WEDNESDAY JULY 24

Wow! Two Acts in one night! IT was a push, but you got through it! Tonight will be more of the same: Act III followed by Act I.

You’re all doing a great job staying off book. I noticed that Act II was shakier than Act I, but this is to be expected. Keep pushing memorization. Did anyone else notice how much more polished Act I looked? This is because no one is really struggling for words. When you have a command of the words, you can gain a command of the emotions.

Beginning on Thursday, both Michel (Mrs. Soames) and Rita (Mrs. Webb) have travel plans that were made before they were cast. Desi, could you read in for Mrs. Soames? And Emily (Morris, not Webb), could you read in for Mrs. Webb? If the two of you are comfortable with blocking, you can cover their parts on stage. Otherwise, you can simply read it from the house.

HFAC’s Artistic Advisor Rob Urbinati saw your rehearsal last night and he was very complimentary of you all. Thanks for making such a good impression on him! I'm meeting with Rob tonight for dinner and he'll give me more detailed notes on the show. Katy will be guiding you through tonight's rehearsal.  

Fun fact #8: Chickens in Our Town

The Philo System is still available;
Amazon sells it for $14.99 plus shipping!

On p 48, Editor Webb mentions the Philo System for raising chickens. The Philo System of Progressive Poultry Keeping is a real book written by Edgar Philo and   published in 1908. As far as I can tell, as I have yet to find a concise summary, he seemed to advocate improved chicken management by informing readers of precise details of chicken management. He advocated, for instance, that chickens be kept in small flocks of 10 instead of large flocks of sixty. He noted that 10 hens would lay 60 eggs in 7 days, or one egg a day per week per hen with one day off. But a large coop of 100 chickens would not lay 600 eggs a week; they were too stressed. Dividing them back into small groups increased egg production to the fabled 600 eggs per week.

Perhaps this is what Julia Gibbs looked like when she fed her flock of chickens.