Rehearsal Hiatus and Return

Rehearsal last night, after not having any on Thursday. Turns out I had some other things I had to take care of then, so I opted not to rehearse. I was however back on stage last night. (Tuesday.)

The biggest change in rehearsal last night was my costume; I wore it for the first time for a rehearsal. Not that I expected any problems with it, but there none. I'll most likely wear it from here on out. I might get a different pair of pants, but otherwise the costume is set. As are all the props. Everything I need for the various scenes is now on set, so I'm ready to go.

I stumbled over a few lines here and there last night, but on the whole I got through the whole show mostly unscathed. Perhaps some of the best news from last night is that I shaved more minutes off of the second act. It is now under and hour, and if I can keep it like that, I'll be more than satisfied.

Act one ran the same length give or take two minutes, that it has run for months now, even before I had access to the stage. I love that consistency.

No overlap between my rehearsal and the other show's rehearsal last night.

Another good blocking idea came to me. During one of the speeches, wherein the character is more vulnerable, I thought to move up stage, so as to give him a more diminutive feel to the audience. I think I'll keep it. It's actually gratifying to realize how many tricks and concepts come to me in the natural course of rehearsing a play by myself. Concepts that I have studied over the years, but have not had much of a chance to put into use for a while. They seem to not be there in my mind anymore, until all at once, they present themselves for use during a rehearsal. Many of my colleagues are stronger with blocking magic than I am, but I have to say I am better at it than I sometimes give myself credit for.

My character has a bottle of water on him during the show. If nothing else I need to make sure I have that. It's a lot of talking, and I'll need to hydrate numerous times throughout the course of the evening, I'm sure.

The managing director of the arts center I'm performing this in has been in contact with some people about making posters for my show, though none have called back. I myself may check on possibilities myself, for I have no graphic design knowledge. I have said that all the posters really needs by way of graphics is a crown surrounded by some of the common objects I use throughout the show. Or some such configuration. Truth be told, if they get my name and the dates correct, that's what is most important to me for this, though I understand how important a nice looking poster can be.

As for lights, I don't think I'll be making use of any light cues. If someone can man the lights, to bring them up and down at the start and finish of each act, that should be enough. Whether or not I will be using the work lights or the actual stage lights is yet unknown. Even if it is the stage lights, it will be a general coverage plot without any fades or cross lighting. Simplicity. Always simplicity for this show.

My next scheduled rehearsal day is tomorrow (Thursday.) I may have the option to rehearse late morning or afternoon, depending on what else may be going on there that day. I may prefer that to my usual late night slot for tomorrow. The weather, if no other reason. It may snow a bit in the evening, but is supposed to be clear in the day time. Parking is free at night, though. Decisions.

Progress, though, is being made. I would not want to perform the show for an audience tonight, but if I absolutely had no choice, I feel I could give them a solid performance. Hopefully four weeks from now, (from this very night in fact) the presentation will be even more solid, and entertaining. If I'm honest with myself, I have to say I feel there is something good happening with this show, that audiences will enjoy.

Just have to make sure plenty of people come.