A slightly quieter weekend coming up, since my second expedition to see Camelot fell through. I did want to see it again and to look around the Aurora's new place, but there'll be other chances -- I hear there's a concert performance of Oklahoma scheduled July 3rd. Oh, well, sons #2 and #3 need my car (with me driving) to fetch some stuff from their dad's, so I'll still be heading out 316 on Saturday.

Tomorrow night I'll be at Georgia Shakespeare volunteering for The Servant of Two Masters, which sounds like it'll be a romp, and then my usual Sunday at the Tavern for Cabaret. Monday night is a (Tavern) volunteer captains' meeting, which means potluck, wine, and lots of talking (eventually on topic). They're fun.

When I was at Stage Door Players a couple of weeks ago, I had a long conversation with the couple next to me (season ticket subscribers) in which I tried to explain Samuel French (a huge publisher of scripts) and how royalties are figured for theatres - it's not just purchasing scripts for everyone involved in the show, but paying a fee based on the size of the house and other factors. As I go to all the different theatres around Atlanta, I catch myself noticing where they save or spend money. Stage Door's season looked as if it was entirely of shows still in copyright, so the royalties would be a large hidden expense. People can see costumes and sets, but royalties are invisible. The Tavern does mostly Shakespeare, who is well out of copyright, and only need to buy scripts; so they can do shows with large casts, compared to the one or two person shows that many others do, and even the Tavern has the actors playing multiple parts in one show. I might just start charting all this, for my own enlightenment. Lord knows, no one in Atlanta theatre is getting rich.

I'd like to see a movie. The AJC's theatre critic, Wendell Brock, recommended ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway, which sounds good. Anyone out there want to see it? It's at the Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema.

Oh yeah, and I'm sewing curtains for my renter's window. So much return on so little expertise -- Go me!

I've added another theatre to my sidebar. Last night I finally saw elliedee perform in Wrong Turn at Lungfish at Stage Door Players, a professional theatre in the northern Atlanta suburbs. Her character was a gum-snapping, nasal young woman with little education and less self respect, in utter contrast to the poise and polished articulate MFA I've met in RL. She dodged the easy stereotype, too. The show was engrossing, so the point that my knees locked up because I hadn't moved all through the first act. I'll go see more shows at Stage Door and need to see about volunteering.

Friday night, I ushered at 14th Street Playhouse again for Respect. I saw it during previews, and it's fascinating to watch now towards the end of the run. Lynne was house manager again, and was still the most organized and thorough of all those I've dealt with lately, which makes me much more competent as an usher. She made a point of telling me to get her is anyone complained about the temperature, so I sent two women over during intermission, and she loaned them light weight blankets trimmed to shawl size, a brilliant solution to the eternal complaints about air conditioning.

Tonight, it's back to the Tavern for Cabaret. I was volunteer captain there Wednesday as well, for a benefit performance (not sold out, so I was able to sit at a table and eat while I watched). This is an excellent, funny, raunchy, painful show.

I have other things I want to post about, but I'll save them for another one.