Smoother

The title applies to almost every facet of the show, in my view. Act one in particular was faster and more energetic than the last time I watched it. In all places. The show's potential as a Christmas experience really shone through in certain places tonight.

There were a few more people missing today than there were the last time, but still most people showed up. The scenes with crowds and stuff at the very beginning look pretty cool to me. I will not give away too many details, in case you live nearby and want to see it.

Kudos to the tech crew also. I don't mean to imply that they have nothing to do during act 2, but most of their complicated work seems to be in act one. There is more to keep track of in the first half of the show than during the second half. Still some snags here and there, but for only being on the job for a few days, I cannot complain.

Something else that will make it easier is that most of the furniture was spiked today. (That is to say, pieces of tape were placed on stage to mark the exact locations of where furniture is to be placed.) That always frees up some time, once people get used to the spike marks.

Tomorrow I need to look through the clothing for a man's winter coat. I did not even think of this until tonight when the costume designer mentioned that we were all supposed to be outside for the final scene. (The previously mentioned singing finale.) So that is on my to do list.

Another thing on my informal, less important to do list is to find a location to call my own when I am not on stage. Despite moving around quite a bit, I like to have a "spot" that I can go to when I am not on stage. It does not have to be the exact same spot every time, but I at least want a comfortable area to be in. This is for times when I want to pay attention to what is happening on stage. Or for times when I am waiting to go on myself. Or when the green room gets entirely too noisy for me. I have been watching Act one mostly from the balcony. Obviously once the show opens up to audiences, I will not be able to do that, as we have sold enough tickets for some nights to probably seat a few people up there. Too bad too. It's the quietest, most removed, and in some ways, best place in the house to watch a show. At least the rehearsal of a show.

The next rehearsal is scheduled for tomorrow. There was talk way back when of having rehearsal on Wednesday as well, if there were problem areas. Me and two other cast members had a little bet going as to whether or not the director would call for said rehearsal at the end of tonight. I said he would not. One said he would. The third in our little pool said he would make the decision tomorrow night. I won the bet, as there is no rehearsal that night after all. The other two tried to insist the bet was non-binding, and refused to pay. One offered a beer, and the other offered Skittles on a date to be determined later. That was acceptable in lieu of cash, until the second person took back the Skittle offer. how fair is that?

I guess the moral may be this...do not welch on a bet with a man who blogs. (Laughter).