Well, dear readers, yesterday I finished blocking the show and Kay finished choreographing. Of course we’re both endless tinkerers and we’ll be futzing and finessing our work as we see fit. We began at eleven with the penultimate scene of the show – a wedding and then a musical number. I removed a bit of business that I felt would lessen the impact of the musical number, trimmed the dialogue so the points were always clear and it’s a very sweet scene now, with a very pretty ballad, followed by a fun song for which I wanted a big dance at the end. After I blocked the scene itself, Kay took over and after about two hours had her choreography sketched out and the cast took to it very quickly. By three it was done and I think it’s going to be a showstopper moment – so much so that I think the little scene and song that follows will be a let-down after, so we’ll see how it feels with and without – I personally think it will be very strong to end with the showstopper as all plot points are tied up in that scene and go straight to the bows and reprise of the opening song. It was a really productive day and a fun one, too, as they’ve all been, thanks to a very game and positive cast. And I’m sure FJL will be happy to know that Lance Guest and I have talked about The Last Starfighter musical quite a bit.
Our general manager brought in Dino’s Pizza as a treat for the cast – I wasn’t going to eat any, but, you know, that was not possible, so I had what in essence was about a quarter of a piece of pepperoni pizza – mighty fine it was, too. We wrapped at five and I moseyed on over to the Hills of Woodland for a Ruth’s Chris dinner with Sami and her mom. It was, as always, great and VERY filling. I had my little salad, Sami and I shared a shrimp cocktail, and we shared lobster mac-and-cheese and they had some au gratin potatoes. I was, as they say, stuffed to the damn gills.
After that, I came home and answered e-mails and stuff. I wasn’t in the mood to watch anything, so it was more Shostakovich – I got through the symphonies and this box set had two complete discs of orchestral music I’ve never heard – quite delightfully delightful if I do say so myself, which I do,
Today I’ll be at rehearsal at eleven. I gave our musical director an hour yesterday at the end of the day, so today we jump right in and I begin assembling the show, or connecting the dots. I start with scene one, watch, make any adjustments and clean ups I feel it needs, then make sure the scene change has been set and make sure the transition works into the next scene. And so it goes until we get to the end. I’m hoping we can get that done by two – if we do, we’ll then take a twenty minute break and after that we will begin a rough go-through of the show, start to finish, without many stops. I think some of our designers may stop by to see what we’re up to. After we’re done I’m sure some of us will go grab a bite to eat nearby, perhaps the Coral Café or Mucho Mas.
Tomorrow is our day off. I have to meet two actors at LACC, then have a work session with Kay Cole and John Boswell for Kay’s act, then I head right over to meet dear readers Jane and Jeanne for a meal at a delicatessen. So, not exactly a day off.
Tuesday we’re back in rehearsals for the musical. We’ll drill music for an hour, then work any problems, then do a run-through, after which I’ll do detail work on whatever scenes need them. After that, we begin rehearsals for Dial ‘M’ for Murder. The first two hours of the evening will be spent getting the script in order, then I’ll probably get right to staging the first scene. One of the reasons I chose Dial ‘M’ is because it’s a talking and sitting play – those can be fun and challenging and I look forward to seeing how we can keep it all natural and moving along without ever seeming static. The rest of the week right through Sunday is more of the same, every day and every evening. We have a designer run on Wednesday, I think, and one of the writers and the producer will be with us on Saturday to see what we’ve been up to. They already know that whatever comments they have about any aspect of the show have to be filtered through me. So, a busy week, but I suspect and hope it will be a fun one. Oh, and I have to finish choosing songs for the Kritzerland show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a rehearsal, assemble, do a rough run-through, sup, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have gotten the first pass staging and choreography finished in a mere five days.