We moved into the theatre today, out of the rehearsal space. I'm never sorry to leave Silver Spring Stage's rehearsal space behind. Too many peculiar smells in there; in one spot, there's the sweetish stench of glazed donuts.

John has a near-fetish about reusing set pieces and props from previous shows that he's directed. So, for instance, he used Lone Star beer bottles from our Lone Star in his subsequent A Streetcar Named Desire, even though Steve specifically calls for Jax Beer. In the present case, someone turned up the bistro chairs from his Picasso in the Lapin Agile, and so he had to have them in this show for our kitchen chairs. It's a mostly harmless indulgence.

I spent a chunk of our move-in and construction evening testing the arsenal of toasters we have lined up. At this count, we have 19 usable toasters, plus one that heats up but also heats up the plug in the wall.

posted: 11:58:56 PM  

I would have liked to write something about Cédric Klapisch's new L'auberge espagnole today, but the staff and equipment at the AMC Mazza Gallerie proved incapable of screening the film properly at its appointed time.

Frances McDormand continues to expand her range in Lisa Cholodenko's pentagonal love triangle Laurel Canyon. There's a bit near the end of the movie, poolside, where her feet are doing more acting than her scene partner Christian Bale is. And, um, then there's this other bit in the pool between her and Kate Beckinsale...

posted: 11:50:09 PM