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.

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/

A TWO HEADED BLOG!

It seems to me that it's become necessary to make these blog entries cover two different facets of my activities. I know family members both in Australia and overseas are always interested in seeing the latest family developments - particularly as we have now achieved four new grandchildren in the past five years - and I'm equally sure those who are interested in the theatre and writing developments have no desire or need to see baby pictures and proud grandmotherly updates.
So I've decided to have two strands - one labelled 'Family Stuff' and another labelled 'Writing and Theatre'.
So now that I've found time to do a bit of updating in the blogging department , I'll get both of them on the way.

Silly Old Buggers just won't lie down and die!

Here I was, just enjoying NOT being a producer, doing the garden, planning some more writing, and generally enjoying life when suddenly I find I'm in the thick of it again.
The reason is: Melbourne International Comedy Festival - otherwise known as MICF.
The cast and the production team have all agreeed that Silly Old Buggers should be given a showcase as part of MICF so that prospective producers and/or theatre companies can see how good it is, how much audiences enjoy it and how successful it will be!
Well! There's faith for you - and how can I resist putting all my efforts into making this proposal as successful as possible?
Of course, I can't, so now it's full steam ahead again with a quick re-write to make the show 75 minutes without interval and then on with the application for inclusion in the festival, applications for venues, organisation of scripts and scores to be sent out, a logo to be designed, a website to be created, etc. etc. The list seems to go on and on and currently, I'm right in the middle of it.
Everything HAS to be in by 1st December so at least I know once it's all done I can draw breath again. So - until then - this blog update will have to do until after the deadline.
THEN I'll do my very best to keep the news updated.

Return to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au

A Two-month Catch-up

Yes, it's been two months since my last entry - but I have an excuse (of sorts!)

I have had the dreaded lurgi on and off for most of that time. NOT the flu but a dreadful cold-in-the-head which went away for a week or so and then came back again. Very annoying and somewhat debilitating.

Now I'm almost back to normal health and, just in case it attacks again, I'm grabbing this time to update the blog - very quickly!

Junior Novels:

No luck with the (possible) new publisher who was interested in taking them on plus the third in the series. The eventual decision was that it was too soon to republish the first two and they weren't interested in the third as a stand-alone so, sadly, that little door closed.

However, a whole bunch of fan letters from a school in Western Australia arrived which boosted my spirits enormously.

Year 7 Booklist:

I have also received confirmation from Lyndale Secondary College that their teachers and students are VERY happy with Chemical Leak! as their Year 7 novel and will be re-ordering for next year. They have also bought a class set of Sea Secrets because their students all enjoyed the first novel so much.

Television?

Not long after that, a TV Production Company expressed interest in Chemical Leak! for Children's TV. Right now, they are trying to market the idea to a TV Channel before they go ahead.

It's only a small possibility - TV is notoriously hard to 'get up' - but it's enough to keep me optimistic.

Silly Old Buggers:

The time has come for me to make a big decision! I have realised, at last, that I am NOT a Producer!

I look back over the past two years and see that I have been banging my head against a brick wall for very little reward and I really don't want to do it any more. I have had no time to do what I really want to do - and that is write!

I had a director, a musical director, a co-producer and three out of four cast - but I still had to have a lot more money to even get started. The more I got into the business of trying to get sponsorship money, investment money, booking venues, etc. the more I realised this was NOT what I do! I am not a business person and I don't want to be one.

The decision has now been made and I feel extremely relieved - so it must be the right decision.

Another Direction:

The script and score plus all development and support material is now on its way to a number of production companies which have expressed their interest in looking at it all.

Maybe it will just disappear into the mists of time or maybe it will survive. Who knows? All I know is that I can now get on with my life. Whew!

"Treechange - and other stuff"

Other stuff involves husband, family, new grandchildren, garden and many, many other things in my life.

Family all seem to be surviving this very cold and wet winter - albeit with a number of colds etc. which they happily have passed on to me! How generous.

The garden is LOVING the rain. Apart from a few vegies, it's nearly all Australian natives and they are doing magnificently. Maybe next time I update my blog I just might have to add some photos of my favourites. Well, everything is my favourite at different times. Right now the wattles are out and they raise the spirits with their gloriously bright gold branches sparkling all around us on the darkest days. And there are correas and grevilleas and thryptomene and banksias and eremophilas and the bright purple Happy Wanderer - I could go on and on ...

Photos:

Maybe just one or two photos - and then I must away to plan my next writing efforts.

Well! I've just uploaded the photos and they have gone up the top. It doesn't really matter. I'll leave them there because I haven't got time to fiddle with moving them.

Return to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au

INTERNET BACK TO NORMAL - AND A SAD PICTURE

It's great to be back!! Being out of email communication with the rest of the world was NO FUN!

I felt as though I was walking around in the dark - out of touch with all the important things in my life!! But now - all is well again!

The people at TCA have risen to the challenge and, with the willing assistance of many local people, the new shop has been operating since last Monday - a remarkable feat! Sadly, the old premises have had to be demolished and the whole town is very sad. It was a lovely, heritage building which had, over the years, been allowed to deteriorate and, about six years ago, was beautifully restored by the owners of TCA. The verandah has been salvaged for possible future use on a rebuilt shop. Geoff and I drove past it on Sunday and took a photo just before the facade went down.

No further news on the writing front. Another period of waiting... waiting... seems to be the current state of things.

Return to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au

Yet another email address!!

TCA - my supplier of internet access and email, is now up and running. So, if you'd like to go for the old address: whocares@tca-online.com.au, it should be okay and reliable.
However, I seem to be having some problems with accessing my hotmail address.
I really don't want to have any more technology problems but I'm stuck with this one.
While we were out of touch through TCA, and then found the hotmail problems, I set up a gmail address which seems to be fine.
This is: gillian.wadds.senior@gmail.com . If, by any chance, we have some settling in problems with TCA, then this gmail address is fine.
So-o-o sorry about all the hassles - but I can assure you that Rob, the proprietor of TCA is more hassled than any of us. He has our sympathy.
It's been great to hear from some of my cyberspace contacts through the other addresses - sorry about the hotmail account.
Cheers for now,
Gillian
Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/

TEMPORARY EMAIL ADDRESS

Whew! We are at last back online - but no email service as yet.

Just in case there's someone out there who needs to contact me and I haven't already passed on my temporary address, here it is:

gmsenior@hotmail.com

We're all pretty shattered about this fire. It destroyed the whole shop - including servers and heaps of other equipment - but the whole town has rallied around to help with the clean-up and the move.

Tower Computer Aid staff have done a magnificent job getting all the connections up and running again and they expect to be open for normal business in their new premises just down the street, on Monday morning.

Unfortunately, it seems as though the building - a beautifully restored heritage shop - will have to be demolished. The worst part about it is that the police have declared the fire deliberately lit - a very hard thing to accept in a beautiful small town like ours.

Return to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au

INTERNET AND EMAIL CONNECTION LOST THROUGH FIRE!

Emergency Blog !! Thursday, 19th June, 2008. (Sent from a neighbour's computer)
For anyone who has been trying to contact me or my husband, Geoff Senior, over the past few days - many apologies.
Our local Internet Service Provider had a very bad fire early on Monday morning - 16th June - which destroyed much of his equipment. This meant that his customers all lost internet connection - and of course, emails - from that time.
I understand that emails to me or to Geoff are bouncing back to the senders - which can be a bit of a worry for us all.
The latest news is that WITH LUCK we should be back on line by Friday afternoon - 20th June. However, if we get too much rain, we may be delayed a bit longer. (That'd be right, wouldn't it? Just when we start rejoicing when it rains - now we don't want it for a while!)
I will report on this blog again when we're back on line.
Back to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au

Waiting, waiting, waiting ...

Oh no! I've missed a whole month!
It could be because there's not much to report - certainly not much on the writing front.
Silly Old Buggers is still staggering along - probably appropriate given the subject matter (getting older!). We thought we might have something happening at Chapel off Chapel for Seniors' Week but this seems to have fallen through. There's still interest from a couple of venues for the new year (are we really talking about 2009 already?) but nothing definite.
And so - the production team - who are all VERY busy people doing lots of other things - are quietly working away in the background and I mostly just WAIT.

Better news on the subject of Junior Novels.
The librarian at the Secondary College who ordered 250 of Chemical Leak! for their Year 7 book list has told me that the students loved the book and so did the teachers. She has been asked to buy in a class set of Sea Secrets so that they can continue with the next book in the series.
I was feeling very discouraged about Junior Novels in general and this series of mine (Zena and Her Mates) in particular, because my publishers decided they didn't want to continue with that genre.
That left me with a group of kids I love writing about, a third book on the way and no one to sell it to. Would I have to invent a whole new group of kids? Would anyone ever buy one of my Junior Novels again? I gave up in disgust and did nothing.
Suddenly, out of the blue, another publisher is interested in talking to me about the third book in the series. I'm trying not to hold my breath but ... it's not easy.
Let's hope I get some good news and am inspired to write another blog entry VERY SOON!

Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/

First Grandaughter!!!

I've just spent nearly a week in Melbourne with nearly-three-year-old Marley while Mother and Father were occupied producing and caring for the latest addition to the family. A leetle bit tiring but lots of fun. I DO like little boys. Now I'll have to get used to a little girl!

Olive Bella Wadds came into the world on Thursday, 10th April and, like her recently arrived cousin, Lucas (see earlier blog entry) she is very beautiful and adorable.

She is now home in the pinkest room I've ever seen. There's just no pink stuff left in any shops within cooee of their house! But since this is the first girl in the Wadds family for about sixty years, I guess we can forgive any excesses.

(I always have trouble placing the pics and the writing on these blogs. Just can't work out from the preview how it all fits together. Sorry, but this is the best I can do!)

Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/

Whoo-hoo!!! GOOD NEWS !

Another month gone by and well overdue for another blog entry. But I've been busy.

And it's all good news about

Silly Old Buggers.

Current state of play:

We now have a complete creative team:

Co-Producer (with me as the other half), a Director/Choreographer,a Musical Director, AND AN INVESTOR!!!
And planning is in hand for a distinctive logo and poster/brochure.

No details for publication just yet until we have our first production meeting and decide where we go from here. There are quite a few options and once some decisions have been made, we'll be out there with some publicity.

I'm absolutely delighted with the calibre and experience of all these people and can hardly wait to reveal their names. What is so encouraging is that they are all very enthusiastic about the show and keen to get it up and running.

The first meeting of the team is next Wednesday and I can hardly wait to get there.

So - again - watch this space for more developments.

Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/

Family update - A new grandson!

What a slack blogger I am! My last blog was on January 16th and now, here it is - February 27th.

First - and most important - event since then has been the birth of Lucas Yee Yen Khor Senior. Geoff's son Simon and lovely wife, Christine Khor, became the proud parents of a second son (brother to Jack Yee Tai) on Monday, February 4th. He was supposed to arrive on Friday 8th but, typically, refused to stick to stupid things like timetables (a bit like Connex). His next most important date is the traditional Moon (First Month) Ceremony - a celebration from the Chinese side of his ancestry - on 8th March, when we will all gather together and welcome him into the families.


(We think he looks very like

his Paternal Grandfather - don't you?)

There'll be a new post soon about "Silly Old Buggers" and it just might be good news! Watch this space!
Return to: http://www.gillianmwadds.com.au/

Silly Old Buggers - update

I promised a post about WRITING - so here it is:
Arrangements for the 18 musical numbers in SOBs are well on the way and most interesting and exciting they are, too.
Arranged by David Kram for keyboard and two saxophonists, they are fun, quirky and have added lots of interest to the songs. The sheet music keeps arriving in my email and, even though I don’t read music properly, I know enough to understand what he’s doing with them. The use of different saxophones – from soprano to baritone – give lots of variation and colour to the different styles of music. I can’t wait to actually hear them.
As soon as they are all hand – only three to go at this stage – we will be looking to appoint a Musical Director. We’ll then have a full production team, which means we can legitimately look for proper funding and investment, and also approach possible performers.
Wish us luck!!

Back to: www.gillianmwadds.com.au

DARWIN the beautiful!

Yes, I know this is supposed to be a writing blog but I’m only just getting into working mode again after spending a great week in Darwin.

We missed the cyclone by THAT much! It was disappointing to miss all the excitement but it was probably just as well. Although it would have been brilliant to observe the whole show (safely) from our hotel room looking out over the harbour, I guess we wouldn’t have been able to get into Katherine and that magnificent gorge, or to Kakadu to cruise the Yellow Waters wetland.

Just a couple of photos to share with you before I get back to the world of writing, and struggling to find a publisher; and theatre and struggling to find a kindly ‘angel’ with some money for a production.
Next blog WILL be about writing!

Return to www.gillianmwadds.com.au