Stuck

So there was a meeting at 2nd Street the other day, with the purpose of figuring out a way of continuing as a theater. I went, mainly because I knew I'd never hear the verdict if I didn't, and sat through two hours of complete twaddle. One of the main suggestions floating around was turning it into a repertory theater. For those of you who don't know what this means (I didn't), essentially what it boils down to is that everyone who does anything with the theater is drawn from a pool of paying members. Therefore, if you are not a paying member of the theater, you don't act, you don't tech, you don't direct, etc. This is an exceptionally crap idea for a number of reasons. For one, what about people like Caleb? Caleb is one of the main in-chargy people at CTC, the other community theater, and therefore doesn't do a lot at 2nd Street. Because of this, though, he would never be able to so much as audition for a show, because he wouldn't be a part of the officially sanctioned pool. Then, of course, there's the people who get involved in theater for one show, purely on a whim. Their friend told them they should/they needed something to do nights/they wanted to try something new/whatever. The thing about a repertory theater, though, is that you can't just walk in off the street and audition. So not only are we limiting ourselves to only part of the Central Oregon acting community, but we're also guaranteeing that we'll never get new people in. Finally, you get the people like me. During the discussion, someone mentioned "We'll just have everyone pay $25 a month, which will cover rent for the building, heating, etc. Just 25 dollars each. 25 dollars is nothing." Um... yeah. About that. When I have money, particularly at the beginning of the month, I have a list. I buy a bus pass, if I don't already have one for the month. I buy cat food, since my cat needs to eat. I buy any clothing I have need of (replacement shoes for the ones whose soles have worn through, that kind of thing.) I buy groceries, since people keep telling me that I need to eat. I buy things like toilet paper, or shampoo, or toothpaste, as needed. Then, and only then, do I get to move on to buying things that I want more than need. (More often then not, lately, this has been tea. My excuse is that it's technically good for me.) All of this really doesn't work well with a 25 dollar a month fee to volunteer at a theater, especially when I can, technically, just go over to CTC. They may not be as nice over there, but at least I don't have to pay to be there. There were, of course, other options, most of which didn't require one to shell out cash in order to enter the building, the majority of which I don't understand fully enough to talk good or bad points. (Anyone know a business major who can explain things to me?) Suffice it to say, I am worried. I am afraid that this tiny, wonderful little theater is going to fall through the cracks, just after I found it. I truly hate this town, and I loved the idea of having someplace I could feel at home, if only for a few nights a week. The next meeting is in mid February, so I guess we'll see...
In other news, I finally managed to hear back from the people in charge of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at CTC, and have officially started attending rehearsals. I've seen the movie exactly once, and then only because I felt like I ought to see it before I started helping with the play (it's nice to have a grasp of the story before going into rehearsal, I have found.) so hopefully I won't get too disgustingly tired of this before the end, but we'll see. If nothing else, it gets me out of the house at night, keeps me reasonably entertained (it's a pity live theater can't have a blooper reel, we've already had some rather entertaining moments), and forces me to get at least some exercise most days. I'm also starting work soon (either tomorrow or Monday, I haven't heard yet) so I'll eventually have some cash for that tea habit of mine. It shall be my downfall that Townshend's Tea House is a three minute walk from the theater... I will definitely need the caffeine, though, since I'll be starting work at 7:30 every morning, and getting home from rehearsal around ten. Hopefully, though, I'll be able to take naps in the afternoon most days, since I'm sort of nocturnal at the moment and have issues falling asleep early, as evidenced by the fact that I'm writing this at one thirty in the morning.
I guess that's it. In the last month or so (when was the last time I updated this thing?) I have lost some friends, gained some friends, seen a couple fabulous movies, read some phenomenal books, and developed a taste for lychee and rose petal tea. I got Christmas presents before Christmas, on Christmas eve, on Christmas day, after Christmas, and long after Christmas. I found out that opening night of the next show I tech will be on my birthday. I had a really cool dream based on this fact, and woke to the disappointing knowledge that David Bowie will definitely not be showing up at 2nd Street, even for my birthday. I somehow wound up with a massive and deeply annoying computer virus, and have no idea how to fix it, and no money to pay someone else to fix it. I finally got around to putting posters and pictures up on my wall. (Some of those pictures were a gift from my friend Shelby, who is amazingly talented and somehow managed to draw my head-people. Some others are from my friend Shannon, who is also amazingly talented and gave me prints of some of my favorite pictures that she's taken. I loveds my friends.) I gave out spell candles to my friends for Christmas, and got just about every reaction possible when people opened them. (Helen, you definitely win for my favorite. ^-^) The good in my life, amazing though it may seem, currently outweighs the bad. Here's hoping it stays that way...

Goddess bless,

~Char