I just thought of high school and how when we auditioned, the cast and crew would be announced outside of Mr. Oakley's french classroom. We would be stalking the doors like rabid hyenas all day. And then he would whip that scotch tape out and put the printed words outside the door. There would be tears. Drama. Excitement.

So cheesy.

Yet, all we had and knew.

Fun. We had auditions for Desire Under the Elms this evening and I would like to put the cast list up. But . . . we have to confirm that people will accept the role. And then we'll need their initials before we can move any further.

Heh heh.

bz

Desire Under the Elms auditions

Hello, and how goes your Sunday?

We're having auditions for men folks tonight for Desire Under the Elms. It's a purty play. We read some fellas a couple Thursdays ago and they did an excellent job. We're just going to add some more people into the mix to see what happens. Melissa is going to be Abbie and she will do a phenomenal job in our projections.

We're going to have a new look to the website soon. I'm going to be fiddling with things to see if I can get a more streamlined affect. Keep your eyes open for an ad campaign coming soon with Sarah Stec in the lead. We're really excited about it.

Sometimes, I don't have a whole lot to say when there's much to say. I'll elaborate soon.

Yours,
crow

Don Knotts

Don Knotts passed away today at the age of 81. Mulch and I actually have been in several discussions about Don Knotts because we've been waiting for his approval on myspace to be added as one of our friends. We thought Don Knotts would be a nice online friend to have, if his site was truly Don Knotts' site and not someone pretending to be Don Knotts. Am I saying Don Knotts too much? Mulch says I am. Anyway, we feel a little sad about this. He was a Morgantown boy. He had a very lovely career. He made us laugh. He was a brilliant comedian.

Ethan Tucker

Isn't he funny and cute? Crow needs to get to Hillsdale to see this boy and his mom and dad soon and that's the word. And to see her mom and dad and fam, of course. This is Ethan Tucker Amburgey, progeny of Emily and CW Amburgey, two of our dearest friends in the world. Crow can safely say that Emily is her bestest friend. Aw, I'm feeling sentimental. Anyway, isn't he funny and cute?

Love,
crow

Mulch Man

Mulch n [ perh. irreg. fr. E dial. melch soft, mild ] ( 1675 ) : a protective covering ( as of sawdust, compost, or paper ) spread or left on the ground to reduce evaporation, maintain even soil temperature, prevent erosion, control weeds, enrich the soil, or keep fruit ( as strawberries ) clean - mulch vt

Quotes on this Sunday . . .

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.
Frank Lloyd Wright

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. -Martin Luther King

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. - General George Patton

It's kind of fun to do the impossible. - Walt Disney

When you come right down to it all you have is yourself. The sun is a thousand rays in your belly. All the rest is nothing. - Pablo Picasso

To err is human, to forgive, divine. - Alexander Pope

Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.
Jules de Gaultier

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
Abraham Lincoln

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
John F. Kennedy

I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy than a success at something I hate.
George Burns

Squirrels Gone Wild!!!!!!!!

It is squirrel Saturday, ladies and gents! Mulch and I have been looking out the window watching squirrels going nuts. No pun intended. There are close to 15 squirrels running around, through parked cars' tires, up and down trees, hanging precariously from branches as other squirrels attempt to dislodge them. There's nothing worse than walking along the concrete paths and seeing a perfectly intact squirrel, back down, dead, knowing that he misjumped plunging to his death, snapping his back or breaking his neck. "And will my eyes be closed or open . . ."

My sister found it shocking that I was looking out the back windows at a group of deer coming to eat the leftover pumpkins under the snow that my family puts out for them. Like I've never seen deer before because I live in a city. I grew up on a farm and in my rural town of Hillsdale,MI. Why would I not be refreshed seeing deer that I used to see all the time? I don't see deer in Chicago. I have always liked deer. A deer stepped on my toe long ago and far away. And it hurt. But, it wasn't the deer's fault. I shouldn't have been wearing toeless sandals. I like nature wherever you place it. I do grow mighty weary of the manmade sites and sights of Chicago. So, yes, I will take the chance to watch the deer come and have leftover gourds. And I like spying squirrels, bunnies, woodpeckers (still on the hunt for him, but I know he's there), raccoons, possums, alleycats, CROWS, and leashed dogs that make up the population of the windy city as well.

(This was a good week for GreyZelda studies. More on that later, in case you were wondering why this isn't a GreyZelda blog. It's a Grey Squirrel-a blog instead.)

Happy Saturday!
Crow

Sunday projections . . .

The Steelers will win!

But, that's not the projections I wanted to speak about today. Really, I just wanted to touch base - first, second, or third is fine with me.

We're going to be meeting with Sarah Stec on Tuesday night to talk about a GreyZelda branding campaign, amongst other things I'm sure. On Wednesday, Robert Filippo and I will going to an advertising meeting being held at the Atheneum theatre. Lawrence Bommer, a Chicago critic, will be there discussing eyecatching press releases, how to get your show to the people, etc. So, this upcoming week will be advertising week. I think it's good to get this stuff taken care of in the down time between shows.

Derek Jarvis is helping us with the 501c3 shtuff. Thank you, Derek. We've got the creating thing down. It's this other bureaucratic, paperwork game that gives us pause. Definitely our weakest part of the game. So, in this down time, that's what we're working on.

And then, bim bam boom! We'll have the summer of passion with Desire Under the Elms and the Scarlet Letter. Rock! Desire will be at Oracle Theatre and Scarlet will be at StageLeft. It'll be a lot of output all at once, but I think we're up for the challenge. We surround ourselves with wonderful people that make the whole process move in beautiful ways. Thank you, wonderful people.

So, again, just touching base on this snow touched Sunday. We went to the Ethiopian Diamond to celebrate Robert's birthday last night with dear friends who came back to our pad to continue conversations and rolling American Spirit cigarettes. We saw David Cronenberg's The Brood yesterday afternoon. Yikes. See it. It's very David Cronenberg. There are these creepy Teletubbie children . . . anyway. See it. A 1979 film. It's not out in theatres. It has Damien's nanny from the Omen. Very scary woman.

And, that's about it all around. Crow was going to do something very special for herself on Tuesday afternoon, but Manpower boxed her right out of it. There might be more info about that on ZeldaZee's blog.

Mulch is going to make my favorite breakfast mess in a little bit. Mmmmm. Potatoes, onions, peppers all mixed together topped with melted cheese and eggs with a side of refried beans and tortillas. It's awesome.

Caw from the darkside,
Crow

Derek Jarvis - the blog king extraordinaire

Derek helped us with all thing theatrical when we put up "One Flea Spare" a while back. He was a great asset to the company and will hopefully help us out this spring when we put up Desire Under the Elms in some way or another. check out his blog!

www.livejournal.com/users/uberredbeard/

Killoggs

Hello -

My blog-pointing-out continues with the following:

The first -

Meredith Lyons pointed me in the direction of this bobble headed site. www.killoggs.com. It's much fun. She knows these people who know these people . . . they say many intelligent, witty things and she even has a cartoon head of her own complete with pigtails. Meredith was Grete in Metamorphosis and she's a dear friend.

Check it out. Good people.

SheandHe

Here is the main website for our friends, Robert Filippo and Kristen Strezo, the musicians that make up SheandHe.

www.sheandhemusic.com

You'll be able to listen to some of their music, read their blog, and find out more about this wonderful duo. They have helped create music for our last three shows and their friendship is invaluable to us. They're two of the most creative people we know and we love them.

Goss Country

Our friends, Dave and Lori Goss, have a very nice website www.gosscountry.com which includes a blog that Dave updates every day religiously. I wish I could be so good. Hey, I'm at two days in a row right now. It's how I was when I was little. I tried so hard to do the whole Dear, Diary thing. I even called it Dear, Cody because I named everything Cody then. My imaginary horse, Ken dolls, dogs, kittens, you name it, it was Cody.

Anyway, Dave Goss is an old college friend who has been associated with WNEP Theatre here in Chicago. He's truly one of the outright nicest people I've met and he's consistently "been there" for me and mine throughout the years whether we're seeing each other often or every few months or every few years. Hopefully, he'll be in our next production of The Homecoming if the cards play out right. Lori is fantabulous as well. We are getting to know her and like what we're getting to know. They're expecting a baby girl, soon, by the name of Maddy, which is very exciting.

And, speaking of babies . . .. GreyZelda, Crow, and Mulch would like to announce the birth of one Ethan Tucker Amburgey!!!!!!! Play the trumpets! Smash the cymbals (but not too loud, he's probably sleeping.)!!!! Throw the confetti!!!! My bestest friend, Emily and her guy, also a dear friend, CW had their first boy and I can't be more happy about it. He was born on December 6th in Hillsdale, MI. I can't wait to officially meet his acquaintance. Christmas can't come soon enough! And, I might call him ET, after a very cute extraterrestrial. Emily and CW might not love it, but . . . . we will see, we will see.

OK. I hope to let you know of good blogs to check out recommended by GreyZelda. Goss Country. Check it out.

crow

Chillin' like a Villain

GreyZelda has a new computer. I love this keyboard. It's snaps to very nicely. Thank you, Charles.

We've just been nesting down for the winter, but the winter's much fun. There are inches of white stuff on the ground which I like to tromp through.

Mulch and I are starting to assemble the necessary pieces for our next production which will be the Homecoming by Harold Pinter. We're seeing what actors may be interested, secured the space at the Oracle Theatre on Broadway, and will soon talk to our group of designers. Bzzzz. Bzzzzz.

I'm also starting work on adapting a well known piece of literature, but I want the suspense to build before we decide to unveil it. It's beautiful. Thorny as a rose bush placed upon a scaffold bearing its singular creation. It should go up this summer and we're going to look for a place soon.

I also want to start a branding initiative and we're going to be looking for help on the advertising front soon. We'll hold a meeting in our very chilly Ravenswood space. We're trying to get the heat on. People's Gas sucks. Criminal, I think, to keep warmth from people. And we don't even live there. What of the families who are faced with freezing cold conditions? It's taken us three weeks to get this thing rolling with them and we have renters who are having to make due with space heaters. Crap.

Anyway, I must prepare for a Manpower Holiday party in Gurnee. We'll just bundle up together like two birds of a feather on our sleigh ride by way of the interstate.

Talk to you soon, gentle readers,
crow

A letter from Crow's grandfather

my god I'm impressed to think I would know personally theatre personalities in positions of authority. my wife and I congratulate you on your achievements and have agreed to donate the sum of $30.00. I do hope such a large sum does not disrupt your way of life.

our location makes our attendance impractical though we travel on occasion. we are considering buying a horse to be named "occasion". Perhaps we shall encounter you during the holiday season, I do hope so.

our very highest regards,
Grampy and Grammy Brown
william/virginia brown

this machine keeps making modifications to this note

Insanity in October

So . . . our next production is getting closer on the horizon every day . . . I'm acting in this one as Mrs. Mary Girard and it's been a pleasure getting back to the bright side of life. I love the dark side, as well, but it's fun slummin' around in different aspects, as it were. And, hey, as you can see to the left to the left and right, I figured out how to add an image. Super cool.

Thank you to everyone who attended our fundraiser, Black, White and GreyZelda. We ended up making close to $400.00, which will assist in buying the rights to Insanity of Mary Girard and a couple of the costumes. It was a swell time. We hung up Steven T. Wirth's thoughts of The Idiot, which I wanted to peruse, but didn't get a chance to because apparently talking and talking and more talking is what I chose to do that evening. We also performed the first part of the show and She and He had their debut. Heath Hays and Kim Katona hung up photography and we had silent auctions and stuff. We had found a fabulous bar in our alley, so we were able to officiate the wine pouring and beer giving with it. Again, we had a very nice time, so thanks to all who attended for making that so.

I've just been working on my lines and rehearsing and working on getting press releases out and such. Getting ready to head to Robert and Kristen's for their engagement party. Oh yeah! and it's Mulch's and my anniversary! 6 years, baby cakes!

Ok, my mind isn't very creative this eve, I think because it's been consuming words and making them permanent indentations. I bid you good evening, sirs and madams.

Come see the show! It opens October 12th! Limited seating so make reservations. Prepare to be scared, cats.

Yours,
crow

A Few Trivialities

Say it don't spray it, gentle reader: rain. Say it slow in long refreshing enjoyment, raaaaiiinn. Halelujah, I been jonesing for some of the old precip. Maybe it's because when it's all hot and sticky like I don't feel like partaking in the old bloody-red-after ( no, actually I do, it's drinking I don't feel like doing in the hot ). I have Crow insisting that she perform a monologue for me while I write, as though I'm really capable of writing this and listening attentively to her at the same time. I politely nod.
So pilgrims, if'n ye haven't heard, there's a GreyZelda message board in the world now, so be sure to sign yourselves up and hoot and hollar with the rest of us. You can share your profound and irrelevant espousals on such matters as Chili ( good with waffles or not? ), why it matters to enforce table manners with vigilence, or, would you like to go to the GreyZelda fundraiser: Black, White and GreyZelda to enjoy adult refreshments, a night of theatre, visual art from lithographs to photographs, conversation of the random and dare I say, beligerent, to the sophisticated and abstract. Yes, that is what you want to do ( your eyes are getting heavy, you hear my voice in the depths of your subconscious mind ) Yes, that is what I want to do. Wonderful!
Out here in the concrete prairie things are moving nicely. I'm beginning to spin The Insanity of Mary Girard on my potters wheel and by the time she gets to our potters field, hopefully, that old gal will have been processed with her majesties highest grace. I have opted for an all female cast in my undertaking of this, for multiple reasons, to be discussed later. I like my casting possibilities for this show and will need a cast of 8, but alas gentle reader, if plans deceive me again as they are prone to do, you will see my flag waving for auditions. Therefore keep the antennae up.
The show will be done at the GreyZelda studios and....you know what....I'm not gonna tell you anymore about it. Damnit all, if I don't have a way of divulging all of my info at once. Crow says I have a propensity for giving away endings prematurely....You can take that as you will.
Anyhow, gentle reader, a few things I'm into right now: High on Fire ( pure metal majesty ), Built To Spills version of Cortez the Killer ( 20 minutes long ), revisting The Stand from my days as a lad, The Dogs of God by Pinckney Benedict, the pitching of Carlos Zambrano, vodka gimlets, Tetris, exercise, the Outdoor Games, driving my Jeep, bleach ( goddamn good for killing germs ).
Alright fellow canaanites, this is C. Salmon, Man of Mulch signing off. Reminding you that dreaming is your own form of self-hypnosis. Stay tuned for further announcements...

Composting,
Mulch

Black, White, and GreyZelda

Our first official fundraiser is coming up on September 17th, 2005 at our rehearsal space located on Ravenswood. I'm excited. Check the site for more details. I've always felt a little weird about asking people for money, but now realize that I'm not asking . . . GreyZelda is asking. A great distinction. GreyZelda is more than all of us. GreyZelda holds us accountable for our creativity and decisions. GreyZelda should be a cult, really.

Mulch and I are going to come up with a list of questions soon, as to what makes a GreyZelda person. Some of the questions will go a little sumpin' like this:

You know you're with GreyZelda if you favorite tea is:
a) Lipton
b) Green
c) Earl Grey

or

You know you're with GreyZelda if your favorite parrot is a:
a)Blue and Gold Macaw
b) Cockatiel
c) African Grey

Anyway . . . you get the picture. It's silly, but very Causey.

How are things in general for us. Haven't heard from LZ in a spell. Crow has a problem with cawing and pecking sometimes. She's should just shut up and eat . . . um . . . Mulch is on the job hunt. He left the man's SBC. He should check out Manpower! We shall see what we shall see. Jobs schmobs. . . . well, here's a quote from a play Crow herself is thinking of acting in. I'm Crow. I'm going to stop speaking in the third person.

"Who gives a damn about convention? Not me. The world isn't going to suffocate me. That's what this flapper's all about. Climb to the top and live high. And if the fine's a heavy one, what the hell!"

That's a line spoken by Mrs. Zelda Fitzgerald in The Last Flapper by William Luce, based on the writings of Mrs. F. Scott Fitzgerald. I'm thinking of doing it.

Chris is going to be starting the direction of the Insanity of Mary Girard and he wants an all female cast. Yippee!!! We also received a submission that we're very excited about from a local playwright. More news coming soon.

Anyway, you all rock. I love the rain coming down to wash out this intense, untalkable heat that's been hanging out.

Love,
crow

The future and Fortuna

GreyZelda will soon be on a war path. A friendly, professional warpath, to be sure, but a warpath nonetheless. She's gained the confidence she needs and now wants to enter the competition. We're going to have a meeting after The Thimbleberry Gallows closes discussing a marketing/business scheme that will get GreyZelda out there where she needs to be.

We're gaining in ranks. I can safely say that we have a nice group of members and collaborators. Mulch and I are not an island - although being stranded on an island with just my mulchman, kitties, and the greyzelda passion would make me very happy indeed - and we're ready for help and ideas from others in how to get this train rollin'.

Sarah Stec is working on a logo that will begin to imprint itself on Chicago's accepting legions.

Sonia Kuhlmann, Melissa's mother extraordinaire is going to help us come up with a business plan.

Mulch and myself are going to go to a nonprofit meeting in August to learn things and get ourselves on more of a plan.

And our other peeps are going to contribute many ideas to make this puppy roll.

We're hoping to have a fundraiser this summer and more details are coming soon. What I secretly would like is to have a 24 hour performance based date. Maybe a GreyZelda retrospective beginning from the beginning - Mulch and I performing Cowboy Mouth or Outcry (a never performed idea); followed by a few scenes from Trestle (maybe we can reunite some forces; woohoo!); some One Flea Spare, some Metamorphosis, some Robert and Kristen, some Anna Agniel and Slow Children Playing, some Thimbleberry. And who knows what else? Either way, we could have a really cool time.

Lisa works with someone who is good at planning fundraisers and I'd be more than willing to give said someone 10-15% of what we make - since we never had what we'll make in the first place. Very cool.

And! We now have our bank account set up. Sheesh. It was so easy to do but I am a procrastinator - won the distinction in high school, actually, with my dear friend, Emerly - and my beloved gets sucked into that zone with me.

I'm going to reflesh the website one of these days, too. It could be very spectacular, I think, and I'm going to try to make that happen.

Please support us in any way, dear readers. Spirit is always appreciated, dear readers, but anything physical you can can do would be appreciated. From 10 bucks to lights to costumes to volunteering to help with our next show to, to, to ... anything goes.

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello because it's been a while since I put a new blog down.

You rock,
crow - I like all things sparkly and shiny.

One more week . ..

So ... one more week to this beast ... this almost albatross . . .

Ah, Fanny Hooe - a hand that reached out and grabbed out throats. It's been an experience creating this from scratch. We've not had much of an audience. Just as you've not had much of an audience in Copper Harbor. These upper peninsula spirits . . . they're strong. You forget about them when here in the midwest, but . . . they're there. As the stone gods in West Virginia. And we've brought them with us for this show. The tree breathers. The ice dripping to rushing water. The Loons speaking up. And just the silence. Something we can't have in Chicago.

We have one more week. I do hope the people show up to prove this craven projection wrong. We're happy, but polar.

crow

The North Country

L. Crow here, dear readers ...

Woke up this morning to find a request for Thimbleberry updates. The show is becoming . . .fleshing itself out and I love it when it gets to this point. It becomes its own creature . . . Thimbleberry Gallows is beautiful, terrifying, dare I say it (Mothers - pull in your breaths and cover your children's ears) erotic, and ever so much more. That's why we haven't done much to the blogspot and website and such . . . we've got our faces smeared with Thimbleberry jam!

The cast is exceptional and a sheer pleasure to work with. The Man of Mulch has dropped the pen, and stepped in to be Henry Dobbs, for this inaugural production. Why? You might ask ... why not? I say. GreyZelda insists on setting a standard, an environment that all can be calm in. Safe in. A place where creativity reigns supreme. When guests join the process and don't bow down to a little thing called imagination, well . . . GreyZelda rears her bonneted head and moves quickly and assuredly, so ... the Mulch, once again, is the Man. And has allowed Henry to "breathe unsolicited", to quote the show.

There have been challenges that have come our way, to be sure, during the process of our little play. And we have stepped up and maneuvered our way through them. The situations, actually, have simply reminded us of what we've stood for all along and forgot about because we've incorporated additional creative help . . . I do firmly believe that a show needs all elements to work together harmoniously in order to be a success. A good time should be had by all those involved and if GreyZelda isn't the girl for you, please find something to your liking. Because she and we do what we please, what gives us pleasure, and in that enjoyment, we create something that we're proud of and that, even if we did it on the streets or in our living room, we would still be equally proud of it.

And we have that show, ladies and gentleman!!!!!!!!!

Did you know that the Group traversed up to Copper Harbor just last weekend? We spent some quality time in the Fort Wilkins stomping grounds and Kim Katona took some beautiful photos which will be premiering soon. The cast was able to research and be their characters in the actual environment and see how they would have lived. Talk to us after the show and we'll tell you all about. The pictures will be on display, as well, in the StageLeft lobby.

Heath Hays, our set designer, and Mulch will be leaving tomorrow morning at 5 in the AM!!! to pick the trees that will be sacrificed for the set. I'm excited about the arbors joining us.

Julie will be doing our lights next Sunday and the illumination will be lovely. Lisa has been invaluable being our assistant director and has been doing an exquisite job of it.

He and She, those maybe Hedonists, have created a soundtrack that will make your heart pound.

And, I'm just happy and accepting of this new GreyZelda development. I love it. And, that's all I ever want from a show. It'll continue to become and become and become and I'm honored to have the people working and sharing this show with us. I'm going to a couple army surplus stores, hopefully tomorrow, and a place along the lines of a Victoria's secret, as well, to add the final completions to the costumes, which GreyZelda decided to do after all. We had a girl make us a really nice crinoline, that Detta will wear (that's Melissa Kuhlmann to the outside world). It's already become dirtied, thank God!!!! If that little sewer, or seamstress, I suppose (sewer looks like, well, a sewer) had had her way, that crinoline would have never known the beauty of the wilderness and what a little dirt can do as far as accesorizing goes. Sheesh!!!! But, that's a whole other blog in itself. And Crow agrees with GreyZelda. It's done and over with . . .it was, essentially a lite sneeze in the process, which has since cleared itself up. I think you're going to like the costumes, folks. I sure do!

I'll write more soon . . . did you know that the Ravens up north are sons of guns? When I was walking by myself, through a trail running around Lake Fanny Hooe, I watched a triad of those big black birds play Rook of the Tree. They would try to push each other off of the tip of gigantic pines, repeatedly. It was silent but you could hear their mutters and the flapping of their wings. It looked like fun.

Caw to you, my cousins,
the littler, but just as tough,
Crow