"It's Looking Like a Show."

Such were the words of my director after tonight's rehearsal of "Act 1". I am as pleased as she was with the progress of the production.

There was still some calling for lines, but there was much improvement over the last time we ran these scenes. I feel confident that form now with each passing evening there will be less and less of that. A rhythm is developing. A rhythm I have spoken of many times here on the blog. An apt metaphor I suppose would be a plane that has started to coast full speed down the runway. We are not airborne yet, but for the first time the momentum towards opening night is palpable to me.

Perhaps some parts of the show are in fact already airborne, however. The director told those of us involved in a small scene wherein my character and three others discuss the writing of a large check was exactly where it needed to be. She even mentioned that if this were a movie we were making she would be ready to film that section. So she cautioned us to keep everything just as is; to add nothing extra to it. I think we can handle that.

However, it begs the question; what is it about that exact section that has worked out so well in such a short amount of time? It is nobody's first scene, nor anybody's final scene. We have not rehearsed that section any more often than the others. Yet something about it has just clicked almost from the start. Who can say why? There probably is no real answer. But it is fascinating to think about. I guess there is one of those moments in a lot of shows.

Then there are the not so normal moments during a rehearsal. Like surprise karate kicks and chairs that slide several feet when sat upon. We experienced both tonight, along with the ensuing laughter during the scenes. (I was lucky enough to be off stage when these things happened.) One doesn't want too many such moments to happen, but the fact that they are happening at all indicates how comfortable with one another we are becoming as a cast.

After rehearsal the actress playing my "romantic" interest and myself put in some extra time perfecting a scene with which the director wasn't quite satisfied. A scene with both of us on the couch. We have to strike a good balance with it, because we need to say and appear to be interested in one another, but not actually be so. I think we've got it down now. We rehearse that scene again on Friday. That will reveal how much the extra time tonight helped.

Also, we have our official set pieces in place. No more practice furniture. The couch is more comfortable than the one we had been using. I personally prefer the practice chair to the one we will be using, but not by enough of a margin for it to be problematic.

Next rehearsal is this Thursday, which will be the final time we rehearse only part of the play. Starting Friday we run the whole show in one sitting.