a line of watches. Two years later AMPAS took them to court, saying the ads made it look too much like Bulova had "won" an Academy Award, and the licence was taken away. So there's a lot of them out there, but not as many as there should be. I paid $60 for it, and it keeps perfect time, as long as you keep it wound up.
Man, men's watches were SO MUCH SMALLER in the 50's. When I'm wearing it, and go to the jewellery counter, it's pretty much the same size as the modern women's watches. Women's watches, in those days, were TINY!
The next one I got was a self-winding watch from 1966. It came with the cheapest strap I have ever seen in my life--I swear it comes from the dollar store. It wouldn't have lasted a week, so I went to the mall to have a real strap put on. While I was at it, I got a metal strap for the Academy Award model, so it looks more like it would have when it was new. It's pretty inaccurate--it'll gain a minute every hour, then suddenly start losing minutes instead. It's a little hard to trust. I could probably take it to Bulova and have it serviced, cleaned, oiled--whatever they do to old watches. But I only paid $29 for it so I'm not sure how much I want to invest in it.
Besides, I want an Accutron now. One of the original ones with the tuning fork in it. In 1960 Bulova put a tuning fork, and a bunch of electronics inside their Accutron watch. The world's most accurate watch, they were manufactured until 1977. A few years earlier another company discovered that quartz was just about as accurate, and a heck of a lot cheaper to manufacture. Bulova eventually started using quartz as well, and the tuning fork was gone. If you put a working 1960 - 1977 Accutron to your ear, you don't hear ticking, you hear the hum of the tuning fork.
I've got one on the way. Unfortunately it is not working. Original tuning fork Accutrons go for stupid money on eBay. The exceptions are ones that need repair, are ugly, or have company names or engraving on them. The one I got says it is not running, and it needs a new battery. I am assuming that, if I put a new battery in it, then it will run. I hope. This one is coming from Knoxville, Tennessee, via Nashville and today, apparently is in Miami. Interesting route to Canada, if you ask me. Anyway, it's a nice looking watch and I hope it works when it gets here. $70.
I gotta stop now. I really don't have the money to have a huge watch collection. But I'll probably check every once in a while and see what's available and, who knows, I may buy more in the future!
Hmm. Bulova also makes wall clocks. And my kitchen clock is a... Sterling & Noble? Who are they?
Michael.
I usually had a Timex. It would be reliable, and tell me the time for five or six years, until I wanted a new, unscratched one. But usually just one at a time.
Somewhere in the mid-eighties I won a watch. A jewellery store was having a promotion where if you added the numbers in your birthday, and it totalled the price of a watch in the window, you won that watch. I added the numbers in my birthday--23 + 6 + 55 = 84, and sure enough, there was an $84 watch in the window. I thought it couldn't possibly be that easy, I went into the store, showed my driver's licence, and they gave me the watch. I tried the birthdays of my wife, my family, her family, heck, everybody whose birthday I knew, and nobody else won a watch. Anyway, eighty-four dollars was way, way more than I would have ever spent on a watch in my life, but I didn't have to pay for it. I still have it today. It's a Lorus, with an analogue dial and an electronic day/date/alarm and time. It requires two batteries that have to be put in by a jeweller so it will go for years, not working, and eventually I have it serviced and it works again for a couple of years.
When we're at the mall Victoria gravitates towards the jewellery stores and department, and watches. So I started looking too, and decided I really liked the look of Bulova watches. And they're reasonably affordable, at least compared to the Rolexes that my daughter is looking at. I guess she heard me admire a couple, and guess what I got for Christmas? Yep, a Bulova watch.
A few months later I was on eBay, and happened to punch in Bulova. OMG, hundreds of watches for sale, everything from a few bucks to thousands. I browsed for hours, and put in some bids.
First one I got was a 1951 Academy Award model. After doing my history I discovered that in 1950 Bulova signed a deal with AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science), licensing the name and images of the Oscars for a line of watches. Two years later AMPAS took them to court, saying the ads made it look too much like Bulova had "won" an Academy Award, and the licence was taken away. So there's a lot of them out there, but not as many as there should be. I paid $60 for it, and it keeps perfect time, as long as you keep it wound up.
Man, men's watches were SO MUCH SMALLER in the 50's. When I'm wearing it, and go to the jewellery counter, it's pretty much the same size as the modern women's watches. Women's watches, in those days, were TINY!
The next one I got was a self-winding watch from 1966. It came with the cheapest strap I have ever seen in my life--I swear it comes from the dollar store. It wouldn't have lasted a week, so I went to the mall to have a real strap put on. While I was at it, I got a metal strap for the Academy Award model, so it looks more like it would have when it was new. It's pretty inaccurate--it'll gain a minute every hour, then suddenly start losing minutes instead. It's a little hard to trust. I could probably take it to Bulova and have it serviced, cleaned, oiled--whatever they do to old watches. But I only paid $29 for it so I'm not sure how much I want to invest in it.
Besides, I want an Accutron now. One of the original ones with the tuning fork in it. In 1960 Bulova put a tuning fork, and a bunch of electronics inside their Accutron watch. The world's most accurate watch, they were manufactured until 1977. A few years earlier another company discovered that quartz was just about as accurate, and a heck of a lot cheaper to manufacture. Bulova eventually started using quartz as well, and the tuning fork was gone. If you put a working 1960 - 1977 Accutron to your ear, you don't hear ticking, you hear the hum of the tuning fork.
I've got one on the way. Unfortunately it is not working. Original tuning fork Accutrons go for stupid money on eBay. The exceptions are ones that need repair, are ugly, or have company names or engraving on them. The one I got says it is not running, and it needs a new battery. I am assuming that, if I put a new battery in it, then it will run. I hope. This one is coming from Knoxville, Tennessee, via Nashville and today, apparently is in Miami. Interesting route to Canada, if you ask me. Anyway, it's a nice looking watch and I hope it works when it gets here. $70.
I gotta stop now. I really don't have the money to have a huge watch collection. But I'll probably check every once in a while and see what's available and, who knows, I may buy more in the future!
Hmm. Bulova also makes wall clocks. And my kitchen clock is a... Sterling & Noble? Who are they?
Michael.
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