Hey, kids, let's put on a show!

Painting has stalled out for the moment (hence, no pix yet)-- not because I'm bored with it or have lost motivation, but for two reasons. First, I lost my in-house babysitting now that my siblings are gone, and second, I'm at crunch time in rehearsals for my show.

Earlier this summer, some talented friends of mine, a large group of siblings, asked for my help in putting together a musical revue based around various standards of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. They have the vocal and instrumental chops to perform the pieces (and the dance moves too), but needed someone to create and stage a coherent show. I love doing that sort of thing, so they gave me a list of songs they'd been practicing and I set to work developing a plot that would tie them all together. The show is meant to be light entertainment, so the story is a classic tale of a kid getting a lucky break in New York City (circa Gershwin) and melting the heart of his frosty leading lady.

The script was put together gradually from scenes built around the songs, and once the basic structure was set, we began to find themes and running gags. A final character was added to incorporate the oldest brother of the family, who joins in on one of the last songs in the show. Not everything is perfectly melded -- Route 66 is tacked on as a sort of prologue because I couldn't quite work it in smoothly anywhere else -- but on the whole we have a fairly tight plot with plenty of gags.

Performance is next Saturday, so we're ramping up the rehearsals. Next week we have three full runs plus a dress rehearsal Friday night. For an amateur show in someone's living room, it's suprisingly technically polished. Lights and curtains have been hung, mikes are being set up, and there's even a 12'x8x wood floor for the stage and tap routine (moved from a different part of the house). Our orchestra consists of piano, bass, and drums, and for intermission our 16-year-old pianist is presenting us with a an abbreviated (though hardly less difficult) version of Gershwin's An American in Paris. Considering that the show is not only free but includes dinner, I'd say that our invited audience is full of lucky stiffs.

So the upshot of this is that paint and moulding have been temporarily upstaged by blocking, choreography, and the search for the right shade of blush to simulate a livid sunburn under the lights. Regular home decorating resumes in two weeks, by which time I'll have to buy all new rollers, because the ones I stored in the fridge (thinking I'd get back to the painting tomorrow) will have hardened beyond salvaging. Oh well, them's the breaks in show business.