For the Love of Theatre, or How the hell did we end up with a dog?!?

Oh, the things we do for the things and people we love. We currently - possibly temporarily, possibly permanently - have a dog. We're outnumbers by the animals now. Surely, there will be a revolution in the house hold. Oh, who am I kidding? The cats already rule.

So, here's a picture of said doggy.
He is a four year-old Chow mix and he's very docile. He's a beast, no doubt, but quite tame. In the past 12 hours of baby-sitting him, I've heard him bark twice. Once, when Hannah was sniffing him out and he turned to quickly. She was startled and battled at him. This scared him and he retreated to a corner to hide from her. The other time was when I put him in his cage for the day. He seems to know he'd be in the cage for a while and wanted out. Other than that, he's been a sweetheart. And he snores a little.

Now, the question is how the heck did we end up with this dog. Well, wifey is working on a show, a stage version of Steinbeck's, "Of Mice and Men." They need a live dog for one brief scene. The producer called up the SPCA and set this up. The show puts in the program that this dog can be adopted and how the audience can go about it and the SPCA provides the dog. It's a little ingenious way to get a dog adopted. In the show, the dog comes out briefly, then is taken off stage to be shot because he's lame or something. At the end of the show, the dog come back for curtain call and people will be told he's available for adoption. What better what to emphasize the dog's need for a home than to pull on the audience's heart strings by killing him in the story?

The only problem is by the time the show opens, wifey and the kid may have already adopted him.

During the rehearsal process and the run of the show, someone has to take care of the dog. Another cast member volunteered, but apparently had to back out of that. And, so because we love theatre, we're baby-sitting the dog. By the time I got to rehearsal last night to get the cage, wifey was already smitten. Sonuvabitch.

Actually, I'm not totally against adopting him. As long as those two agree to step up their responsibilities around the house - keeping the house cleaner and less cluttered - I don't think it would be a problem to have the dog. Except maybe when my mother comes to visit... My biggest concern is the cats. Hannah seems to be ok with the dog. Jack and Misfit are either under the bed or in the closet... Understandably hiding from this behemoth.

The way I see it, there's no need to do the paper work to officially adopt him until after the show is over. After all, if someone else wants him, I don't have a problem with that. Of course, the kid is incredibly excited and why shouldn't he be? He wanted us to wake him up early this morning so he could walk the dog. Hey, this is a good opportunity to teach him some responsibility. I mean, we have the dog for a month. Maybe in that time, the kid can show he's willing to do what it takes to have a dog. Then, after he's proven himself, we can discuss the matter further.

Right. That'll happen. You know this dog is pretty much a permanent fixture at this point. I don't really have a say in this.

The SPCA said that the couple who brought the dog in were getting a divorce and neither of them wanted it. That's strange because I would think divorcing couples would be fighting over the family dog. The SPCA called him Scooby. The name shall be changed. That's a tacky name for a dog, much less this beast. Of course, I don't really have a say in the naming. But, Scooby will not be his name.

Dammit! I'm already attached enough to be debating good names for him. This. Cannot. End. Well.

Well, maybe for the dog. He gets a home.

Closing Sucks

The best part about a show closing is that you now have free time again. The worst part about a show closing is that you now have free time again. Children of Eden ended a very sucessful run (both creatively and monetarily) yesterday and I've hit the usual post show crash. Yet, somehow, this time it feels different.

I really hate the show closing. What really sucks about them is you spend 6 to 8 weeks building relationships with people and just when you figure out what some of those people mean to you, the show is over and you never hear from them again... until the next show. That may have something to do with me starting rehearsals for Assassins next week.

But, the point is just this past weekend I've realized that I was making pretty good friends. And what I mean is that I may have been taking some of those relationships for granted. There's definitely some blossoming buds on the friendship tree, but today I worry that some of those buds have been trimmed due to time constraints. Given more time, I wonder how those flowers would bloom.

Now don't get me wrong. There's plenty of people I worked with and were friends with before we started working on Children of Eden. I am not talking about them. I still love them much (though I do wish to see them more often).

No, I'm talking about a few people I met for the first time at the first rehearsal and just kinda clicked since. It's hard to really get to know someone in a few weeks, especially when your (individually and as a whole) concentrating on something bigger. Then, just when you get comfortable, just when you get close enough to figure out that person would make a good friend, the show is over and the burgeoning friendship is put to its biggest test. Can that fragile bud bloom without the convienence of the show? Is it sturdy enough to withstand the shock of the show ending?

I don't know if it is and only time will tell. I certainly hope a couple of the bonds I created do get stronger. If you're reading this, well, there's a good chance for it. I mean, if you know me well enough to know how to find this website without me having to tell you, that says something.

There's more I want to say about Children of Eden because it's important. So, stay tuned for that. There's good news there.