Happy Dance Face

As was the case for my last play, I will be temporarily discontinuing my Saturday advice/commentary column. I will instead be bringing you rehearsal/performance updates on those days for the next three weeks or so. And speaking of that...

Due to things I would rather not discuss right now, I was about an hour late for dance rehearsal today. Of course, during this time, something was changed. I did not get to run that new part, but I went over it with Gaby, and I think I its pretty simple.

Several other people were missing today. That notwithstanding, I did better overall in my dancing than I have yet done. The bar is set quite low for that I realize. It was a personal triumph, however. I felt less lost than normal. I may have even enjoyed a few moments of dancing.

For whatever reason, two of the dances click better with me than the rest. I have no idea why. It just seems that I can follow the progression of moves for Heaven Hop and "Let's Step Out" better than I can the others. Maybe because they are the shortest ones? Whatever the reason, I always like it when we get to rehearse those numbers.

One of the "Angels" in the "Let's Step Out" number came up with a cool idea. She is going to sit on one of the railings. When I rush onstage as I hear the party, I will now go to her, and place her down on the floor at the start of the dance. Even though it was her idea, it is such a typical moment for the purser as I see him. Another advantage to it is that it establishes, albeit briefly, a bit of familiarity between my character and hers early on. We are paired up for "Blow Gabriel", and we have to flirt with each other for that one. The more times the audience sees those two characters communicating, the more natural it will seem that we flirt with one another when the time comes.

That is how I see it, anyway. I do not claim that is why the actress came up with that idea. It probably was not. Yet the serendipity of her choice is undeniable.

Moving on, don't look now, but the cast might be starting to have fun with some of these numbers. Do not get me wrong when I say that. I know most of this cast from other shows, and many are friends of mine. My comments are not a strike against any of them. Yet from my personal view, the cast as a whole did not always seem to be having fun together early. The last practice or two, that has seemed to change somewhat. People, (at least those I was with today) seem to have a more relaxed feeling about the show now. Maybe because opening night is fast approaching. Maybe it is because the dances are starting to click for everyone that was struggling before. Attribute it to whatever you like, it is tangible to me.

It must be readable on my face as well. The choreographer told me to day that I had such a "happy dance face" during the numbers.

Or maybe I am a crock, and nothing I am sensing is correct. I will say that if I am correct and more fun is starting to creep in, I hope it continues to evolve and increase from now on.

If not, I am more than willing to provide wine for the whole cast before the opening night show. That should get them going.