London digs and meetings

DAY ONE

I had one day to find a place to live in London Ontario that had these requirements...

• above ground (I've been living in a basement for 18 months)
• walking distance to the theatre (no car and can't afford one/don't want to buy one)
• access to out-of-doors (for my two cats, Ella and Harry)
• no credit check (I have no real credit history in Canada)
• month-by-month rental (almost everyone wants a one-year lease and my contract is eight months)

I saw sixteen apartments in just under ten hours- and had my lap top on the passenger seat of the car I'd rented, getting updates from websites whenever I could 'pirate' off of someone's unprotected internets. And....

ta da!

because of the power of technology...

I saw a new listing-

called and got a viewing two hours later-

and got an apartment, (that I actually like!), that meets aaaaaaaaaaaaaall of my needs!

yeeeeeee haaaaa!

I was remembering that when I first moved to London, England, it took me three weeks to find a place to live... soooooo...

It was a crazy day- but it's done! Photos to follow...

DAY TWO

Not my first day at school- but quite similar...

Okay- so the first thing was to see my office.

My office... well, it's a grand title- but not such a grand room. Please don't get me wrong- I'm happy to have a desk! and a phone and work computer and a chair. And that's really all I need- and that's good, 'cause that's all the room in my office. Now, you know, in real estate, that location is everything. Well, I'm pretty sure that I've heard that it's like that too with office allocation... So... the great thing about the location of my wee office is that it's just opposite Susan Ferley, the Artistic Director of the Grand. And that's just fine by me. I say, poo poo to the corner office with the great view... I have a corner in my office- in fact- there are four. And who needs a view- I can see the window in her office- and that's just fine by me.

And- far more exciting than any of that malarkey...

I've got a name tag. Yup. A name tag.

It's got my name on it.

And my title...

Apprentice Artistic Director

So...

Day two- see my office, get my name tag and go to the day long board meeting-

more on that another time...

Going to London- photos

Canadian Theatre Adventures- London Bound

On the train to London Ontario...where they have a Thames River and a Covent Garden Market- just like in London, England. This is the prologue to a new chapter in my Canadian theatre adventures.

Seeing about ten apartments today- and meeting my new boss, Susan Ferley, the Artistic Director at the Grand Theatre for lunch.

In a couple of weeks I start a new job at the Grand. I'm going to be the Apprentice Assistant Artistic Director and Associate Artist. I guess that means I'm going to be the AADA and AA... Lots of A's. (If it was a report card I'd be pretty happy with my grades- except for Physics, I got a D in Physics...)... (not really- you know what I mean-).

I'm going working at the Grand as the AADA/AA and learning how to run a big theatre company- and directing three productions in the McManus studio. It's going to be a jam-packed few months learning about governance, programming, financing, arts management and more! I'm really looking forward to it. It's the next necessary step in the theatre adventure- I'm pretty good at my job in the rehearsal room- now I need to learn all the other aspects of running a theatre company.

So, my boyfriend John, suggested, (well actually it was slightly more than a hearty suggestion and just less than bullying) that I might write a blog, rather than having a website. I didn't bother to tell him that I worked on the website and published it. I still need to add lots of text, but my CV and some production photos are there... However! he's pretty fantastic at bullying me into doing things that are good for me... so I've decided to give blogging a try. It'll be another part of the Canadian theatre adventure.

I'm hoping to get lots of blogging advice from chums. My chum Marilla Wex is a super-duper blogger- and it's an entertaining and comedic blog. In fact- I suggest that you stop reading this and go read her blog- right now. She's got a tiny dog called Farfel- it's funny- the dog is really cute and she's doing fantastically well as a comic on the Toronto Comedy Scene!

John could write a super blog- but there's no way I could bully him into starting one- He'll do it if he thinks it's a good idea, but it needs to be his idea. And that's cool... he's his own dude, man.

By the way- John is about the only person that bullies me around. And it's lovely that he does... and I only let him bully me when I think his ideas are good...

It's fun being on the train- especially since the wi-fi is free! and the coffee is good...

I'll post the photos from my train journey a bit later... the wi-fi connection is a bit dodgy on the train...

However- you will see... (drum roll!)

A painted freight train at Woodstock Ontario-

Heather Davies, in an arty photo- at the beginning of a new, exciting chapter of Canadian theatre adventures.

and many more adventures to come...

Toronto Noir Closes

We just finished the Toronto Noir show at Summerworks yesterday afternoon and it was the bomb. The best bit was the closing number from John Edwards Folktronica Productions.