Tuesday our condo board had the meeting about the impending assessment. Unsurprisingly, when you try to cram both debate and vote into less than three hours over what, for most people, will be the most important financial decision they make in a 5-year timeframe, things get a little hectic. In spite of that, I truly expected the measure to pass and the project to get approval. I was more than a little stunned the next day when I heard that it hadn’t, with the yes-votes only managing 48.2% and 22 people abstaining (which is really unfortunate).
As much as the assessment is a bitter pill to swallow, I had actually hoped it would pass, as it gets the problem taken care of and out of the way. Now it may be another few months before we can get some kind of alternative project started, and while the board frankly did a terrible job of involving the homeowners and really manipulated the circumstances to force this particular solution down their throats (and I think this is the main reason they voted against the project), we really don’t have a lot of choice: either we do something, or our homes continue to depreciate until they are condemned.
Our situation and the outcome of the vote bears an uncanny resemblance to what recently happened with the failed attempt to pass a $700 billion congressional bailout of Wall Street. Since then, a slightly revised (mainly pork-ified) version has passed. Hopefully we will follow a similar path, minus the pork, and with a greater expectation of return on our investment.
Of course, I cannot let the impending assessment halt my spending entirely. Every now and then I get a flash of inspiration for cast gifts, and this time it came in the form of lips and underwear… specifically the lips from the movie’s logo in the form of an embroidered patch which I proceeded to iron onto sexy briefs for the guys and very sexy v-strings for the ladies (the black version). It was a bigger project than it perhaps sounds (it took a couple of weeks to research and obtain all of the necessary pieces), and was well-received by all and as sound an investment as any I have made as of late.
The show continues to go well in our second weekend, although we are still plagued with microphone troubles. I’m really trying to get over myself and my own feelings of inadequacy enough to properly enjoy some of these stage moments, which I know full well I am unlikely to ever see again once this month passes. When the band strikes up and I get to hear myself over the speaker system uttering quite possibly the most famous words from the show: “It’s astounding… time is fleeting… madness takes it toll…” there is a kind of excitement and tension I’ve never experienced in another production. For many people, this is the stuff of legends… and I am delivering it for them. It’s a responsibility that gnaws at me, but I’m also discovering the joy of owning those moments.
Tonight after the show we are going to the Admiral Theatre in west Seattle, where a local shadow cast known as The Zen Room performs the show in front of the movie, as tradition dictates. I’ve negotiated between the two parties of them and our theatre company so that we are able to attend in our show costumes and makeup, and they’re going to give us a nod and allow us to hand out fliers/coupons for our own production. I am excited that I’ve been able to facilitate a fun group outing that will allow us to directly market to potentially upwards of 400 people who are the very literal definition of our target demographic.
I need to take a moment to expound upon how much I love this cast, and how much fun they are. Between the group I had for Urinetown, the folks down at Unexpected, and now this, I am both blessed and spoiled. I adore the Rocky Horror cast and love every moment we get to hang out after or between shows. I’m not going to say “this is why I do theatre” because I do theatre for plenty of reasons, but if I didn’t have any of those other reasons then people like them would still make it worth my while.
Dan.
