Family Adventures and Then Some

Last Friday, August 22, our little family from New York blew into town for a reunion with granparents and cousins AND our dog Kasey (actually Courtney's dog). The first afternoon we just kind of spent lying around the house, after eating lunch at Carillo's Mexican deli. Evan helped me with my multitudes of computer problems and Liz helped me learn how to put photos and videos into my blog.

The kids got acquainted with Kasey, who outweighs even Sophia. When they first came in, she went wild with joy....new blood to play with. She knocked the boys down and licked them, and they came up laughing. Sophia was a bit more reserved with the dog, but she also seemed to enjoy her.


All three had a great time feeding the fish in our pond. The coi are huge now, after 12 years. We still have about 6 of the original gold fish and some new fish that must have come from spontaneous combustion....because we didn't put them there. We think Courtney's bass either died or was devoured by a local racoon or the local heron (huge thing.)

That evening all of Audrey's kids came over to baby sit (and play with Grandma and Grandpa) while Evan and Liz and Steve and Audrey enjoyed a night out with Trevor and Leila. Those who stayed home watched Lava Girl and Nemo (my favorite). By the time they got back from dinner, jet lag had taken over so the kids crashed on the couched. I didn't expect them to stay, so I hadn't had Courtney clean the upstairs for guests. Oh well....next time I will do better.

Saturday all of us (except Spence, who had committed to work at a local civic event) headed for Point Dume, after buying sub sandwiches to take for lunch. The day turned out beautiful, and I took lots of pictures.








The highlight for me was totally being dumped in the surf. Kristina and Matthew had to rescue me and get me to my feet. The waves were breaking right on the sand, so it was difficult to get past them...for this 'older' surfer with weak knees. Oh, how I wish I had had a video. When I hit the shower, I must have had two cups of sand in my suit...not to mention my hair. By the way, I did make it past the breakers for a nice swim in the surf with the kids.

I did get a picture of Audrey being knocked by a wave, as Liz was trying to snap her photo. She landed with a plop, also.

We were going to BBQ for dinner but Liz suggested that we just order from Reds so we could stay and extra hour and a half at the beach. That was a cool move and I didn't get tired from cooking dinner at all! It was delish.





It was a bittersweet farewell...as the kids, already out like lights, were tucked in their carseats and kissed goodbye.

Little Women: Aunt March or Maxine

I recently had the opportunity to understudy the role of Aunt March/Mrs Kirk in a production of Little Women the Musical in Simi Valley. NO, this isn't my picture, but it gives you an idea of the character I played. One of my friends said it was like watching Maxine play the role, and I took that as a great compliment. Actually, Maxine is my idol....love all her cartoons.


In our local Simi Valley production, we had the most incredible cast of daughters (see flyer below). Anna Graves, Jo; Liz Stockton, Meg; Tessa Grady, Beth; and Dawn Notagiacomo, Amy, were amazing. Marmee, played by Chris Zirbel was equally as amazing. I had seen a professional production of the show, starring Maureen McGovern, and I don't think that cast could hold a candle to our local cast.

I was understudying Kim Blake, who had a big family hoo hah which gave me the opportunity to do the role(s) for two performances. I had never performed for the director, David Ralphe, before our brush-up rehearsal, so I was literally scared spitless. The first night was a bit scary, but I felt like I nailed the role on Sunday...a great feeling. It was also my first time to try an Irish accent (used by Mrs. Kirk, the boarding house super).

HY Katlein's comment on Goldstar.com was: (my first internet review...tee hee)

"This was a beautiful presentation of a standard, set to music. This performance was well acted, very well presented and the music and orchestra were terrific. We saw this presentation with 3 understudies and they were all great. Highly recommended."

I was exhausted during the show because the dressing rooms are downstairs, and I had 5 costume changes which meant I did a minimum of 7 flights for each performance, including the ups and downs to be 'miked' and to change back into my own clothes. I did it, however.

On the first night I actually threw a party at my house afterwards in honor of Spence's 74th birthday....Happy Birthday Spence!.

My next thespian adventures include producing Little Shop of Horrors for Camarillo Community Theatre and playing the role of Amanda in a world premiere of Meeting in Durango, a new play by Ray Malus, which will be performed in Canoga Park. Obviously I will be very busy for the next 3 months....exactly what makes me happy.

My First Film

Well, I certainly had an interesting experience this weekend. I was featured in my first film....a MOST interesting piece. It is amazing to me me that SO much work and so much time is spent creating a piece of film that will last only 5-6 minutes. It took a crew of about 20, another 20 or so actors and 2 twelve hour days to accomplish the goal. This doesn't include any of the hours and hours of pre-production work.

I started out on Thursday by driving to ABC costume studios where I tried on several outfits, until they found the one that thought was right for me....I was playing the role of the grandmother.

I arrived on location at 9:30 AM on Saturday, where they immediately had the make-up artist add her touches to the basics that I had applied. I felt GORGEOUS!... Shooting had started at 7:30, so during the times when they were actually shooting, they would call "rolling," and we would all have to be quiet.

They got a little behind so my 'big' scene was skipped (postponed to Sunday), so I actually didn't shoot my first scene until about 4 in the afternoon. Fortunately, they served us a delicious Greek lunch at 1PM, and there were snacks and drinks all day long. And after all that time, they touched up my make-up again.

It was nearly 100 degrees and the group shot was in the sun in the backyard at the peak of the afternoon heat. We were all dying.... Of course every scene is shot a minimum of 3-4 times, just to make sure they have what they want. By the time that shot was over (an hour in the sun) we all thought we were going to have heat stroke.

WE were finally dismissed at 7:30 that night, and I was told to return at noon the next morning for my 'big scene.' When I say big scene, it means that I was the only one in the shot. As the grandmother, I was doing food prep in the kitchen, and I turned around at one point and greeted my granddaughter. I was then shown (hand only) turning on the stove. I had no real dialogue. All the voices in this 'weird' film are being done out of sync...sort of surreal. (Did I spell that right?) There were only 5 lines of actual diaglogue in the entire film and all but the final one are being tweaked with out of sync/slowmo sound.

Then we had HOURS of sitting, waiting for the other daylight scenes to be shot. Around 8PM they began shooting the dinner scene, which was held outdoors. I was finally dismissed at 1215 AM....We had Baja Fresh for dinner and Pizza after we finished, so at least we ate.

I must say the plot of this film, which is being made to be entered into film festivals all over the world, is really weird...with a cult feeling. The idea occurred to the author/director, after she had seen some documentaries on different cultures and their coming of age rituals. Had I known the plot, I probably would not have done the film, but the positives outweighed the negatives in the long run. I met some of the most wonderful people. And I got to see how they work with fake arms and hands and how blood squirts....VERY interesting and totally believable. I saw the out-takes (I think that is what they are called) on the gory scene, and they were WOW!

BUT, now I is an actor! On film! If they sell the film I will even get paid...about $400. I DO hope someone wants to buy it..tee hee.