Calibrating My Expectations

Well, even though we were lacking two folks last night (pre-arranged, no surprises), we got a great deal done. We were originally slated for a final vocal rehearsal, but Bill had a brain fart (we all do), so we're working out a schedule for several follow-up vocal rehearsals in May.

We finished blocking Act One. It's still REALLY rough, but, it actually works pretty well. We trimmed back the Prodigal Son section quite a bit, and interestingly enough, it wound up being twice as long as before. Lori Lee chimed in about half way through with, "Hey, I thought we trimmed lines OUT of this part..." TRUE, but it was 10:09 PM, and Todd, Noah, and I were being sillier than we should have. I'll keep us focused moving forward.

Saturday we'll be blocking Act Two. It's about half as big as Act One, so we SHOULD get all of the way through it. What's rockin' great about that is that EVERYTHING after that is just running it to tune it up.

Up until yesterday, I was pretty beaten down. The lack of a stage manager and percussion choreographer had my brain spinning extra CPU cycles worrying about it. I was ready to just accept whatever wound up happening as it presented itself. I have a bucket full of good intentions from people, but I'll take a few small but solid commitments over several dozen promises: commitments I can work with and build on, like rocks, even if they're small rocks. I can provide the asphalt to hold them together myself.

But my great cast REALLY blossomed yesterday, beyond my expectations, which were, admittedly, somewhat low. They energized me and mushed up the mountain that is Act One, and we're coasting down the sunny slopes of the show now.

And I also finished a large portion of the backdrop of the Austrian Alps for Sound of Music. That was a huge weight of my brain. All that's left there is to finish the grassy, flowery hillside, which should take thirty minutes or so during lunch today. I'll post pictures here after I finish.

- Sean