Excerpts from the past couple days

2.

I must keep up with West of Here by Jonathan Evison. It’s this great novel about a fictional town of Port Bonita in Northwest Washington. It follows an ensemble of characters from the late 1800s who are out to tame the land and manifest their destinies. Then, Evison mixes it up with the folks who live in it during 2006—complete with shattered hopes and a general sense of “I’m stuck and haven’t done anything with my life.”

4.

Got a LOT of notes from yesterday’s run of An Enemy of the People. To be honest, I got upset by the sheer quantity, but they are detailed and will only make the performance better. I intend to review them a couple times before Sunday’s run. It’s all about telling a clearer, more compelling story. It’s not personal.

7.

The Hunger Games book is on my nightstand. I cannot crack it open for fear that is all I will do for the entire day.

10.

This entry is inspired by David Shields’s book Reality Hunger, which is a collection of quotes and writing about paving the wave for a new genre of literature. It’s post-post modernism / fusion reality (I made that up) that is so strange. I expect to write more about this. But he is fascinated with the idea of reality, memoir, and form. It’s a call to arms. He has no qualms about plagiarism. In fact, I think much of the book are actually quotes from other sources. He didn’t want to attribute them, but I think his publishers made him write a list of sources in the very back.

11.

I don’t know what to make of the book just yet, but it’s fresh, and promises to say quite a bit about social networking and reality television. I’m trying not to race through it (and I’m also trying to stay with West of Here).

12.

I’m not saying that West of Here is a bad read or anything like that. What I am trying to say is this: I want to keep my intake of media/culture/art/what have you more contained. So that means NOT having a bookmark in 5 different books at the same time.

15.

I was tempted to go to the Cities this weekend. There are some great events going on. But I’m glad I opted for staying in town and laying low. This means, yes, I’m still in bed at 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. I did get up for coffee and some cereal.

17.

Today’s inbox was quite full, for a Saturday. Most of them were comments on Facebook for a fan page I moderate. But another one was from the head of a graduate acting program. But it was a cryptic message. I didn’t even want to write about this, but obviously, it’s on my mind. I can say that it wasn’t an offer, but it wasn’t a rejection either.

19.

Say what you will, but I think Anne Hathaway is stunning and quite a good actor.

20.

Say what you will, but James Franco is amusing.

21.

I am, however, upset about his Ph.D. in Literature stint.

Tech Week

I just completed my first 10-of-12 rehearsal ever.

10-of-12 means you rehearse for 10 hours in the span of 12. We had a 2-hour dinner break about midway through. I'd say half the cast (or so) went to a Thai place, and it was delicious and it was fun to hang with them (and chat above a whisper--which is what we'd been doing in the wings all day).

This show is technically epic. The play is episodic in nature. We don't have scene changes, we have transitions. The set doesn't really change, so all the locales in the Odyssey are signified by costumes, lights, and sound (and "living" set pieces--which you kind of have to see to believe). It's a cool combo of high-tech and low-tech at the same time. (For example, the sailors in Odysseus' crew create the boat with their bodies, shields, and other props)

Given those circumstances, tech has become an arduous process. I'm pretty sure I heard that there were over 40 cues the stage manager had to call within the first five minutes of the play.

We'll get through it all. I'm slightly concerned about the element of costumes (which has yet to be added). I have some quick changes that I'm not quite sure are possible, but I've decided to not worry about that until I have to. Other actors have WAY more complicated changes than me. But I'm not worrying about it.

I think there are some really cool effects. Four of us ran a new move in the very opening of the show (where we create the prow of a ship that is going over large waves and then comes crashing down)--this is all with our bodies, and nothing else--think "Cirque du Soliel-lite." Anyway, after we did the rep, the rest of the cast and our movement choreographer genuinely "oohed" and "awed". I hope there's a way I can see a bit of video footage or something to see how it all looks (same with puppeteering for Polyphemus, the cyclops), but that's unlikely.

In the end, I have to trust the design, direction, and the audience.

Our first preview is on Friday!

I better get ready for today's 12 - 9:30 call. We get a 90-minute break somewhere. I don't think today will be as demanding. My responsibilities are very Act 1-heavy, and I have less to do in Act 2. That's good, because I have some marketing deadlines to meet for Monday....

2011 is already shaping to be a crazy/good year

So, I've been committed to the whole Reverb 10 thing. At the beginning of the month. Now, we're in the final stretch, and I've completely stopped. I'm a bit disgruntled about that. As you may recall from some of the posts, I have been excited/proud of the

but at the same time, some major things have happened in the past week.

The biggie:

I got a call asking to fill in for a role up in the Twin Cities (I auditioned for this show in April or something and didn't get an offer--no biggie). I had about 4 days' notice before rehearsals began. The company I work with has allowed me to take the offer. Thus, I drove up to the Cities on Tuesday, and have been rehearing a world premiere commission of The Odyssey. I have a non-speaking role. The pay isn't much at all, but I am thrilled beyond belief.

I'm learning loads. It's been overwhelming.

I'm also getting one heck of a work-out. When you think non-spearking role, you may say: ho hum, I'm just a spear carrier. Won't have much to do....

Well, in this case, it's not that simple. Sometimes I carry a standard or shield and just stay put on stage.

Other times, I'm part of the prow of Odysseus' ship, a sailor, an attendant, eagles of the gods, the left arm of a giant Polyphemus puppet....It's insane how much responsibility I have in this production. And I'm soaking up every minute (when I'm not stretching). There are lots of lifts, stylized movement, fight choreography. It's an epic show (in every sense of the word). I can't wait to share my tracking/plot for this show come tech week.

I've probably said too much (I don't want to spoil everything!). But I'm so grateful to be a part of this wonderful group of artists and have this opportunity to establish more relationships with the theatre community in the Twin Cities.

Needless to say, my "online" life has been severely cutback. Made me realize how much I've been "relying" on it recently.

I think I was due for this kind of intense concentration of a project. I haven't had this kind of thing for a long time, and it's been refreshing.

Makes me feel like I'm part of drum corps again.

I'm not too sore anymore, and am building up more endurance and strength (and working on dive roles).


That being said, once we get back into rehearsal mode on Tuesday, I have a lot of serious time-management  and organization to sort out. I'll be juggling my marketing work with Theatre A, rehearsing with Theatre B, and working on grad school stuff (and my auditions are currently scheduled for the day AFTER this Odyssey show closes!). I think it'll be about making lists and also assigning due dates to things. I've been good about keeping track of "to dos" but I've been pretty awful at actually doing all of them (but to be fair, there's been a lot of stuff going on with wrapping up the year with Theatre A).

This isn't going to be the most restful season for me. I'm taking it easy the next couple days. But then, it's going to be a supremely busy year.

After the Odyssey, I:

• audition for grad schools (Feb)
• rehearse/perform/tour a new adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People (Feb - June)
• rehearse/perform the role of Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors (June - August-ish)

I'm pleased as punch.

Quotes from tech

We’re in tech/previews now.

The great thing is that we get 5 previews and are able to rehearse in between. As our director said yesterday: “Everything we do is 50%, the other 50 is the audience.” She also informed us to “breathe with the audience.”

We had about 20-some people for the first ever preview. It was great to have them there. They were hesitant to laugh (we’re not quite sure how funny this show is). Afterwards, I chatted with a couple and one guy said that this reminded him of a Coen brothers film. I thought that was extremely appropriate.

Here are some other fun quotes. I’m not sure how well these translate on a blog post, but here we go:

• Director to the cast: “There’s no reason to be nice to each other…let it be the most dysfunctional family in 2010…it’s not a comedy of manners.”

• Director: “Is it time? Should we be acting?” (We had been on break for a while)

• Jeffrey Hatcher, who wrote the adaptation of this script: “I think Foldal should enter holding his severed foot.” (He’s describing a character whose foot is run over by a sleigh and comes limping on stage.)

• Director: I just messed this up.

Stage Manager: You’re right.
(The director had moved a chair onstage to explain some blocking. It moved off its spot, which had yet to be marked with spike tape)

• “We’ll just work through the show—I’ve got a list that could choke a horse.”
(The director met with the cast after the first preview performance the next day for rehearsal)


--------------------------

A major note I received from our second preview is this tendency to move during funny lines.  This distracts the clarity of the humor; it pulls focus and the joke is lost.  I should know better right now, but it's been difficult to ascertain which lines are actually funny.  Now that we have preview audiences, we're getting more accustomed to the laughing bits.  I shall be still from now on!

I've also had a fun challenge of acting with both a hat (a back military-type thing) and some black gloves.  The show takes place in the winter in Norway, so things are cold (duh).  There's some precision with these accessories that cannot be taken lightly.  The last thing you want is a whole bunch of glove lazzi when you're trying to tell your mother off on an exit.

A lot of the work that I'm doing with this show has been an exercise in clarity and focus.  We've been working a lot of details that make all the difference in the world.  Until now it's been a bit dodgy and inconsistent from my perspective, but I get the sense that I'm starting to lock in the character.  The director says my performance has been growing steadily.  The self-consciousness is slipping away, thank goodness.

Ibsen in 2010

I've been rehearsing regularly for the upcoming Ibsen production. We start tech on Tuesday, and I hear that we're going to do the whole "10 of 12's," which means that we rehearse for 10 hours in the span of 12. We get two hours off for dinner. This means starting at noon and going until midnight.

I have a feeling we'll be using all the time during tech week.

I'm only in two acts (out of four) and they're split up, so I'm not too worried about exhaustion (though I could be putting my foot in my mouth about that). The lines are down, but now I have more work to add in all the innuendo. Because that has been severely lacking.

The director has told me repeatedly that I'm not playing this in 2010. It's as if I'm from some other period. She told me to heighten the juice in the relationship with Fanny and to think more "preppy." I kind of obsessed over this note (because this isn't the first time I've heard this, and it's just aggravating to hear the same note and must be even more bothersome to give the same not over and over). Today's run of the act felt like a marked improvement, but the director had to move on to other bits (so I'm not quite sure what she thinks of it). We've spent MANY, MANY hours on the first act. I decided to come to work and rehearsal with nice jeans, a polo, and glasses (I know, real preppy--but it helped). I also stopped thinking about what my body was doing and imposed a kind of mental swagger to everything. We'll see how that translates, but I'm definitely not as discouraged as I have been the past couple days.

It just dawned on me that I've never played something so close to my age and time that I'm living right now. You'd think that be a piece of cake...that's not been the case so far.

Audiences begin coming to previews next Friday!

Gosh, then I start rehearsals for Picasso at the Lapin Agile in a few weeks. This is a long bout of acting!

I aim to post some more pictures of Death and the Ploughman. I think there are some good gems after a photo shoot we did last week.

The only other thing I can say is this: thank goodness the weather's getting nicer. It was over 80 degrees yesterday! This is Minnesota, people. This is awesome.

Performing one show, rehearsing another

The silence over here can only be explained by the rigors of tech week layered with a desk job at the same company AND beginning rehearsals for John Gabriel Borkman. Needless to say, I've been overwhelmed.

But talking to audience members after the show eliminates all the anxiety I had about Death and the Ploughman. It seems to be received well. There's good buzz about according to some other company members. We've provided a doozy of a play. A couple people even told us that this production was certainly comparable, if not better than the stuff they see in the Cities (and a lot that's in the Cities is good).

I'm relieved. I didn't know how this particular show was going to pan out. I'm having a good time, but it's difficult work that requires absolute specificity with so much text to chew through. I've been battling a sore, tired throat and have a bit of a cold.

We've only got six more performances for Death and the Ploughman. Click on the link to see some pictures from the show. It just looks BEAUTIFUL on stage. There's so much color. If only you could hear the music we have as underscoring. This is a show of which I'm incredibly proud.

Tonight is a gala for the apprentices. I've got some friends attending the next few performances. It's a great time. Spring has sprung and I've got a great sense of rejuvenation.

--------------------------------

As far as John Gabriel Borkman is concerned....

Jeffrey Hatcher, renowned playwright, has written an adaptation of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman. He's made it more conversational and less British than previous translations. We're setting this in a non-specific contemporary world (and we're very conscious of the Bernie Madoff scandal).

I just did a costume fitting and it's exciting to have this energy swirling for another production already! At the moment, I'm in skinny black jeans with a dress shirt, tie, and hip charcoal coat with big ol' buttons everywhere. It's very hip. I'm playing Erhart, John's son (who wants nothing to do with his family).

This rehearsal process is very interesting. There's a lot of mystery to the story, and something the cast is working to collectively find answers.

Our "homework" for next week:

Every character will show their greatest moment of happiness and greatest moment of sadness (prior to the play). Each must involve the plot and one moment must involve another character within the story. This is away of creating a living history so that we can turn to those moments as they inform us with what is happening on stage. I'm excited, there's going to be quite a lot of creativity and imagination (of course) for this to thrive.

But now, I have to clean my room. It's in such a shambles and fueling any stress I'm going through for the past week. Maybe I'll catch up on Lost before then.

Rehearsal, Rehearsal

(NOTE: I've added a Photos and Resume page on the right side. I have yet to add the resume, but there are plenty of cool photos to check out)

We had a strange rehearsal today.

We had a speed-through for lines and blocking. I wasn't too hung up on much, but I did have some issues toward the end. But I know exactly which spots to reexamine; it's not so nebulous and fuzzy as last week was--PROGRESS!

THEN was the doozy. We worked through the first half of the show and went and had no restrictions of lines, blocking or anything. We could speak what would come to our heads, which created some incredibly powerful moments. We had conversations (rather than an exchange of monologues, which is how the show is written).

Afterward, our director said that we've been too rigid and technical. We've got the basics of the more mechanical things. We have to trust that foundation and start jumping and flying higher. We have to find ways to actively show what's going on in our heads as another person's talking. It's about having permission to experiment and play. We don't have much time for that, but there's still time.

In other words, we have to channel the exercise into the constraints of the blocking and lines. This is going to create some even more beautiful moments.

I think we were pretty playful toward the beginning of the rehearsal, but that kind of petered out when we got worried over the lines (there are a ton, I know that's not a good excuse, but there are some insane passages in this show).

Now, my key is to get into the right framework for the beginning of the show. That's going to help inform the transformation Death has (and yes, he goes through quite the terrain). It's a safe room. I'm doing a lot of weird things; so I have little reason to feel self-conscious.

We open in ten days!

In other news, I begin rehearsals for the next show in a week. I'm really excited. It won't be your typical Ibsen, methinks.

I've got a picture

Here's a teaser publicity photo we took today.



We're getting closer and closer to tech and all that.

I hope people come to this show. It's not a downer the whole time, I promise.

We did a run today. It went well; I think. There were some moments that really surprised me. We've got a couple days off. I'll be reviewing lines and some spotty sections. I can't wait to add the music and lights, and I love the suit I get to wear.

Later.

February melts away

I've been silent quite a bit. Part of that is from working hard on the apprentice project. We've got our own blog, so I'll point you to that. I'm playing the role of Death, but I'm also in charge of marketing it. This means scheduling media appearances, sending out press releases, I designed the poster, I post the event on various websites. It's a lot of work.

http://ctcapprenticeproject.wordpress.com/

So if you'd like to hear more about that project, I suggest you pay a visit. You'll get some perspectives from the other members of the team. I think it's been pretty successful. Now I just hope people come to the show.

Last weekend I saw Macbeth at the Guthrie and then Eurydice at Prospero Theatre Company. It's a brand-new theatre that has been started by friends from college. They are a great crew of people and put on a lovely show with literally nothing. Last Saturday, I saw theatre that had some of the highest production values (like a $800 wig for Lady MacBeth) to none. Each had stunning moments.

I had a friend who was an essential in MacBeth (it's the Guthrie's way of saying "extra"). He showed me around backstage. It's mind-boggling. There are tunnels and hallways and rooms all over the place. It's hard to keep track of it all. That building is gigantic.

Today, I've got a much-needed day off. It's my first true one that has no obligations. I've caught up on Lost. I'm sipping on coffee. I'll probably do some reading today. We're off book next week for the show, so that means I'll need to dive in and get some monologues under my belt both today and tomorrow. This will require more work than I'm willing to admit. I don't have a method save for wandering around the house and speaking the text. It's archaic language. I'll probably write them out. We'll see what happens.

We did a run yesterday. There were some great moments and some shoddier ones. But I think we're on an excellent track. We open in three weeks.

And February is nearly over. It was almost a month ago that I was in Chicago. I've not really heard anything from schools, so it feels like a bust at the moment. I'll keep my eyes peeled in the next week, but I'm not holding my breath. And...well...I've got a commitment this year. So....I won't say anymore.

Instead, I think I'll start tackling some lines. I've got work to do NOW. I've got three shows lined up for this year--each role is vastly different than the other. I'm a working actor right now. I can't complain, ya know?

Getting a grip on Death

My brother wants me to update this. So I'm going to.

I've been busy lately (surprise, surprise). Actually, Tuesday was one of the first days where I felt like I was back in college, having way too much on my plate. I also felt the ground shake a bit (in a figurative sense). There have just been little hints that I'm poor poor poor with minute details that have pretty major consequences when you forget about them.

Exhibit A: I wait tables on occasion. I worked at a new restaurant last weekend. We can't process credit cards electronically at the moment. So I manually write them down. In my efforts to be on top of things, I failed to write down the last four digits of a patron's credit card (a ticket that was over 90 dollars). I'm not quite sure what's going to happen.

I'm out of that funk right now.

The office was ZANY today. I've got loads of projects to do. Marketing work is exhausting and ranges from very simple phone calls to more elaborate projects that require brainstorming, planning, executing, delegation, follow up. It's a zoo.

Not to mention, I've got long evening rehearsal blocks for one of the most challenging shows I've ever been a part of. This show has only three characters. We're done with blocking and now we're about to embark on heavy working sessions.

I'm a little anxious. I think it's going to be intense. At the end of rehearsal today, the director told me: "be prepared to smile a lot tomorrow. You're probably going to hear that more than you even want to." This is a perplexing note to me. For one, I've received a note like that for a lot of shows I've been in. I get all freaked out. It's weird. I won't dive into all of it. But this is an odd note that makes me more self-conscious than it should.

And now, this pertains to Death. I think about this character, smile, and feel...strange. Like the Joker or something. There's something menacing and intriguing about it all. A lingering unease pops up here and there.

It's a trip to play Death, ya know?

I've surprised myself at some of the ideas I've had about "scenes" and moments. Much more work has to be done (including memorization), but I think we've made some excellent progress in the past week. We did a slop-thru today, just to focus on blocking. It's pretty demanding. I imagine it will only become more epic

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!

On to the next show...

Whew - I'm pretty exhausted. I've been working quite a bit in the theatre, only non-acting duties:

--box office shifts
--some office work for education and development
--house managing
--cleaning
--tracking line notes for the opening of A MIDNIGHT DREARY, which is a world premiere play about Edgar Allan Poe (it opens tonight, Halloween).

Doing line notes requires me to be on book and keeping track of what the actors say. If they flub anything, I note it. If they switch words or sentences around, I make a note. I certainly make a note if they call for line. I only did this for three runs (1 tech run and 1 dress rehearsals). It's tricky. I had an electronic copy and was glued to my computer for a good two hours. Meanwhile, ghouls and nightmares appear on stage. Spectres of Poe's work is projected on the stage. The lights are great. Nearly the entire show is underscored. It's very spectacle-heavy, but I can't quite comment on the effect of the show. But it feels like I know so many of the lines already. Anyway, I'm eager to see the show without having to worry about anything else.

I'm pumped for the opening night party tonight. I don't have a costume or anything, but I'll probably get all schnazzy.

Yesterday, I had a short choreography rehearsal for The 1940's Radio Hour. There's not a ton of dancing, but some. Biff and Connie sing this great duet together. A dance break is part of it. There was the smallest, TINY, bit of a dip that we do and I completely dropped my dance partner. I don't have a single excuse other than we were just marking it. She started to dip, and I wasn't ready to support her. Needless to say, Connie slid agonizingly slow out of my arms and on to the floor. She wasn't hurt, but now she and the rest of the cast has plenty of fodder that I can never live down for the rest of my life....

Afterwards, we worked on music. I should've warmed up. That's one strange thing about this professional world. You don't have a voice teacher or someone leading the group in vocal warmups. I'm going to have to be way more diligent about getting the voice back up to speed.

We have a read-through/sing-through of the show tomorrow. It's the first script rehearsal.

I also hear there's going to be lots of Viewpoints exercises. I've read bits and pieces about Viewpoints from Anne Bogart's book, but I've never implemented it or done any of them before. I'll let you know how it goes.

(Man, I have GOT to get off book with these songs...deadlines are creeping up on me...)