#SundaySnapshots --- Smalltown: A Pickup Musical and two weeks of Theatre SKAM

Guys.. All I've wanted to do is write an amazing blog post about premiering a musical on the back of a pickup truck, and how little me managed to get the cheques written and two parties thrown in two days. And somehow in the midst of that canned an overwhelming amount of vegetables from the garden. An then throw another party at my house and stand in for the Stage Manager one night of the run, but this past two weeks I've been doing all of that, so finding the time or energy to write anything about it has been scarce.

So... Instead, a photo roundup, starting over two weeks ago when the Smalltown/Theatre SKAM truck became a reality.

The truck arrived.

And unpacked into a show.

The chairs were delivered.

We traded Figs...

For Ice Cream!

We Christened the truck

(it's hard to see here, but his name is Bob, in honour of Bob Milne -- Standing on my left)

We took the show on the road and previewed it in parks around the CRD.

While we scrambled to preserve everything we could.

I broke down and bought a canning set. Unpacking it was like Christmas and I had no idea how much it would revolutionize preserving.

Pickled Beans

Round 2.

We ate more figs. This time fried in oil and honey.

With a side of Cold Comfort Pina Colada Sorbet.

We baby sat our adorable niece.

Before heading into the run of Smalltown: A Pickup Musical... we threw the cast a pizza party.

With the help of some lovely board members.

The show opened, and we celebrated.

My lovely date, Pat Rundell

(and Kate photo bombing us in the background)

Jello Shots, love - the Playwrights.

Anna learns how to use draught taps.

Flowers from my amazing Best Friend.

We devised a rain plan (and were never once fully rained out!)

I did some Stage Management time.

We spent some (more) cuddle time.

I started refusing to want to get out of bed.

We got some more canning done.

(Pickled Zucchini!)

And we threw another party!

This time at our house. A barbecue for the whole cast and crew!

Saskatoon Berry Pie

Salad for everyone!!

Munro came to supervise.

And Ladies and Gentleman, this brings us to closing night!

and another party! off to ice the keg

Good thing too, Rob just showed me the forecast for the next week. Rain, rain and more rain.

Now that we have some breathing room I will try to find the time to actually tell you all about everything you see here.

Spark

Tuesday night I took my mom to The Belfry Theatre to see a show at their Spark Festival. A Festival of "new plays and new ideas". I took her to a play I have been looking forward to seeing for a while called A Brimful of Asha.  

The synopsis from the Spark website is: 

Real-life mother and son, Asha and Ravi Jain, each defend their side of this true (and very Canadian) story of generational and cultural clash. When Ravi takes a trip to India his parents decide it is the perfect time to introduce him to potential brides. Ravi is not sold on the idea of getting married-at least not yet-but Asha fears that time is running out.

I first heard about the show on CBC's Q with Jian Ghomeshi (my CBC boyfriend) and was completely taken with the idea. The interview with Asha and Ravi is wonderful and funny. And despite the cultural differences, Ravi and Asha sounded just like most Canadian mothers and sons.

The play proved to be every bit as charming. It is immediately brought to every ones attention that Asha (mom) is not an actress and doesn't intend to be one either. It is really 90 minutes of story-telling and conversation. The lights even stay up for the first 3/4 of the play making you feel like you are in their dining room. (They handed out Samosas to start and shook peoples hands as they walked through the door!).

This is by no means a review, but I really wanted to share the experience with you. What a fun play to take my mom too, while they talked about generational differences, parents always being right, and at one point Asha even stops Ravi mid story as he has absent mindedly leaned against the table and she makes him get up and find a chair! Obviously it had all been well rehearsed, but they were so charming and honest with each other (as only a real life mother and son could be) that it was easy to believe that this argument about marriage changes every night, and is fuelled by new fires.

Listen to Ravi and Asha on Q here:

Interview – CBC Radio – Q with Jian Ghomeshi – Ravi and Asha on Q

And this is what I wore  -->

This might be the bravest I've been out here yet. Its weird the amount of freedom living in a new place has given me in feeling like I can really be whoever I always wanted to be.

A year ago, you could not have convinced me I would wear a regular length top and leggings out to the theatre! But here we are. And I like it.

With jeans and a little more casual in the office.

The shirt is satiny and feels totally glamorous, even when paired with jeans. Matthew took me along to a lecture he gave at UVic yesterday and it was the first time I have ever been introduced to a University class as a theatre professional. So I was really glad I was feeling slightly more glamorous than most days.

Yesterday I was back to casual with a nice comfy half button down shirt.

It sort of feels like I am wearing the top half of a onesie and I like it, but the buttons at the top won't stay done up, so I feel a little as though I am "popping out". It's the first swap item that I have considered may end up in the next swap.

Today I am wearing another new top that I absolutely love, but I'll have to wait until Rob or Amber can help me take a photo of the back of it, because that's the best part.

Stay tuned.