Well, dear readers, we had us a run-through, start to finish, not without a couple of brief hiccups and one missing actor, but even though there are pacing issues, joke landing issues and other minor things, it ran almost exactly what it should. Act one clocked in at an hour and twelve minutes, so when it’s tightened even more, we should clock in at an even hour and ten, which is just perfect. Act two clocked in at thirty-nine minutes, but that’s because we finally just had to skip one song – that song is about four minutes or so, so when all is said and done we have a two-hour show.
The good news is that the show is really fun. The good news is that the cast is finding their moments and building on them. The good news is the songs sound great. The medium news is that too many people are letting the jokes and their set-ups get lax – adding words that dissipate the joke, taking too much time either in set-up or punch, and just not being sharp enough. Abner is not a show that can contain anything lax, not even in the couple of softer scenes. The show’s motor has to be continually moving and especially well oiled. There were a few missed entrances, a few missed cues, and people are still forgetting lines, which I’m about to find inexcusable at this late date. And believe me, I know how hard it is to learn lines but at some point it just has to be done and in place. I keep adding little things as I see the show. I actually didn’t take notes, which I probably should have, but I will from now on. The cast has pretty much got the choreography and staging down really well, so those numbers are now completely engaging and fun. My notes are now usually technical – the acting stuff is pretty much there – they really know what they’re doing, so it’s just fine-tuning, and getting the energy of the thing to be both consistent and constant. There are no throwaway lines or bits in this show. Everything has to be played with a certain energy or it just doesn’t feel right.
We made a change in where the piano is going to live, so that made some adjustments necessary, although really minor. I do wish we had about four more days of run-throughs before tech, but we have two and we have to really make them count. I do love this cast and I do know they will all come through, but it’s my job to get them there as fast as I can.
Prior to rehearsal, I’d gotten a little over ten hours of sleep, which I desperately needed. I had no time to eat, as I had to be at LACC by one for the piano delivery and tuning, as well as a visit by our Federal sound guy, just to get his opinion of things. He checked everything out and we’ve got a plan that we can test and we’ll see how it feels on Wednesday. I got a pre-fab chicken salad sandwich from Tully’s – it was serviceable but no more. Thankfully on seven-grain bread it was only 350 calories. I relaxed until it was run-through time. My friend Becky is in from Indiana and she watched the run-through.
Afterwards, she and I went to Jerry’s Deli and had dinner. I had chicken tenders and she had chicken soup. She just got over the gunk that seems to be going around everywhere, so I kept a little distance as I did from a couple of students who are also fighting it.
Before I move on, I was listening to someone who watched part one of the NBC mini-series remake of Rosemary’s Baby. What is wrong with these creatively bankrupt networks and writers and directors? There has to be some perverse mentality at work to think you can remake a film that is one of the best movies ever made, which Roman Polanski’s film of Ira Levin’s novel most certainly is. It is perfect because it literally IS the book on film – the best adaptation of a novel to film ever done, simply because every line and every scene in the film is right from the novel. Mr. Levin told me that was because Polanski, whose first American screenplay it was, thought it was a Writer’s Guild rule that you couldn’t deviate from the book. But who would want to? Everything about the book is perfection. But the new writers think they’re better than Levin, better than Polanski. They move the setting from New York to Paris. Brilliant. And pointless. One supposes that if Mr. Levin wanted to set Rosemary’s Baby in Paris he would have. The book and original film work because New York is so familiar to its characters and readers. It’s evil taking place right under the noses of everyone. They change the occupation of Guy Wodehouse and try to dress up a plot that didn’t need their or anyone else’s help. The sheer chutzpah of it is breathtaking. But the best news, of course, is that it was a complete and utter ratings disaster. A big bravo and raspberry to all concerned. You got what you deserved and thank heavens we have the original film and the novel. End of rant.
Today, I shall be up by ten, and then at noon I’ll be at LACC to sit in on the band rehearsal. Normally I would just wait for the sitzprobe, but I have the feeling it will probably be helpful if I’m there to answer questions. So, it will be a long day for me – band for four hours, then an hour off, then our run-through, followed by clean up work. I will have to find time to get something to eat.
Tomorrow is our sitzprobe – we start at three and I’m hoping we finish in two hours so that I have two hours for clean up work. The score to Abner is really only about forty-five minutes long, so we should be fine as long as we don’t get hung up on anything for too long, and having the band rehearsal today should really help that.
Thursday we have a run-through and clean up, and then Friday morning we begin our long tech day, which I’m praying will go smoothly so that by Saturday we can do a complete dress rehearsal without stops. If we can and if that goes well, I’ll consider doing a second one forty minutes later. Sunday is off, Monday if final dress, and Tuesday is our one and only preview.
I also must say that the Richard Sherman event has already had a third of its seats reserved, so that bodes very well for a full house.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sit in on a band rehearsal, try to find time to eat something, and have a run-through and clean up. Today’s topic of discussion: What remakes do you think were actually interesting or worthy in their own right, and which do you think were utter disasters? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall return to run-through land, and hopefully with a complete cast.