Thanksgiving

Whew. I just had Thanksgiving fun (traveling and eating) mixed in with opening a show and doing five performances in three days. It's tiring work to say the least. Add in some sickness recovery and you've got the potential for griping.

But that has all been wiped away.

I'm grateful for all the friends, family, talent, and opportunities I've had this year. It's been concentrated in the past few days. I've realized how much I enjoy talking to audience members. There are some outstanding, generous, and very smart subscribers and donors who love having a dialogue and relationship with the company members. Today, after our matinee, there was a mini reception and I had the opportunity to chat with some supporters who truly adore the work we do here. It's humbling.

It's not about receiving accolades and praise. It's realizing that the work I'm doing in this ensemble is making an impact on the lives of these people. That's why they keep coming back and bringing friends. Yes, it's entertaining, but it's sustaining and revitalizing people.



1940's Radio Hour has the potential to veer toward fluffy "deadly" theatre as Peter Brook would call it. But our production has some deeper elements and I think we're giving a nod to that pretty well. There's alcoholism and war content that broadens the scope and transports people in the audience, whether they were alive during the 40's, part of World War II, or any part of the military period (past and present)--okay, not so much the drinking bit, but it interrupts the radio show within the show for a little bit.

Initially, I wasn't a "fan" of this show, but the more I spend time with it and understand how much it has been affecting audiences and company members, the more I realize this stuff is important. It won't be too long before the folks of the 40's will be gone. This is a tribute to their times, which have plenty of ties to today. And theatre has a unique ability to link all of that together and aid in transporting people to places they weren't intending to go initially. It creates moments of transcendence--whether it's for five seconds, five minutes, or the entire show.

I've managed to feel that while attending shows (but it doesn't happen too frequently since I've got my eye on the acting and other production elements), but those striking moments kind of bash you over the head and feed the soul in ways you can't quite figure out. Art, particularly theatre in this case, changes lives.

Got a Fever.

We had a preview last night for The 1940's Radio Hour. The audience seemed to like it. We've got some sound issues to deal with still. I can't quite read what people thought of the show overall. We have talk-backs after every preview to gain a better understanding what the audience thinks.

I thought it was a pretty good show. But I'm sick right now, so it's all jumbled. I've got fever symptoms, which isn't ideal for previewing a musical with tricky jazz chords and a tap break (and playing the trumpet).

I sat in bed and watched some episodes of Flash Forward and went to bed. It was the worst night of sleep I've had in a LONG time. I can't even remember the last time I was so restless. I was also half-dreaming about the FBI trying to get to the bottom of a world-wide blackout where most people saw the future (which is the premise of the show).

I'm a bit better now. I feel rested. I've got a bit of rehearsal this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to get to a grocery store for some more food (and JUICE!) between that and our second preview tonight.

Enter: Tech Week

We're in tech week. The last time I had tech was for The Rainmaker, which is a 2.5 hour long romance/comedy (or "romantice" as it said on the cover of our scripts). It's not a show that requires a lot of technical wizardry.

The 1940's Radio Hour is an entirely different beast. We've got three microphones (well, four, actually) and a different playing space than what we've been using all year. It's a bit more proscenium-y and less thrust-y. BUT we are using the entire house of the theatre (stairways and booths and audience seating).

The music is canned, so it's all pre-recorded. And the cast changes which mics they sing in throughout the show.

Needless to say, our entire world has been rocked slightly.

This afternoon was a slow four-hour spacing rehearsal. We just marked the show and finessed blocking and traffic patterns. No music, no tech, just getting used to the stage. Previous to this, we've been in the rehearsal hall, pretending there were levels when we were just acting on a single flat surface. Now, we're in the actual theatre space, using doors and staircases and the mini stage for our radio show. It's exciting, but slow-going work.

Tonight was a music/sound night. It's complicated, and I got a little frustrated at one point. It got hard for me to loosen up during a duet song I sing. I don't do well with compartmentalized information. I'll get a technical/music note and then get an acting kind of note right after that and it's difficult for me to combine the two. Plus, there's a small dance break. I knew tonight wasn't about performing; I was trying to be extra-sensitive about the monitors and mic levels and how I had to work with the mic. So I let the performing attitudes slide and I think that was rather detrimental. I was just going through the motions so that I could pay attention to the sound. Not everyone else was buying into that and it was just kind of a muddled mess.

The weirdest thing happened also: I had absolutely no energy at the beginning of the rehearsal. Once I was finished with the duet section, I had a bit of a break. I just sat down and read a bit of a magazine. Then, for whatever reason, this jolt of energy happened. We did the tap number and that was very energizing for the end of the rehearsal. Right when I was hitting a good stride, the rehearsal was over and we got a note to come back tomorrow ready to go.

I know a lot of this has to do with trekking up to the Cities for a day and hanging out with friends really late at night. I'm a bit behind on sleep right now, so I should just rest up now and get a good breakfast in, because (like they say in the song "Strike Up the Band"):

There is work to be done, to be done!

But I also need to figure out how to get jazzed about this work from the very beginning.

Rehearsing and Listening

Rehearsing a show is exhausting (understatement of the week). I think the entire cast was getting loopy as 10 p.m. drew nearer. We're working through the show right now, tightening and refining details so they are more specific, finding the proper focus. But I'm glad that we've had the opportunity to do a mini Viewpoints workshop prior to all of this. I don't feel weighed down by one single way of approaching the action. It's all very go-with-the-flow. I had choreography this morning, a tiny break, then I worked as an usher for a nearly sold-out Sunday matinee. That was a five-hour shift.

Now, let me explain. The show is only two hours. Ushers need to be at the theatre an hour before to set up everything and get the house set up. Then there was a small potluck/party after the show. I stayed around to clean up and take in the free food. That took another hour and a half or so. I kind of forgot about the whole lunch thing (which isn't something I normally do), so I wolfed down the pasta salads and this outstanding corn salsa. I don't even know what was all in it, but it was exquisite!

Needless to say, I was exhausted, and I knew that I had three hours of rehearsal later that night. I attempted to take a nap, but I just kind of lied in bed listening to the latest Cantus album.

Cantus is the nation's premiere vocal men's ensemble. There are 9 guys singing remarkable literature. Stuff from all over the world (new and old music).

The whole reason I spent this time listening was that I took a quick, rather spontaneous trip to Rochester to catch a concert featuring Cantus and the Choral Arts Ensemble. It was stunning, to say the least.

I sat in the back of this church, and it was packed. Lots of people were here for a benefit for the Choral Arts Ensemble. They started off the program and I was instantly hit with how much I appreciated, love, and (gasp) miss singing in choir at college. It was an insane commitment that had very little payoff it seemed. There wasn't much credit (if any, honestly). The hours were long. Rehearsals and personalities can get rather aggravating for even the most patient of people. But then the concerts come around and the tours start up. There's a lot of preparation we'd have to do just to make sure one measure of a particular piece was to our director's liking.

Until last night, I've usually always been singing in the ensemble. To sit down and have a rather objective perspective from a choir that I knew nothing about was refreshing and surprising. They were good. They even sang a piece I sang my senior year of high school. Sitting in the audience with all those supporters was completely invigorating. Those people LOVED the choir for a variety of reasons. I could tell they needed it, probably in ways they can't fully understand.

I sure needed it.

And Cantus comes up. These guys are mind-blowing! The effortlessness and ease they sing with! I was just in awe (and I consider myself to have a pretty critical ear and eye when it comes to a performance like this). There's a sensitivity and absolute connection to the music and words and story behind the pieces. They're a pretty theatrical group and do a lot of engaging things with their faces and restricted body language (since, you know, they're singing). But all of it was such a fascinating performance. I felt transported to other countries and times and...ugh...it was stunning.

It makes me wonder when I'll be able to dive into that sort of thing again. It's hard to discern how that can happen at the moment (and also to realize that I'm only 23...so there's time and who knows where I'll be a year from now). But it's something I don't want to slip.

We'll see what happens.

And speaking of future endeavors, I'm sending off my U/RTA stuff tomorrow. It's all ready to go. Monologue camp until those auditions!