Emily is enjoying

Julie who is enjoying
Emily enjoying
Her day off.

And Chuck. And Heroes. And flying heroes. And iPods. And gorgeous ensembles out of old clothes. And old shoes impractical for the city but perfectly fine for home. And cool weather. And cleanish living areas. Cleaner. And downloaded Guys and Dolls. And Peter's company. And Mom's company. And Dad's speech. And over a thousand songs on said iPod. (One wonders what would happen if one were to count up the number of songs in her ginormous CD collection? Ich weiB nicht! Oh - the excitement!) And "Hard Love" which Cass commissioned and which I'm listening to right now. Which I haven't listened to ever, although I've sung it and played it.

And I'm psyched, too, about having a week without a massive amount of reading - merely a ton of reading. ;P No, I'm psyched really about seeing the tech rehearsal for Marat/Sade tomorrow night - which will actually work towards my final paper for that class. Note to self: do up survey. Note to self: find out how to put survey on-line. May get more responses.

I feel a tad stuck writing Snow Queen - but only a tad. But then again, I haven't sat down to push forward the songs lately. C'est ca. I've been doing G&D stuff - c'est bon. Howsomever, I'm having some difficulty with the character of the Beggar Girl. The question comes down to who or what the Beggar Girl (or boy or old man or old woman or Reindeer shapeshifter or whomever this person's going to turn out to be!) represents. Let me 'splain. (No, there is to much. Let me sum up.)

Snow/Summer Queen: I've realized that these characters are indeed the same person. (Although I think I'm going to leave it in the play that practically the characters can be played by one person or two.) But the difficulty has been, what do they represent? Are they good? Evil? Amoral? What is their motivation? Both appear to be "claiming their own." The Summer Queen obviously has a more dire agenda - she lures Gerta to her and manipulates her own garden so that Gerta will want to stay. The Snow Queen simply picks up Kay in her sledge and lays down some basic ground rules - almost benevolently, as though to test Kay with the hopes that he should over come them.

So, what I've decided is that rather than coming down on a side, I'm going to play that the Summer/Snow Queen is a mirror of the interior nature of the person they claim. Hence, the Snow Queen appears as that Snow Queen - logical, coldly sensuous, very very grown up - to Kay since that is what he is. And the Summer Queen - emotional, capricious, willfully jeuvenile - to Gerta for the same. But the catch is that while she/they exemplify the inner nature of Kay and Gerta - she/they also show the part that their original admires most about themselves - and what is therefore, in its excess, most dangerous and destructive.

The play, therefore, is about overcoming unseen narcissism - that is, that true love comes through loving the other. And in loving, in cherishing the other, one sees oneself in a true mirror - that is, one sees one's own flaws as well as the hidden beauties. If one merely looks at a mirror that is the self, one withers and dies.

So what to do with the beggar person, quest, thing. I...dunno. I'm thinking of changing the character to a boy for several reasons. 1) There aren't enough boys in the play. 2) The Snow Queen works as a foil for Gerta, while Gerta encounters no real romantic foils for Kay. 3) He could play a part in embodying that complete other that Gerta has never sought or felt comfortable with before. 4) If the Snow/Summer Queen is, if not inherently evil as a personality, still inherently destructive to fallen humans, there seems to be a need for a God-figure in the play.

But I dunno. It's all good. And now I need to burn a DVD of the new Seven Ages video with the better "Soldier" section. And miles to go before I sleep....

Mood: Mieux! Merci!
Music: Counterintuitively, The Open Door
Thought: Technology is wow.