Raising the Tent

Today at rehearsal for "A Thurber Carnival", we read through the skits in Act II. Both of my longer roles appear in Act II skits, so in a sense I had more to do tonight than I did last night.

Things seem to be solidifying in regards to who is playing what. (Though the director is still looking for one more woman to play a few of the smaller roles.) However, I will go ahead and mention in which sketches I will appear. Most of them are based on Thurber short stories, as I have said, though a lot of them end in different ways than the story versions. But at any rate, it looks like I'll be playing the following;

The Narrator in The Wolf at the Door
Man in The Unicorn in the Garden
Schultz in If Grant Were Drunk at Appomattox
The Narrator in Gentleman Shoppers
Mr. Preble in Mr. Preble Gets Rid of His Wife
Walter Mitty in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Mr. Preble and Walter Mitty represent my biggest roles, (though no role is huge in this production.) Which is fortunate because the director has given us just two weeks to be off book! That is the shortest time I have ever had to get off book, and while I believe I can do it, or at least come close, it will require a bit of an extra push, despite the fact the the roles are small. (I do have five different roles still, after all.)

I think, however, that the first play I will be off book for is "Grant at Appomattox". Not because my role in it is small, but because we went over that one so many times today.


The gentleman who plays Grant will be out of town for a while, so it was decided we would work at the blocking for that skit tonight. So we ran it several times. I like that piece, despite how silly and as short it is. I'll also get to wear a cool Civil War costume, so that isn't bad either.

Now that all of the skits have been read through at least once, and I am getting the very early impressions as to what kind of humor is involved in the show, I am already starting to think of how to present each of these "characters" if you can call them that. I feel fairly certain I will have the most fun with Walter Mitty. (And if you are familiar with the story, you can imagine why.)

I must decide if reading all of the stories in their original form will be helpful. I am thinking no, because as I said, they end differently than the stage versions. But reading other Thurber works will help tune me in to his wavelength if you will, and that may help. I am going to see what I can get into in regards to that.

Next rehearsal is Wednesday at 7:00 when we will be working on the dancing scenes. Oh, the humanity.