The Long Haul

Rehearsal today from 2PM until about 5:30. That's a long time, given that we were not running the whole show yet.

What we did run was dancing for the first two hours. She added skads more tapping to the agenda, and has me front and center. (Again). I claim no responsibility for how bad that will look when we get to opening night.

Aside from the new tapping, which was from a whole new dance number, we reviewed two of the numbers we have worked on before. I had been doing good, but I was robbed; she put me on the polar opposite site of the stage from where I had been. So what little I had remembered got lost in the need to view the plays from the reverse angle. (With no instant reply available.) Yikes.

I was also assigned a new woman to come on to during "Blow, Gabriel, Blow". I mentioned before how the first partner I had was a friend of mine, and that it might be a bit awkward. Now my partner is someone I hardly know, and it will be a bit awkward. Yet not as awkward as some things I have had to do.

Such moments of "staged dirtiness" can be such a double-edged sword. In one way, if two people remain awkward when faced with such a task, that will register on stage, and the flirting will look fake. The result, people around will laugh and snicker, and tell the couple that they need to get into it more. On the opposite side of that, if two performers decide to be professional about it, and just do what is called for to make it look convincing, you get laughs and snickers from people who proceed to tell you that you are both "enjoying it too much".

The point here is, if there are no snide comments about what I have to do at that moment, I will be just fine with whatever is called for. (Major hint to those in the show that might read this blog.)

Later we practiced music for 90 minutes or so. I left my music book at home, so I used my script, which has all the lyrics in it, without the notes. Guess what? I followed along much better. I guess since I do not read music, all the notes tended to get in the way. Tonight, all I had to do was concentrate on hitting the right harmony while reading clear cut printed words. It made a difference.

So overall a lot of work during a long day. We did not get everything done that we planned, but I get the sense that the show really needed a day like this. The bumps are still there, but some of them have gotten a little smoother. (Which is more than I can say for my less than healthy knee, that I managed to bump on the floor more than once.)

Tomorrow night, the true fun begins...Singing live while dancing on stage.