Macbeth Matinee 1

If you don't know I hate matinees, you have never been to this blog before this summer, so welcome.

That being said, our first one went well. I wasn't feeling 100%, outside of it being the exhausting time frame of a 2:30 PM show with a 12:30 PM call. I think I might not have had enough protein by the time the show started. But I was able to focus where I needed to, and though i didn't throw a perfect game, I made no major mistakes. My guess is that I made none that the audience would have picked up on, which if not a perfect game, is sort of like a no-hitter. Maybe.

My mother was in the audience, and she enjoyed the show. (Though she did request a brief synopsis of the plot earlier in the day before she got to the theatre, since she is less familiar with Shakespeare than I.)

Also, 4.3 went well, again. I admit I am still a tad nervous just before that big scene comes up, but it doesn't last too long, I suppose.

The crowd was smaller than it was on Saturday night. But a few of them stayed afterward for a Q&A. I didn't have any direct question to respond to from the audience members, but the director did ask me to elaborate on Malcolm a bit. I gave a brief rendition of many of the things about the character I've already shared here on the blog.

I am happy with the first weekend, but I think it ended just in time; I was in need of a break from the show, even though it went well. The impression I get is that many of the others felt the same way.

We report for a pick up rehearsal on Thursday. Three days off is good; haven't had that much of a break in a few weeks. Second weekends often have a totally different feel to them...something a bit energizing in a way that opening night is not. We are all Macbeth "veterans" now. When we reconvene in a few days, it will by in that context, and i think that tends to raise the confidence of an entire group on a subconscious level.

Unless there is some major development, I probably won't post about the pick-up rehearsal. It's not interesting material, and may not even be a full rehearsal, according to the director. Check back in on Friday to see how the second weekend kicks off.

A Pick-Up Pick-Me-Up

Last night the most of the cast met for a pick-up rehearsal of the show. Two actresses and the director were unable to attend.

If you are familiar with this blog, or with community theatre, you'll know that a pick-up rehearsal, between two weekends of a show, often is seen more as a chance to goof around, as opposed to rehearse the show in earnest.

I've been to a few of these that have ended up as a total waste of time, so much messing around was there. One time a director even called it off right in the middle because of its fruitlessness.

About half of the shows I've been in haven't even bothered with a pick-up at all.

I've even been a few where the director insisted on it being a full fledged "tech week revisted" rehearsal. (Though I've found this is the most difficult position to get everyone to agree to.)

Last night was an interesting hybrid of a pick-up. We ran all three shows, including basic blocking and (about 90%) of the lines properly. A few stupid hats, a lot of silly voices, and a few other small gags made their way into the mix. And I don't mind.

I don't mind because not only did we review (albeit informally) everything we needed to, we all had fun with one another. Fun as people, as actors, as volunteers in the same project. There is enjoyment in performing and doing well, but it was an at times tense final week of rehearsals. It was in some ways a nerve-wracking (though successful) opening weekend, with all the ritual and anxiety that goes along with same. Last night gave us a refreshing chance to be loose again.

That silliness, on top of being halfway done with the run I think gave some of us a better understanding of one another. Maybe not a "cast bonding" moment, as so many people call it, but it did provide a level of camaraderie that hadn't quite been achieved yet-a level that wouldn't have been attained with a full throttle rehearsal, nor with an absolute chaotic manure-show.

Pick-ups are a weird creature anyway. You've done the show, you've proven that despite flaws, you're able to perform the show in front of a crowd. You've had your first days off from the show in a week. Then you come back and "rehearse" again. Sometimes a show really needs it, and sometimes it really doesn't. But in either case to me it feels like hanging out at your high school after you've already passed your final exams. You're technically still a student, but you've essentially done all you can do before graduating. It's like a "lame-duck" rehearsal in many ways.

And of course, this was the last rehearsal for this show, since it's only running two weekends. Never again will this group get together to practice this thing in any fashion. It's performances from now on. We want the final two nights to go  better than the first two, of course, but in a real sense, once you have a pick-up rehearsal, the momentum shifts. It's downhill now, from a time (not a quality) standpoint. With a pick-up rehearsal coming up, there is a small buffer. That buffer gone, we really are coming to the end, even though only half of the performances have happened thus far.

I'm glad we had this chance to goof around on stage as actors in the low-pressure environment that was our pick-up rehearsal.

Next performance: Friday at 8:00PM.

 

Pick Me Up, Before You Go-Go

Last night we had the final rehearsal for A Christmas Carol ever. A pick-up rehearsal to keep us fresh between our two weekends. Not all community shows have one, but all of them should. I am glad that this show did. Props, but no costumes. Despite that, there was actually some new stuff going on.

I think there is a certain unique freedom to a pick-up rehearsal.  It if the very last chance for a cast to feel totally free enough to expand, without the worries of an audience. (Which is why I wish more community theatres would go for 3 weekends.)The show has run one weekend already, and some of the kinks are out. It has been proven that the show can work in front of an audience. So once a pick-up rolls around, actors tend to let loose a bit more, whether consciously or unconsciously. (I am not referring to prank-laden pick up rehearsals, which are common, but I frown upon them.)

I am happy to report that this occurred last night in several places. No specific new choices were made on my part, but as I said, I felt more free and energetic to just go all out with some of the scenes, and the result was some new things happening. More of that treasured nuance about which I write so often here on Always Off Book. For me I think this was especially true during the break-up scene. The director offered particular kudos for that scene. (I didn't think to ask "Belle" how she thought it went.)

I also got kudos for the way I enter in my one scene as the Ghost of Christmas Future, though I have not changed that much for several weeks.

This show is probably one of the most well oiled machines I have been in for a while. The final two weeks of rehearsal, you will note from my blogging, were very productive, and the first weekend proved this. If there were any doubt in anyone's head, the pick-up last night should have removed them; we are running on as close to automatic as any show I have been in at this point. And I do not mean a lifeless automatic, but an automatic indicative of the entire cast and crew being so well prepared for what comes next, that little thought must be placed on it. Flow is the word, in fact. The show flows well from almost beginning to end. I knew for certain he much we had it nailed when both the Fezziwig dancing, and the Fred party word game went by with virtually zero problems.

Not that the entire rehearsal was problem free. An actor who is supposed to hand me a handkerchief at some point did not have it on his person. "Dammit" I ad-libbed, which is something I would not have done had it been anything but a pick-up.

But other than that I am aware of no major mistakes from last night.

So, it is my hope that the new things that were discovered during the freedom and relaxation of Wednesday can be applied to the three remaining shows. It seems that reservations for the second weekend are already at higher numbers than the first, so there will be a lot more people to present the improved show to in the coming days.

"Christmas Creep"

You have probably heard this term before, especially if you are in retail. It refers to a phenomenon, starting over the last 30 years or so, or businesses decorating for and selling items pertaining to Christmas, slightly earlier in the year every few years. The idea being that people always spend more during the holidays, and that the earlier companies can comfortably get people into that Christmas buying mindset, the longer they will be able to enjoy the fruits of an extended purchasing season.

Some radio stations get into the act, by starting wall-to-wall Christmas music as early as the first day of November in some cases.

That is the general use of the term. But there is another, more theatrical use for "Christmas Creep". It refers to the notion of being cast in a Christmas themed play, scheduled to go on at Christmas time, thereby requiring rehearsals to begin in and around October in most cases. Though one isn't putting up a tree or playing the Nat King Cole album just yet, being in a Christmas play does, almost by force, incline one to give thoughts to the holiday earlier in the year than one otherwise might.

Tonight begins a small amount of theatrical Christmas Creep for me. For in addition to heading into the Full Circle Theater for a pick-up rehearsal of A Thurber Carnival, I will also be attending my first read through for Full Circle's A Christmas Carol. Well, at least I will be attending a part of the read-through.

I didn't audition for this show. But it would appear that the male audition numbers for it were very low this year, and I was asked if I would be willing to step in, if needed. Not wanting the show to have to be canceled, or any such extreme as that, I let the director know that if the chips were down and she couldn't find anybody, I would step in. The chips fell, and there I was.

This is the same version of A Christmas Carol that I appeared in back in 2008, when Full Circle first opened its current venue. (For more insight into that adventure, please go back into this blog's archives starting in October of 2008 or so.) I was within a stone's throw of playing the same role as two years ago, but I will no longer be doing so. I regret that a tiny bit, because I enjoyed the part(s), and to date I have never reprized a role. I was curious what it would feel like to come back to the exact same lines just a couple of years later.

This script opens at the home of Dickens himself, sharing the idea of a Christmas Carol at a party. The guests in turn play the various characters from the classic tale. (With the original lines from the novel left very much intact.) The last time around, I played Bob Cratchit, among other roles, such as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and the small yet highly enjoyable role of Topper.

This time will not be a disappointment though, as I will still get to play several notable characters, including Fred, Young Scrooge, and Old Joe. (Assuming the schematics of who plays whom remain the same.) There may be one other character in there for this role, I cannot recall at the moment.) The "base" character is that of Charles Dicken's brother Frederick.

I have played Fred in staged readings here and there, but never in a full production. Yet I have always wanted to explore that particular personality. I will now have that chance.

Though I can't say for certain, I imagine my blog updates during this show will be more streamlined than those of two years ago, simply because I am already quite familiar with the script. Though I won't be playing the same character, and it is being directed by someone else this year, I already have a grasp on the tone of the piece, and therefore won't have much need to document my discovery of same. It may even allow me to be more specific in my comments as rehearsals go along, concentrating on more subtle things. (About which I love to write.) I won't know for sure until after a few weeks of rehearsal.

But until then, there are still three more Thurber Carnivals to get through. Four if you count tonight's rehearsal. I confess the holiday show will not have my full attention until after Thurber is complete. But it is sometimes nice to know exactly where one is going next in the community theatre world.