Guys and Dolls in the High Desert

     I'd heard awhile back that Cheryl was going to be putting on a production of Guys and Dolls for the Snowline Players, and so was semi-prepared when the auditions were announced.  I'm specifically saying that I was semi-prepared because as has been happening, I'm auditioning for plays that I'd never heard of before.  I'm really beginning to realize what an advantage people have when trying out for roles they're familiar with.  It just makes sense.  If you are the sort of person who really enjoys theater and musicals there's a good chance that you'll have grown up in their influence.  When a play comes along, chances are you've already got the soundtrack on your iPod and have posters of the Broadway production tacked to your wall at home.
     Not the case with me.  Not by a long shot.  Sure, I'm mostly familiar with the NAMES of the plays that we're doing, but that's about as far as it goes.  As for actually knowing the plot and storyline, that's another thing altogether.  Recognizing the major characters?  No.  Hasn't happened once.  Sure, Pirates of Penzance was something that I could have done in my sleep.  But that's going to be the exception for me I'm afraid.  Unless there is a sudden great call for Shakespeare to be performed in the High Desert, I'm going to have to content myself with doing research online with YouTube to fill in the gaps of my knowledge.
    Not a great solution, but so far it's been working pretty well.
     Getting back to Guys and Dolls, I saw the movie online and was ready to go.  Yeah, I'd known the showstopping number "Luck Be A Lady", but only enough to hate it.  It knew it was Sinatra, which alone should have banished it to the depths of musak.  Sinatra doesn't do it for me.  Ever.  Happily, it appears that Sinatra's rendition of the song came out after the Broadway production so his insipid voice isn't singing the song.  I suddenly got more interested in the play than I'd planned.
     Lots of singing and dancing later, and I landed the role of Harry the Horse.  Hey, I'm happy.  This means that I get some stage time and will probably be back stage moving set pieces around during the numbers.  It keeps me busy, and that's what I like most of all.

Guys and Dolls Deck of Cards

Guys and Dolls Playing Cards

9 of Clubs

King of Clubs

Eight of Diamonds

Ace of Diamonds

Seven of Hearts

Joker for Guys and Dolls deck

Ten of Spades

Jack of Spades

Bob Shaw Quote

"I can make neutrons dance to a new tune, but I shrink from telling a human tick to fasten onto someone else." -Bob Shaw; 'Ground Zero Man'

Bitchy Post

Yeah, another typing exercise.  Take it for what it's worth.
For anyone in the future who is wondering what its like to interact with people in 2014, let me give you a mental picture.  Something that will make the whole experience come into perspective.  Put your head into a blender of soul-boring trivia and personal blanditude, and press "whirl".  Yeah, it's not a pretty experience, and one that I'd spare you from if I could.  But you're from the future, so your chance of actually interacting face-to-face with someone from the past is probably pretty small.  So time has come in handy in this one interest at least.  But if you ever start thinking that you're missing out on an experience of some entertainment, let me remove the scales from your eyes, as it were.  Talking with people in my time isn't that great.  It's just dull.
You see, for one thing, most media seems to think that when two people talk to each other they are sharing information which leaves the two affected parties improved in some way.  They are talking about experiences which are shared, or not.  They are discussing ideas or values which they both hold, or which are presented to each other in ways that make them more clearly understood.  All well and good, right?  I mean, afterall this is the purpose of communication in the first place.  And if that was actually what was transpiring at least 50 percent of the time, then communication would be a rewarding hobby.
But here's the scoop.  99.95% of what is discussed when two people get together in my time is not illuminating.  It's boring. 
I should mention right now that as I'm typing this, Kirstie is watching a YouTube rehash of an old nicolodeon show which was cancelled about 10 years ago for lack of popularity.  It's Garcia-something-or-other.  Yeah, it's bad.  But still not as bad as talking with my neighbors.