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The Sorceress Journal
This page is always under construction!

Check often for updates!
[Unless otherwise stated, as told by Lorraine Swanson]

July 5, 2000  Director's Notebook. Director's final entry. Well, this is it, folks.  Tonight we have a final run through. Tomorrow will be a much needed night off for the cast. Then we open. It's easy to start doubting yourself at a time like this. Did I rehearse them enough? Did I rehearse them too much?  Is the show really as funny as I think? Is it Fringe worthy? And, what about that darn global warming thing, anyway? You know, the 3 o'clock in the morning questions. It always comes down to this: did I do my job? My actors know their lines. They have all developed these wonderful, small town characters. They know the songs. They know the choreography. They're all completely nuts. All the elements are there. It's time for me to take a step back. Watch as they abandon themselves to the experience. Watch as they send that little editor, who lives in the back of all of our heads, on vacation. My job as Director is coming to an end and, yes, it's sad, but it's also incredibly exciting watching the thing we all had a hand in creating come to life. Sir Laurence Olivier, one of the great actors of our time, said "I take a simple view of life. Keep your eyes open and get on with it." So, eyes open everyone? Good. A few beers chilling on ice? Lovely. Let's all take a deep breath . . . and get on with it. -Lynn Zeelenberg

July 4, 2000  Technical rehearsal night!!  We all arrive on time, don't know how we managed that.  The George Ignatieff Theatre is beautiful.  180 seats.  Good rake.  The only problem is there is no more than 3 feet of wing space.  With 11 in the cast, it's mighty awkward.  Lynn and Rob carefully plotted out their technical needs in advance and sat with Simon to set the lights.  We've got sexy reds, we've got creepy night stuff to go with our flashlights, we've got lightening, which is especially awesome.  Rob gets to sit in the booth and call the show.  Lights are programmed into a computer so he watches along and calls out a cue number to our technician.  He also plays the sound effects.  A moo, a rooster crow, thunder and a weird doorbell are the only cues.  What a simple show we have.  Our allotted time in the theatre was only 2 1/2 hours, and we actually got a complete run in.  Heather has some very quick changes.  There is no room in the wings, so she has to do some of them in the corridor.  Wouldn't luck have it, her t-shirt fell down between 2 flights of stairs.  I hustled to pick it up, and she was a mere 2 seconds late for her next entrance.  

Tonight was the Fringe opening party at the Tranzac Club.  Everyone made it out but Liam.  What a wild bunch we have!  Victoria was busting a move out on the dance floor!  Some people closed the place and didn't make it home until 4 in the morning.  Watch out kids, 12 more days to go!!

July 1, 2000  Cuts, cuts, cuts.  It's a real drag relearning your lines.  Poor Liam and Mary have the worst of it.  Their scenes together were complicated already so they have to relearn a lot.  Nice stuff is beginning to happen.  The tango/dream sequence is beautiful.  Wait till you see Mary and Heather in their hot little red outfits!

June 30, 2000  Friday.  Press kits were messenger today.  A full cast tonight.  How unusual.  We were at Equity.   We've been doing timed runs, and as I feared, we're too long.  Heather is quick to volunteer not to do her tap number, or at least half of it.   I tell everyone to expect cuts!  Bummer.

June 29, 2000.  Small cast tonight.  Sean and I were leaving at the same time and I asked if he would like to have a beer, just one, I had production stuff to do.  He was quick to agree that we would have one.  We were on our second beer when Lynn, Mary, Rob and Nick walked in.  We did 3 interviews for 20 Questions.  Some of the questions are pretty lame, but it is all in good fun.  Um, I think it was after midnight when we all left.   

June 22, 2000.  We had to be out of the community centre by 9:30 so we stayed on the front lawn practicing our dance moves and singing tonight.  A raccoon sat on the fence and watched the whole thing.

June 20, 2000  It's been a while since we've updated.  That's because we've been so busy!  Let's see what's gone on.  We've done makeshift publicity photos.  There was no place to hang the back drop so Lynn and Rob stood on two chairs and held it up behind the actors.  Last Monday Lynn had a rehearsal with the guys.  Apparently they went out on the town afterward and had so much fun that it caused Sean to quit drinking.  We had our first run-through on Sunday, and as rough as it was, we ran at 69 minutes.  Lynn saw this as a good thing.  I know we stumbled all over our lines, but 69 minutes!!!  Problem is the Fringe turn the lights on at 60.  So, painful as it is, I've been busy cutting dialogue.  Heather has measured the precise pitch and key of 6 beer bottles and we can now blow the first two bars of Take Me Out To The Ballgame during our baseball number.  We were part of the Fringe Playreading Series at Starbucks this Monday.  Heather couldn't make it so Lynn sat in as Ruby and joined Victoria, Mary, Bonnie and I to do a beauty parlour scene.  Starbucks is about 4 feet wide, so we squished together on the "stage".  We had to sing at the end of the number, and we were also miked.  A customer at the back came up to us and said that he didn't know what was going on, but he sure heard us when we sang [thanks to the mikes of course!]  Some nights I've said, "Man, this sucks!" - Hey - I wrote it, I can say it, but some nights, like tonight, I'm like, "Wow!".  Tonight we started off working on music - the guys with the barbershop quartet number and the girls with His Feminine Side.  Next, although we've done it a dozen times, Heather was here to add the choreography to our opening number.  We've got Fosse hands.  We've got these pinwheel things.  Heather didn't want to do the splits for us so we've got her lifted up in the air on Bert & Kerry's shoulders.   It is feeling pretty good, maybe because everyone was there tonight?  [Still having lots of trouble with the rehearsal schedule].  I also handed out new scripts tonight so everyone can get used to less lines.  The countdown in sure on!  So that's a look at what's been going on over the last 2 weeks!

June 8, 2000  Rehearsal #11 - It's a small rehearsal tonight. Mary, Liam and Nick.  All goes quite well until we get to a scene where Darien squares off with Lonnie for the first time.  They check each other out and do a circle around each other.  Lynn is terrified about the innuendo that might come across.  We changed their exits in the end, and I think it fixed it.

June 7, 2000  1 page press releases go out!  Dozens of them!  A few more to go yet though.

June 6, 2000  Rehearsal #10 - Heather is away for a week so we focus on blocking.  It was a quick one tonight, just the girls to do the scenes in Shirley's Beauty Parlour.  We ran the scenes a few times and then the song His Feminine Side about how Shirley wishes her man would pay more attention to her.  Victoria performed in a 50's and 60's band, so she had some great "Supremes" ideas.  Lynn and I were meeting Rob at the Tranzac for a Fringe technical seminar at 8:30 - which was very informative.  We look over our press release and clarify some wording over a beer at Pauper's.   There's been lots of beer so far.

June 4, 2000  Director's Notebook, Sunday: Ah, the stuff small towns are made of! There are a couple of scenes where the women are gossiping away in Shirley's beauty salon and the men are chewing the fat over at Doc's place.  Today we rehearse the men's scene along with the song "Heckuva Girl."  Heather's choreography is brilliant and funny (of course) and the guys really start to capture the scene's folksy atmosphere. We want part of the song to have a barbershop quartet (or in this case, quintet) feel to it, so Heather finds a piano and we send them away to work on the song. Just as I'm finishing up some blocking work on another scene (Darien tells Lucinda about her family history for the first time), the guys come in and start singing . . . in perfect barbershop harmony! I swear there's a little bit of magic surrounding this show. Do you believe? - Lynn Zeelenberg

June 5, 2000  Director's Notebook, Monday: Tonight we work the baseball scene. Baseball scene?! In a musical about a witch? But of course! There is an incredible moment when Lucinda is up a bat and everyone is chanting: "swing batter batter, swing batter batter, swing" and "you can do it, you can do
it, you can do it." Lucinda closes her eyes and makes a wish. There is a pure, expectant silence and then the crowd goes wild! It's really quite lovely. Now, if we can just figure out how to play "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" by blowing into beer bottles! - Lynn Zeelenberg

May 30, 2000  Heather and I went shopping at lunch for flashlights and.... boobs!  Who'd think we'd find them both at Honest Eds!!  [Don't ask - you will have to buy a ticket!  Remember, it's an all ages show!]
Rehearsal #7 - The Witch Hunt.  Used the flashlights.  A little bit of trouble with the frenzied chanting but it was beginning to come together by the end of the night.  Lynn must still be seeing spots after sitting in front of a big cast working with flashlights!

May 29, 2000  Rehearsal #6 - The Baseball Scene.  The closest thing we've had to a full cast rehearsal yet!!  Bert is back!  Victoria, Liam and Sean join us for the first time.  I arrive 45 minutes late from work.  I feel like I am a week behind.  Heather has choreographed the entire number and it looks fabulous!  Stomping feet, snapping fingers, slapping thighs!  As we left we thanked the caretaker and he said, in all seriousness "what a lot of noise".  This was Rob's first night as stage manager.  I don't envy his attempt at taking blocking notes!  I also introduced the closing song which was new to everyone.

May 23, 2000  Rehearsal #5 - A rehash of Ruby's seduction number - with Jake this time and the Tango/Dream sequence.  It's amazing how good it is after only 2 rehearsals!

May 21, 2000  Rehearsal #4 - Not a large cast, but we work on the harmonies for "The Feminine Side" and the men's "I'd Like a Girl" songs.  Brent says for the second time "I think this is going to be a really good show".  Gotta love him!

May 19, 2000  Rehearsal #3 - Intro percussion number and opening song.  Who would know that Heather specialized in percussion?  Wait till you "hear" the opening number!   Cow bells, tap shoes, hair dryers, hankies, sticks, pails, tic-tacs.  Sounds like noise?  We think it's pretty cool.  Then, we sang the words "Salem Falls" so many times, we are beginning to think it must be a real town!  And it doesn't sound half bad a'cappella!  Afterwards we headed out for drinks.  By the end of the evening Lynn and I had driven poor Heather mad with all the banging on the table and tic-tac-playing.

May 18, 2000  Rehearsal #2 -  Ruby (Heather's) seduction scene.  One of Heather's many talents is she is a master of tap.  She is also a fabulous singer but is nervous about singing a solo.  By the end of tonight's rehearsal, she is tapping circles and singing her "How Do Ya Like Me Now" like she really is 18 again...  Only problem is, she didn't get to practice singing it to Jake (Kerry), he couldn't make it tonight.

May 16, 2000  Rehearsal #1 -  Tango - Dream Sequence.  Heather works the tango / dream sequence with Mary &  Kerry.  What a way for Kerry to get to know the girls right off the bat!  What is more passionate than a tango?  Nick is called one hour after the others.  He learns to tango in the hall of the community centre as he wait to be called. Everyone is a good sport.  Heather is a great instructor.  Lynn has this idea that the tango music will be performed a'cappella by the actors.  It's a dream - anything goes!  Oh, my.  Kerry recommended Sean Browning for the role of Doc.  We invited him tonight for a quick audition.  When he walked in, our first thoughts were of how young he looked, but we were pleasantly surprised when he turned on his older man voice.  We made him read cold from a script.  Then we made him sing.  Then offered him a part on the spot.

May 12, 2000  Bert Steinmanis calls from New York.  His visa has expired and he is moving back to Canada.  Wondering if there are any parts in my Fringe show.  From Off-Broadway to The Sorceress.  Not bad.

May 9, 2000  Roles are offered.  Two are turned down due to other offers.  We have to find a Mayor and a Doc.  The Doc character is a little older, so we are stumped.  Mary has been calling community centres around town for free rehearsal space, and has done brilliantly so far.

May 8, 2000  Lynn, Heather and I audition men. They also read the script out loud for the first time, tossing around ideas.  Heather comes up with flashlights for the witch hunt.  Very cool.  

May, 2000 Victoria Pearce has read a draft copy of the script.  She loves the idea of being Trixie, an old battle axe.  Bonnie Gray has also agreed to join the team - without reading a word of it!

March - April, 2000  Rob Downes has jumped on board.  He is a talented young playwright/actor and he has selflessly agreed to stage manage.  I ask Kerry Griffin if he wants to be in my Fringe show.   He immediately said yes to be Jake, the romantic lead.  Nick goes to Ryerson the same night as me and I run into him during break.  He is interested.  Mary Claire agrees to be the title character.  Lynn agrees to direct.  I beg Kim Sprenger to join the cast, but she has too many commitments.

Feb 16, 2000  I get home from night class to a message on her service.  "Lorraine, it's Lynn.  I'm at the Fringe Lottery with Mary and Blake.  Cabbagetown got in, and so did you."

Feb 4, 2000  On the last possible day, I walk to the Fringe office during lunch - I seem to think that if your application is on the top of the pile, it has a better chance of being drawn.  Chuck McKewan, friendly as always, is there to accept.   I say a little prayer and leave.  On the elevator I talk to a man who was there for the same reason.  He asks what my show is about and panic sets.  "Where's the fun in knowing?"  He's been in the Fringe 4 times and each time, the script was done long before the application.  Freak.

Jan, 2000 - I have dinner with Heather and talk about my intention to apply for the 2000 Fringe of Toronto.  I explain a little about my big idea.  Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was just a great pitch but Heather agrees that she will help put together a show.

1997 - I saw the touring production of STOMP and it occurred to me that the percussion style would be brilliant with a vocal accompaniment.  The idea would bake in the back of my brain for 3 years.