The show must go on...

Wow. 

The show opens tomorrow night. 

It has all gone so fast.

Tonight was our long dress rehearsal – 6 straight hours of practice.  We were all pretty pumped for it – and it was fantastic and horrible at the same time!  To start with, we were missing one of our actors for the first two and a half hours of it.  We made due without her, but it’s always hard when you’re missing an actor in a production this small.  That, and having to clean the stage after every run, made it a little annoying.  But everyone did pretty well, considering. 

Then we got to the last run.  For this, we were missing one of the main actors.  Boy, did we find out how much we need him!  This run was totally off-book, so when someone messes up, it is up to the actors to figure out how to get out of their mess.  Well, there was a pretty big mess up that cause the actors to skip three pages of the script, move on, then go back to where they first messed up and repeat it – all of it!  But the good part is that they figured out how to keep moving, instead of standing there waiting for someone to remember their line.  

So whatever happens tomorrow night, whether they forget some lines, or skip whole scenes, the show must go on!

-K

We have a stage!

I will tell you; it is not often that the actor’s first time using the stage is a week before the opening.  But, hey, our play isn’t like anyone else’s. 

Thanks to the techies (the people behind the scenes who build the set and basically do everything necessary for the play besides act), the stage is finally finished (and stable).  For most actors, the transition from a practice space to the actual set messes them up a lot, but these kids were amazing.  They remembered their lines (most of them) and did very well adapting their blocking on the fly, right in the middle of the scene, without ever missing a beat.  The only problem was getting them to open up (not turn their backs to anyone in the audience).  This is a problem because the audience sits on two sides of the stage, not just the normal one side.  If you open up to one side, you usually turn your back to the other.  But, as I said, the actors did amazingly well adapting continuously. One of the only things left to do is get the costumes.  I know the actors are really looking forward to it; it can be very exiting. 

The actors are doing great, and it will be a fantastic show (if they only remember to stay quiet backstage!)

-K

Those 4 Little Words...

..."I love you too!" No, I'm only kidding.

But yesterday, Paul did say those 4 words that are like cherub's music to a cast.

He said ... drum roll, please...

"We have a play."

(CUE EXPLOSION OF FIREWORKS AND EXCITEMENT!)

Now all we need are costumes, lights and televisions. Oh yeah and Maybe the stage would be useful... But acting wise, Paul says we're ready to go and those are magic words a WEEK before opening night.

A few members of the thespian gang from last year are coming back to watch (at least those in the Philadelphia area). The freshman won't understand but, at least for me, the show is for them. And Paul. The show is always for Paul.

-C

ES VERDAD! Vamos a estar en el aire.

ITS TRUE! We are going to be on the air. As Paul said, When have we been two weeks before a show and managed to get through a full run through? Exactly. Never. Last year, we hadn't seen the play the full way through until opening night. So, yes. we are set. No longer worried.

We had an amazing run today. It was our second full run and it was absolutely insane. We ran it as an "Italian" (the play term for "as-fast-as-you-possibly-can-speak-words" run through of a show). Dear audience member, be prepared to be blown away and sit in the audience for thirty seconds asking yourself if that did IN FACT just happen.

Trust me. It did. And no, we have no idea why either.

Its true. In the adrenalin, those blocking days are instantly forgotten.

-C

Impressionable Parents...

We're moving into the basement soon hopefully! The stage is being built and we saw the pieces in progress.

I think the show is gonna actually come together. We always doubt it when we have 3 weeks to put together a play and we haven't even gotten half way through it. But a full Saturday rehearsal was exactly what we needed- hours only interrupted by the open house parents coming through and listening to Dad rant about "young people" and Ana lose her mind and jump out of the window. Perhaps it was a perfect representation of Friends Select. The future parents at least know what they're getting their kids into.

-C

Costumes and Cameras

It was an exiting day! We recorded the opening credits to the internal TV show – very fun.  I even got a little camera time, despite being the stage manager.  Some of the actors got their first tiny taste of costumes.  Of course, hand in hand with costumes come wardrobe malfunctions, and we had many. 

We ran pages 19-25 without scripts for the first time.  Following that, the kids learned all the blocking for pages 19-23.  Like most days, blocking includes some script modifications.  At one point, the director changed almost half a page of dialogue, but rightfully so – the English translation was not making much sense. 

-K 

Estamos En El Aire - Things Not Expected

Today we got through pages 1-19. It went pretty well, despite two of our actors being late due to a calculus test. Though everyone did well, it was a hard practice. The second run-through was the actors first time off book, meaning that if they forget their lines or cues, they have to either make it up or skip it. Remembering their lines (and sometimes the other kids lines as well) AND doing all their blocking at the same time? That proved difficult for some. At times, half a page was accidentally dropped. But all the blocking was perfect.

We had a few unexpected visitors today. College students Alex Hughes and Oscar Serpell, both former masters of FSS theater, dropped in for the last half of practice. Being completely unfamiliar with the play, they watched our second run-through and then gave us some insight as to what an audience member would think – very helpful.

We were glad to have them back, if only for a little while.

-K