October 4, 2012

  • Double-Play

    Yesterday was a "special scenes" rehearsal, a day put aside to work on the specific parts that require extra time to perfect them... basically the entire second act. I had sent an email to my director a couple days prior to beg him to do the scenes I am in a bunch of times in a row until I get my lines and blocking right, because I was seriously freaking out. I mean, Algy can hardly make rehearsals and Gwen hadn't learned all her lines yet, so we needed it! confused

    I was so emphatic about getting this rehearsal that I picked up Algy from work just so he would make it on time. He was running a little later than expected, but I was so busy texting with friends that I barely even touched my ereader which I brought for that purpose. We made it just on time for rehearsal and that is all that matters. 

    The director started with notes from the previous night's rehearsal; he didn't go over them before because there were so many! One of his notes were for me to ensure I run my hand through Algy's hair during our embrace. I told the director that I would have remembered had I not been in total shock! He figured that had been the cause, and thought it quite funny that Algy didn't let me know in advance that he was going to kiss me. Algy said he thought my eyes were going to roll back in my head in surprise shocked

    Both Algernon and I expected that we would focus on each scene, running through it a few times, then moving on to the next one. Yet for some unknown reason the director decided to just run through the entire second act and only stop when something terrible happened. That wasn't what I needed at all, though I have to say that it did calm my nerves slightly.

    I will note that the kiss was much improved, partially because I knew it would happen and in part due to my remembering my blocking for during the kiss. I still think the blocking on that needs a bit of work --I sure don't mind practicing that a few times more winky-- if only because I'm forced to say my line to the back of the stage rather than towards the audience. I'll have to figure out a way to slightly turn my head from Algy without making it seem unromantic. Hmmm... 

    Tonight's rehearsal started badly and it only got worse as the night progressed. First Algy got stuck at work and found out he couldn't make it until after 10pm (we start at 730), two of the major players were about a half-hour late, and two minor characters didn't even bother showing up! The majority of the set was shoddily put together: one of the wall-panels fell down, the window wouldn't hook properly and was therefore crooked, the chaise lounge gave slivers to anyone attempting to sit on it, the step stool is dangerous to climb, and more! More of my blocking had to be changed due to how utterly rickety that stair-stepper is. 

    While I did have trouble with my diction (most of my lines have same-letter or consonant-and-vowel endings/starts so my words tend to slur together if I'm not careful), I only messed up on one line! I completely forgot the words to a really simple sentence, though I remembered the gist, and had to make up something. I'm still not sure what it was supposed to be! confused

    Because Algy only made it on time for the third act, I stayed a little later with him to run lines for the second act. We both have a little trouble remembering when the other person's line is finished, and we really have to nail them so they flow properly. Blocking couldn't be done at this time due to the stage being set for act three still, and we didn't want to haul furniture around. We're possibly getting together tomorrow, but definitely on Friday. We'll work on our lines and blocking of act two for about an hour prior to our normal rehearsal time, so that we'll --hopefully-- have it down for the run through. *fingers crossed!*

    SUMR