Small Medium at Large

Got an email from Mark Kilbane, my producer for the theoretical movie of TMWNM. He's at a big to-do film festival thingee in Hong Kong, hustling, and give the man credit, he is busting his balls to get something off the ground. Got a director attached if funding arrives, and that helps sell the project. In Hollywood, it's all pie-in-the-sky until the check clears, and not until you see it on the silver screen is the deal totally done, but forward motion is better than not.


I told him to break a leg ...


In theatrical circles, there are a  number of superstitions, and the two that stand out the most for me involve luck. Not that I'm all that conversant with the theater–I haven't trodden the boards since high school, but I have been peripherally involved via TV and assorted spec movie scripts. What I know is, it is considered bad luck to wish somebody good luck on a new show. To offset this, you instead wish them ill, with the notion being that bored gods looking for mischief will do the opposite, so that will portend good. Thus, "Break a leg."


The other superstition concerns the play Macbeth. It is considered a cursed play, going back to long-past performances where bad things happened. The story is that in the very first production, somebody used a real knife instead of a fake, and an actor was killed. Or that the witches doing the toil-and-trouble curse were actually offering real curses. Whatever. Quoting from the play outside a rehearsal or performance, or even mentioning its name is considered a bad idea, so it's usually referred to as "The Scottish Play," when spoken of it must be, especially inside a theater proper.


So, now you know if you didn't before. Use this knowledge wisely.