Idle Moments

The Vanishing Points cast and crew were a playful bunch. During the run of dress rehearsals and performances at the tiny Boho Theatre and its especially cramped dressing room/makeup/backstage area (there was NO privacy! I saw the women in their underwear...and they saw me in mine, the poor things....), the director and the stage manager saw to it that our off-stage time was occupied with other pursuits so as to keep our voices from drifting out onto stage when they weren't wanted. On the first day of tech. rehearsals, the grueling sessions where the backstage crew cram into a couple of days what the actors have been drilling for weeks, we found in the dressing/makeup area a box full of magazines, puzzle- and coloring books, as well as a box each of coloring markers and Crayola crayons!


Backstage at Boho. In the left foreground are the objects of our
distraction. (Photo: Morgan Manasa)

I thought it was just silly at first, but as my boredom grew, I took a crayon in my hand and flipped through the coloring book, looking at a couple of samples that cast member Mark Penzien had already rendered. I noted that he had applied some shading to some of his works, an idea that had never crossed my mind for coloring books, as I hadn't colored in a coloring book since, maybe, age 8?

I found a picture to my liking and started filling in between the lines.

I discovered along the way that, either due to paying attention when I didn't think I was to my ex-wife's graphic art work, or something I just picked up along the way, I have sort of a knack for shading. Granted, they were just coloring book pictures, but some of them struck me as pretty darn good, if I may say so myself. And I just did.


This was the first one I did.


Since I had very small roles in the play, I had a LOT of down time....



I sorta goofed a little on this one....


I like the shading at the edges of the "fur" in this one.


I love how shading can add character to the
characters! The bug is a little crappy in
this one.


Probably my favorite of the bunch....

There are a few others, but I don't feel they're very good.



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Vanishing Points

In September of 1972, Grand Island, Nebraska saw the grisly aftermath of a multiple murder in which three members of the Peak family — the parents and their 14 year old daughter — were shot to death in their home. A surviving, adult daughter was out of the home at the time, and that woman spent the ensuing years dealing with loss and guilt over the incident, and was the inspiration for a stage drama that fictionalized the events but spared none of the emotion. The resulting play is Vanishing Points by Martin Jones, a story of a young woman's journey through the tragedy and loss, and making her way back into the world.

The crime has never been solved.

The cast of Vanishing Points were:
Stacie Hauenstein (Beth)
Annie Slivinski (Carolyn/Peg)
Rick Levine (Walter/Cliff)
Victoria Bucknell (Barbara/Vicki)
Christopher Sanderson (Lenny/Caz)
Morgan Manasa (Fran)
Mark E. Penzien (Gary)
Tony Gasbarro (Policeman/Det. Sinfeld)

(click on any photo to see full size)


Working a scene with director, Dan Foss, and actors Stacie Hauen-
stein and Christopher Sanderson. (photos: Morgan Manasa)



Stage Manager Rachel Staelens
and Assistant Stage Manager
Derek Van Tassel feverishly scrib-
ble notes on everything from
actors' missed lines to light and
sound cues, to ideas on where to
go for drinks after rehearsal!!
(photo: Morgan Manasa)



Costumer Erica Hohn, left, creates
one of several "tattoos" for Vicki,
one of the characters portrayed by
Victoria Bucknell. Victoria's arm
is wrapped in cellophane, and then
covered with the altered pantyhose
she will wear onstage, upon which
the "tattoos" are drawn with indel-
ible ink. Rather ingenious, I
thought! (photo: Tony Gasbarro)



In our other rehearsal space, our
lead actress, Stacie Hauenstein,
runs a scene with Rick Levine.
(photo: Tony Gasbarro)



"Who's that comin' up the road...?"
An imagined conversation of the
victims in their last moments alive.
From left, Rick Levine, Victoria
Bucknell, Annie Slivinski.
(photo: Tony Gasbarro)



Meanwhile, Beth is getting high
and getting it on with her boy-
friend, Lenny, out in a field some-
where outside of town.... Christo-
pher Sanderson, left, and Stacie
Hauenstein. (photo: Tony Gasbarro)



Beth's dreams are haunted by her
dead parents and sister. One of
the more bizarre — and heart-
wrenching — scenes. Pictured:
Annie Slivinski.
(photo: Tony Gasbarro)



And the living begin to
haunt Beth's dreams,
too. Here, the image of
Beth's brother-in-law,
Gary, tears apart her art
work. Stacie Hauenstein,
left, and Mark Penzien.
(photo: Tony Gasbarro)



In our performance space, The
Boho Theatre at Heartland Studio,
Victoria "poses" for her chalk out-
line as the corpse of Barbara.
(photo: Morgan Manasa)



Yours truly, in his first speaking
role on stage in more than ten
years, as the asshole cop. From
left, Christopher Sanderson, Tony
Gasbarro, Stacie Hauenstein.
(photo: Morgan Manasa)



The full depth and breadth of the
audience space at Boho Theatre.
(photo: Morgan Manasa)



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Cobwebs

Sunday. The day of rest.

Since I started driving the taxi, I haven't really taken many days off. Part of that was due to the fact that, at the same time I started driving the taxi, I also got a rash of roles in plays, the rehearsals for which took up a huge chunk of my time, significant in that said time was when I could be making solid change in the taxi. So I shifted my work hours to nights for a large portion of the "play" time in order to maximize my hours behind the wheel.

Autumn begat winter, and then winter gave way to spring. Lucky Stiff ended its run as the holidays began, and then, as the turkey and mimosas wore off, Vanishing Points went into rehearsals. The performance run hit its stride and the weather reluctantly warmed, and A Tale of Two Cities ground slowly into motion, opening after a somewhat harrowing rehearsal process a mere month after Vanishing Points closed.

I didn't have the creative burden some of the major characters bore on their players, but I subjected myself to a more demanding schedule, resulting in long shifts, sleeping in four-hour (or less) bursts, and by May 1, the final performance of A Tale of Two Cities, I was feeling nonetheless exhausted.

With a quarter of my day back in my hands I faced the option of taking that time to relax, or to hit the road in earnest to rake in as much money as I could.

I did both.

I shifted my working day to the early mornings and either straight through the day, or taking a break around 10:00am and heading back out around 1:00pm and finishing around 6:00, for a 12 hour day. On Friday and Saturday nights, however, I take advantage of the thriving bar scene in one of the towns in my area, starting in the late evening and working the night through, usually for a 14-hour shift each night.

Sunday is my day to transition back to the day shift, and is my day to rest. To my dismay, however, the extra sleep that day has consistently left me with a headache I can't shake until near the end of the day, just around bedtime!

And, finally, today I have taken some time to get back to blogging. Unfortunately for you, my one dear reader who hasn't yet abandoned me (which may, in fact, be only ME), my return to blogging is this creaking, rusty excuse for a post.

In the (Sun)days to come I hope to post more play photos and taxi stories. I started one and saved it somewhere, but have since been unable to find it.

I hope you're having a wonderful, reverent, peaceful Memorial Day weekend!



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