When work becomes fun!

So, this week, we had the opportunity to do some team-building. Our glorious leader – pictured with the gun – took us to an Escape Room.

The scenario is simple: you are a group of people who are “locked” in a series of rooms. In order to find your way out, you need to solve a series of puzzles.

We went to “Exit Langley” – where we were players in the Wild West – High Noon

Suffice to say, that to give you any details would ruin the event for anyone else.

Still, we had a blast. We had to use two “hints” (provided by the staff) but, all in all, we managed to solve the puzzles and make our way out in 55 minutes – (yeah 10 minutes longer than we were allowed – but there were extenuating circumstance)

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A Trifecta of Shows

So, apparently, I had even more time on my hands than I could have ever imagined.

My other favourite director, Don Briard managed to get me for a THIRD production in 2010:

Spirit Level

This was a fun show to work on. Rather than tell you the synopsis, it is so much easier to give a reviewer’s impression of the show

I got to work with a fun cast and crew on this show.

Jack (RYAN JOHNSON), a well-known writer of mysteries, and his wife Susie (JANE CRAVEN) were drowned in a boating accident. They are haunting their cottage in England, which they left to Susie’s Australian niece, and have driven off all possible renters.

Mark Webster (DAVE MCNEA), an estate agent, brings Simon (ROBERT MEDERIOS) and Felicity (Flic) (COLLEEN LORNIE) Willis around. He is aware of the haunting activities, but only indirectly hints at the fact, telling the Willises that they will have to pay the full lease if they find the home for any non-physical reason “unsuitable”. When he learns of the previous owners, Simon, an aspiring writer, is thrilled with the idea of living where Jack Cameron wrote his novels. Susie objects until it becomes apparent that Flic is in the early days of her pregnancy.

The play follows the course of Flic’s pregnancy from June to December and the young couple’s interactions with Flic’s disapproving mother, Marcia (DEBORAH FINKEL).

A parallel story line involves Jack’s rejection at the “Pearly Gates”, raising, in a lighthearted manner, issues of belief and faith—in which Susie’s guardian angel (TARA WEBSTER) plays a role.

The two story lines come together at Christmas when Flic goes into labour.

On the whole, it was a production that was most enjoyable to work on.

And Then There Were None!

2010 was a busy year for me in the theatre world. I had left working for IRIS in September 2009 and I was working for….. for….. gadzooks, I can’t even bring myself to say her name. Suffice to say, I went to work for someone who was such a treasure – hopefully someone will bury her someday.

Regardless, I was looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses. I had extra time on my hands and I was no longer commuting to Langley each day. So, with Alex’s blessing, I took on a second stage managing gig – this one was another Agatha Christie play:

And Then There Were None!

This was Ms. Christie’s most popular whodunnit – selling over 100 million copies.

It was also an opportunity to work with Tracy Labrosse once again, who is one of my favourite actors. Then, there was my director, Alison Schamberger, who has always made me feel like I am the most important person in her cast and crew.

This also gave me a chance to work with Sara Weber and Miles Lavkulich who were instrumental in helping me hone my skills as a stage manager.

The show was so much fun to work on, even with some truly diva-ish performances but, we still managed to pull off a great run.

I learned so much about patience, calm-demeanor and time management on this production.

I also learned that you never miss with Stage Crew. The assistant stage managers: Colleen and Deborah went truly above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that everything worked to perfection.

On my way home.

So, after another whirlwind trip to Edmonton, I am seated at the Boston pizza at YEG. I have my virgin Caesar and am waiting for my cranberry, pecan salad with roasted chicken.

I am here so often that the wait staff know me. And that is a good thing. I have got about two hours before my flight leaves and this is my opportunity to distress from the roller coaster that is the visit of my mom.

Soon, though, I will be home and in the company of my husband and our two furbabies. Life is good.

Off to Edmonton

So, here it is on a very, very, very early Saturday morning. I am sitting in the airport waiting lounge trying not to yawn too loudly.

I am about to test the newest discount airline for a quick weekend trip to see my mom.

I look as exhausted as I feel. But, it is a small inconvenience to endure to be able to spend a little time with my mom and some of my favourite people.

More to follow as well as a critique of the airline.

Painting the house – by numbers

So, the ongoing saga of home ownership continues…. Last year we painted the house to remove all the chocolate brown.

As you can see, there was a TON of BROWN. I hate brown. It is such a boring colour.

FB_IMG_1504979382973 — Our house circa 2017

This is the result of 4 days work last year. We managed to get rid of all the brown. That left the beige. Another colour, I ain’t so fond of.

So, three weeks ago, we redid our deck, which you saw the results of in a previous posting.

Two weeks ago, we went back to Home Depot and found the colour to replace the beige. This past weekend, I had three days off (Thank you BC Day Long Weekend!) and so we tackled the rest of the house. And while it took only one and a half days, the end result is amazing!

The effort that it took to get this done was worth every brush stroke, every blister, the sunburns, the exhaustion.

A Nice Family Gathering – memoirs

My third production for the Metro Theatre introduced me to whole new cast and crew. I was contacted by the Theatre Manager, Les Erskine, about a new production that was looking for a Stage Manager – one who was experienced and didn’t need any training. I guess that was me.

So, I discussed it with Alex and he gave me his go-ahead.

A Nice Family Gathering Program 2009

A Nice Family Gathering is a comedic drama that featured the talents of Harry Seddon (one of my favourite actors), Erin Miller, Eby Luking, the amazing Sue Sparling (who I have grown to love- miss working with her), Steven Charlton (so cute) and Johnny Gingell (another handsome devil who I loved working with).

My first read-through with this cast and director was one of the most entertaining evenings I had spent in a long time. After initial introductions, our glorious director, Nicky Anderton, set up a rousing game of sound-ball – a fun-filled exercise where cast members threw an imaginary ball at someone in the circle adding a unique sound. I sat this out as I was still not sure what to make of this but, I have to admit I enjoyed the exercise immensely.

It definitely spoke volumes to the commitments that this cast were prepared to do to make this show fun, entertaining and moving.

I also got to work with Max Reed, who along with Nicky made my time on this show very relaxed and entertaining.

We opened during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and so we were hard pressed to find our audience. Fortunately, we had great reviews and some excellent word of mouth for this show.

I took Alex to see this show about 1/2 way through the run. Normally, Alex enjoys the shows I work on but, they rarely move him the way this show did.

After the show, he insisted we go up to the Lounge and meet the cast. He went to each cast member, introduced himself and thanked them for making him cry (something he rarely does). It is definitely a testament to the story, the acting and the direction of the show.

It is definitely one of my more memorable shows.

Home Renovations are like hiccups – sometimes it feels like they will never end! (Part 2 of many, many, many parts)

So, one massive job done. Numerous more to go. *sigh

After many painful and anxiety-filled hours, we got the deck finished! Who would have thought that ripping up the old indoor/outdoor carpet would be the EASY part?

Removing the glue that bonded the carpet to the decking along with the rubber backing of the glue proved to be an exercise in “almost” futility. We scraped, we scrubbed, we used solvents, adhesive removers and even tried a belt sander. All to no avail. That stuff was not coming off without a major fight!

Fortunately, Alex is not easily defeated. We have a power washer with a few different attachments. So, we found that loosening up the glue and rubber backing with a solvent and then attacking it with the pressure washer is what did the trick. For the most part.

Some glue just refused to leave and so, we had to eventually admit defeat.

The deck paint we purchased was just going to have to go over the glue. And boy, did it ever!

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The top is just one coat! You can see how well it actually covers.

And here is the end result: (drum roll please)

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It took all Saturday to get it done and by Saturday evening, we were ready to put the deck back together. With the help of our friend, Tracy (in town visiting from Victoria), we were able to: purge some stuff, trash some other stuff and organize the deck so that it looks like a great living space.

Alex is exhausted from this project and I don’t blame him. He has done the bulk of the work again and I couldn’t be prouder of him and his efforts.

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Next up: The house to be painted! EEEK!

The Lights of Broadway … er South West Marine Drive – A history of my involvement in theatre. Part 2

My next show at the Metro introduced me to another great director, Don Briard – Teacher extraordinaire. When I was approached to be his Stage Manager, we met at an event at the theatre. We seemed to hit it off right away by trading gentle, good humoured barbs at each other. Barbs? Actually, they were more like harpoons meant to skewer each other.

But, we hit it off right away and I took on my second show: Arsenic and Old Lace.

Arsenic and Old Lace Program — Program Cover for Arsenic and Old Lace

This show introduced me to a whole new assortment of actors and crew. This is where I got to work again with Blaine Anderson, Caitlyn Clugston, Nathanael Vass and Val Deardon. I also got to work with Rob Gillespie, John Hedgecock, and Pat McDermott. It is also where I got to meet Alison Schamberger who will go on to be my director for most of my other shows at the Metro. We opened to great reviews.

It was an amazing show to work on and I had some great laughs.

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This show teed me up for many more shows and I was happy to have found an outlet for my ability to micro-manage people without pissing them off too much.

Home Renovations are like hiccups – sometimes it feels like they will never end! (Part 1 of many, many, many parts)

Here we are in the middle of one of the more uncomfortable heat waves that Metro Vancouver has experienced in a while. There are even weather advisories out telling people to stay indoors, drink lots of water, stay cool and don’t do any heavy work outside.

So, what are me and Alex doing? We are renovating our outdoor covered deck. It was covered in this hideous brown indoor/outdoor carpeting. It was old, worn out in places, covered in cigarette burns and was virtually impossible to keep clean. We have a vacuum cleaner just for the deck. That is how much work it is.

Outdoor dining Outdoor Living Covered deck

As you can see, it is less than lovely. So, I told Alex that on my next days off, we would redo the floors. We picked out a very nice dark gray textured floor paint from Home Depot and all the stuff (or so I assumed) that we would need to prep the floors.

Imagine my surprise when, on the next day, I came home to this:

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I have to admit that Alex definitely knows how to motivate me.

So, now comes the really hard part. The carpeting was glued down with some horrid stuff that is virtually impossible to remove. We tried scraping, sanding, washing and cursing at the stuff. Nothing seemed to work.

Back to Home Depot for a strong solvent to melt the glue and rubber and make it somewhat easier to remove. Which it does do. But, if not careful, it can also remove skin. Found that out the hard way!

It took us over an hour to clean a 4 x 4 section. 16 sq/ft down – 375 sq/ft to go! *sigh