The show is cast
I’m not exactly the best at keeping a journal; it’s never been my strong suit, but I figure if I start writing one now before we start rehearsals for The Sum of Us, I might actually come back to it during the rehearsal process. No promises, but we’ll see.
I am so excited about the new cast. Without getting into any gory details, we were scheduled to produce The Sum of Us, but the production was cancelled. So, Bob and Jeff decided they wanted to self-produce it. We’ve worked the past month or so securing a performance space and setting up a new rehearsal schedule for a January/February production. The only problem is: the other actors who were associated with the original cast are unable to do the show in the new time slot.
Panic! No, not really. Mary May Johnson, who was working as Bob’s assistant director, has stepped into the role of Joyce as well. I’ve known Mary for years, and have directed her a couple of times: Appetite Theatre’s “Museum” and Halcyon Theatre’s “Spreading the News”. She is a joy to have around, and I’m happy to get the opportunity to make out with her! I initially met Mary when Appetite Theatre was scrambling to replace an actress in its production of “Elton John’s Glasses” a few years ago. She stepped in a week before the show opened, learned all her lines and a Northern London dialect, and went on for the critics on opening night. She and I worked a lot of hours private-time during that week to get her caught up with the other actors who had already been rehearsing for a month.
And we have two marvelous young actors, Joel Gross and Matt Hays, playing my son and his boyfriend. Joel and Matt are appearing in Appetite Theatre’s short play festival, Bruschetta, which opens Friday, Oct. 17. I haven’t had the chance to work with either of them before, but I called them back for the play I directed for Bruschetta and was so impressed by their work in callbacks, I knew we needed to see them for The Sum of Us.
Okay, so this is a pretty innocuous post. I promise to be less thrilled and more introspective next time.
