Miked Up

Having missed last week's rehearsal for the Radio Hour due to weather, last night was the first time I was able to rehearse the entire show. It was an interesting experience.

To begin with, in my absence, I have been assigned the lead for another of the four plays we will be doing. Given that this would make me one of the leads in three out of the four at this point, I felt a little awkward. Especially since I have been assigned a new duty...to sit up in the booth and play the stage manager for the fake production. (Giving sound cues, and pretending to turn dials, that sort of thing.) I mentioned that not only did it seem somewhat unfair for me to have that much air time, but also that it may be difficult for me to be almost constantly "on the air", while also trying to portray the stage manager who is supposed to be out and about doing things. The lead for one of the comedies was given to someone else, even though the fear was they wouldn't sound young enough. (I thought it sounded fine, but I didn't hear any commentary on that issue one way or the other.)

There are still a few hitches to be worked out, of course. It is early. But as we get closer, things should get tighter and more comfortable.

The subject of cigarettes was brought up. I had planned to mention that at some point myself, actually. I figured many of them would probably be smoking one. Certainly a stage manager who is running about trying to get a show together is a character that lends itself well to having a smoke in his hand. Though we can't actually light them, and being that close to the audience, I wonder if the effect would be too fake. I also wanted glasses for my character, but as yet cannot find any that are period appropriate.

On the subject of period, I won't be able to use a binder for my script, as a late decisions was made to make the scripts exactly period as they would have been in the 1930s. So we will all now have to hold the papers in our hands. Some have even suggested dropping each page to the floor as it's read, but a final decision does not seem to have been made on that idea as of yet.

A local husband and wife musical team have agreed to provide the show with live incidental music. (Piano and drums.) Dance and singing routines between the plays are also being worked out with certain other people, to add to everything. It is hard to judge from last night's read through since it is so early, but it seems to run about two hours with intermission at this point, though again, it didn't have the singing acts added on yet. And things will get a bit faster as time goes on.

We rehearse again tonight. (Wednesday). The plan is to rehearse twice a week, between now and the time we open on November 11. That is about six rehearsals remaining. Barring huge problems, that should be sufficient to mail this thing down.