Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Melanie
(35:04 - 40.17 MB)
Welcome to Episode 90 of "Don't Quit Your Day Job: The Podcast!" where Stacy is once again sidelined to Monday Night Football (but records the opener for us, so go Stacy!), Patrick leads a double life as a dancing hippopotamus, Melanie meets Jeffrey Combs and is still grinning over it, and Jerry is recovering from H1N1. Seriously.
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WE NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS!
A holiday celebration of music and comedy!
CONKLIN'S BARN II
DINNER THEATRE
P.O. Box 310
Goodfield, IL 61742
(309) 965-2545
11/12/09 though 1/3/10
Jeffrey Combs in NEVERMORE
STEVE ALLEN THEATER
at the Center For Inquiry
West 4773 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-4268
Fridays and Saturdays
11/6/09 through 12/19/09
Posted in
episode 90
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Posted on Thursday, November 19, 2009 by Pat Gaik
Christmas Gets Hometown Spin at Area Theater
There's an honest winsomeness in "We Need a Little Christmas," now playing at Conklin's Barn II Dinner Theatre. Along with the laughs and funny bits, there's a warm intimacy in this, their first-ever holiday revue.
This Conklin troupe of seven veterans knows their audience and they've crafted a show that has a rich variety of music presented in living-room coziness. The sold-out opening night crowd loved it. Some of them even got to participate; three audience members are escorted to the stage for a humorous Christmas trivia contest.
Twenty-one songs are performed and they're a blend of some well-known standards and some lesser-known holiday music. Thanks in part to the responsiveness of the onstage three-person orchestra, music director/pianist Chad Kirvan is able to maintain a brisk pace.
Director Mary Simon steals the show with her hilarious "The Twelve Daze of Christmas."
The husband and wife team of Tamra and Dan Challacombe provide a highlight with their married-sexy "Baby, It's Cold Outside."
Diann Thompson provides another highlight when she sings "Somewhere in My Memory." That's a song from the movie "Home Alone" and she performs it with a Judy Garland sort of vulnerability that's quite effective.
The entire cast performs an up-tempo medley of Christmas carols that gives these great old tunes a fun, fresh sound. Percussionist Zach Wakid adds a special flair here and throughout the show.
The quartet of men (Kirvan, Challacombe, Pat Gaik and Dave Windsor) sing a close-harmony "Auld Lang Syne" and, again, it's a fresh twist on an old standard.
Pat Gaik nails "A Place Called Home," a gorgeous song from Broadway's "A Christmas Carol." It's probably the heart of the show, too. The opening night feeling was that Barn II felt a lot like "a place called home" to kick off the holiday season.
Posted in
There's No Business Like Show Business
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Posted on Sunday, November 15, 2009 by Melanie
And here's your present!
His name is Nico -- just make sure he's back at the Barely Legal All-Boy Review by Monday. Kisses!
Posted in
best...birthday present...ever
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Posted on Friday, November 13, 2009 by Melanie
Lack of sleep + anhydrous caffeine water pill + venti nonfat mocha frap from Starbucks = the fun never ends!
Plus I cracked 20K in my book last night. And I'm having fun making LJ icons and other artwork, since for some reason my subconscious has decided that James McAvoy is its choice for Dodgson:
Posted in
Nanowrimo,
writing
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Posted on Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Melanie
You look fabulous for a 24-year-old!
Enjoy unwrapping your present! Oh, and set up your Wish List so that your address is included and we can actually send you stuff!
Posted in
best...birthday present...ever
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Posted on Friday, November 06, 2009 by Melanie
*pinches bridge of nose and sighs*
Yeah, see, I kinda accidentally deleted my track for Ep 90 when I was recording the opener and the song we wrote for it (yes, I sing. Not as beautifully as the Nathan Lane of Mid-Central Illinois DInner Theater, mind you, but I can carry a tune). Normally I copy my track to my desktop as soon as it's recorded, but this time I didn't and I was deleting test files from Audio Hijack Pro's recording bin, and I got a little carried away, there...
So, um, we need to re-record it.
Which we will, just as soon as I can gather together the Usual Suspects. So stay tuned, and, uh, sorry!
Posted in
goofups
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Posted on Monday, November 02, 2009 by Melanie
I thought we were going to save this for the show, but since Stacy can't hold her water until then, Saturday night went splendidly. The show was absolutely great, and they even added an encore of "The Conqueror Worm" -- yay! Afterwards, I grabbed the room box from where it had been stored behind the ticket counter and headed backstage, stopping every so often to show it to theater staff who had heard about it and wanted to see it. The general reaction seemed to be, "Holy crap, that's amazing!" which warmed the black and shriveled cockles of my heart.
Stuart Gordon (the director of the play) saw the box and made equally complementary comments, then took me backstage to the dressing room, where Jeffrey was getting his wig and nose taken off. I showed the box to the makeup people while that was being finished, then gave the box to Jeffrey, who was very, very appreciative and said things that are still making me grin like the Joker. And everyone was so incredibly NICE -- Amit the artistic director, Stuart, Jeffrey, the makeup folks, everyone who saw the box, they were all just wonderful and welcoming. I adore them all, and they're in the will.
Oh, and here's the completed room box:
More pictures detailing the construction process are available here, in case anyone's interested.
Posted in
Nevermore
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Posted on Monday, November 02, 2009 by Stacy
Melanie achieved the ultimate in her life this weekend when she met *and made brief physical contact* with her idol Jeffrey Combs.
Does she blog about it?
No.
She puts something up about nanopeepeeono....or whatever.
You know, it just goes to show...you can dress her up, but you can't take her out.
Posted in
WTF
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Posted on Sunday, November 01, 2009 by Melanie
Both Jerry and I will be participating, so feel free to follow us on the Nanowrimo website under the user names JJDavis and MMFletcher, respectively.
And for those of you participating in Nanowrimo, remember -- give yourself permission to write crap. You can always edit it later.
Now let's get started!
Posted in
literary questions
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Posted on Thursday, October 29, 2009 by Stacy
Dont be nervous or anything Mel.
Really.
Posted in
mel's goin back to LA
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