A few days ago, I got a comment from a Mark Peters--a real blast from the past (and after perusing his blog, I wonder if the typos in this blog drive him crazy?). When I was a theater major in college I had a senior project of directing a show. I don't know what I was thinking by directing a show, but a script by Elizabeth Egloff caught my attention and I signed up for it. I had just started rekindling my interest in birding after suppressing it for a few years so her play called The Swan seemed a natural. The play is about a woman named Dora who has a swan fly into her window. The swan turns into a man and Dora trains him, names him Bill, teaches him checkers, gives him beer and tells him about her past love. She's currently having an affair with a milkman named Kevin but Bill falls in love with her and she must choose between the milkman and the swan.
Part of me would like to direct it again now that I have some life experience and a better understanding of swans, but there is no time and no budget for that at the moment. The theater down the block from us called the Jungle is producing it next month and I'm interested to see their version.
Mark was cast as the title character and did a fantastic job. There were certainly problems with the production mostly due to my inexperience with directing, but the swan was accurate boy howdy! I remember taking the cast out to look for a mute swan near campus. I just had a flash back of arguing with the costume designer for the show. Mark and I had talked about the swan's transformation into a man and we both agreed he should be naked when the transformation had it. The costume designer would have none of it and thought the nudity would be distracting. I remember we compromised, but not without lots of snippiness.
I had intended to post photos of the production of The Swan, but I can't find any. I did dig up some loo loo photos though!
Here's an early head shot. When I had this hair cut, I was mistaken for Katie Couric at a restaurant in Terre Haute, Indiana. That was back when she was dying her own hair.
One from a year earlier. I think I was trying to be deep. Oh, she's so serious, cast this girl in your play! I just realized I'm wearing the same shirt in both head shots--shocking. Incidentally, I have my natural hair color in these photos, too bad the photos are in black and white.
That's got to be some man's fantasy somewhere. I think this was from The Heidi Chronicles.
This was from a show called Bedroom Farce. I had a British accent for this show. This was my favorite part. I had to do a costume change under the covers onstage. I got everything on except for the panty hose. As soon as I got the shirt and skirt on I had to step out from under the covers and put on the panty hose up to and including pulling them up over my rear--my least favorite part of putting on clothes--there's no possible way to look attractive doing that.
The next two photos I dedicate to Hawk Owl's Nest. We got on the subject of magicians in the comments section of another blog and I mentioned that I was at one time a magician's assistant. He wanted to see the photos, well I found a couple. Here ya' go Patrick:
We just finished something. I think this is from a Jerry Lewis Telethon.
Here we are chaining him up. I'm the one on the right. Locking a man up in chains and restraints. Practice for marriage I suppose.
Here's a photo from a show Non Birding Bill and I were cast in at the Bryant Lake Bowl when we first moved to Minnesota. That's NBB behind the drums. Isn't he just so cute?