It’s Sunday night and my dogs are barkin’. Just got home from our last full-day rehearsal for Picasso. We open on Friday. God help us.

Between Saturday and Sunday, I was in the theatre for a little over 14 hours. We built sets, hung lights, finished costumes, got the sound system working, polished scenes, and ran the whole sucker till she flew like greased lightning. A good night’s sleep has become like an old college friend who I used to meet for a cup of tea and a game of chess on a regular basis but now, because our lives have gone in different directions, we don’t see each other nearly as often as we used to.

I shouldn’t complain too loudly about lack of sleep, though. I went to visit my friend Bob and his newborn son Ian the other day and Bob comprises about one quarter of this blog’s readership. At least I’ve only got two more weeks till this production is over.

So you may be asking yourself: “Hey, Josh… (which is a funny thing to say to yourself) is it all downhill from here?” The answer, my friend, is “not quite”. We still have to finish building the set, paint the bugger, focus all our lights, print the programmes, and then hold our final dress rehearsal this Tuesday night. I’d like to have the set finished before the dress so the actors won’t be completely surprised when they take the stage Friday night.

Everyone has really been putting their all into this one. Especially Ed. He has been a saint these past few days. I tell him what I need built and when I need it by, and then we sweat, cry, curse, and work until we have a fully functioning set that transforms, hinges, and rolls. We even had a doorknob for the first time today!

I’d better hit the sack. I have my first ever singing lesson tomorrow morning. I’ll tell you how it goes.