June 7, 2005
Today seems to have been a day of online disruptions. This morning, the neighborhood's high-speed server was down for much of the day so I couldn't get on at all. When I came home this evening it wasn't much better. It's always frustrating when that happens, of course, but today I had important information I needed to access, which sucks. To compound matters, one of my favorite bands, Spoon, is in New York this week to play two sold out shows. I'm trying to get in using some of my contacts, but communication by email is impossible, and guess where the phone numbers are. What a drag.
So I'll have to take my mind off of it for a while and talk about the day, which seemed rather short, probably because we didn't do any real rehearsing today (although we did have a rigorous warmup session that has me sore all over after slacking off for two months). We had a long discussion with the director that was healthy, followed by one with the general management that wasn't. Then the cast practiced a sitting read-through of the show from top to bottom. We did this to prepare for a visit this evening from Yoko Ono, who showed up at six o'clock. Although the revised script was sent to her, she hasn't had time to look it over and Don recommended that she just come in and hear the material live rather than read it. She agreed. Being a fan of the show, she was quite friendly to all of us and she and Don have an excellent rapport together. She sat through both acts while the cast read their new and old lines and sang all the songs. She seemed pleased with it all, though she took a lot of notes and I'm sure we'll hear all about them tomorrow.
Over the years, I've accumulated a large amount of Beatles and Lennon related material, mostly in the form of records and books. I've never actively sought out the John Lennon stuff; it's all just found its way to me (most of it has been gifts from my mother, truth be told). During my last trip home to Austin I filled my suitcase with as many books as I could carry. I knew they'd come in handy as reference material in the rehearsal room, and they have, more than I expected. At one point this evening, Don called me over to where he and Yoko were standing together. She had taken interest in one of my books, which apparently contained some photos she hadn't seen, and asked me if she could borrow it for awhile. Like a smartass, I replied, "Sure, I'll lend it to you if you'll sign it for me!" She happily agreed. I wonder if perhaps I should've offered to trade an imaginary book for an imaginary autograph?
The book she borrowed was one that my mother gave me many years ago. Mom, I know you're reading this. On a day when communications were lame at best, you set up the one connection that mattered. Thank you!!!