From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V3 #368 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Thursday, October 18 2001 Volume 03 : Number 368 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Is that you, Mary Ann? [Roxylee ] [RS] The Scottish Play [Lee Wessman ] AW: [RS] victims [Katrin.Uhl@t-online.de (Katrin Uhl)] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 00:09:11 -0400 From: Roxylee Subject: [RS] Is that you, Mary Ann? Lisa D. says: Besides, the music is hauntingly beautiful! I believe "hauntingly" is the key word here, Lisa... Roxy, who actually lost her innocence when Carol casually remarked that in the song _May_, the guy gets shot while making that call. Speaking of Carol, where are you, girl? :-) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 21:00:50 -0700 From: Lee Wessman Subject: [RS] The Scottish Play >What is it about that play that makes it "that play"? It's bloody, yes, but >so are others of the Bard's? Like Hamlet and Richard III. Is it the loss of >dignity? > Theater people have a superstition that if you ever so much as mutter the name "Hamlet" in the theater (it's OK to write it in an e-mail, I think) the entire production will be cursed. And it's true, too. For reasons I can no longer comprehend, two summers ago I agreed to be stage manager for a community theater production of "Wizard of Oz." I was to oversee a cast of 56 people -- 40 of them children. I had to run a show with nearly 200 set changes or prop movements. I had to run it for 26 performances and countless rehearsals. And I had to manage a dog. At some point, a few days after the show opened, some of the kids heard about the Hamlet legend. And of course, some of them immediately started whispering "Hamlet Hamlet Hamlet" backstage. It all caused quite a controversy, one of about 3,478 controversies I was expected to settle in my capacity as stage manager. It was when the stage caught on fire during the fifth performance that I began to wonder about the Hamlet legend. I had gotten a little too enthusiastic, you could say, when I was loading flash powder into the prop we used to create an explosion when the Wicked Witch throws flames at the Scarecrow. Suddenly an urgent voice comes over my headset from the light booth. "The stage is on fire." I squinted at my little black and white stage monitor. Sure enough, there were flames leaping from a piece of silk on the set. Dorothy was swinging her basket at it and the Lion was trying to put it out with his paws. A few days later, after the Fire Marshall was bribed, came the first Dog Episode. Toto slipped his leash and went wandering loose on stage, raising havoc among the Munchkins. A couple days later came the second Dog Episode. Toto slipped his leash and raised havoc among the audience. Then came the Great Peanut Butter Dog Episode. Toto had developed a keen aversion to the Tin Man. Every time they were on stage together, Toto would start yapping and nipping at him, completely drowning out the dialogue. So to quiet him down I started slathering peanut butter in strategic spots. He'd get it in his mouth and couldn't bark. If I timed it right, he'd shut up during the quiet scenes and be free to resume barking during the action scenes. It worked like a charm for four shows in a row. But midway through a Sunday matinee, Toto suddenly slumped to the floor, a pained expression on his face. He wouldn't budge. Scarecrow had to carry him around for the rest of the show. We took Toto to the vet the next day. The dog was profoundly constipated. I had shut him up at both ends. Then came the Munchkin Poisoning Episode, which I probably shouldn't go into for reasons of civil liability. Suffice it to say that when you are blowing fire extinguishers up the skirts of Wicked Witches for special effect, it is important to know that some fire extinguishers use harmless Co2, while others use noxious chemicals that require entire theaters to be evacuated. So you see, there is some truth to the legend. And I'm sorry for the lack of Richard content here, but I had to get it off my chest. - -lee ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 07:33:54 +0200 From: Katrin.Uhl@t-online.de (Katrin Uhl) Subject: AW: [RS] victims hm... me wonders, is this list a group of geniuses or completely nuts, that it can spend two days and 50 something posts on one song? Ah.. what the heck, I jump right in :) so Mary Ann, out alone on the dark road, with bags. I don't see the running away thing here. I always pictured it being a cold winter, or late fall night, Mary Ann lives in a village and there are not a lot of busses, and of course she's too young to drive. She's walking home from a friend in the next town over, stayed way too long and should have called so her parents don't worry, but she probably didn't, though we'll never know, because poor little Mary ann has no chance of telling us any longer. Unless Richard writes a sequel about the ghost of Mary Ann. She thought about calling her parents to pick her up, but for some reason which would be too speculative to explore here, she's either decided not to, or nobody picked up the phone. It's cold, she's late, she doesn't like being alone in the dark but still believes in the good of the world and she's glad to get home faster and thus innocently accepts the offer to get in the car. ... we know the story from there. On much lighter notes: Vanessa: Dein Deutsch ist sehr gut! Wann kommst Du mich besuchen? :) And, Charlie, just have to comment upon reading the latest Fyling under Radar email: you have one of the coolest shows of the year coming up with Eric Taylor and Don Con at the same night! You'll have a grand time, I promise. Not only is Don an amazing musician, he's also one of the nicest people I've come across on this planet. Katrin ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V3 #368 ***********************************