HUMP DAY CHECK IN - 2/20/13

So the great grey beast of February limps along here in Smith-Conner land. Is it Spring yet? By the look at the outside temperature right now, I'm guessing not. Working outdoors this Winter has really taken it's toll on me.  I am more than ready for warm weather to return before my skin starts to crack apart.

I finally cast the last male role in Thunder Knocking on the Door, so I am excited to unveil my cast very soon! It is an amazingly talented group of performers, and they are certain to rip the roof off of Creative Cauldron this Spring! I will give you two hints until then...the cast features two actors recently seen in Signature Theatre's Dreamgirls, and one actor recently seen in my production of the musical talked about below...Stay tuned for details...

                                                               (Photo by JoNell Franz)
Night of the Living Dead the Musical will play this Fall in St. Louis at New Line Theatre! We are beyond excited to have the full show make it's professional regional debut! I cannot wait to bring you more details through the coming months about the St. Louis NOTLD! Here is an article on Broadway World announcing it!




In the current installment of SH*T I LIKE, we have another film that yielded unexpected results...

This film is ridiculous and entertaining from minute one.  The film explores the genre of "no reason", as a tire raises itself up in a desert, and goes on a killing rampage with it's telekinetic powers. It makes no sense.  It isn't supposed to. It is my current favorite film. The always wonderful Stephen Spinella stars and narrates the film. It is currently on Netflix Instant, so check it out! (WARNING - if you are grossed out by over the top special effects such as exploding heads, skip this one.)

Stanford Mixed Company, an a cappella group I accidentally discovered, has an amazing CD on iTunes called, "The Other Side of Blue".  It features songs by the Indigo Girls, Dave Matthews Band, Madonna, Pat Benetar, U2, and others.  They are an incredible group, and I have NEVER been into a cappella until hearing this CD. Check them out on iTunes, and you can hear their cover of Madonna's Crazy for You HERE.

That is all for now, so until next time - keep battling the great grey beast...March is almost here!
xoxoxoxoxSGS

The Great Grey Beast

"The great grey beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive. Here he was, buried in the belly of that smothering month, wondering if he would ever find his way out through the cold coils that lay between here and Easter...It was a monstrous month, that was for sure; a dire and dreary month. The pleasures of Christmas, both sharp and sweet, were already dimming in Harvey's memory, and the promise of summer was so remote as to be mythical. There'd be a spring break, of course, but how far off was that? Five weeks? Six? Mathematics wasn't his strong point, so he didn't irritate himself further by attempting -- and failing -- to calculate the days. He simply knew that long before the sun came to save him he would have withered away in the belly of the beast." - Clive Barker, "The Thief of Always".

Here we are, friends...entering the belly of the beast.  Welcome to February.  The coldest, dreariest month of the year, and a month that I have always dreaded since first reading Clive Barker's masterpiece, "The Thief of Always".  I still feel like Harvey Swick felt...buried in the belly of the beast.
So kill some time with me here in the beast's belly. We've nothing else to do, have we? Of course not...
What's new? Thank you for asking. I wish I could say something other than, "Not much." But I can't, really. I am busying myself walking dogs by day and sometimes teaching.  The bar has been closed for three weeks, so even my social interaction in the evenings has been limited. I go back to the bar for the Invited Dress Rehearsal of R&J this afternoon, so I look forward to seeing more people again.  (A sentence that I never thought I would say out loud. lol)
I have cast all but one role in Thunder Knocking on the Door, so we are still searching for him. I am terribly excited about the amazing cast that we have lined up, though, and look forward to announcing the entire cast to you once we have our final member. Rehearsals begin in April, so after surviving the great grey beast of February, I still have to navigate the maleficent murky month of March before I can get to staging the show. COME ON, SPRING!
Since I have not had a show since Whore House closed, I have had some time to be a normal (ish) human being. This has allowed me to get sucked into a number of television shows, including Downton Abbey, American Horror Story: Asylum, The Walking Dead, The New Normal, and RuPaul's Drag Race.  I have never watched so many tv shows, and I am already looking forward to a new A&E series called Bates Motel. This, my friends, is what too much downtime creates.
After fracturing my toes during the end of Whore House, I put on about 10 lbs or so. This was mainly due to an inability to get back to the gym.  So the first week of January, I was back to the gym.  One of my resolutions for the new year was to get back in shape, so off I went. I had two solid days of gym work under my bed when I got stricken with the dreaded Norovirus, which knocked me on my ass for a week. After recovering from that, I have logged about two solid gym weeks in now. It has become a routine part of my day again, and I like when it starts to feel natural like that. By spring, I should be back in business.
Alright, here is the latest Sh*t I like:

A Norwegian film that is about just what it says it is - a troll hunter. This film surprised me, as I never expected to like it at all.  I thought it would be terrible, but boy was I wrong...it is actually an incredible horror film, and the special effects are amazing. It is a MUST WATCH for horror fans. Check out the link here. The movie is on Netflix Streaming!

V/H/S is a compilation horror film, loosely strung together on the premise that a bunch of criminals must break into a house and find a certain video tape that contains evidence that is damning to the person who is paying them to do it. They find hundreds and hundreds of videotapes in this house, including a dead man sitting in front of a tv playing a blank vhs tape. There are nine different directors on this film who do different vignettes and stories as tapes are played, looking for the right tape. The film is seriously freaky, and you can also find it on Netflix streaming.

This compilation cd is EVERYTHING to me right now! Sounds of cars revving engines start most of the songs, and with titles like Drag Race Mama and Hot Rod Lincoln, the cd is not to be missed!

So that wraps up this breathtaking entry.  I hope that I have more of a reason to write something by the next one.  Signing off from inside the belly of the great grey beast, xoxoxoSGS