It's been a long time between blogs on this site and I have only apologies to make - no real excuses EXCEPT I've been VERY BUSY!!!
Reading the update blog on www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au will fill you in on what I've been doing and now, at last, I'm attempting to get some other writing done.
I'm working on a play that's been around in one form or another for some years. I keep going back to it and re-reading it, rewriting, editing, and then putting it away again. This time I'm determined to do some serious research, put it together properly and send it off to Varuna in the hope that it will be selected for a development process with a dramaturg. The completed scripts has to be ready by the end of June so I'm deep into it right now.
To save a visit to another site, what follows is exactly the same as the update on the silly old buggers blog, with apologies for lack of originality!
We're very happy to report that Chapel off Chapel - a very nice venue in the Melbourne inner suburb of Prahran - has bought three performances of Absolutely Silly Old Buggers! A VERY short season , I know, but it's good to know that while we're waiting for that elusive Production Company to take us on, the show will still be out there in the public eye keeping audiences entertained.
So - if you missed out on the earlier season, or if you want to see it again (and some people have already said they do!), put these dates in your diaries:
Sunday, 4th October - 2.30 pm
Monday, 5th October - 10 am and 2.30 pm.
These are the opening dates of Seniors' Week and I'll post the booking dates and ticket details as soon as I know what they are.
Cast, Director, Musical Director and Production Team are meeting soon to discuss the possibility of doing a slightly extended version. Remember, we had to cut the show to the bone for the 60-minute spot in the Comedy Festival and now there's the possibility of re-inserting a couple of songs and/or some of the dialogue.
It's a great excuse for a reunion and a catch-up of news and gossip, anyway. There was such an enormous amount of energy and fun generated while the show was running, we're all suffering withdrawal symptoms and need to get back together again.
Still getting regular hits on the ASOB website so we know we're not yet forgotten. Those Silly Old Buggers will keep on rockin' for a long time yet!
Back to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/
or: http://www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au/
Monday, June 8, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
THEATRE UPDATE ON ASOB BLOG....
My time has been totally taken up with the production of Absolutely Silly Old Buggers at the Comedy Festival so keeping this blog even a tiny bit up-to-date has been rather neglected - sorry!
Even the blog about the show is running late. I'm just about to do it now, so will direct any one interested to: www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au and click on the update blog.
There has been other family news but I'll get to that next week.
Back to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au
Even the blog about the show is running late. I'm just about to do it now, so will direct any one interested to: www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au and click on the update blog.
There has been other family news but I'll get to that next week.
Back to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Silly Old Buggers are rockin'!!!
Since opening on 14th April - with the first two performances as 'previews' - our show has gone from strength to strength.
Audiences are loving it, ticket sales are increasing daily, and some Very Important People are coming to see us and making very encouraging noises.
I've just put the Age review up on the Comedy Festival website for all the world to see and I'll add the link here: http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/arts-reviews/absolutely-silly-old-buggers-a-musical-celebration/2009/04/20/1240079576255.html
I have very little time to spend blogging so will simply link to my Absolutely Silly Old Buggers blog. Here's the link: http://asob-latestnews.blogspot.com
Performance photos are being shot tonight and I will get them up on the web ASAP.
I have taken videos of a couple of performances for archive purposes and was going to put an excerpt onto the websites but really, with the available lighting and the distance from the stage, they're just not good enough for that. We'll have to make do with stills.
Back to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au
or www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au
Audiences are loving it, ticket sales are increasing daily, and some Very Important People are coming to see us and making very encouraging noises.
I've just put the Age review up on the Comedy Festival website for all the world to see and I'll add the link here: http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/arts-reviews/absolutely-silly-old-buggers-a-musical-celebration/2009/04/20/1240079576255.html
I have very little time to spend blogging so will simply link to my Absolutely Silly Old Buggers blog. Here's the link: http://asob-latestnews.blogspot.com
Performance photos are being shot tonight and I will get them up on the web ASAP.
I have taken videos of a couple of performances for archive purposes and was going to put an excerpt onto the websites but really, with the available lighting and the distance from the stage, they're just not good enough for that. We'll have to make do with stills.
Back to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au
or www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Update of Absolutely Silly Old Buggers from the Publicity and Marketing Department
I've hardly had time to think logically for the past month or so because I've been very busy trying to get bums on seats - through publicity, direct marketing, emailing, event on Facebook, you name it....
Here's where we're at right now:
The Melbourne Weekly Magazine’s coverage wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d been led to believe by the journalist. She said, ‘You’ll be on the front page on Monday, 30th' which to me sounded pretty damned exciting. However, it turned out that we were part of the "older audience" target of a number of shows but at least we got quite good coverage in the article – even though no pic! The article also mentioned that we are in the Prime Time Comedy concert on Wednesday, 15th April at the Melbourne Town Hall.
I’ve offered a photo or two to go on the web page for the Prime Time concert on Wednesday, 15th April and it was accepted but it hasn’t appeared there yet.
A great interview on Thursday, 2nd April by Maggie and Roger on 3MBS. I’ve recorded it for posterity – with a few blank spots when my computer lost the signal and I had to log into it again. They played “I lived my life” and “Friends will make us strong” and there were lots of laughs – how surprising!
Titanic Theatre Restaurant has been distributing brochures to their (targeted) tables for the past three or four weeks and will continue until the season is over. There is also a link to our website on the Titanic website. (We have a reciprocal link on ours).
Aaron Joyner of Magnormous (Ozmusic) has the Magnormous Trivia Night at the New Capers on Monday 6th and has our posters and brochures. We will also appear in a Power Point Presentation which is part of the evening. (This is because we have donated two doubles for the second week of the show as prizes.) Aaron is coming on Thursday, 23rd.
Joy-FM has an interview with Maggie and Jan for broadcast on Sunday, 19th between 6-7pm. This will be repeated later in the following week and will be available as a podcast.
I did an interview on ABC-Ballarat – radio – last Friday which went very well.
Beat Magazine has an advert and an article with photo in their Comedy Festival supplement – out April 1st.Good pic and good coverage.
The Melbourne Weekly Magazine’s coverage wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d been led to believe by the journalist. She said, ‘You’ll be on the front page on Monday, 30th' which to me sounded pretty damned exciting. However, it turned out that we were part of the "older audience" target of a number of shows but at least we got quite good coverage in the article – even though no pic! The article also mentioned that we are in the Prime Time Comedy concert on Wednesday, 15th April at the Melbourne Town Hall.
I’ve offered a photo or two to go on the web page for the Prime Time concert on Wednesday, 15th April and it was accepted but it hasn’t appeared there yet.
A great interview on Thursday, 2nd April by Maggie and Roger on 3MBS. I’ve recorded it for posterity – with a few blank spots when my computer lost the signal and I had to log into it again. They played “I lived my life” and “Friends will make us strong” and there were lots of laughs – how surprising!
Titanic Theatre Restaurant has been distributing brochures to their (targeted) tables for the past three or four weeks and will continue until the season is over. There is also a link to our website on the Titanic website. (We have a reciprocal link on ours).
Aaron Joyner of Magnormous (Ozmusic) has the Magnormous Trivia Night at the New Capers on Monday 6th and has our posters and brochures. We will also appear in a Power Point Presentation which is part of the evening. (This is because we have donated two doubles for the second week of the show as prizes.) Aaron is coming on Thursday, 23rd.
Joy-FM has an interview with Maggie and Jan for broadcast on Sunday, 19th between 6-7pm. This will be repeated later in the following week and will be available as a podcast.
I did an interview on ABC-Ballarat – radio – last Friday which went very well.
Beat Magazine has an advert and an article with photo in their Comedy Festival supplement – out April 1st.Good pic and good coverage.
Swiss House has lots of our posters and brochures. I saw them on Friday, 3rd and have given them two doubles for the two preview nights – 14th and 15th.
Ideal Tools website – belonging to a family member – is offering two tickets for anyone who buys goods over $250 and has a big promo about the show on his website and forum page. He’s given some away but as his clients come from all over Australia, we haven’t had any takers yet! Good advertising though!
We are on websites: http://www.citysearch.com.au/ – admittedly on page 7 for April – but we’re there!
http://www.whatsonvictoria.com.au/ Regions: Melbourne, Events: April, and there we are. We’re also listed along the RH side under “events” on the “Melbourne” page: (good article with pic)
and http://my247.com.au/ – “Win a double pass to Absolutely Silly Old Buggers” on the front page!! (3 doubles for each of 14th and 15th).
Mairi Nicolson of ABC Classic FM had organised an interview then went on leave. She passed the info to Julie Howard to do in “The Scene” and it's now organised that Maggie and Roger will do the inteview with Julie for broadcast on the 11th April between 1 and 5pm. Mairi is coming to see the show on Tuesday 21st.
Rachel Fothergill of Chapel off Chapel expressed interest in the show and has now accepted a ticket for Fri. 29th.
Lots of other invitations have gone out courtesy of Maggie’s famous friends – still awaiting acceptances – or not! I have gone overboard on the invitations for 16th (our ‘opening night’) and may have to pay for some of them! I didn’t read the fine print soon enough! So we can’t offer any more freebies for that night.
Jim Murphy, reviewer, coming on Tuesday 14th.
Martin Bedford, agent from Sydney, SAYS he’s coming but hasn’t given me a date yet.
Bill Jeffrey of JOY-FM is coming on Friday, 17th.
I’ve sent heaps of stuff to the major papers, radio stations and TV stations but so far no takers from them. I’ll do a follow up next week and see if we can squeeze in somewhere.
I sent press releases to all the local papers in the areas where all the cast live – Julie Houghton’s suggestion. No replies from them but if they’re interested, they’ll probably just publish it anyway – or not. I'm hoping the cast will see something about themselves in their local paper and let me know.
Ideal Tools website – belonging to a family member – is offering two tickets for anyone who buys goods over $250 and has a big promo about the show on his website and forum page. He’s given some away but as his clients come from all over Australia, we haven’t had any takers yet! Good advertising though!
We are on websites: http://www.citysearch.com.au/ – admittedly on page 7 for April – but we’re there!
http://www.whatsonvictoria.com.au/ Regions: Melbourne, Events: April, and there we are. We’re also listed along the RH side under “events” on the “Melbourne” page: (good article with pic)
and http://my247.com.au/ – “Win a double pass to Absolutely Silly Old Buggers” on the front page!! (3 doubles for each of 14th and 15th).
Mairi Nicolson of ABC Classic FM had organised an interview then went on leave. She passed the info to Julie Howard to do in “The Scene” and it's now organised that Maggie and Roger will do the inteview with Julie for broadcast on the 11th April between 1 and 5pm. Mairi is coming to see the show on Tuesday 21st.
Rachel Fothergill of Chapel off Chapel expressed interest in the show and has now accepted a ticket for Fri. 29th.
Lots of other invitations have gone out courtesy of Maggie’s famous friends – still awaiting acceptances – or not! I have gone overboard on the invitations for 16th (our ‘opening night’) and may have to pay for some of them! I didn’t read the fine print soon enough! So we can’t offer any more freebies for that night.
Jim Murphy, reviewer, coming on Tuesday 14th.
Martin Bedford, agent from Sydney, SAYS he’s coming but hasn’t given me a date yet.
Bill Jeffrey of JOY-FM is coming on Friday, 17th.
I’ve sent heaps of stuff to the major papers, radio stations and TV stations but so far no takers from them. I’ll do a follow up next week and see if we can squeeze in somewhere.
I sent press releases to all the local papers in the areas where all the cast live – Julie Houghton’s suggestion. No replies from them but if they’re interested, they’ll probably just publish it anyway – or not. I'm hoping the cast will see something about themselves in their local paper and let me know.
MOST IMPORTANT NEWS
I saw a rehearsal on Friday night and was totally blown away!!!
The show is in VERY good hands and I can't wait to see the result on opening night.
Friday, March 6, 2009
THE FAMILY UPDATE
FAMILY LIFE:Since Christmas, we’ve had a first birthday for Lucas, the second of the Senior grandsons. This celebration turned out to be on that ghastly Black Saturday in February when no one in their right mind would drive from Camperdown to McKinnon so we missed out on that. However, another family gathering was held in Point Cook on Saturday, 28th February where we managed to catch up with ALL the grandchildren at once – not always easy!
The placing of pictures on this blog always seems to cause me incredible angst! They go in strange and unexpected places and when I try to alter them I occasionally lose one or two and have to upload them again. So now that they're all here, I'm NOT trying to change their positions again! They'll just have to stay where they are.
A LITTLE SOCIAL LIFE:
A visit to the Titanic in Williamstown on that night, in the company of 26 of the Camperdown Lions added to the weekend’s excitement and it was great to catch up with old friends there: proprietor Andrew Singer and his second son Michael – who has grown about half a metre! – and some of the waiting staff who were there when I worked there about 6 years ago.
THE GARDEN & FIRES:
The terrible hot weather has kept us indoors a lot of the time with the occasional foray into the garden to try to keep things alive. It’s sad to see things slowly shrivelling up but when you think about how other Victorians have suffered with the fires, you can’t even begin to feel sorry for yourself. We had a biggish fire about 10 kilometres away down at Pomborneit on THAT Saturday and Geoff was down there for a couple of days later on helping, with other Lions, to clear away burnt fencing and help the farmers with their new ones. No loss of life, stock or houses fortunately, so we’re all feeling very relieved.
In the vegy garden, some of the early tomatoes were cooked on the plants and the later ones have produced VERY few eatable fruit. The plants are green but there’s not much on them. The only things that have done reasonably well are the continental cucumbers and I’ve been picking two or three a week for about four weeks. The butternut pumpkins have produced a great quantity of fruit but they are all small and round – nothing like the shape or size they should be, and the Jap pumpkins are producing male flowers by the dozen and so far, only one female. Not looking good.
Some trips to the city to catch up with friends, sisters and a Williamstown Little Theatre show have been fitted in between ASOB work and that’s about it. There doesn't seem to have been a lit of time for anything apart from the work on Absolutely Silly Old Buggers and I'm desperately looking forward to the time when I can relax and start thinking about ANYTHING else! (But, of course, I wouldn't want it not to be happening! No way!)
THE GARDEN & FIRES:
The terrible hot weather has kept us indoors a lot of the time with the occasional foray into the garden to try to keep things alive. It’s sad to see things slowly shrivelling up but when you think about how other Victorians have suffered with the fires, you can’t even begin to feel sorry for yourself. We had a biggish fire about 10 kilometres away down at Pomborneit on THAT Saturday and Geoff was down there for a couple of days later on helping, with other Lions, to clear away burnt fencing and help the farmers with their new ones. No loss of life, stock or houses fortunately, so we’re all feeling very relieved.
In the vegy garden, some of the early tomatoes were cooked on the plants and the later ones have produced VERY few eatable fruit. The plants are green but there’s not much on them. The only things that have done reasonably well are the continental cucumbers and I’ve been picking two or three a week for about four weeks. The butternut pumpkins have produced a great quantity of fruit but they are all small and round – nothing like the shape or size they should be, and the Jap pumpkins are producing male flowers by the dozen and so far, only one female. Not looking good.
Some trips to the city to catch up with friends, sisters and a Williamstown Little Theatre show have been fitted in between ASOB work and that’s about it. There doesn't seem to have been a lit of time for anything apart from the work on Absolutely Silly Old Buggers and I'm desperately looking forward to the time when I can relax and start thinking about ANYTHING else! (But, of course, I wouldn't want it not to be happening! No way!)
SILLY OLD BUGGERS - MARCH UPDATE
WHY did I think I’d need something I called “A two-headed blog”? I haven’t had time to write even one entry since Christmas – much less two!
But now the time has come to at least try to bring things up to date – in the theatre world and in the family world.
THEATRE UPDATE:
Absolutely Silly Old Buggers has kept me on my toes almost continuously. Apart from being Producer, I’m also (through lack of budget) Publicity, Marketing, Liaison, and general dogsbody for any and all tasks that need doing.
That is, apart from the actual production. Fortunately that’s in the capable hands of four wonderful actors and a Director and Musical Director who are all dedicated to getting the show on successfully. (see the website: http://www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au/ for all the details about the crew).
NO SPONSORS BUT ….
For two weeks from about mid-January I tried for sponsorship – to no avail!
There WERE a couple of companies who said they were interested and who MIGHT be able to help – but in the end they regretfully declined. The pressure of the ‘economic downturn’, they had ‘no marketing budget this year’, and ‘try us again next year’ were the closest I got to getting some real money.
I have had terrific support from friends and theatre associates though:
Rob & Terttu Mancini of Evergreen Design for the design of logo, brochures and poster;
Andrew Singer of Titanic Entertainments (http://www.titanic.com.au/) for distribution of brochures to his audiences every week;
Conrad Wadds, who’s been updating the website when necessary (apart from setting it up originally) and has recently added the latest photos and some other 'thank-yous'.
Ideal Tools (family member Anthony) who is including a couple of tickets to ASOBs as a special bonus give-away for big purchases, thereby giving us quite a lot of internet coverage by putting us on his website (http://www.idealtools.com.au/) and linking to our SOB website.
All members and committee of the Williamstown Little Theatre (http://www.wlt.org.au/) have been wonderfully supportive, too by offering to print and distribute my brochures during their recent season when the professionally printed ones weren’t available, and by offering furniture for the set and support with a social-club block booking.
REHEARSALS:
While our MD is overseas, Mike Downes from the earlier workshops has been assisting us as rehearsal pianist and the cast have spent a couple of weeks working on the music. Production rehearsals are to begin very soon.
PUBLICITY:
We’ve recently had new photos done and uploaded onto the website and had a studio recording session to put down four of the songs so we can promote the show to radio stations, TV shows, etc.
Print Media: We’ve already had coverage in The Senior Newspaper and COTA News – both papers aimed at the ‘more mature’ person who we expect will be our major audience. Local papers in districts where each of the team live will be the next targets.
Radio: An interview with two of our actors has been arranged on “The Score” a music program on Thursday, 2nd April from 9 to 10 am. on 3MBS-Classic Radio (103.5 FM). It’s only just getting close enough to organise these things and I’m hoping to get some coverage on the ABC and commercial radio as well.
Posters and brochures are arriving early next week so I’m aiming to hit the phones and have a chat to social organisers at retirement villages. Then I can send some out by post as a follow up.
BOOKINGS:
Bookings have started and a couple of block bookings have already been made by social clubs. I’m currently chasing a few more of those.
But I still wake up in the middle of the night and say: What if nobody comes?????
But now the time has come to at least try to bring things up to date – in the theatre world and in the family world.
THEATRE UPDATE:
Absolutely Silly Old Buggers has kept me on my toes almost continuously. Apart from being Producer, I’m also (through lack of budget) Publicity, Marketing, Liaison, and general dogsbody for any and all tasks that need doing.
That is, apart from the actual production. Fortunately that’s in the capable hands of four wonderful actors and a Director and Musical Director who are all dedicated to getting the show on successfully. (see the website: http://www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au/ for all the details about the crew).
NO SPONSORS BUT ….
For two weeks from about mid-January I tried for sponsorship – to no avail!
There WERE a couple of companies who said they were interested and who MIGHT be able to help – but in the end they regretfully declined. The pressure of the ‘economic downturn’, they had ‘no marketing budget this year’, and ‘try us again next year’ were the closest I got to getting some real money.
I have had terrific support from friends and theatre associates though:
Rob & Terttu Mancini of Evergreen Design for the design of logo, brochures and poster;
Andrew Singer of Titanic Entertainments (http://www.titanic.com.au/) for distribution of brochures to his audiences every week;
Conrad Wadds, who’s been updating the website when necessary (apart from setting it up originally) and has recently added the latest photos and some other 'thank-yous'.
Ideal Tools (family member Anthony) who is including a couple of tickets to ASOBs as a special bonus give-away for big purchases, thereby giving us quite a lot of internet coverage by putting us on his website (http://www.idealtools.com.au/) and linking to our SOB website.
All members and committee of the Williamstown Little Theatre (http://www.wlt.org.au/) have been wonderfully supportive, too by offering to print and distribute my brochures during their recent season when the professionally printed ones weren’t available, and by offering furniture for the set and support with a social-club block booking.
REHEARSALS:
While our MD is overseas, Mike Downes from the earlier workshops has been assisting us as rehearsal pianist and the cast have spent a couple of weeks working on the music. Production rehearsals are to begin very soon.
PUBLICITY:
We’ve recently had new photos done and uploaded onto the website and had a studio recording session to put down four of the songs so we can promote the show to radio stations, TV shows, etc.
Print Media: We’ve already had coverage in The Senior Newspaper and COTA News – both papers aimed at the ‘more mature’ person who we expect will be our major audience. Local papers in districts where each of the team live will be the next targets.
Radio: An interview with two of our actors has been arranged on “The Score” a music program on Thursday, 2nd April from 9 to 10 am. on 3MBS-Classic Radio (103.5 FM). It’s only just getting close enough to organise these things and I’m hoping to get some coverage on the ABC and commercial radio as well.
Posters and brochures are arriving early next week so I’m aiming to hit the phones and have a chat to social organisers at retirement villages. Then I can send some out by post as a follow up.
BOOKINGS:
Bookings have started and a couple of block bookings have already been made by social clubs. I’m currently chasing a few more of those.
But I still wake up in the middle of the night and say: What if nobody comes?????
NEXT WEEK:
MORE sitting at the computer and sending publicity and marketing stuff off occasionally broken by getting on the phone and selling the idea of group bookings to retirement villages.
I'm also about to make lots of phone calls to VIPs who might be persuaded to come along and see the show and pick it up as a commercial proposition.
I'm also about to make lots of phone calls to VIPs who might be persuaded to come along and see the show and pick it up as a commercial proposition.
If Menopause the Musical can do it - so can those four Silly Old Buggers!
Return to http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/ http://www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au/
Monday, December 22, 2008
WRITING AND THEATRE - THE MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FESTIVAL
It's been a very hectic two months - or is it more than that? Probably.
From the time we decided to enter Silly Old Buggers in the MICF in early October, it's been go, go, go supplying all the necessary information, entries and applications required. It's been a very steep learning curve and I'm amazed at how much had to be done. If I'd known how much was in it I'm not sure I'd have thought it possible. Definitely a case of "fools rushing in ..." or should the cliche be "ignorance is bliss".
Applying for a venue was something I didn't realise was going to be one of the tricky ones. Each venue needed a heap of information and background about the show and each one seemed to need it presented differently with a different emphasis on different parts.
The cast and director, Hugh Halliday, were incredibly supportive and we all got together for a first read-through of the new script with a new cast member. Our musical director wasn't available for that night so we had a fill-in pianist, Matt Toogood, who did a fantastic job of sight-reading all the music and helping the cast cope with arrangements they'd never heard before.
The whole evening was videoed and audio recorded for future use on the yet-to-be-developed ASOB website.
Then, a small hiccup occurred -our musical director rang and apologised that he was no longer available. During the hiatus before taking on the MICF, he had taken other work for April, 2009.
We hardly had time to panic before Matt Toogood agreeed to step into the breach. He'd got to hear the show at the read-through and was more than happy to be associated with it. There's encouragement for you!
At last the day drew near when an 'offer of a venue' was to be made. In they came : "Sorry, no offer". One, then two, and panic was beginning to set in.
What if we received no offer at all? What was I going to tell the cast? I rang and spoke to the MICF manager. We discussed the problem and apparently the show was still a bit long for most MICF venues. I rashly said it could easily be cut to 60 minutes if necessary.
Then we waited some more.
At last - a venue offer came and it was just about perfect! Swiss House, which is a Festival Managed Site and which means a great deal of the organisation, ticketing, management, etc. is taken off my hands. What a relief!
Of course, the 60-minute show then had to be developed. Cutting of some songs, reducing from two acts to one (i.e. no interval) and at last, a slightly new name.
Absolutely Silly Old Buggers now becomes the 'showcase' version of Silly Old Buggers. The new name is good for a couple of reasons: it differentiates from the two-act full-length show (which is still an option) and it also places the name well up the front of the MICF booklet rather than down the back with the S's.
The website, constructed by very clever son Conrad, is now there for all the world to see: http://www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au/ You can now read all about the cast, the crew and the whole MICF details: venue, dates, times, prices, etc.
Publicity and sponsorships are the next things to be dealt with and are 'on the way'. However, with Christmas almost upon us, it's time to take a small break and enjoy a little family time.
With a bit of luck, the next blog won't be two months away from now and hopefully will have some valuable updates.
And maybe I'll get my own website updated soon!
My best Xmas and New Year greetings go out on the ether to anyone and everyone who reads this blog. Health, happiness and good fortune - in whatever order you like.
Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/
From the time we decided to enter Silly Old Buggers in the MICF in early October, it's been go, go, go supplying all the necessary information, entries and applications required. It's been a very steep learning curve and I'm amazed at how much had to be done. If I'd known how much was in it I'm not sure I'd have thought it possible. Definitely a case of "fools rushing in ..." or should the cliche be "ignorance is bliss".
Applying for a venue was something I didn't realise was going to be one of the tricky ones. Each venue needed a heap of information and background about the show and each one seemed to need it presented differently with a different emphasis on different parts.
The cast and director, Hugh Halliday, were incredibly supportive and we all got together for a first read-through of the new script with a new cast member. Our musical director wasn't available for that night so we had a fill-in pianist, Matt Toogood, who did a fantastic job of sight-reading all the music and helping the cast cope with arrangements they'd never heard before.
The whole evening was videoed and audio recorded for future use on the yet-to-be-developed ASOB website.
Then, a small hiccup occurred -our musical director rang and apologised that he was no longer available. During the hiatus before taking on the MICF, he had taken other work for April, 2009.
We hardly had time to panic before Matt Toogood agreeed to step into the breach. He'd got to hear the show at the read-through and was more than happy to be associated with it. There's encouragement for you!
At last the day drew near when an 'offer of a venue' was to be made. In they came : "Sorry, no offer". One, then two, and panic was beginning to set in.
What if we received no offer at all? What was I going to tell the cast? I rang and spoke to the MICF manager. We discussed the problem and apparently the show was still a bit long for most MICF venues. I rashly said it could easily be cut to 60 minutes if necessary.
Then we waited some more.
At last - a venue offer came and it was just about perfect! Swiss House, which is a Festival Managed Site and which means a great deal of the organisation, ticketing, management, etc. is taken off my hands. What a relief!
Of course, the 60-minute show then had to be developed. Cutting of some songs, reducing from two acts to one (i.e. no interval) and at last, a slightly new name.
Absolutely Silly Old Buggers now becomes the 'showcase' version of Silly Old Buggers. The new name is good for a couple of reasons: it differentiates from the two-act full-length show (which is still an option) and it also places the name well up the front of the MICF booklet rather than down the back with the S's.
A terrific logo has been designed by an old (and very generous) friend, Rob Mancini.
The website, constructed by very clever son Conrad, is now there for all the world to see: http://www.sillyoldbuggers.com.au/ You can now read all about the cast, the crew and the whole MICF details: venue, dates, times, prices, etc.
Publicity and sponsorships are the next things to be dealt with and are 'on the way'. However, with Christmas almost upon us, it's time to take a small break and enjoy a little family time.
With a bit of luck, the next blog won't be two months away from now and hopefully will have some valuable updates.
And maybe I'll get my own website updated soon!
My best Xmas and New Year greetings go out on the ether to anyone and everyone who reads this blog. Health, happiness and good fortune - in whatever order you like.
Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/
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