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Tonight was our first rehearsal with everyone in the cast present, as schedules finally calm down a bit.

Beyond that important milestone, however, it was a rather ordinary night of rehearsing for me. We ran both of the shows I am in with limited interruption. (Though we didn't get to the end of Laughter of the Gods.)

The director of the whole production and leader of the company was pleased with how everything went. So were most of the people in the cast, myself included.

Nobody is off book yet, though I am working hard to get there as soon as I can. But setting that aside, some good character moments are starting to develop on stage.

I myself have had a solid sense of who I wanted my character in the shorter play to be almost from day one. I've had a bit more trouble getting to know my character in Laughter but aspects of him are starting to appear, even though I'm still walking around holding my script. I do find Dunsany's lines stilted much of the time, but the more I say them, the less in the way they get of my bringing some kind of character to life.

I also am on stage with no lines for about a 4th of the play near the end. This offers me the opportunity to work on inner monologue, and the ever important performance between the lines. I take particular pride in being able to stay in character and do interesting (but not distracting) things when I am in the background of a scene. I've often found that people who aren't acting when they are silent stick out like a sore thumb on the stage.

That's about as profound or insightful as I can be for tonight. Sometimes it's good news when nothing huge happens, either good or bad during the rehearsal process. I think every show needs a certain number of "steady-as-she-goes" rehearsals, where things just sort of hold their own-that sort of slow, but steady and certain evening of solidification. That was tonight for the most part.

Next rehearsal is Sunday afternoon.