Well, dear readers, it is Thanksgiving. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is Thanksgiving and I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the rain on the roof go pit-pit-a-pat. I’d like it better if the rain on the roof were going pat-a-pit-pit or even a-pit-pit-pat, but nooooo, the rain on the roof is going pit-pit-a-pat and that’s all there is to it. In any case, it is Thanksgiving and I am hereby giving thanks for Thanksgiving, kind of a reciprocal thing.
Last night, we had our run-through. Before we began, I cleaned up then entrance of our leading man – we can’t really do it properly as the library from whence he enters has barely enough room for his wheelchair. So, I re-blocked one character, who is strategically placed so the audience now cannot see into the library or off-stage area and it will work perfectly and gives him a proper entrance. Then I cleaned up two other small things and we began act one. I’d already decided that the mess that’s indicated in the change from act one’s scene one into scene two was going away – it really doesn’t buy us anything and I can now do that change in about fifteen seconds and since I’m beginning each act with a snippet of a radio broadcast which will tell us the time frame and then have a snippet of a Christmas song – so that happens between scene one and two now and it will all go very fast and very smooth. I think because of it, we took another minute off that act – now forty-six minutes. One more minute and I’ll be thrilled.
Act two was the smoothest it’s been. I’d given our leading man some very specific notes and boy did he embrace them and was really good, despite fighting hoarseness due to his cold. But it’s still nine minutes too long and I know exactly where it has to speed up – and we’re excising one of Whiteside’s celebrity phone calls that really isn’t funny enough to include and which slows things down to a crawl. That will take a minute or more off the run-time.
Act three ran its usual twenty-eight minutes, so still three minutes to shave off that run-time in an ideal world. And we’ll do that because it felt slow to me. I took notes and will send them tomorrow via e-mail, but I was pretty pleased with everything. After, because we wrapped at nine-thirty (we began at around seven-fifteen and had our two breaks so we really are getting closer), I was able to clean up a few things at the end of the show. So, still work to do, but this is a marvelously hard-working cast and I think they’re finally starting to get the hang of having fun on our fun-throughs.
The rain on the roof is now going plink-plank-a-plunk, just because it can. I’d prefer if the rain on the roof were going plunk-a-plink plank, but that’s just me being me. After rehearsal, I came right home and had some Cheetos.
Prior to all that, I got just about eight hours of sleep, did the usual morning things, then went to the mail place and picked up a DGA screener called Booksmart and a couple of small packages. I’m told that another DGA member got two others, so I suppose we’ll get those – they were probably there and hadn’t gone through them yet. I got a Subway spicy Eyetalian foot-long for my main meal o’ the day, came home and ate it all up, whilst doing some work on the computer and listening to music. Then I shaved and showered and moseyed on over to the theater. The rest you know.
Today, I will absolutely sleep in however long that may be, then I’ll watch one of the DGA screeners, then if I’m feeling my oats or my oats are feeling me, then I’ll mosey on over for Thanksgiving dinner at the Pearls. Then I’ll come home and perhaps watch another screener.
Tomorrow, I’ll be at the theater early to run light cues and looks, and I’m hoping that we can then run the show with a light-over. Saturday, some actors are going in earlier than our start time to get fitted, and then at three I have to clean up just one or two more things, and then we’ll do run-through number one with lighting. Then we’ll have a proper hour break, and then clean-up any problems, then we’ll do our second run-through. My plan is to hopefully be done by nine at the latest, but I suppose it might be ten – but nine is my goal. Sunday is the exact same schedule but hopefully with costumes for the final run-through of that day. Monday we’re off, and then Tuesday we play an invited dress rehearsal, Wednesday and Thursday are previews, and Friday we open.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, sleep in, watch a screener, attend a Thanksgiving dinner, watch another screener, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What is your most favorite Thanksgiving memory? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happily giving thanks for Thanksgiving.