WATCH THIS AND YOU WILL DIE!!! (just kidding- it's Samarra's video from the film, "The Ring"

Halloween 2007 - trick or treat night...

Here is the front of our house tonight for trick or treat night...








The smoke machine added a creepy quality to the lights, and made several children shriek. I was delighted.














I looked like this....

and some little girl said that I looked beautiful. Wow. Kids today. A young black heart after my own.

I had a great time sitting out in front of my haunted house and scaring (some) of the children, also hearing many of them say, "this is the coolest house ever!!!"
It made MY Halloween to make so many memories for other kids, as I remember and appreciate all of the times that I would be marveled and terrified by neighborhood displays as I walked through them petrified to get my little sugar-coated reward. Isn't that what Halloween is about? Facing your fears to get a prize if you do it well?
In my book, that's exactly what it is about.
Happy Halloween everyone.
Luv,
SGS

PHOTOPLAY: Halloweens past...

Me decorating the yard as a child...












The back yard of the "fire house", circa 2003...













Pumpkin Carving at the old Signature Theatre last year...










A party at Eric's 2 years ago...me and Ilona Dulaski...












R. Scotty and Matty helping me clean and decorate the back yard, Fall 2004.












Me as my usual costume, a zombie - back at S.U. in 1998.

A CHILLING MOMENT...

The twins in the hallway from The Shining...

The Pug is Healed!!!

Buddha got a clean bill of health from his Doctor today! Yeah!!!!
Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers for my little devil dog!
Now back to more Halloween goodies above!
Luv,
SGS

Happy Halloween!!!

Here are two treats for you...two of my favorite Halloween cartoons...first, Donald Duck goes up against Witch Hazel in "Trick or Treat"...


Next is the showstopping song from Disney's fantastic "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", with Bing Crosby here singing "You Can't Reason with a Headless Man". One of my favorites!!!


More treats a bit later, but now we've got to get BOOdha to the vet and make sure his tumor is harmless! Be back with hopefully good news and much more Halloween fun a little bit later...keep it tuned here today for MUCH more Halloween fun!

Luv,
SGS

Jess Speaker's Carvings

From 2005's carved peppers and cucumber...











To last year's carved coconut...












Jess has always thought outside the box as far as introducing vegetables to flame for All Hallow's Eve. This year's creation has an air of the holiday, and I mean more of a prelude to Christmas, feel. Behold the Brussel Tree. Not so much a carving as an art installation.















What was funny was the fact that it spontaneously combusted after only a few seconds lit...but that is the true definition of performance, or in this case, vegetable art. Gorgeous, strange, beautiful, but only temporary. A thing that must be witnessed fleetingly with one's own eyes before it expires.
Bravo, Jess. Well Done.

The Carving O' the Gourds - 2007

Well, tonight we had a few folks over for the carving of the pumpkins. Nancy, Ryan, Kurt, Danny, Priscilla, Kara-Tameika, Emily and myself partook. I have one more to carve that I am going to save for tomorrow evening, right before the Trick or Treaters come. (I have already spray painted it black...I'm thinking of making it a cat...
But for tonight's monstrosity, I opted for something more sinister...


First I worked on the basics...holow it out, carve the face...
















Poking out the fake eyes and created the distressed face...I also fashioned a tongue to hang out from the mouth...















Then I rinsed it out in the sink...













Next I applied some pale blue paint to give it the oxygen starved look, then paint the tongue pink...




















Then comes the glow stick inside, weighed down to the bottom of the pumpkin, the clear plastic bag over the gourd, the mater is then added last...













And there you have it...Drowned Pumpkin...














And here are every one else's gourds...in light...















and in dark...

tick news...

Thanks to all who came out to see us this past weekend, you were fantastic houses!
Last night's show was by far the best of the week, though. Don't know why, we just all jived together perfectly. Good audience last night, too.

Around Town's little mini review came out, and you can see it by clicking HERE. It's a nice little commercial for the show.
A fantastic review from the WASHINGTONIAN on tick,tick...BOOM! has come out.
And Metro Stage veteran, MRS. MIG has seen the show, and written her thoughts on it as well...
Go check them out!

Crossing...Today at 3PM!!

The first workshop of Matt Conner's new musical, Crossing, will have a free public performance at Signature Theatre's Ark stage this afternoon at 3PM. This is the first time it has been done in front of a live audience. Come out and see it!

You Tube Favs...Sir Norman Fry

These 3 skits from the British TV show, Little Britain are not for kids, but are still funny. They remind me of the Larry Craig scandal.

Hump Day Check In...

I finished the front yard of my Halloween decorations this week. I opted for the spider webs underlined with orange lights, and inhabited by a rather large spider that I don't think that you would find in most patio gardens, thank goodness.
My front yard pales in comparison to another front yard down the street a little ways. I heave sighs of envy whenever I drive by it.
What else is going on?
I haven't discussed this on the blog at all, but my little Buddha had a health scare this past week. He grew a rather large tumor on his forehead practically overnight. I took him to the vet, and we got tests done and tons of medication for him to be put on. The good news is that the tumor has shrunk in one week's time, which is a very positive sign that it is not serious or harmful, but merely a Histoma. He has been drugged up on steroids, antihistamines, and anti-biotics. I am calling him Budy Garland lately, as he has been exuding a very Garland-esque quality as he groggily saunters about the living room.
He is doing fine, and keep him in your thoughts and prayers. We have a return vet visit on Halloween, so let's all hope for a treat, rather than a trick.



It has been nice to have my little sis, Eleasha Gamble back in town, now at Arena Stage performing in The Women of Brewster Place. Let's all send her good wishes and vibes for this, her opening week at her first show at Arena Stage! Brake stuff, girl!


I am STILL recovering from my stupid cold that is really just a mild cough at this point. It still is taxing my vocal chords, though. It is just a pain in the ass, really. I have spent about 98% of the day not talking and drinking hot tea and such to heal myself up for the start of 6 more shows, starting tomorrow.

So I also have all day to rest and gear up for tomorrow night's performance, thank the lord. I'm sure I will be fine. I am much better than I was on Sunday night. So if you have not seen tick,tick...BOOM! yet, please come out and see us this weekend! I will chat more tomorrow afternoon!
Goodnight and Sweet Dreams,
SGS

Halloween 2007; what i've been watching...

So what tales of horror have been haunting my DVD/VCR player of late?
THE USUAL SUSPECTS:
these are films that are constantly in my dvd player, no matter the season, but get special concentration in the weeks leading up to Halloween...
Night of the Living Dead
The classic. Plus, a Pennsylvania zombie movie. What's not to love?

When a Stranger Calls
The original, of course. Carol Kane makes this film. The phone sequences still give me goosebumps.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
A Disney masterpiece from the late 50's. I watched this as a child, and it just wouldn't be Halloween without seeing it several times a year. Plus, the score, as sung and narrated by Bing Crosby, is so catchy you will wish there was an album for it.

The Raven
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi together in this film not based on the Poe poem, but based on a man obsessed with Poe, and obsessed with Poe's different depictions of torture. A creepy old flick.

The Mummy
The original again, of course. The only scene in which you see Karloff in the famous bandages is brief, but still spine tingling. The reaction of the archaeologist who sees him, as he goes into teary hysterical laughter is really unsettling. A fantastic soundtrack to this old Universal chiller, that includes lots of bits of Swan Lake.

The Invisible Man
Atmospheric creepiness abounds in this, yet another old Universal Monster flick. The snow, the remote and backwards little English village. The character actress Una O'Conner steals the pub scenes away with her hysterical cackling and screaming. Claude Rains is pitch perfect terrifying using merely his voice. (Since nothing else is visible) I cannot recommend this 1933 gem more to you. It is perfect.

Flesheater
Yes, another PA zombie flick...but a cheesy one. This is a favorite of me and my close friends (Fred and Tracy) because of how horrendous it is. I do adore it, though, and it is a gory and fun little Pennsylvania zombie romp.

Rosemary's Baby
Another classic. Yet another atmospheric and character actor laden tour de force. Slow and winding in its pacing, it builds momentum like an avalanche by 60 minutes in. The end still hits me in the gut.

Prince of Darkness
A lesser known John Carpenter piece. This deals with a group of scientists finding an ancient artifact in the basement of a church that seems to be...well...I can't explain this film, I'll just say what it contains...zombies, Satan himself, possessed people, people hiding out in a church, Alice Cooper in an odd but perfect cameo, bugs, Donald Pleasence. Perfect to watch while you order pizza on Friday night. If you don't get sick when you watch it.

NEW KIDS

A few new spooks have wandered into my DVD player this season...

THE PAUL LYNDE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
Just strange. This hails off of TV, 1976, and features Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West from Wizard of Oz), and KISS. Strange, yet funny, and a fun glance back to network television in a younger age.

Night of the Living Dead 3-D (2006)

Hmmm...the 3-D doesn't really work that well, and the movie is...well, a sad representation of the classic horror film. What were they thinking?

Needful Things
While this film is not new to me, as I saw it way back when it came out (1993), I have never owned it. It was a recent opening gift from Eric Schaeffer, and I have watched it at least twice since. What a silly and fun flick, with great performances by Max Von Sydow (the exorcist in the original Exorcist), and Ed Harris. The cat fight between two of the supporting characters is the scene stealer of the film. It is a knock down, drag out, butcher knife/Carver's knife fight to the death between these two embittered women, to the tune of Ave Maria. Amazing.

AND TONIGHT I WILL WATCH...

The Reaping
It intrigued me, so I rented it on Netflix. I will let you know how it was soon.

So those are my current dvd/video haunts, if you are looking for recommendations for nights to come before Halloween. All are available on Netflix.com.
Have a great night, folks!
Luv,
SGS

More tick news...

You can listen to two separate interviews regarding tick,tick...BOOM! at Metro Stage..
One with myself, Felicia Curry, and Matt Pearson, and one with our director, Matt Gardiner. These are both over at DC Theatre Scene. Go HERE and check them out, they are fantastically done, and with wonderful quality, including snippets of us singing the songs!
Also over at DC Theatre Scene, you can catch their review of the show. Check it out HERE.

Halloween Treats, volume 1

Well, moving on to more important matters, like only my favorite holiday, I thought that I would put up my favorite movie, the original Night of the Living Dead, in it's entirety. This movie is in public domain, so it has been uploaded in its full length to the site. So if you have a slow and boring day at work, hit play and enjoy this Halloween creepy classic!
Luv,
SGS

end of week...

Well, I have been recovering from a cold/cough, so I welcome the last day of shows this week, which was Sunday night.
My parents came this afternoon, and the Maylees came this evening, so it was nice to have familiar faces there.
Houses have still been small. Which is really sad, because I feel like the Post's strange and poorly titled review is influencing folks. I hope it is not, since it is the only one that is sort of not positive. Come on folks...it's Celia Wren. You all know what that means.
My Mom and Dad came to the show today, and were so angry after seeing the show that it wasn't packed. They thought it was the best thing that they have seen in a long time.

We now have a few days off to rest...I hope that we will see more peeps out next week. It hurts to do a balls to the wall rock show for 12 people. If you have seen the show, tell everyone you know to see it.
It's too much work to do for not many people to see it.
Come and have a good time. I promise you you will.
Luv,
SGS

Happy Birthday to J Fred Shiffman!!!

I hope you get a bunch of presents, and then take them all back for the money. You can do that, you know!



Luv,
SGS

tick

Reviews have started coming in...
ALL Arts Review 4 U
Washington Times

POTOMAC STAGES

Metro Weekly

TALKIN' BROADWAY

and oh, the ever ... interesting... Celia Wren's Washington Post review.
You just have to laugh that it can go from one extreme to the other.
Bottom line, the audiences attending have been fantastic, and giving standing ovations, screams and cheers. Come and see us for yourself. You will not be dissapointed.
For tickets, click HERE.

Outdoor Ghouls...

As you can see, my outdoor creations aren't really that terrifying in the light of day...however, when it is night, and they are in their right light, they look a lot better...






The Ghost...









Ms. 1930...












Grandpa...










and Chucky...

It's all in the lighting, isn't it?
G'night,
Luv, SGS

Halloween Decor - some indoor haunts

Mummy Candles
I wrapped my jar candles in black and ratty gauze, fastening them with visible safety pins to create a "bandaged" look.
















Spider Eggs
I wrapped my Chinese Lanterns in Spider Webs, attached plastic spider to them and filled them with colored bulbs, making ominous looking egg sacs in the living room.







Marilyn Make Over
I draped up my Marilyn picture(made earlier this summer) with gauze, and gave a purple gel to the spot above her, then I replaced her gorgeous countenance with that of a nasty old witch.


Those are some indoor tricks and treats. Let me go outside and see what it looks like out there...

Open

Well, last night was press opening of tick,tick...BOOM! at Metro Stage. The show went great, I think. The audience seemed really into it, and I know that we had a great time doing the show too. It was also closing night of Merrily at Signature, so I went and joined my hubster and his cast mates for their festivities.
I had a great time, and am sorry that I didn't get to see Merrily one more time, but that's just how it ended up. Merrily was a terrific show, and its cast and crew should be proud of their accomplishments.
It feels great to know that we are officially open, and to now have 3 days off from it!
I will be posting some stuff that doesn't have to do with tick at all throughout the day today. Stuff that has more to do with Halloween! I know some of you might have been wondering how my Halloween decorating has gone so far...updates later in the day.
Talk later,
SGS

Happy Birthday, Jenny Cartney!

1st double hitter

First 2 show day. It went great, I think. I am fighting off the cold well enough, and feel much better this evening than I did yesterday and this morning. My meds are doing their best job to kick this little cold's ass out.
Felicia stopped the show cold again tonight after "Come to Your Senses". She's amazing. I'm not surprised at all, of course.
I am spending the evening in and resting up for tomorrow's last 2 of the week.
What old black and white movie should I put in tonight? It's a toss up between "Queen Bee", and "The Little Foxes". Two faves.
Yeah. I know. Pretty gay.
I don't care. Those movies are amazing.
Ok...to rest I go. Have a wonderful night and an even better tomorrow.
Luv,
SGS