So, I left off at the beginning of tech week.  And it's hard to blog, much less do homework and get sleep, after tech week begins.  So now it's a week after we closed and I finally have time to catch up, thanks to the storm of the century heading our way and giving us a head start on winter break.  (I lost my wallet yesterday- now if it's at school ( Read more... )

I'll start with all-state.  Last weekend we had our November three-day rehearsal for the Illinois All-State Production of Hairspray.  For those reading this (if there are any) we're like the second amateur company to put on Hairspray (the first was at the International Thespian festival, I believe).  Therefore, pretty much all the design and  ( Read more... )

I've been reading Uta Hagen's Respect for Acting a little bit each night before bed.  Last night I remembered that I hadn't finished reading Master Class, by Terrence McNally (which I became curious about through Patti LuPone and Forbidden Broadway, and then needed to read after seeing Zoe Caldwell talk about it on Charlie Rose). I acquired copies ( Read more... )

Yesterday (I think...or was it the day before) Murphy came to work the would-be rape scene in Act II so that it didn't look like a rape scene any more.  It's absolutely histerical.  Stefan is great. He thinks- but not too hard.  So his choices are smart and serve the play perfectly.  Going into the scene and working it bit by bit really made the ( Read more... )

We finished cleaning act I this week and Murphy came and watched it today.  Then he and Robinson sat in her office for a half an hour while we waited for what we thought would be only ten minutes.  Then Murphy left and Robinson told us that she'd been directing the play as if it were a melodrama rather than a farce.  That made a lot of sense. We'd ( Read more... )

I thought it was, "Don't leave anything on the stage," but "Leave everything on the stage"  works too, just in a different way.  I'd heard whatever the phrase was before and forgotten it, but Mr. Wallace reminded us of this saying during the last few days of Kiss the Air.  It can literally mean, "Don't leave stuff on the stage" (because that ( Read more... )

Today we started working the moments and bits that make the show funny.  We only got through like 12 pages but a lot was accomplished.  Working so slow is actually making the process a lot easier because we're choregraphing everything I say and how to say it.  The characters are emerging from the text finally.  She's making us really, really, ( Read more... )

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we blocked the entire show! With time to spare each day! We ran-through on Friday.  It was surprisingly easy.  Because Feyeau is so specific with his stage directions, I guess it was just a matter of following them.  And because of this, too, there will be relatively few changes to the blocking as the show grows.  ( Read more... )

Yay! The blog didn't collapse after one entry ( Read more... )

I'm gonna try to blog about the winter show. It's cool to look back at a show and see how it has progressed, so this way I can do it in detail ( Read more... )