Acting....

Last night was the second night of As Bees In Honey Drown rehearsal. Second half of readthrough, then we blocked a good chunk of the last half of the second act.

My characters:

Waiter - a waiter. No lines. Easy enough.
Carla - sex on a stick. Possibly a grifter. Definitely a shark. 4-inch stiletto heels.
Newsstand Operator - basic New York news stand-type person. Baggy clothes, attitude.
Backup Singer - Cockney punk backup singer.
Muse - ethereal and risque, all in one.
Illya Mannon - a dancer. Previous victim of Alexa. Possilby Danish, possibly Dutch, possibly Russian.

I have a basic line of attack for five of the above. The waiter and the backup singer are going to be highly choreographed, so I just have to make my body fit where I need to go. The muses will also probably be choreographed.

And then there's Illya. I am very unsure of what to do with her. I know how to physicalise her - she's a dancer. The text indicates that she's a more grounded person. However, her speech patterns are inconsistent from scene to scene. The first time we see her, she has a very American idiom, and then the next time she has actual conversation with someone (instead of speaking directly to the audience as sort of a Greek Chorus), her speech is more mannered and European. So. I'll be meeting with the dialect coach tomorrow, and we'll see what he thinks.

My other problem with Illya is keeping her grounded without making her sardonic or too low-energy. But that is a problem to worry about when the blocking is set. For now, learning lines and blocking will have to be a priority.

And the blocking. Eeep. First time on an arena stage, and it's interesting. Everything is based off of the voms, there's no stage right or left, and I always have to think about where my back is pointing. Again, for now, I'm not worrying about it too much, but I will have to, so I'm keeping it in my head. Or trying to.

Also, I'm a little nervous about how revealing most of the costumes will be. Well, not so much nervous as very determined to work out as much as possible between now and opening. Yes.

So. That is where I am after two days of rehearsal. I have tonight off (yippee!!), so I'll work out and look at my lines, and then hopefully go to bed early. I need the sleep. It was a long weekend.


edit: whoops. Technical terms alert!!

"Arena stage" - theater in the round.

"Voms" - Vomitories. A vomitory is the tunnel-like opening in a bank of seats that actors use to enter and exit an arena or theater. It comes from the Greeks, who referred to the section underneath the audience as the stomach or bowels of the ampitheater.

Here's a good description of thrust & arena stages, complete with a shot of the (soon to be old) Guthrie.

Hrrmph.

So, does anyone have an opinion on Cingular's service? It seems that I will be involuntarily switching over to them - provided the Cingular - AT&T Wireless merger makes it past the regulatory boards. Hmmph.

In other news, I'm still recovering from last week. Daisy opened well, but damn, it was exhausting. The theater doesn't have an intercom, so I have to haul my butt up two flights of stairs an average of 9 times per performance. With an additional 9 times going back down, too. At least a Stairmaster has been rendered unnecessary for the duration. Phew. Plus, the 90-minute commute each way takes a lot out of a person.

But, we're open, and we close this weekend, and then I don't have to worry about it. Until March 1, when I train the SM that's in charge of the St. Paul run. Easy enough, though. I know the SM, and he's a sweetie. After that, it's all Bees, all the time.


Z & I are looking at an apartment tomorrow. It's with his landlord, so he could move ASAP, with me working out terms with my rental company. I may sublet for the remainder of my lease. We'll see. The apartment is in a slightly busier neighborhood than I'd like, but it's better than being too far out. Much better. It is also on the block where Dale moved after we broke up. That will be slightly weird. Just slightly, though.


The MCTC bus drivers are threatening to strike. Ergh. I completely support the union, Metro Transit is giving them a crapola deal, but I am veryvery glad I live close enough to walk in to work.


Probably won't get the Admin 3 position that I applied for her. Le sigh. Also, I have a Giant Filing Reorganisation Project Of Doom here, and it's failing to excite me. I live for the day when filing is not considered one of my major duties.


Fannish things: I'm sad about Angel being cancelled, but I probably won't miss it as much as most of my friends here. I haven't been able to keep up with it this season, and as such, am not that invested in the show. It saddens me that quality television is clearly not a priority to most TV execs, but we've known that since the 50s. Neil Simon even wrote a smash play about it. So, there it is. No more Jossiverse, at least not regularly. I'll buy the DVDs (eventually), Joss will get something else going (hopefully), and we'll keep on moving.

I am concerned about the impact this will have on b.org, but that will happen as it will, and there's not much I can do about it.