More Theater Blogging

than you really want or need. Just going to whip this one out without links.

So Sunday we're supposed to start tech. Sort of. The lights have been hung and focused, but not programmed, so we couldn't do a cue-to-cue If you think anyone was being lazy, think again - they were up until 3 am working on it. Never underestimate how much work goes into tech - it can often be more than the actors put in.

I got into rehearsal at 1:00, with only a slight headache from the blogger bash. The parlor stove is in place and has a hearth (yay!). The french doors are shimmed and now have curtains, but if you slam them they'll stick. So much for my cue to wake up in Act III. Maybe Madonna can cough really loud?

We also have to remember to go easy with the curtains, as if I whip them shut like I have been they'll fall on my head.

Nelle got smart and got some ear protection for when she fires the blanks backstage - her ears had been buzzing like a bad speaker for about a day after our first practice shots. I think I got the simulated kickback down. Royce was giving me a few pointers at the Bash.

I totally screwed up the blocking for parts of Act III and IV. We're no longer allowed to call for lines or blocking, either. Fortunately, we're now able to basically carry on no matter what screw-ups happen. I thought I'd also screwed up the end of Act II, but Nette kindly pointed out it was her and Adam's lines that were causing us to skip ahead. It's like, whenever something goes wrong I'm sure it's somehow my fault. In the great, cosmic sense if nothing else.

Theresa's acquired an awesome dressing gown for me in the first act. It's gorgeous. One glitch: when I put it on, it's apparently more flimsy than I thought. At one point, Tesman (Brian) mentions to Aunt Julia (Nelle) that she probably doesn't notice how I've "filled out" given the dressing gown, but he has had the "opportunity" to see . . . Nelle pulls me aside later and said she almost cracked up, as you could basically see way too much as it was, and it will only get worse under the lights. Whoops. Guess I'm buying a chemise. She's still hemming my skirt for Acts II and III, so for now I'm still stuck in the d*mn florescent pink and teal rehearsal skirt (Hedda and the amazing technicolor dreamskirt) that keeps unzipping whenever I sit down unless I put a safety pin under the zipper. I can't wait to get out of that thing. Of course, I still don't have a black skirt for Act IV yet . . .

We open when????? NOTE: that last part is NOT about Theresa, who's actually in better shape with her stuff than much of the rest of us are. It's just a general freaking out about how the "to-do" list is going to get done. I know most of it isn't my responsibility. I just basically freak out in general on everyone's behalf. See paragraph above about things being my fault. . .

Greenman is now off book for much of the play, and his rendition of Judge Brack is going to be way cool. After the run, he had us doing exercises with some of the different scenes. In one, he had Lovborg (Adam) giving his lines from the fetal position as Doreen and I (each playing Hedda) circled him. In others he had Lovborg (Adam) telling Thea (Nette) that he'd destroyed his manuscript while Hedda (Me, then Doreen) hung all over him seductively.

We worked the script until about ten-thirty. I need to acquire a cameo for my collar and old-fashioned earrings. I finally remembered to bring the correct hair pins, so I won't need to do a modified french twist instead of the victorian style I'm supposed to be mimicking. What else???? I know there's other stuff I'm forgetting. . .

More tomorrow.