Back on Track

Rehearsal was pretty great last night. A bit of a slow start, but we got halfway through the script, which was my goal. The focus was to try to stitch-in the choreography from last week into what had been blocked the week prior, and for the most part, all went well. It helped that Leanna was there to perform stage management duties, and she brought Lulu who helped with props and the sound cues.

So, how is choreography? Amazingly good, considering we're only a week into it. The muscle memory hasn't sunk in yet for most folks, so it's looks clunkier than it will wind up. Arryck did a great couples piece with Bless the Lord, and rather than focusing on their partners and looking like they are having a good time (which is what they will be doing eventually), they are looking at feet and off into space remembering the steps. Perfect! Exactly where they need to be.

So, a month later, and all of the funkiness with casting and stage management and percussion designers is all but sloughed off. I started introducing some props last night, and Leanna and I identified some additional items she can pick up for me this week. The last chunk of props that will be needed will be the parts to the mechanical Pharisee head. I'll pick those up on Wednesday, as I've promised that if we satisfactorily make it through the rest of the show tonight, we'll be off on Wednesday until the Thursday vocal rehearsal.

The Agnes of God settings, particularly the strings of yarn and the small step are starting to really get in the way. With ten people and six large set pieces on stage, every square foot counts. There's still three weekends left before their strike, and I anticipate having menhirs (in some form) on stage within a week or so... if nothing else, for the percussion rehearsals.

And I gave out a pair of drumsticks to everyone to start playing with. Arryck teaches the last two numbers this coming weekend (All For the Best and Light of the World) from 10:00 to Noon, and then I do the percussion stuff after it... at least I hope to. That would necessitate FINISHING the percussion arrangement by then, which would be only Friday evening to work on it. Wednesday would also be a good candidate, but that depends on the cast and their tenacity in tonight's rehearsal.


- Sean