It’s been radio silence for the past week around here, just because it’s been so nutty “in real life”!  Trying to keep balanced has always been a challenge for me, especially since I have this habit of being totally go-go-go all the time.  If there’s a free hour on my calendar, I’ll fill it with something.  But I have been sadly neglecting this blog for the past week… *bad Kerry*

We’ve had four rehearsals for [THEY FIGHT!] and four of the seven fights have been choreographed.  I’m really excited about the work that we’re doing.  I’ve taken the lead in choreographing two of the fights, and I’m really happy with the way they’re turning out.  I don’t want to give anything away though… you’ll have to come see the show to find out what fights we’re doing!

I can say that in one of the fights I’ve been choreographing, I’m also a featured fighter, and this experience has been extremely challenging.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but it’s crazy hard trying to fight direct yourself.  I’ve had a much easier time working on the “other” fight, since I’m not in it, and I had a very clear vision of what I wanted that fight to look like.  The fight I’m in is very martial arts based, which I have very little experience in, and it’s very fast-paced.  The other fight is a comedic fight, and I’m pretty sure that when my friends come to see the show, they’ll immediately be able to pick out which fight I did.  Apparently I have a “style” of directing that’s very much mine.  I don’t see it, but that’s probably because I’m too close to it… being me, ya know.  😛

Of interest… Check out this timely post from Bitter Gertrude: Get It Together and Hire a Fight Director.  Amazing!!!

When I’m not beating people up, I’ve been assisting with Sullivan & Gilbert, which goes up at the Palace Theatre on May 17!  It’s coming up so quickly!  For this show, I’ve been assisting the actors with lines and choreography while the director is working with other groups of people.  I’ve also been “on book” during practice runs of the show (sitting in the front row and feeding actors lines when they forget).  This is a very challenging script, particularly because of the sheer volume of lines.  Gilbert and Sullivan are famous for their “patter songs,” which to me seem like exercises in “HOW MANY WORDS CAN WE POSSIBLY CRAM INTO ONE SONG?!” and then “SING IT AT WARP SPEED 12!”  Crazy amounts of words at crazy fast speeds.  Here’s a famous example of a patter song.  I don’t know how he gets those words out so fast — you can see where they build in places for him to breathe!

On top of that, my stepsister Stephanie got married on Saturday (May the 4th… Star Wars Day!) and I was the MC for her reception.  It was an honour to be asked, but it was crazy stressful trying to get my speech written and make sure that Steph and Matt had everything included in the reception that they wanted!  In the end everything went well, the wedding was lovely, and the bride and groom were so happy.  So it was all worth it!  It’s also given Shawn and I the kick in the pants we needed to start getting the details for our wedding worked out, especially since it’s coming up pretty darn quickly!

With being so busy lately, I have sadly neglected my work on The Artist’s Way.  I’ve been stuck on Week 8 for almost 2 1/2 weeks.  I’ve kept up with my morning pages, but I have been very tempted to quit the exercises.  However, this is just a temporary setback.  I will continue to work towards finishing… I’m so close.  It’s kind of a kick in the pants to realize that I should be on Week 10 right now, but perhaps there’s something going on in Week 8 that I haven’t quite figured out yet, or that I need to work more deeply on.  My goal is to finish up the exercises and get it posted tomorrow and get back on schedule!

I’ve also neglected my running this week.  The Run for Ovarian Cancer is coming up on May 12 — only 4 days away!  I don’t expect a spectacular result, but of course I will do my best.  There is still time to sponsor me, and of course I’d be honoured if you’d consider doing so!  I’ve also signed up for a second 5k race — Josiah’s Journey for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  This one has special meaning for me, as my very dear friends’ son was born two months premature, and they spent quite a lot of time at the NICU here in London during the first weeks of his life.  I signed up too late to do the runner sponsorship, but you’re still able to donate to the cause here!

I think that’s about it for now.  I’ve barely had time to sit down, let alone write a blog post.  I need to get my act together!  Wish me luck!