Blocking

Second day of blocking rehearsals had all five women called. Tyler will not be called until we get to the second half of Act II. We ran what we did last night quickly at the start of rehearsal so Amanda and Lydia could see what we already worked on in order for them to get the context and the feel of what has happened. I am really impressed with my actors since they are getting off book incredibly quickly. Francesca and Rachel are already about 90% off book for Act I. I know that I told them to be as off book as possible by the first rehearsal, but in my experience, when that request has been made by other directors, it was rarely followed. I am so very happy that my cast is so willing to put in the amount of work that it is going to take to put this show together and that they are as excited (or maybe even more) than I am. I have found in the past that I work really well with Amanda Lawrence since I directed her in Laundry and Bourbon last spring for Directing II one acts. I love how eager she always is with any role she plays, whether it is for a show or a scene for class. She was no different tonight and went all out and made big choices and ran with it and truly immersed herself in the character of Georgeanne. It was so much fun to watch. I loved how she approached it and some of the choices she made. She has natural talent for comedy and is just needing help with specifying movement to match motivation. Once she gets that, she becomes even more comfortable with herself on stage and flourishes. Lydia is doing well being the eccentric lesbian sister of the groom. She has good instincts with her character and is good at asking questions for clarification. We are working on food props for her already and had her eating popcorn since there is a scene where all she does is eat and she needed to start learning how to make choices based on her circumstances, and without having food to actually eat, it would be difficult for her to get comfortable and figure out how to say some of her lines without having that obstacle there from the get go. I believe next time we are going to have her eat pretzels. Sometime down the road, probably when we get back from Thanksgiving break, I will have them all do a food rehearsal and eat food such as pretzels so they can work on not swallowing their words and the over enunciation so they can be heard and understood at all times. Today was also when we started using the southern accent. Some girls got it really well, such as Rachel. Amanda only slipped up on a few spots, since some of her ‘O’s made her sound more Australian such as the words “no” and “alone.” Francesca’s and Lydia’s tended to go in and out and Emily was not at rehearsal long enough to get a full read on where her accent currently sits. I sent her home after a little while since there was only a page and a half left to block with her on it. I did not want to keep an actor at a rehearsal in which I would not need her any longer. I know that all of my cast are students and have other responsibilities besides these rehearsals and I do not want to waste any of their time. The other big note I had for the girls today was to practice staying in character, even if people laugh, since they will with this show.