I'll admit that I was (still am) completely new to show business so I really had no idea how the process was supposed to go that ends in a polished performance before an appropriately impressed audience. I had some preconceived notions picked up from reading and from watching "plays of plays" but nothing concrete.
It was therefore somewhat unnerving and disconcerting to me to see bits and pieces of the play (specific scenes or parts of scenes, musical numbers, etc.) being practiced with no particular regard to their sequence in the play. And, of course, for expedience sake, not every actor needs to be at ever rehearsal. That would be a colossal waste of time for most of the cast. In addition to appreciating that time off I also appreciated how much extra time is spent by the director and accompanist. But the drawback is that I had not seen a majority of the play until this week.
For the past four evenings, Jan, the Director, has been taking the troupe through the play from start to finish. We haven't gone at "play speed" but rather taken the time to stop, fix trouble spots, go through a scene more than once if necessary. Musical and dance numbers have been worked on especially hard. But generally everything has been done in sequence this week contrary to previous weeks' rehearsals.
And the results are impressive. One can actually see the pieces coming together. One can see that the things that are right far outnumber the things that aren't quite where they need to be. As a novice, I'm beginning to realize how outclassed I am with actors that have been doing this for years and dancers who actually know their right foot from their left. And I'm wondering more and more whether this was a good idea after all. I don't even know how to interpret stage directions such as "Arnold, you need to act LARGER". What does that mean?
Meanwhile the set and scenery arises around us almost as if by magic. Next week we add lighting and props and costumes. Will we be ready by a week from tomorrow?
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