Incognito

Tonight we started tech week. Pursuant to that, we had sound, minimal light cues, and most different, costumes.

I have always said a little something extra kicks in when costumes show up.

However I think i shall have to add to mine somehow. To begin with, I cannot button the coat and be comfortable. Too tight around the middle. That however won't be a problem, as I was told in casual settings many men would leave them unbuttoned. Most of the scenes in the play take place in casual settings, so I won't have it buttoned most of the time. Maybe for the short scene between Fred and Scrooge at the beginning, because he just came in out of the cold at that point.

I am basically wearing the same thing for every character though, and that is a little bit bothersome. For while our base characters are portraying the characters in the story, I find it a bit hard to get into each of those characters individually if they all lost mostly the same. (Other than a hate here and there.) I had planned on just taking my overcoat off for one of the scenes, but the problem with that is that the vest I am wearing is not a real vest. It's a fake one. It has no back to it. So removing the coat would spoil that illusion.

I talked to the costume person (a friend of mine) and asked if there were any real vests available. She is going to look. If so, I can just shed my coat and throw on a scarf or something for a scene. But tonight she did secure an additional coat. A really heavy, gritty one that I think will look well on Old Joe. So at least for that scene I will look considerably different.

I also wear an ascot. Those things are weird. But it seems that they were tied in any number of ways in the 19th century, so I can't screw it up.

The show was surprisingly high in energy and low in mistakes, though I did make one. I have a throw away line, followed by an important line, and there is no connection between the two at all. Total tone change. I forgot it a lot in earlier rehearsals and I did tonight. I must pound that one into my mind.

But the good news is, that was my only mistake tonight, even including the technical aspects. So I am happy about that. In fact, there were not many mistakes that I noticed. (Though the toilet seat door knocker has to be replaced due to damage!) Because we were not stopping nearly as much, the whole play went faster than ever before tonight.

On a different subject, my last few shows I have been a bit rushed to the finished line, so I haven't been able to get as deeply into the characters as I would like. I have had some more time in this one, but I still think the residual effects of being a bit more shallow are present in places. I am hoping to internalize a few more moments than I am now. Having all the extras will help. Having an audience sometimes helps as well. Now that my tech duties are going smoother, hopefully I can spend the final week going inward a bit more.

I welcome this tech week.