2006-09-25 - 10:11 p.m.
Something that rarely happens to me. I'm a pro. An old hand at this. But I was nervous. Really nervous. And we haven't even opened yet.
It was last week, wednesday. We've been rehearsing this show since...the 5th or so, so a solid two weeks by that point. On the first day of rehearsal, i was promoted. Someone else dropped out of the show, and I got the role of butch honeywell, the foreman of the jury. Mostly he just sits there, but he closes the show by talking to a catatonic Judas for five or so straight pages. No response from judas makes this, you guessed it, a five page monologue, which is a long friggin' time to talk. and it's a really good piece, so i was ecstatic.
Then I spent the next 2 weeks sitting there while the rest of the show was rehearsed. and no one ever said anything to me, bless them, but i began to get a sense that i was being sized up. I wasn't the original selection for this part, and i wasn't really doing much acting during the rehearsals (the jury was mostly called nightly for the main cast to have someone to actually talk to during testimonies) and i began to get feel like they were wondering if i was really any good. "Is he right for the role, or is he just a band-aid, only there cause there's no one else to play the part?" Like i said, no one ever said anything, and everyone was really friendly to me, which was nice, because a lot of them are regulars at this theatre who already know each other, so i was a new guy in many senses of the word. One night we got up to my part, but then we stopped because the director felt it wouldn't be fair to me to make me run it in that situation, w hich i understand, but only served to increase my tension. It's a challenging part. So i got to spend my sunday off in a 3 hour one on one rehearsal with the director.
THen on wednesday we did act 2 and i finally got to do the piece, in front of the entire cast. And it went well. Not perfect, by any means, but good. And it felt like i was auditioning to the rest of the cast to prove that my work was good enough to stand with the things the other guys were doing (this show, unlike many i've been in recently is GOOD. with GOOD, talented actors doing good work. it's totally worth seeing, even if youdon't see a ton of me. hint, hint)
I made a couple people cry, but i think they were just being nice to me. so yeah, i was nervous going in, but i feel much better now. my work is good enough, and everyone knows it. more importantly, i know it.
still getting the jitters a bit, though. preview is tomorrow, formal opening is wednesday. shows are wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday this week, and friday, saturday, and sunday the weeks after that. sundays are 2:30 matinees, friday and saturday are 8pm, the other days are 7;30. don't expect to see much of me till this time next week or so.
This time though, it' sjust your standard opening night jitters, which are gonna turn into something akin to...i dunno...
Peaches and Dynamite
when it's time for me to do my thing.
this is the kind of experience i got into this for. now if only they could all be like this.
My public awaits.
Ken
Yeah, i know this entry sucked and i shoulda written it last week, but i've had no free time in 3 weeks, either. I had to get this off my chest before we actually started our run, or it would no longer be relevant. Something akin to a lot of chest-thumping and crowing about how awesome i am will be int he next one, so you can at least get a laugh out of that.
Hello, good-bye
Higher you fly
Into the world
I awoke
This mornin', with pourin' rain in my heart
As I fall apart today
But you make your way
And I'll rise
I will rise if in my mind
But I can see you fly away
I can see the sun upon your face
I can feel your heart and I can hear you cry
And as I fall apart I learn to fly
A dirty bird like me will learn to fly
Hello, good-bye
Two birds hover inside of a heart factory
Holding on to recovery
Fly away or repaired and preparing to go on your way
And I know I'm on my own
But you make your way
And I'll rise
I will rise if in my mind
But I can see you fly away
I can see the sun upon your face
I can feel your heart and I can hear you cry
And as I fall apart I learn to fly
A dirty bird like me will learn to fly
Fly
And everything that I love you for remains
High above the clouds and the cleansing rains
You make your way
And I will rise if in my mind
You make your way
You make your way
But I can see you fly away
I can see the sun upon your face
I can feel your heart and I can hear you cry
A dirty bird like me will learn to fly
�
