Time on My Hands (For Now)

I was just thinking that with the exception of the first read through of "Miracle on 34th Street" a few weeks ago, I have not done anything specifically theatrical (as in actually working at the theatre) in over four weeks. (I do not include time spent going over my lines.) I have not been needed at any of the subsequent rehearsals for the show as of yet, and it had me thinking about something for a moment. Although without a calendar I can not be certain, I think the time between the first read through of this show, and the next rehearsal I will be called upon to attend will constitute the longest theatrically idle time I have experienced in about a year.

The mathematics of how much theatre I have been fortunate enough to do in the last year or so did not strike me full force until recently.

Since December of 2004, I have been in Scrooge, Ken Ludwig's Moon Over Buffalo, the musical Baby, a local original play festival, and the previously mentioned Over the River and Through the Woods. And soon, this show. All at the Old Opera House in Charles Town.

During that time, three weeks was the previously longest hiatus. (3 weeks or so between Moon Over Buffalo and Baby.) Quite a productive year or so for me.

Another thing that strikes me as I write this is that for the first time in a while, I am totally clueless as to what my next stop is. Most of the last year I had a semi-plan mapped out for what I would or would not find interesting to audition for. There were only one or two deviations from this plan. Unless something presents itself between now and the end of this current show, I will find myself both without a show, and without a plan.

But I dare not think on that right now. I am sure something will come up. It always does. For now, one play at a time is sufficient for the moment. (A good piece of advice for anyone in a similar theatre environment as myself.)

Potpourri

Just some odds and ends things today.

As for Miracle on 34th Street, I do not yet have much to report. I have not yet been needed for a rehearsal. Nonetheless I have been working on my lines the last few days, and I am about one 4th of the way to being entirely off book. In an ideal world I may be totally off book by the time I show up for my first rehearsal. No promises though. It is merely a possibility. We shall see. (Before that impresses anyone, I have a small role this time.)

You have to love the small roles sometimes, people. While I take every single moment I am on stage very seriously, having more time back stage or off stage during a show certainly has its advantages. (Such as time to rest.)

I had little if any such advantages in my last show. (Joe DiPietro's Over the River and Through the Woods) I was on stage I would say about 85-90% of that play. I love the challenge and importance of the big roles, but I am looking forward to this smaller part this time around.

I also want to get to Goodwill to see if there are any potential costume pieces that present themselves to me for this character. (You find great stuff there for shows.) I have a few ideas already, but I need to talk to the costume designer before I share any of them on here.

In different news, I also plan to go buy a mask for Halloween today. No, I do not go trick or treating at my age. I do however have a very specific mask in mind. One that is just a very pale white face. Wearing that under a hooded sweatshirt, and walking around a town on Halloween night has its own entertainment value. (I will either do that, or just sit in front of my nieces' house as they give out candy, being perfectly still, and having people wonder if I am real.)

My theory is this; if you have one of those gruesome, 100-dollar masks on, they may be grotesque, but how scary are they? They all seem cartoonish to me. However, if you maintain a certain calmness to your movements and a certain stiffness to your posture, as you wear the simplest of masks, you present a scarier proposition. The imagination of those around you takes over.

It's all sort of like a mini-performance for me. It's the one night of the year where almost everyone is doing some kind of obvious performing. (No it's not art, it's just performing.)

But it is fun, nonetheless.

Excellent Quotation

Several other theatre oriented blogs that I have discovered as I enter slowly into the blogosphere currently have a mini-discussion going on as to the place of theatre and its relationship to the religious. While I will not personally delve into the complexities of the subject here, seeing as how it has already been adequately explored elsewhere, I was intrigued by some of the points made. Therefore, if the topic interests you, you really should check out Theatre Ideas, and Superfluities. (There is even a comment left by yours truly in the former of the two.)

Instead of a full blown dissertation on the specific subject, I offer a quotation that a former cast mate sent out to everyone at the end of a fine production of Miller's The Crucible I was in some years ago. It sums up very well how I feel about theatre in general, and I thought it appropriate.

"There is no one kind of theatre, and no one solution to all its problems. That platitude needs to be repeated. The theatre exists by compromise and feeds on contradiction. It exists to explain life and to deny it, to decorate it and to strip it bare. Man goes to the play to understand himself, God, or his neighbors, but he also goes to pass the time. He goes for uplift and amusement, a bit of fun and a moment of catharsis. The theatre is a weapon, a magic, a science; a sedative, an aphrodisiac, a communion service; a holiday and an assize, a dress rehearsal of the here and now and a dream in action. It taxes all senses, holds all worlds in one. It is the most conservative and the most ephemeral, the most opaque and the most transparent, the strongest and the weakest of arts. It is everything and nothing, all or none of these things. The theatre is what you make it..." --Richard Findlater

Excellent sentiments indeed.