Oiling the Rusty Wheels

We ran act 2 today. Slowly.

Not that I am complaining. I confess though sometimes it is hard to wait backstage for extended periods of time with nothing to do. However, the reason it sook so long was because the director had many of the leads do several scenes over and over. That means he is paying attention to detail, and that is what I want from a director.

The times when I was on stage went well. The first half of act 2 for me is minor.Just some lines in passing, and nothing more. But then I have the longish speech, (Ibelieve the longest in the show), and a significant "romantic" scene. So the second half of act 2 more than makes up for the first half, in terms of responsibilities for me.

I am proud to say I am about 80% off book for act 2. 90% forthe whole show. I will going to have that 10% taken care of by Tuesday/Wednesday though. No worries.

I am proud in particular of the aforementioned monologue. I am off book forit, and it is started to feel natural for me. The director was also pleased. Until such time as we have an audience, being pleased myself, amd keeping the director pleased are really all that matter, at this stage. So I am satisfied in that regard.

In the final scene, despite my still needing the book, I found myself performing some very natural moments, al be they speechless ones. But that's just fine. I can pretty much always mail down speeches and diologue, given enough time. It is an extra accomplishment to be in the zone for the non-verbal moments. Though it is still early of course, I felt in the zone for those moments today. It felt really nice.

As for the director, he mentioned that he could hearthe "rusty wheels" starting toturn on this production. By that i think he meant that the blocking is mapped out, and most of us are just on the cusp of being offbook, but not quite there yet. (We need to be by Tuesday/Wednesday.) Al of thosefactors present a show that he had everyconfidence would be a well oiled machine, by the time the next three weeks elapse. I am inclined to agree with him. There are noticible rough spots andplaces that need significant work. But unlike someshows, it feels as though there ought to be plenty of time to get around to addressing all such issues. I am not at all nervous, three weeks out, about the progress the show is making.

In other progress, I jut happened to see the cap I will be wearing for the first scene sitting on a pile of costumes today. As we did not run act one, i did not put it on. But because my character is someone who wears that hat quite frequently in the antecedent timeline ofthe play, I am going to start wearing it as much as possible. Break it in. Make is feel worn and a part of my character's whole persona. In other words, it shouldn't look brand new. So I will probably start wearing it between scenes, and in the time I have before rehearsals start in the coming days.

As for the coming days, we have tomorrow off. We report back for act one on Tuesday...where we will begin about 2 weeks worth of running a whole act each night, alternativley. I really start to feel in character when shows get to that point, because whether act one or act 2, you are participating in a more complete story arc, than you are when simply running a few scenes at a time. Yes there will be stops and starts, but each act has an arc, and playing it will help me find the character more. I would not say I am lost with the character now, but I do need some quality, sustained time with him on stage to nail down some of his nuance. Hopefully the coming week will allow me to do that.