ARS Day 36

We geared up for a Servant of Two Masters matinee. I worked diligently on my Epicene lines during the first act (about 45 minutes). The interlude bell is my cue to get prepped for the songs, so I'm able to focus on a project quietly in the rehearsal hall without having to keep an ear open for an important line cue. That's a great gift.

After the show, we had a dinner break and then returned for the final rehearsal block of the week. Sunday nights are tough. We've been working hard for six days, and our "Friday" night is on the horizon!

We start each rehearsal with a meeting to plot out the rest of the day's work. I decided to bite the bullet and bring up the furniture conundrum. People seemed to be in general agreement. It does mean that we have to do some backtracking (some time lost). I think we determined that the furniture can just be for the first act, we'll coordinate a way to remove it going into act 2. I think this will only require 45 minutes at most. The other thing to consider is: do we work on getting that in now? Or plug along?

It's hard to know, and it's really up to me. Since the furniture doesn't seem to be needed in the later scenes and I've already got some ideas on how the first scenes can incorporate it all, I figured it would be best to keep plugging along with the workthru and move along to the second half (which is unfamiliar terrain) on Tuesday. We do have a total of 36 hours of work before our first dress rehearsal (within the span of a week). I'm confident the pieces will come together in time.

The game plan for this rehearsal was to finish our workthru of the first half--the third act. Because there are so many bodies on the stage, the shape we've created is pretty solid. We didn't have to do major overhaul. Someone had a great idea for the music that bursts in on Morose's wedding reception. "Cacophony" best describes the moment. It should be a pretty fun way to end the first half of the show before interlude.

At the end of the rehearsal, I decided it would be best to have a detailed rehearsal plot for the rest of our time with this show for my own sanity. We've been taking each day in stride a bit (which isn't how we've been rehearsing the other shows this season). That said, it does mean I have to hunker down and figure it all out, which will take some time. But I'm gonna work on that right now...