Eight performances down, and six to go. We've broken three toasters already; tonight I did some quick shuffling of the lineup card to keep six functional ones stage left.

Some bits have turned out to be funny that I didn't expect to be. "We're not insane," the line that I worried I would futz with too much, turns out to be good for a laugh. And the audience turns out to really enjoy it when the tables are turned on Austin in scene 5 and he finds out that Saul is going to do Lee's project instead.

I'm generally pleased with my work. I nearly always feel like there's more that I could do. There's a painting by Cézanne in the Phillips Collection, of St. Éstaque I think, that causes some controversy. It's just blocks of color and some drawing, and maybe it's a precursor of Cubism and maybe Cézanne just never finished it. Anyway, that's sort of the feeling I have about this show, and about most shows. Some sharply drawn details and a lot of just blocked-in stuff.

Some of the bits that I like: the sequence in scene 4 with me at the typewriter, where lots of my lines are just one word. I found this croak for "LEE: We could get the old man outa' hock then. AUSTIN: Maybe."

And later in the scene, when I survey my domain, a kitchen table and a typewriter, and we have "LEE: Well you were settin' yourself up for somethin'. AUSTIN: I guess."

I like the challenge of finding two different colors for the same short line repeated. In scene 2, there is "LEE: You remember that car I used to loan you? AUSTIN: Yeah. LEE: Forty Ford. Flathead. AUSTIN: Yeah." For the first line, I'm saying, "yes, I think I know the car you're talking about," and in the second, "oh that one, yes it was hot."

At the very end of scene 6, Austin storms over to the kitchen counter and picks up the bottle of champagne that we opened in scene 5. He pulls a souvenir rocks glass out of the cabinet and fills it, then slams it down, finishing by banging the glass on the counter, staring at Lee. I like that bit. Reminds me of the time that I saw Rob Leo Roy chug an entire bottle of YooHoo in Nicky Silver's The Food Chain. IIRC, it was my idea to get the bottle, and John's correction that it needs to be the champagne, because of Austin's line in the next scene.

I like the monologue about Dad's teeth. Two and a half minutes (with minor interjections from Lee), and John barely gave me any notes about it.

And damn, I am finally jazzed about working with the toasters. I've got the time to gesture with the cords, to survey my treasures like a game show host.

Too bad that sometimes we blow a breaker stage left and instead of a plate of toast I have a plate of warm.

posted: 11:50:20 PM