Mar 20 - Mar 26, 2011

Sunday was a day full of emotion, good and bad, and sort of an indicator of things to com e during the week.  It was the day of James's memorial.  It was rainy day, overcast and blustery.  James enjoyed the rain so in a way it was fitting.  The memorial was held just up the street from my place at Oak Canyon Nature Center.  They have an outdoor amphitheater surrounded by trees – absolutely beautiful.  There was no “official” program, just friends and family sharing their memories of James.  As a stage manager he would’ve been annoyed that it started so late but would’ve forgiven all because of the weather.  I didn’t get to stay afterward to mingle as I had to work.

As soon as the memorial was complete, I headed in to work.  When I arrived, I found out fireworks had already been cancelled but no one had bothered to contact me – the stage manager in charge!  They had also cancelled the pyro portion of MMY without consulting me.  Granted, it was super rainy and I was prepared to argue cancellation to those in charge, but to not include me in the decision was annoying.  So I ended up not needing to be to work so early and sat around being frustrated with everything, most especially not getting to be at the memorial longer.  So I did two shows of MMY – IN THE RAIN!  I had a total of 30 people watch both shows.  I truly hope those 30 Guests appreciated the show Because I had to stand out in the pouring rain for an hour, getting my feet soaked and having my umbrella get so wet it started dripping on me.

Monday began “Join Jack’s Crew” tech week.  Monday/Tuesday were final rehearsal days for the cast during the day.  then when the cast went home, Rene (the other SM) and I would stay to work on Tech things in the venue in the evenings.  Wednesday/Thursday were dress rehearsals in the venue overnight.  It was freezing cold on Wednesday and while warmer on Thursday, it was rainy & wet.  In fact, we ended up cancelling Thursday’s rehearsal after just one run through.  The equipment needed to be shut down and covered because it was just too wet.  But we managed to get everyone in a run in at least one of their positions.  And we did some additional rehearsal in the rehearsal halls just to solidify lines and intentions.  They even catered for us on Wed/Thurs so even though we were cold & wet, we had awesome hot food!

In addition to the super long days at work, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I had family in town and playing at the park.  Uncle Dan, his wife Krystal, two of her grandkids, my Cousin Jared, and his son Jared all spent 3 days experiencing the Happiest Place on Earth.  The kids had never been before and Jared hadn’t been since he was a youth.  Unfortunately because of work, I couldn’t spend as much time with them as I would’ve liked, but I spent an hour with them on Tuesday & got the littlest one into the Jedi Training Academy.  Wednesday, I enjoyed the Tiki Room with them before heading out.

Friday was opening night for “Join Jack’s Crew”  and lots of executives were going to be there.  And of course because of the rain we hadn’t actually gotten to rehearse a few of the last minute changes.  But we were up to the task.  It was chaotic, hectic, crazy, and good – the feedback was all positive and everyone did a fantastic job!  Saturday ran a bit smoother but we had the studio executives come to shows.  Their feedback was also positive.  Can’t argue with that!  :) WE continued to adjust and learn throughout the night.  We keep joking that by the end of this event run (memorial Day) we might finally have everything figured out!

Feb 27–Mar 5, 2011

It was a week of ups and downs for me.  I started the week with the Academy Awards on Sunday night.  I always enjoy the event, it’s just fun.  I’d only seen a few of the nominees but still got a kick out of everything.  However, no sooner had the broadcast begun than my upstairs neighbors began banging – a rhythmic banging, over and over.  After 10 minutes of nonstop banging I thought I was going to lose my mind.  I called my Mom and was venting to her – after another 10 minutes (20 total) she convinced me to go upstairs and inquire.  Turns out my neighbors were “breading steak” – and they still needed another 5 minutes – I’ve never breaded steak that way!  I suppose to each their own.  Their response was “oh I guess that would be annoying to hear”.  Uh-huh!  Thankfully they did eventually stop and I was able to catch up with the ceremony due to the awesome technology of pausing live television! 

Work was the usual this week.  Nothing too out of the ordinary.  I had another work meeting after a shift one night – things are still developing.  More later.

On Wednesday, life took a definite down turn, made all the more intense by my present mood (see previous post if you are adventurous).  I learned my friend and former colleague, James Gattuso, had a heart attack and passed away on Monday – he was 41.  I learned a great deal from him in our shared years at Disney.  We traded books, laughs, and a desire to travel more (which we never did together).  Thursday after work, a few of us gathered at a mutual friend’s house to talk and remember James.  And on Tuesday, I’ll be having my own honorary memorial at the Resort.  His official memorial will be March 20th.  The world truly lost a good man and he will be missed.  He will always be remembered on Fantasmic as the guy who said we should “pray for spiders on the stage right path”!  He meant to type spray but missed and sent out the “prayer” out to all involved with Fantasmic! 

It was definitely a reminder to not put off seeing friends and telling loved ones what they mean in my life.  I’d spoken to him in August and we said we should get together soon.  And suddenly it’s March and I’ve missed my chance.

Friday I got to spend an evening out with Mom.  Rock of Ages the Musical was in town and I’d gotten us tickets.  She and I used to go to our classic rock concerts at least once a year.  Unfortunately tickets are just too expensive these days – we liked it when they hadn’t had a resurgence in popularity!  The show is set in the mid-to-late 80’s and features songs from all our favorites (Journey, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Styx) and my beloved Hair Metal bands (Warrant, Damn Yankees, Whitesnake, Poison, etc).  We had such a fantastic time! 

Before the show we met at South Coast Plaza and did some shopping at Crate & Barrel.  Mom had a gift certificate/credit to use.  It was fun wandering and figuring out what she could use and/or want.  She ended up with a bowl, a serving casserole & stand, a couple of pastry tools, a pepper grinder, and a few crème Brule bowls.  Not a bad score at all!  Then we moseyed next door to Pottery Barn to look at the sofa I’m considering purchasing and the fabric choices. 

After shopping it was time for dinner.  We choose TGIFriday’s because it was close & neither of us had been there too recently.  Of course we completely forgot it was a Friday night – needless to say the 90 minutes we thought we had to enjoy a leisurely meal and walk to the theater didn’t quite pan out.  We got our food with about 15 minutes to eat it before we had to dash out.  We arrived at the theater as they were ringing the 5 minute bell and sat in the seats just minutes before curtain.  But oh, what laughs we enjoyed.  It was one of those “leave the theater at the end of the night with your cheeks hurting because you’ve been smiling & laughing so much” shows.

I was fairly unproductive on Saturday – just hung around the house reading (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – finished it too!) & vegging in front of the television.  That evening I drove out to Corona for Ashna & Preston Horman’s housewarming/Carter’s 1st birthday celebration.  It was lovely and their home is quite nice – it’ll definitely be a place they can grow their family.  On my way home I stopped at Target and picked up some cheap furniture – a side table, a small coffee table, a small storage ottoman, and 2 throw pillows (plus groceries the bill was still under $100).  They’ll do until I can afford to purchase the good stuff!  I ended my week putting together my newly acquired furniture.