Like this:

Over the years I’ve perfected the art of keeping myself sane during the winter months: back-to-back shows. This was easy to arrange while I lived up North, as my local theatre group ran three or four shows a year and even though I wasn’t on stage for all of them*, I was involved in some way in the vast majority. The Galway musical scene operates on a different paradigm. There are four or five societies in or near town, and plenty more farther afield, each running one show per year. Each group has its stalwarts, but there are also a significant number of socially-promiscuous addicts for whom one show a year is never enough.

The disadvantage of organising shows separately is that rehearsal schedules tend to overlap. For some this seems to be no impediment, but I feel guilty about schedule clashes, and rehearsing more than two or three times a week is excessive (I have another three lives after all). Luckily for me, this year GMS changed their show dates and so I’ve managed to neatly fit together three musicals and a trip to NZ for my brother’s wedding. In particular, I went straight from All Shook Up into rehearsals for The King and I (on in late November), which has helped with the post-show crash a little. And now it’s looking like I might be able to squeeze another NZ trip in between Fiddler on the Roof in early March next year and the rumoured All Shook Up revival, thus keeping my schedule nicely full until after Easter.

In news from the other three lives, the party has an election candidate selection pre-meeting on Monday night, which will probably involve speeches and discussions, but no actual decisions yet. The physics research has unfortunately suffered from lack of time recently (as it always does), but I was struck by this interesting paper, which I have not yet fully digested.

And finally, a plug for the Wondertones, who played an excellent gig in Monroe’s last Friday night. Great set list, skilfully performed. I’m told they will be back, at a date yet to be confirmed.

* Aside from my undergraduate days, when I really was in every show possible.

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