The lawn has been painted over, the compost is rightfully at rest with the other piles of leaves behind the theatre, the pizza has been eaten, the shed has been demolished, and Wendy the Wisteria plant has a new home in Wakefield.  Who knows what we’ll use her for next… Perhaps our very own F.U.D.G.E. Christmas Bush? Perhaps.

Our cast gave some touching performances this past weekend, and will be fondly remembered for their dedication to their work and to F.U.D.G.E. (Thanks guys!) All in all, this production was a pleasure to be a part of, and gave us a great start to our new season!

Up next: stay tuned for some crazy antics in the village of Kulyenchikov as F.U.D.G.E. enters the farcical world of Neil Simon’s Fools!

As for me, I’m done… for now… but I remain blogfully yours,

~AnneMarie

I feel confident that we’ll survive, but it will be a struggle nonetheless. (It always is. Even if we did a play about kittens and sunshine and it required NO set, props, or actors, I’m sure we’d find something to struggle with… probably a lack of glow-tape.)  Thankfully, we have a wonderful cast who has gone above and beyond to make this an awesome  F.U.D.G.E. experience!  (Keep being wonderful guys, or else I’m blogging a retraction. )  Let’s see if they’ll make it through tech week unscathed.  Mwahaha.

With that, I leave you with the words of the wisest Muppet I know.  And I impart to you my own wise words: Get your tickets NOW!  Only 5 days left til Training Wisteria opens!

I’ll admit, reader, that while I have filled you in on some rather juicy details of our show, the actual gritty of the nitty has been… not gotten down to. Or something. Rachel would cringe at that sentence. CRINGE, I say.

“Who the heck is Rachel?” (You may ask.)

Rachel is a grammar hammer. And an Ivy Leaguer. And your general know-it-all. And a goodie-two-shoes big sister who does everything right, even if it means throwing someone else (a lesser sibling, perhaps?) under the proverbial bus.

Speaking of lesser siblings (and… buses?) Let’s move on to Dylan.  When not waxing poetic over his precious compost, (yes, compost.) screaming along to AC/DC, or reenacting scenes from Star Wars, Dylan can be found playing his Gameboy. Among other things. Many, MANY other things.

Then there’s Kacie. K-Dawg. Kace. The Kid. Your average thirteen-year-old, vegetarian, coffee addict, and little sister, who is anything but average.  Nuff said.

And if there’s one person who wants his children to excel faaaaaaar beyond average, it’s Stephen.  He’s the kind of Dad who can successfully embarrass you in one fell swoop with his pride in planning, preparation, and persistence. (And… alliteration? Puns, perhaps?)  Whatever.  Let’s just say if you don’t watch it, he’ll have you acing your PSATs in kindergarten. *shudder*

Which leaves us with Lynn.  She’s a teacher and a Mom who does everything big.  Big dreams, big heart, big spirit.  Unfortunately, some of her spirit has been crushed, but she holds on by keeping her ideas bigger than ever.  Maybe… too big?  Lynn can definitely dream big, but when it comes to taking action, she tends to put the job on someone else… not realizing the weight of all those big ideas… and how heavy a burden they can become.

Throw all those characters together the day before a HUGE family event, and you can guess what might happen.  Or don’t guess and just come see the show!

P.S. I’ve enabled comments for the blog and have a challenge for our actors (should they be reading this… which they should.) Below, please find a brief questionnaire.  Fill it out as your character (you know them better than I!) so that our readers might get a better sense of what they’ll be dealing with! (Just click here to view and add comments. But don’t give toooo much away…) Have fun!

1.) Favorites:

a) Movie.

b) Song/Band.

c) Book.

2.) The Last Time/Person You…

a) Hugged

b) Called

c) Went somewhere with nobody knowing.

3.) If you were trapped on a desert island and could only bring 3 things, what would they be?

4.) Most embarrassing moment.

5.) VS! (Choose wisely…)

a) Chocolate/Vanilla

b) Coffee/Tea

c) Wisteria/Roses

d) Cake/Death

6.) Open-ended response. (50 words or less.)

WE HAVE A NEW SCRIPT!

“What? How can this be?” <–(That was your internal monologue. Nice delivery by the way, I heard the shock.)

I KNOW! It’s shocking, but true. And exactly how it can be is this, reader:  Our director, the aforementioned one Joseph DeMita, was contacted by none other than Molly Smith Metzler herself!(She’s the playwright. For those of you who ignore our lovely graphic that lives yonder–>)

After some talk involving her people and our people, a new script was offered to us.  Do you know that this means, reader? This MEANS that The F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company will be the FIRST to perform the REVISED EDITION of Training Wisteria… in Boston. Yes folks. Another premiere. Kinda. (”Oooh. Aaah.” Yes, I know. I said it was big.)

So, after a lot of shuffling between scripts and reorganizing all our original efforts, I am pleased to offer you that astounding piece of news! Oh, and don’t worry.  The wisteria is still there. (I know you were worried. I was too.)

That’s all for now, but not-to-worry, I’ve got your back in case we take any more crazy twists and turns in the mounting of this play.  Let’s just hope we don’t get a call from Molly saying she wants Rhododendrons to be the new metaphor of her play instead. I do NOT want to make rhododendrons. (shudder.)

‘Tis I, your friendly neighborhood ASM and current blogger, AnneMarie.

Training Wisteria proves to be quite a show, but rest assured that this production will be beautifully maintained and procured, as its title suggests. Or will it…?

From day one Wisteria presented certain obstacles.  Obstacle number one: Wisteria.  I was set the daunting task of creating a Wisteria bush.  “Just something for press photos.” said one Joseph DeMita, clearly confident in my horticultural sculpting abilities.

Reader, have you ever seen wisteria? No? Yes? Let me give you a visual:

Oh sure... it's pretty.

But this stuff can get pretty huge.  And if you don’t train it correctly, look out.

Because it can devour an entire castle in one sitting.

Scary plant, that Wisteria.  Anyhoo, I went about constructing my own Wisteria plant out of some fallen tree branches, wire, some floral pieces, and a wine sculpture.  You know, the usual found objects.

The fruit, (or monstrous vine, rather,) of my labors can soon be seen in upcoming press photos for Training Wisteria. Oh, and the cast will be in the photos too; but let’s face it, this plant is kind of a big deal.

I’ll keep you all up-to-date… Who knows, maybe next week I’ll construct chrysanthemums! (<–I didn’t even spell check that, kids, that’s how confident I’ve become in my recent forays into the plant world.)

Get your tickets soon! Training Wisteria is playing for one weekend only!