We have fun!

Here are some of our players, as we restored our borrowed rehearsal space, the First American Title Company community room, to its prerehearsal state tonight. Clockwise from upper left: Jeff, who's playing Frank. As I shot the pic, he said, "I'm moving tables la la la." Next is Lacey, who's our Annie: "Try to get my better side." Jena (Annie understudy and ensemble member) and Jessica (Winnie) are pictured next. They said to each other, "What shall we do?" and came up with the pose you see. Then comes Ramon, our lovable Tommy, who said: "Oh, good; you got my good side."

We laughed ourselves silly in tonight's rehearsal, which was an intense working of several scenes, starting with the ones the kids are in, and ending with the leads. As an evening proceeds, we find ourselves getting giddier and giddier, no one more so than yours truly. Tonight we had Dolly kicking Winnie in the posterior as she exited (we'll keep it in), and Annie (Jena) and Tommy kickboxing in the corner (we won't keep that in). It is really exhilarating to watch the show coming into its own, and even more rewarding than that is how wonderfully everyone seems to be getting along and enjoying him- or herself. That is the most gratifying part of this process for me: how darned much just plain fun it is for all concerned!

First full runthrough

Tonight we had our first full runthrough, off book and with full music. We haven't added choreography yet; that process will begin next week, and, I must say, we are ready for that step. This runthrough was extremely encouraging. We got through the entire show in two hours and twenty minutes, which means that, with the inevitable tightening up that will come with further rehearsal, the show shouldn't exceed two and a quarter hours, with intermission . . . at least that is our goal. It was particularly fine, because we were in a brand new rehearsal space tonight, and so the cast had to adapt to it as well as perform the entire show. Lacey and Jeff are very fine as Annie and Frank, and even more inspiring than their talent is their dedication; they've learned everything so completely that they barely had to ask for a line. Their few duets are really fine--spine tingling, actually. And the sound of the ensemble on the big numbers is great. With the recording of the ensemble songs to double the sound of the chorus, it should be very good indeed. In fact, I told the cast afterwards that we are closer to being ready with the music than with the scenes. So my work is cut out for me, but I feel up to the challenge, and, with seven weeks until we open, comfortable that our time will be ample to accomplish the goal. We also took a bunch more head shots tonight for the program. I wish I had them to post here, but Ron (Jack-of-All-Trades) took them on his camera, so I must wait to receive the CD from him. Stay tuned for a picture or two of some of our players.