Bluh

Apparently I have that Cold From the Dark Side that's been making it's evil way around.  I can hear out of both ears for the first time in a week, and that's pretty awesome, but I'm SO TIRED.  I just don't have a lot of energy--I tried to walk my  normal speed at work last week (for the three days I was actually well enough to be there) and wore myself out walking down the hall and back.  I hit the Nap Wall every day around 1:30 and 5:30 PM.  My voice is probably a third lower than it normally is.  It's kind of like having the flu without the body aches and fever.  Fun!  I guess I just have to accept that I'm not going to be 100% for a while, and work with the 50-75% I have right now.

I think I'll go to bed at 8.

There's a reason we call it Hell Week

It's formally called Tech Week, but everyone calls it Hell Week.  Getting onto the actual stage, in costumes, with set pieces, and lighting, and mics, and sound, is an entirely different animal than rehearsing in a taped-off or demarcated space elsewhere.  As we do our dress rehearsals, things change, sometimes at the last minute, because they don't look right or don't work logistically.  For instance, we've discovered that women in beautiful bustle dresses look ridiculous pushing a carriage set piece around the stage, so those four weeks of practice now mean nothing to me except that I have to get the carriage piece onstage so the men in uniform can take over.  For another instance, we've discovered that it's hard for one of our beautiful leading ladies to make a brief entrance, run (literally) around the theater to make another entrance, and sing an emotional song without panting.

Because we're using a trap door and a lift for some of the scenes (Mary magically appears in the middle of a nightmare scene!), the people using the trap had to practice getting on and off it on Monday and Tuesday nights.  We had to reposition a few people to let the trap work properly and safely.  That took several minutes each night.  People have been repositioned because of lighting, which takes time.  People are dealing with wigs and hair pieces that sometimes don't quite match their natural hair, so that takes time to resolve.  Props get changed, we find out how fast the quick changes are (I'll be changing in the lobby in front of everyone, which is awesome!  No shame!), we find out that some crosses work and some don't.

It's an exhausting process.  I haven't been home before midnight since Sunday, and I don't envy those who are driving from longer distances.

However, as we do these things and tweak the show to be even better, you come to a moment where it all finally clicks and you have A Show instead of just a series of rehearsed scenes and transitions.  The story comes alive and almost makes you cry because it's a real story now.  Last night, I posted on Facebook, "Holy cow, we have a show", because we do.  And it's beautiful to hear and see.  I can't quite express how grateful and humbled I am to be involved.

Notes

Rehearsal went pretty well last night, but there were some glitches, most of which can be blamed on the boom-box we're using for the track.  Once we get up on the stage with the monitors and speakers there and can hear the track better, it won't be such a big deal.  As it is, we screwed up a few times.  Now we know and can watch for those things.

Part of the rehearsal process is getting notes from the costumers, producers, director, music director, and dialect coach (if there is one for the show).  "Notes" is not always a fun process, but you can always learn something--it's better to be told you've messed up and fix it before opening than to wonder and consistently mess up during the run.  We all want to make sure we do things right, and we almost always try to take notes with gratitude and good grace.

My character in this show needs a Scottish accent.  I have less than 10 lines, but I still want to make sure I'm doing what they want me to do, so I was pretty worried.  A friend kindly recorded a Scot neighbor of hers saying my lines so I could get a better idea of what I was doing, and a dialect coach was hired.  After our 45-minute session with him, I felt good about what I'd learned and highly relieved I wasn't required to use a Yorkshire dialect like three of my fellow cast members.  Scottish is hard enough to do, but Yorkshire is very tricky!

I've tried to practice the sounds (sometimes I'll read aloud to myself in the dialect) but I haven't had a lot of time to do it, so I was a little worried about rehearsal last night because I knew the dialect coach would be there.  After we were done, I anxiously approached him and he said, "I only have one note here for you."  He turned his notebook so I could see it, and showed me this:  :).  That was my only note!  He said he appreciated the subtlety of my accent and it was exactly what he was looking for.  It's good to know that my efforts have paid off and I don't sound like an idiot up there.  Most of the time.

Real site is down.

So my regular blog seems to be down for the count.  I don't know why, but I DO know that my work computer magically got a massive trojan virus on it and I had to change my passwords on EVERYTHING I'd accessed for the month before my system had to be wiped.  I think my dear HeidiAphrodite was a victim.  My brother's working on things and we should be up and running soon, but he's starting a new job and juggling cars (literally--you should see it) so I'm going to be posting here for a bit.

Unfortunately for you, it's 4:54, I'm wiped the heck out, I have to go home and do some laundry and eat and then go to rehearsal, so you won't be getting anything but an update and possibly a new theme. 

Enjoy ha ha.