Mind Numbing

Yesterday was our second dress. We didn't even get through the whole show -- we had to vacate the church by 5. We ran 45 minutes late in set up, so there went Act 2.

Today is a free day. I got up and made biscuits - minus gravy, unfortunatly. Then Aaron and I went over to the kitchen trailer, unloaded it, and washed down all the pots and pans. Woo.

We're supposed to be making a trip to the coast today, weather permitting. It's been raining in Portland all week.

We leave on Wednesday. Trying not to think about it. It's odd to think we're actually going to be heading out on the road!

Living in a multicultural house is very interesting. We have four Canadians, two Southerners, and then people from Washington, Oregon, New York, Wyoming, and Pennslyvania. Just the merging of expressions is funny. We've been trying to convince the Canadians not to refer to anyone south of the mason-dixon line as "Yankees." They won't take kindly to that in Texas. And we're working on Vicky's pronunciation of "southern." So far it's "sowth - urn." "No Vicky. Say "suth-urn." Once she's really there it will be some variation on "su-thun." But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Oh, and she hates large bugs. Good thing it won't be cricket migration season when we get there. Oh wait....

Tea is probably the biggest thing we fight over. The "su-thun-ers" like it sweet (me too- a holdover from Texas). 2-1/4 cups sugar to a gallon is just about right. The "Yankees" like it unsweetened. The Canadians like instant crystals -- none of this brewed crap. It's a constant battle.

Canadians don't like American Chocolate. We don't have the "right" kind of candy bars, and the chocolate tastes funny. The only thing they seem to be extatic about is the caffeine level in Mountain Dew. Apparently in Canada it's caffeine-free. What, we might ask, is the point of drinking Mountain Dew then?

What to put on biscuits. That was the big debate this morning. Should it be gravy? Honey? Jam? or Peanut Butter?

So, yes, this is what prompted the quote below. I can't wait to see what choice phrases I pick up by the end of tour? Like "proh-sess"(for process) and "dekl" (For decal).

Being Bilingual

Quote of the Day: Being Bilingual

"Where y'all going, eh?"

Almost there...

Almost there...

We leave one week from today. Tomorrow we finish working troublespots in act 2 and then we have a full runthrough in the evening. Costumes are almost done, and praise be to God I got enough done (with lots of help -- you should have seen J.P. sewing Nicole's headscarf..) that I don't have to do anything after hours tonight. Huzzah, because I'm "after hour-ed" out.

It is going to be a great show. I got to watch more of it today as we ran scene by scene than I've seen since the first few days of rehearsal. Wow have things changed! So many new characters, and new "stuff!" I hope those of you that get to see it will enjoy it as much as we've enjoyed putting it together. It is strange, though. We've worked so hard, but its still hard to grasp that once the main push is over, we still have to perform it!

You should see what I look like as a small pregnant asian woman!

Taking a Break

Taking a Break

Today has gone very well on very little sleep. Living with this many people does lead to some interesting situations, especially when people forget to close doors. On either side, in order to get from the bathroom to the upstairs dorm, you have to walk past the door to the common room. This causes problems if you forget to bring your clothes with you to the shower. Today someone flashed the world. Oops.

I have a huge pet peeve in theater -- it manifests itself in many smaller pet peeves, but the overriding one is: People sticking their nose in where it doesn't belong. Example: Actors. They're terrible about this. They try to direct each other, they contradict the director, they ask the costumer,"is this what I'm going to be wearing, and are you sure this is the right one?" Today someone wore the body of her costume for rehearsals, and everyone had an idea of how to improve it, or what it should look like, or "You know what would make this really cool?" Sorry guys, there is already plenty of input into this one, and we've spent a great deal of effort accounting for every variable. Most likely we discussed your suggestion ten hours and three costume meetings ago, and vetoed it because it wouldn't work. There are several people who get automatic impute: The director, the designer, and the person who gave us the costume budget. That's all folks!

I have my lines memorized...All 21 of them! That's probably a dozen more than I expected to have, so "it's a good thing!" I even got a compliment on one of my many characters. It was a one line part, so it's nice to be noticed on something that small. I love working with this director. Plus, he's good at reminding actors who's really in charge. We need that a lot. Myself included...

Sleep Deprived

Sleep Deprived

We are all running around like the proverbial chickens sans heads. Tomorrow is our first run of act 2 off book, and the next day we run act 1. Tonight I slept through dinner (meaning just to lay down for a minute) and will be costuming as soon as I finish this post and walk back to the house. The costumes are coming along slowly. About the time I think I finally have time to work, something else gets added to the schedule.

I, tonight, am not memorizing lines, because I already know both of mine. Wait, all three if you count the group yelling scene. But tomorrow we all go barefoot, in keeping with Balangao traditions, so its time for a pedicure. Soon I'll have to stop painting my toes.

Today's funny rehearsal story:
I have a scene where I carry on a sick child. Yesterday my note was "it looks like you're carrying a stuffed Bert doll (I was) instead of a real child. Make it more weighty." So I picked up a sandbag, wrapped it in a blanket, and carried it on. But, I didn't have time to tell the lead, so she was expecting a stuffed doll and got a twenty pound sack instead. She lost it, I lost it, and Tekla did too, having seen me wrap it beforehand.

Prayer partners, prepare for your first postcards!

Busy

We blocked the first and second acts the last two days. Today we started going scene by scene through the show, developing characters and fine tuning our movements and inflections. Since most of the cast is Filippino (or supposed to be) we have to work on our pronunciations, too. Any second I'm not onstage, I'm working on getting costumes for everyone. If I'm not doing that, I'm studying to pass my Food Handler's License tests. And I'm loving it! How great is it to be running like a chicken with your head cut off (or perhaps pig, in this case) doing something you've always wanted to do.

Performing, that is.

Not the head thing...

My blog shouldn't cut out like that anymore. I've identified the problem (an old comment hosting system still in my template) and eliminated it. So, I hope to see comments again soon! Ciao, until tomorrow!

Just whelmed.

Just Whelmed

Today we were cast. I have five parts. When you have three leads, and twenty five roles, with an eight person cast, you get around a lot. I'm playing Joanne's co-missionary, Anne, along with a couple other parts here and there. It's going to be a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Especially considering I also am doing costumes and running the kitchen.

It's a way different pace here. This morning we did one run through of the script, ran home for lunch, came back and blocked the prologue and act 1. Tomorrow we have all day to block act two. I spent all evening putting together a revised costume fitting schedule. Now I'm too late to do my laundry, because you're not allowed to use the facilities after 9. I don't know what time I'm going to have to get up tomorrow to get it done. I have only four shirts and two pairs of jeans. I'm not averse to wearing clothes again, but I'm on my last pair of socks, and it's been too hot to re-use t-shirts. It's going to be a nutty schedule, alright. But eventually they'll start doing more specialized rehearsals, and I'll have some time to actually sew things. Isn't that cool? Three weeks isn't a long time to get a show together that was cast today.

Isn't theater a blast!

Aaargh

What a harrowing day. Auditions. They're always hard. And way out of my comfort zone. Way out of everyone's comfort zone, as a matter a fact. But a lot of these people came from theater background --- so most of the "acting exercises" they've done in class. We walked across the room 20 times as different characters, animals, disiblities (I was blind, not much of a stretch), and moods. We did impromptu scenes. We did name-in-a-circle games.

Finally we were done with the games and onto cold readings. That wasn't too bad, except some of the people reading had already done this show several times, so they were great. Character, blocking, accents, inflection. While the rest of us are trying to writhe around on a cot, half unconscious, pretending to be badly injured, and reading the script. I felt I did very poorly.

For the capper, they decided I have the most experience for the dance/movement role. In 100 degree heat I had to dance around pretending to be a large, evil bird. I did two or three scenes like that, and then to give me a break, I got to do interpretive blocking as the spider in "itsy-bitsy spider." I'm tired and sweaty.

They'll post the final cast list tomorrow. They've already cast the leads for the most part, but the rest of the 15 or so parts have to be divided among the five ensemble members. I think I'm going to play the blasted bird. It's a really great part, but a different one for me. No singing, no lines. Just movement. AAAARRRGH. And tonight we have, promptly at 8, spontaneity planned in our schedule.

My best audition was as a cat trapped on an airplane.