Well, dear readers, no matter how long I’ve been directing and staging, and I’ve been doing that for about fifty-something years now, the first staging/blocking rehearsal always terrifies me. After five minutes, however, I’m back in the saddle again and having a great time. Last night we blocked the opening of the show (just four lines of dialogue) and then the opening number. I did know the basics of how I wanted to do it, but not the specifics. I spent the first twenty minutes experimenting with which of two ways to go, I chose the second, and from there on it was just getting from point A to point B, and so on and so forth and so forth and so on. I got finished in about an hour and then we ran it quite a few times. It’s still rough, of course, but I think it’s going to work really well. There’s a fast-paced middle section that I did the basics of, but now I really have to clean it up and make it very specific. We took a little break, then I did the next little scene, which is basically just a set-up to the scene that immediately follows. I gave several little comic bits to various people as we moved along. Then we have what is really the first scene of the show within the show and I did that, the leading lady’s entrance, and her song, which involves her and the rest of the cast. The staging is simple as can be, but they’re all struggling with the song itself, so I had them stand at the piano and run it a few times, then we did it on its feet a few more times. And that was it for our first night of staging. I asked everyone to please go over everything in their minds and everything we did was written down. Anyway, it was fun and I think everyone had a good time.
Yesterday was, well, something or other. I did get eight hours of sleep, so that was good. Once up, I answered e-mails, had a Zoom with our costume designer, then moseyed on over to Bea-Bea’s café for a lunch with Robert Yacko. I had a grilled cheese, bacon, and avocado sandwich and onion rings. It was good, but they make the grilled bread way too garlicky for my taste. Also, I’m not sure the avocado worked with the cheese and bacon. Anyway, hadn’t seen Robert in a while so we had fun catching up. After that, I came home, did some stuff on the computer, prepped a bit, and then sat on my couch and dozed off for about forty minutes.
Then I got ready and moseyed on over to the theater. The rest you know and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven or so, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll eat, I’ll have a Zoom with David Wechter, then I’ll relax until it’s time to m mosey on over to the theater, where we’ll review what we did, clean up, and the move on. I’m hoping to get two or three more scenes done and a couple more numbers. We’ll see how it goes. Then I’ll come home and watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is more of the same, Thursday is, too, Friday I have a lunch meeting, and Saturday is a rehearsal.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven or so, do whatever needs doing, eat, have a Zoom, review what we did and then keep going forward, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be back in the saddle again.