Well, I hardly planned on taking up another theatre project so soon after Cannibal ended… but I’ve been somewhat unexpectedly cast as Vice Principal Douglas Panch, the semi-downtrodden, bordering-on-tragic overseer of the day’s events in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at SecondStory Repertory (the same place I did The Underpants and Urinetown). It doesn’t begin rehearsals until March, though, so at least I have quite a while off before diving into it.
I say “unexpectedly” as the callback was unusually… generous toward me. There was only one other person called back for the role of Panch (versus six or more for most other roles), and he was probably around 20 years older than me and with a completely different look and body type, so even if I turned out to be a poorer acting choice than he was the decision could have easily slid my way based solely on the visual composition the director wanted for the show.
The role isn’t the one I would have chosen for myself… it’s a good role and an important one with quite a lot to do and some good comedy bits, but it’s extremely light on the singing, to the point where I’d almost call it (and I imagine it’s often perceived as) the only non-singing role, and while he’s listed as a principal I’d say he’s the closest the show has to an ancillary character. I’d really love to play William Barfée, which is a role I know I could nail acting-wise, but of course the competition there was far more intense with people whose vocal caliber I cannot hope to match.
It will be nice to do another show at SecondStory, which is walking distance from me when the weather, my schedule and enthusiam permit it. It will be equally nice to be in another high-profile musical, even if the role itself isn’t exactly a résumé-buster.
I returned to doing improv at Unexpected last weekend and will again this weekend, and it’s felt good so far. We had a really excellent workshop last night where we explored the style of opera with a guest lecturer from the Seattle Opera. Everyone learned a ton about the format, and I got to be in a fun scene where I spent the better part of five minutes singing about how I was killing my dog without ever getting around to actually doing it.
The last couple of weeks have been busy for me in other ways as well. My glasses came back from the lab and I drove over to the optometrist again, and the moment I picked them up I could tell that the lenses were still loose in the frame. I remained calm but got pretty stern with her, expressing my disappointment that the product had been supposedly “fixed” but that clearly nobody from the lab to the doctor’s office had so much as laid a hand on them to see if this was the case, that it seemed like their lab was doing some awfully amateurish work if they didn’t notice the lenses were still popping right out of their frames, and that I shouldn’t need to drive over there just to demonstrate to them that the job still hadn’t been done correctly. They sent the glasses back to the lab again for another week and change, this time ordering a replacement frame as well under the warrantee, and today I finally got them back after being called with multiple assurances that they had actually checked the lab’s work this time. I’m pleased to report they’re working out so far.
In addition to this, I also spent some of the last couple of weeks scrambling to get all the necessary work done for the next step in my green card application. I had to get passport photos taken, as well as a medical examination by a civil surgeon… the latter involved a bunch of needles including flu shot, tuberculosis test, tetanus shot and a blood drawing to make sure I’d had all the necessary vaccinations when I was a child. I’m optimistic this may mean I’m close to obtaining the actual prize of a green card, which would be a huge deal for me… if I understand the process correctly – which I’m quite sure I don’t – at this point they may need to simply send in the application and then I wait in the queue 4-8 months or so until I pop out the other end, a fully qualified resident alien of the United States. I’ve been communicating with the lawyer as much as I can without being a nag but it’s hard to know anything specific about at what rate things are progressing, and my fear is that as the holidays loom steadily closer that rate will drop.
It’s been very grey out lately and winter is fast approaching. It’s supposed to be a cold, snow-heavy one this year. (American) Thanksgiving is coming up next week, though, and I will enjoy the time off, and Elizabeth and I are heading to Florida for our vacation after Christmas wraps up, so we are both looking forward to that.
Dan.