Sunday
No rehearsal today, but nevertheless no rest for the Writing Team. This time it was to finalise the flyers/posters for Calamity Jane.
The way this usually works is that the PM comes up with a basic idea and some colours and fonts and Mary M then looks at it and says…”I don’t like it” Following this they then have to come up with an idea which suits both… by way of elimination, adding, fighting, arguing, pleading and agreeing they usually end up with an end product to suit everyone.
This time was no different, Les had the idea of a Wanted Poster, which was a great starting point, but he used some very drab and dark Colours and Font’s which he describes as ‘Cowboy Font’… Some of the images where also a bit questionable…
So it was back to the drawing board… Mary M soon changed the background colour to a much lighter shade, Fonts were changed to a great ‘Western Style’ and new images were added… While this was going on the PM was cussing and swearing as he was the one using the keyboard doing the changes Mary was telling him to do, then un-doing those changes when she decided she didn’t like some bits after all.
A long drawn out process however came to a great conclusion with both the PM and Mary M being pretty happy with what they designed. We think it is a great theme which will be carried over into the programme design. On that note, we now will need all principals to provide Biogs and Headshot pictures unless you want us to take them.
Due to the Writing Team being busy working they did not participate on Messenger Night… also Griselda was otherwise engaged… which left Mark almost on his own on his first Sunday participation. He was most annoyed. Although there was no real Messi Night… by all accounts for the PM and Griselda it ended up a pretty Messy Night anyway
Monday
Monday started with an early phone call to Mary from Griselda reporting a very very sore hair alert indeed. Later that morning the PM received a similar call from Griselda who was sort of now back in the land of the living. A bit of food had worked wonders. We just hope that no-one went to buy a car that morning!
That evening we had our first music rehearsal with Wilson. Wilson was a bit Panto’d out after a very long run in the Opera House. There was a great turnout for the rehearsal… nearly a full company Mary M was missing however as she was being camp that night out in the wilds of Newcastle. A work thing!
Special thanks at this point has to go to Gareth who has printed out all the music for the show… a lot of pages for a lot of people… and Gareth had previously printed all the scripts too… we think a few trees must have suffered in the process!
A new face this evening was Tim who is Niall’s cousin. Welcome aboard!
Wilson put the chorus though Deadwood Stage and Windy City… Mark was unsure whether he was a base? or a tenner?! Think it was all a bit much for him. All we can say Professor is stick to the Dancing!!
We then moved to the bigger room upstairs to marry together the music and the choreography. Ditanya took charge and was very organised as always! She had all the steps written down in her little black book. The Professor was much more at home on the dance floor.
As usual, after rehearsal, it was across the road to our local. Andy had arrived specially for the event as he had missed the whole rehearsal. When asked whether he was a tenor or bass… Andy replied TUNE! A small but determined band went along. The night was pretty quiet. Mary M’s craic was greatly missed but soon the chat came round to the UOC on tour.
The delights of the Fun Bus were talked about at length and whether we could persuade Mary M to provide breakfast to go! Apparently the Professor is not a very good passenger so he may end up in the boot! But don’t worry Professor, Shannon is not that far!
After that Andy and Wendy started talking about the famous ‘Bridge’ incident. It is so famous that no-one had a clue what they were talking about. The Writing Team, however, understand that all will be revealed in the Fun Bus. We will keep you posted!
Wednesday
Wednesday started out with Mary M and PK on Messenger finalising who was needed at the rehearsal. The Scheduling Team had previously gone to great lengths to ensure that all the characters in the scenes for that evening had been contacted and were available to come…. This, however, was now subject to change! Peter now suggested that some of those called were not needed so it was a frantic text and phone around so that nobody would turn up unnecessarily.
During the day Mary M kept receiving traffic updates from PK as to his whereabouts. Late in the afternoon traffic was reported as being very heavy so the Scheduling Team were advised to call the rehearsal for half an hour later. Again a text and phone around was needed!
The Housekeeping Team duly arrived just before eight to open up the Hall. They were surprised to find Joyce Martin from New Lyric at the door. She was quickly followed by the rest of the New Lyric Committee and also Tony Finnegan and some of the principals from their forthcoming show. We reckon it has been a while since such great Am-Dram talent was all under one roof! Great to see Tony looking so well.
PK duly arrived and the rehearsal got underway. He started with Act 1 Scene 1. The scene had only started when PK asked… where is Rattlesnake? Is he not here tonight? Rattlesnake was one of those who were previously called and then told they were not needed!!! We think that in future PK should leave the organising to the Scheduling Team!!
Henry Miller (Victor) was in great form… but it seems that as the owner of the Saloon he would prefer to do a Shoe rather than a Show?? And Victor wasn’t even in our Panto!!!
Other highlights included… The Frances Fryer suitcase… this was from a very old Ulster production of Calamity but it worked great! Paddy’s accent… Paddy you are not Buttons any more… This is Old West America!
It was a fast moving rehearsal… and lasted almost to eleven for some. In the meantime Gareth and Paddy had gone to the Pub. Great to be back there on a Wednesday and it is Quiz night. Gareth and Paddy called their team… Fat Boy and Slim which was very apt…
Shortly after, the PM joined them and at that point in the evening the team were only 2 points behind the leaders… but it was early days. Eventually PK and Mary M joined in the festivities too. Gareth then had to leave with the team still well in contention… but it went downhill after that.
Some of the questions were just too hard for us this time out… As an example.. if a dish is prepared A La Florentine what vegetable is involved? Answers on a postcard please. Needless to say we did not win! Paddy was very annoyed when he caught sight of the winning team…
They were called the ‘Pisspots’. Paddy was amazed at their victory… He said… how could they win… they look stupid!!! But they did beat us so what does that say about our team!!! And then it was time to go home…
Mary M and the PM went their separate ways and left Mr McBride in PK’s company. PK was staying at his usual B&B (Number Ten) and he offered to give the big man a lift. Later that evening The PM received a text from Paddy saying that he was ‘ragin’ that we had lost to such a bunch of wa***ers!!
Thursday
Thursday started with PK going to have a look at the theatre. Apparently he liked what he saw… and that just the girl showing him round!!! He reported back that the stage is huge… PK reckons it is bigger than the Opera House so there will be loads of room for all the lifts and turns in the dance numbers.
Meanwhile the PM was busy on the phone to Shannon making sure the Fun Bus gang had accommodation to stay in. Rooms were booked at a very reasonable rate. Andy later suggested that he might book a room on his own just in case he got lucky… After the Galway episode last year combined with his love of pink, we think this is highly unlikely!
Later that afternoon, Calamity arrived at Number Ten for a rehearsal with PK. Some of the scenes involved a bit of shouting at each other and the PM was a bit concerned that the neighbours would think there was a domestic going on! At one point the PM could swear there were photographers at the window looking for an exclusive. While this was going on the PM was hard at work in the kitchen preparing dinner for one and all. A lovely roast of Pork and another of Ham were produced. Unfortunately the PM did not know that Calam was a vegetarian!!!
Time moved on fast and it was time again for rehearsal. This time we had both PK and Wilson together. The boys were great helping Wilson with his gear and although the turnout in the beginning was small it was quality!!! The Professor arrived with a staved thumb which he picked up playing football… he thought this was his get out clause for the lifts… but PK just said to him… it will be well healed by the time the show goes on… nice try Professor!!!
Peter started by running all the dance numbers that had been set so far… Deadwood Stage, Windy City and the Tap… He proceeded to put the final touches to the tap and we can report that it is coming on well. Helen and Felicity were great in remembering what had been set to jog Peter’s memory.
During break time, Rebecca produced her mobile phone and played a great message tone alert which then resulted in Wilson and Peter both trying to use their technical talents to get this off her phone onto theirs via Bluetooth…
Peter moved onto setting ‘Careless with the Truth’. It contains a lot of laughter and a domino effect falling down movement. Thankfully no lifts, but the Professor and newbie Tim will have to master the 7 Step in this one.
One by one more people arrived and eventually we had almost doubled our attendees…
Ditanya, Ande Gray and Paddy arrived hot foot from a New Lyric rehearsal… Ande was looking wide eyed and bushy tailed as usual… or should we say bushy haired! Paddy was not looking himself and when asked he said that he was not feeling that great. The Writing Team speculate that this might have been the result of his operation… Apparently Paddy had to have something removed… Karen’s lips from his!! Dear love him, he was not coping well!
Drew had brought the guns and holsters for both Wild Bill and Calam… this was great except that the holster for Calam is right handed and she is left handed… we think this could be turned into a great Panto…. The right holster for the left hand!! Drew then encouraged some of the gang to try out one of the pistols with some blanks that he had. This weapon provides one almighty bang… but more on Wee Matt later!
Now that we were up to almost full strength, PK re-ran all the dance numbers. The lifts in Windy City are still causing some trouble. Poor Helen nearly ended up being dropped on her head. The PM says… just hold her a bit further up Niall… and the PM should know… he is such an expert at lifts!!
All in all a great rehearsal. It was such a treat to see the Master at Work… and that was just in the breaks!!
Then it was on to the Pub as usual. A great turnout by all accounts. We needed 2 tables to accommodate everyone. The craic started with Wilson letting everyone listen to the message alert that Rebecca had sent him. It was very funny. So funny that everyone else wanted it. Mary M suggested Wils send it by Bluetooth. Wilson said… Whaaaa??? The next half hour was spent trying to get Bluetooth to work on Wilson’s phone but to no avail. He is great on the keyboard but lousy at phones!!
Mark was very quiet to begin with but a few vod’s later he became very animated indeed. He told us all that he had a hot date the very next night and was so looking forward to it. Apparently the date in question had sent him a text earlier about what to wear so Mark had been asking the girls for their advice.
At this juncture the PM received a phone call from his son saying that he was locked out. The PM wished everyone goodnight and went home to open the door. On his arrival however he though it was much too early to go home and promptly made his way back to the Pub!!
Talk then ensued about our ideas for a ‘Summer Show’. Any ideas on what show we should do are greatly welcomed. We anticipate the Professor, with his vast musical knowledge, will no doubt come up with the goods! Waterford was also mentioned and it would be great to take a show there sometime soon. The craic would be ninety. Griselda wondered when she was going to fit all this in as her social calendar is now fully booked to the end of March!
Meanwhile at the other table… there was much hilarity going on between Paddy, Wendy, Wee Matt and Heather. This changed however once Paddy became a bit lonesome and pining for his beloved. Numerous text messages were flying back and forward between the two. Have you ever tried to write a text and in the middle of it your phone rings??? It really is a nuisance. Needless to say the we took it in turns to ring the big man just to wind him up!
And then it was over and time to go home… Wendy stated that she found Wee Matt a bit scary. Where had she been looking??? Mary M can reveal all Wendy!! Once outside Wee Matt after loads of hugs promptly jumped into a taxi. We think he had rang Paddy Cabs… it came very quickly!! It was good to see Tim there at the end too. We think he will fit in very well.
And then it was home time and we all went our separate ways. It was very foggy indeed… or was that just how Mark, Tim, Paddy and Wee Matt felt after a night on the beer!
So that is all to report on this week’s events… The Writing Team would just like to leave you with these thoughts…
Has anyone heard from Alf??? Is he/she still travelling round Europe? We believe he was last headed for Germany?? Also… is there someone who has been posting as Alf but is an imposter??? The Security Team are currently investigating this…
Thanks to all our diary readers… we had 2,500 hits in January…. 800 more than our previous best month… Thanks to Mark and Rach who between them notched up around 2,499 of those hits!!! Well, not quite. Thanks to all our other readers too. And... Please keep the comments coming!
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So till next time
Best Regards
The Writing Team
Ulster Operatic Company
PS The Schedule for the coming week is as follows...
Sunday 12 noon - Principal music rehearsal with Wilson
Thursday 8.00pm - Principal music rehearsal with Wilson
Thursday 9.00 pm - Chorus rehearsal with Wilson (Singing and Dancing)
See you all then!
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