A World Premiere Weekend & A very proud director

So, we had a couple more articles about Last Christmas by Neil Fleming from Calgary that I directed. We had a very busy weekend:

Friday
Neil and Roxanne did a TV interview on CTV news. Then Neil and I met and did a radio interview. We then spoke to Roxanne's Drama class. We slowed down a bit for lunch at Amy's on Second. Both Neil and I ate too much and after his interview with PANow at the Rawlinson Centre, we both ended up sleeping in the Green Room for a bit in the afternoon.

A link to the PANow article with Neil Fleming. Click Here 

Neil Crashing in the Green Room of the Rawlinson
Shouldn't have had that Carrot Cake!

After the "nap", Neil went on to do selected readings from his other plays to a small crowd at the Rawlinson.

That evening, Neil came to the world premiere of his work of Last Christmas. He sat at the table with Ali and I, some of our friends, Roxanne and her husband and two of their friends. The show went great (other than the drunk at a near table; see previous post) and I was very proud.

Here is the link to the PA Herald story about my show that they interviewed me for before the premiere. Sure, they spelled my name wrong, but it is local media. Click this line!

The marquee for the show

After the show, a few audience members went to the next room for a wine & cheese meet & greet with the Cast, Crew and Playwright. It was a great way to end the world premiere.

Saturday

The next day, Neil ran a workshop on playwriting for a few people at the local library. It was great to get his advice, expertise, and feedback on ideas and steps to learn how to playwright. I can't say I'll ever playwright a show, but it was great to learn ways to develop character, plot and objective. I will definitely use what I learned in developing my stories.

I then heard from some season ticket holders who went to the Saturday night show that it was one of the best Odyssey shows they have seen in many years. I also heard back from my Stage Manager that the cast did an even better performance than opening night and I would be very proud. I very much am!

Sunday

It was a bittersweet day knowing my cast is on their own now and I can't be there to experience the rush of the crowd with them, but I am VERY happy to hear they are enjoying it and the crowds are too.

Here is a "behind the scenes" article from this afternoon's show. Click this line

Riley (Matthew) looks scared of Grandpa Jake (John) as Debbie (Cara-left)  looks on and Paula (Tanya - right) looks annoyed. A great tableau from the end of Act 1, Scene 2, after the family all arrives.

So, it has been an awesome weekend. I have gotten great reviews and compliments from both media, season ticket holders, and casual/first time attenders of the show as to how good it is. It was a team effort. Neil wrote a great play, the cast's portrayal of the characters was sick (that means awesome - joke from in the play), the crew was great, and I think I did a pretty decent job of directing. Altogether, it makes for a great 1st show of Odyssey's 21st season, and I am proud to have my name attached to it!

Break a leg on the rest of the run.