Celebrating Five Years!

Five years! 508 entries. 12 or so productions of various lengths at six different venues. More than 20 individual roles. Who knows how many audience members. Not to mention scores of articles, stories, reviews, and random theatre related musings not pertaining directly to one of my shows. And the comments for the same.

And my loyal blog readers. I thank you all for being there through all of this. Even during the months sometimes when material was thin.  

So what can be said on this anniversary of the launch of this blog? It hasn't been earth changing, I know. It doesn't get thousands of hits a month, or even a year. And while I admit I would really like to get some more comments on my posts, I like to think that the adventures I have shared here have contributed at least a bit to someone's enjoyment or understanding of community theatre. I can't be sure that it has done so without feedback.  But I can hope.

Actually, I hope a lot of things about the last five years of Always Off Book. I do it because it means something to me personally, and I get satisfaction out of it, regardless of external outcome. Nevertheless, I do hope that it has accomplished certain things for others over the last five years. For example:

-I hope it has made clear that amateur productions do not always mean low quality anymore than professional theatre always equals great work. On that same page, I hope it has shown that an amateur actor, as my subtitle suggests, really doesn't have to have amateur thoughts about the world of acting. It comes from inside each individual performer.

-I hope that people read my sometimes technical but always truthful "sausage making" posts about how rehearsals for a production are going, and become more aware of all that goes into even a smaller stage production. And I hope that by knowing such, I have enriched the experience of going to see a live performance, even if it is not my own performance.

-I hope that by being frank about as many things as possible as I write here on the blog, I have gained the trust of my readers. That by now they can know whatever I post is sincere and frank.

-It is my hope that people have noticed I continue to come back to live theatre, despite being in some truly miserable shows with some truly lousy people sometimes.

-I hope that Always Off Book has succeeded, at least sometimes, in conveying to the reader a tiny portion of the exhilaration that can be felt by an actor when a play is going right

-I hope the advice I have given here, both in articles and through relaying my own rehearsal experiences has been of use to fellow actors out there in their own shows.

-I hope those that know nothing at all about being in a show have learned something useful about not just theatre, but about professionalism, passion, motivation, and quality in any aspect of life. Because though it is about my theatre adventures, a lot of what I talk about here is about putting my name onto something, and committing 100% to its excellence. You can do that whether in a show, or cooking a meal.

-I hope my minimalist, "content is king" approach appeals to those who actually want to take the time to read something in depth, instead of just skimming the surface of an issue, and playing with the bells and whistles of a website.

-Readers have laughed, been given pause, reconsidered a position, felt comforted, or just educated by my posts at some point I hope.

-But most of all, and I would think this is obvious, it is my sincerest hope that somewhere in these 508 entries, I have written something that has encouraged someone out there to either attend, or appear in community theatre for the very first time. Someone who otherwise might not have done so, because of fear, or misconceptions, or uncertainty as to what to expect. Someone who may have lacked the interest, or the confidence to try such a thing until they stumbled across Always Off Book and read about something that I have been through.

-And my "uber-hope", if you will, is related to the last one. It is my "uber-hope" that at least one person not only decided to try theatre for the first time based on something I have written here, but subsequently fell in love with it, and decided they want to dedicate passion, energy, and time to it for a long time to come. That the very act of reading one of these blog posts was the first step in an epiphany, like the one I had years ago. An epiphany that reveals to someone out there that despite what their career may be, there is a place, an important, rewarding, influential place for them in the world of live theatre. And that such a reader will, without shame, assume that place, and change their life, and the lives of others in the process.

And then one day that person will introduce the theatre to someone else who never thought theatre could be for them…

These are my hopes. This is my blog. I am Ty, an amateur actor sharing his not so amateur thoughts on the world of acting. I have been doing so for five years today. And I have no intention in the world of stopping anytime soon.               

Three Weeks and Counting

Okay, we at the Full Circle Theater Company will open A Thurber Carnival in exactly 3 weeks. That wasn't true during last night's rehearsal, but it is today as I write this.

I can say we are a tad behind. But in a total change of precedent, I do not feel we are as far behind as some others in the show feel. At least for this moment.

Yes, time is running short.  And yes, some of the sketches are very rough right now. But I contribute the lack of expected progress to three things which, in theory, will not be there in about a week. At least hopefully.

1) A much larger than expected amount of time on the choreography for the tiny dance scene at the opening of the play.

2) The frequent, and indeed save one night, the constant absence of at least any given two actors for every rehearsal so far.

3) The inability to run the short skits in order, without int eruption, thus denying a certain flow to the production. (Based largely on a combination of the first two items on my list.)

But each of these skits is generally rather short. The longest, according to my informal timing, goes on about 10 minutes only. So once all the dance business is out of the way and everyone's schedule evens out, we can start working hard on actual acting. And when we do, I don't see any reason why we won't make rather rapid progress.

Last night we were missing three people for the first half of the evening. By 8, that number was down to two, but those two feature prominently in virtually every skit in Act I. (The ostensible goal of last night.) So there was much reading from the book and awkward movements while pretending people were there. (Something at which the cast is getting quite good in some cases by now.)

I did run "If Grant Were Drunk at Appomattox" for the very first time on stage, for only the second night anywhere. I am off book for that one. But not everybody is, and not everybody was present for that on. So it went roughly. So much so in fact the director decided that going through it again last night wouldn't be in anyone's best interests.

The other things I worked on last night were my smaller roles. (All of which come in Act I.) I am a narrator twice in Act I, and the role is very small in both. A few lines at most. (The Wolf at the Door and Gentleman Shoppers.) I also have a slightly larger role in the fable The Unicorn in the Garden. Despite many delays on that short piece in regards to "choreography" of one moment in it, that scene went well. Everybody is off book for that one. It's probably my personal favorite moment for Act I, as silly as it is.

At the end of the evening, I was surprised to find us running The Secret Life of Walter Mitty again. (Which is in Act II.) I knew for sure I would be much better the next time I ran in right after I finished it previously. (The night before.) But when I made that assumption, I didn't know we would be running it again the very next night. Nevertheless, it did go much better last night than the night before. I still have to nail down a stray line here and there, but I have no doubt that this one will get off the ground soon, at least for me.

Two people are still expected to be missing for Monday, so once again, progress will be limited. Plus I think it is a choreography day again. But as I said, by late next week, things should be falling into place. Yes, that will be cutting it close, and if we are not all in high gear for the coming week, we may be in mild trouble. But I feel high gear will be achieved on Monday and Wednesday, and indeed for the rest of the run. Let us hope, anyway.

I am not nervous at this time. I am 98% off book. And probably, when I get down to it, totally off book but for a few screw-ups.

Un Ensayo de Líneas, Más el Tacos.

According to BabelFish, that title means, "A Rehearsal of Lines, Plus Tacos." I have no idea how accurate the translation is, but nonetheless that is where I was tonight for a few hours.

The director of Heaven Can Wait hosted about half of the cast at her place, to enjoy tacos, and afterward to run through the lines of the play. Just to keep them fresh in our minds between weekends. Though it was informal, (and at times flat out wild) I am glad we went over the lines. But more importantly I am glad we all had fun doing so. As a result, I feel quite relaxed leading into the second weekend, Which is always good.

I'm not saying that no nerves will return on Thursday, as I am sure they probably will. But being able to semi-socialize outside of the formality of a regular rehearsal always helps. It helped after opening night. It helped tonight.

And there is talk of doing karaoke after the show on Thursday. So we may end up being the most relaxed cast in history by the time all of this is over.

In earnest, I enjoy second weekends more than first weekends 99.9% of the time. First weekends come right on the ass end of a whole week's worth of technical rehearsal. It can be draining. Plus the nerves of doing it right the very first time. But by the time the second, (and in some cases the third) weekend rolls around, everyone has had some time off to become a bit more relaxed, and some of the bumps are ironed out. It just often seems to be more fun, with more energy in seconds weekends.

I think people are also extra keen on getting it right on final weekends because the clock is running down on the entire production, and they want to make sure they hit it square on at least once. (I still cannot believe how fast this production has gone. In mere days, it will be history.)

But that is for the future. Right now, I am happy to have some time off, but also happy to be headed into that usually superior second weekend. Plus, we get an extra show on Thursday. Most of the theatres I visit regularly only do that for musicals, but I like doing at least seven shows.

So, here's to second weekend success.

Honing In

Tonight we rehearsed the second half of the show. Despite a few blocking snafus and a few lingering line problems, thinks started to click in more ways than one. We are not at the "everything coming together" moment yet, but for the first time such a moment is visible on the horizon. And we are moving towards it quickly.

In fact, the director said the the day is soon coming where most of her attention will be focused on technical issues, as lights and sound, (some of which we had today), start to be utilized in full.

That moment in a show represents a sort of weening for the actors. When the director begins to let it go and fly on it's own a bit more. Again, that moment, by the director's own declaration, is nigh, and it feels like it. Which means I need to get down to smoothing out the few rough spots I have in blocking, and begin to create more nuance for my moments. I began experimenting with some things tonight. I will do so even more tomorrow, and from now on. But I don't want to get ahead of myself here. First, tonight.

During one scene, the characters gather around a radio and listen to the broadcast of a boxing match. We had the actual radio program available for us to use today for the first time. Two of the cast members work/have worked in radio and television, and spent some time a few days ago recording and editing the short radio segment. It sounds very good. It was a little too soft, but I imagine that will be corrected in future rehearsals.

Off stage I had more of a chance than usual to simply converse with some of my cast mates. Given that we ran more than one scene before getting notes, as opposed to stopping for notes after each scene, those of us not in the final scene had to stick around until the end for the first time. So there was much conversation in the green room.

This is also historically the beginning of that "bonding" experience in a play. Though I have been friendly with several cast mates already, and have a problem with none of them, a show to me always just feels a little different, a little more relaxed, once those moments of personal familiarity between the actors start to become more commonplace. I would not be surprised if after tonight even more of those moments show up as we begin to enter the trenches of the final two weeks of rehearsal. The prospect of becoming even more at ease with one another off stage can only help us onstage. I look forward to that.

I also look forward to getting props sorted out. The green room had been cleaned up, and props from former previous shows finally put away. Some props for this show have been pulled, but more needs to be done. Namely, I need a pistol. I handle one in two scenes, and the sooner I can stop using the lousy little bright yellow water pistol, the more comfortable I will be. (Unless that is the one I will really be using, in which case, I need to paint it at some point.) That is actually something I want to practice using because someone else will be firing the gun that makes the noise. The gun in my hand will be silent.

Tomorrow night we will rehearse the entire play in one night for the first time. It will also be the first time that we are not stopping between scenes in each half. All of Act One before notes, and the same for Act Two. This should give us our first real idea of the length of the show, as the director has also as much as said that we can no longer play, "What's my line," after tonight, which I took to mean we cannot call for lines anymore. It may be a bit rough in places, but this moment had to come eventually, and the sooner it comes, the sooner we can smooth out said rough spots somehow.