IMFourPlay

Double the Runs, Double the Fun: Rehearsal Number Nineteen

And thus the fun begins....! Tech week is truly here and with it comes the infamous and ever-so-delicious double show runs!! It's really unavoidable as the company consists of nine members (although we never have more than eight in attendance) so to give everyone a chance to move to the next level we have to squeeze in as many runs as possible. This is when the days start to feel long!! Robyn returned to our ranks today while Jay returned to the land of the Constant Wife. Charles gets back from vacation tomorrow - I eagerly await his return so that the full company will have had several chances to experience the format in its new iteration.

The first run consisted of Mark, Darren, Robyn and Chase. While it was, by no means bad, we did fall into some old traps. Mark, in the first position, suffered from a dose of what we lovingly call the wacky patrol - a series of characters that are slightly disconnected or unnecessarily large (although I quite liked Chase's daughter character personally.) Robyn experienced a similar run to mine (read my "Humble Pie" entry) as a newly returning player and seemed a little overwhelmed as a result. There were some great characters that emerged, but as we followed Chase's star into the second act, the storyline became strained and a bit hard to follow. We lost the thread of the star's want, and as such the story skewed to subplots. Darren provided some admirable support as seemingly every supporting character at points (!), and there were some particularly memorable moments between Chase and his two wannabe-singer children (that's Robyn as one of them pictured to the left), but the show as a whole veered into the territory of the grotesque. There were many good advancements, such as a lot of great dance and movement and memorable characters, but the show was a little off-center.

The second run, with Mark, Kate, Robyn and Ron, built nicely off the lessons of the first. I had initially scheduled myself in this show, but wanted to get Robyn back on the horse right away, and Mark was keen to apply what he had just learnt through some of his slips in the first effort. It was really neat (do people actually say neat anymore?) to have two women in the show. I really want to make sure we can have this combination a couple of times during the run (it's just hard to balance shows as we have six men essentially sharing two spots as it is). We did a lot better with story in this run, and the characters were more connected without losing the playfulness of our earlier attempt. Out of a solid line-up of choices, Kate emerged as the star for the second act as we followed her journey as a vegetarian towards finding love with a butcher. This act two was probably our strongest yet and has given me faith that the adjustments to the structure are on track. Some memorable moments included a great courtship trio with Kate, Mark and Robyn, a brilliant fire-walking love solo sung by Ron with danced accompaniment by Mark, a whimsical duet between our ladies to the always clever musicians' rendition of the Laverne and Shirley theme-song, and a tender but joyful unrequited love duet between Mark and Kate. Though there were some slips (as is to be expected), the consensus was that this was clearly one of those emblematic runs that put a lot of things together for us all.

The band--Jim and Keith--particularly rocked today. I try to remind myself as I get a little mentally tired or fatigued that these two have to play for the majority of both runs, so the rest of us don't really have too much room to complain!!! We are working on a neat (there, I said it again) addition to the overture of act one... Hehehehe!!!

We have two more runs tomorrow night (with Charles in attendance - yeah!!!). Ron's slide show is such a neat component (the comedy of threes would suggest my "neat" bit is now done!) - I can't wait for returning audience members to get to see that! I also have "Before the Footlights" interviews coming with Charles, Robyn and Keith in the next week or so. (You can scroll down to see my interviews with the other company members...)

We really have a wonderful core company! I must pause, despite the hour, to give thanks for:
- Chase's wonderful exuberance, soulful crooning and seemingly boundless character quirks
- Charles's effortless soaring, contagious playfulness and unmatched lyrical attack
- Dana's tireless devotion, palpable passion and good-natured ego-checking
- Darren's virtuosity as a character actor, great story building instincts and musical leadership
- Gina's keen directorial eye, gracious collaboration and story problem-solving finesse
- Jay's formidable improv chops, detailed empathetic character creation and wickedly apt tilts
- Jim's boundless patience, amazing musicianship and unparalleled creative ability
- Kate's unrivaled harmonizing, uplifting melodic spirit and unexpected quirky characters
- Keith's unwavering commitment, kind supportive counsel and passionate playing
- Mark's musical aplomb, devotion to the dance and endless parade of memorable personas
- Robyn's exploding charisma, physical abandon and intoxicatingly playful characterizations
- Ron's uncanny comprehension, generous onstage support and fearless musical attack

We are all lucky indeed! Neat.

Your you-don't-have-to-wait-until-Thanksgiving-to-give-thanks Director, David C.

What are you thankful for? Let me know with a comment... (Was that too pathetic an attempt to get some comments posted?!?!)