And the rest

The part of Gilligan is going to go to another actor. No matter, I get to play The Alien (the outer space kind) instead. This way I have almost as much fun with a lot fewer lines to remember. Gilligan has not been cast yet, but a promising fellow tried out tonight. We have yet to meet Mary Ann or the Skipper. Mr Howell is being played by my high school drama teacher Ray Doherty. His wife is playing Lovey.

Tonight we started learning the songs, starting with the hardest one. Lots of harmonies and dialog in the middle of the songs. It will all sound good eventually but at this point it sounds like a bunch of people singing songs they don't know yet, i.e. it sounds bad.

Last weekend was the Colden Golden Gate renfaire, except it was a Tudor Faire really. That means that the ladies wear different hats mostly, and there is a Queen Jane, who gets dethroned and a Queen Mary who gets elected coronated throned made queen instead of a Queen Elizabeth. The coronation ceremony was something of a cluster fuck disorganized affair on Saturday, but Sunday was really pretty good. I took it upon myself to get up on the stage and yell project loudly out to the audience to remind them that they were about to witness the coronation of their new queen. That was fun. Nothing like improvisation at the top of your lungs.

The fair was socked in both days except for literally about thirty seconds of filtered sun on Sunday. This kept all the nobles (like me) from overheating in their heavy costumes. The park where the faire was held has grass instead of weedy dirt so it wasn't dusty either. After paying $15 to join the pub group I got to go into the pub garden and have ale at any time. They had a sign that said that if you are going to drink all day you actually have to start first thing in the morning. Good advice indeed. I was very comfortable all weekend.

The people show at faire is never ending and very diverse. I think I like the little kids the best; the ones to whom the whole thing is just an amazing awesome spectacle and they are at once afraid and excited to experience it all. That's pretty cool. I can do without the drunken louts that come up the queen's party who are obviously dining in character and ask, "Hey! What are you guys doing here!?" Um, duh. We're putting on a show you dork.

Faire takes a lot of time, but it's fun. In a couple of weeks, Casa faire opens. We are not sure how much we'll all be going.