first week of rehearsals!

so my effort to keep up with my blog has apparently failed this past month. but good news! I'm back to a bunch of hard work in the theatre! it feels great to be back and spending so much of my time working on our next production. the play is called "You Can't Take It With You", a comedy written in the 1930's by Kaufman and Hart. here is a plot synopsis of the play that I found online:

"At first the Sycamores seem mad, but it is not long before you realize that if they are mad, then the rest of the world is madder. In contrast to these delightful people are the unhappy Kirbys. Tony, the attractive young son of the Kirbys, falls in love with Alice Sycamore and brings his parents to dine at the Sycamore house on the wrong evening. The shock sustained by Mr. and Mrs. Kirby, who are invited to eat cheap food, shows Alice that marriage with Tony is out of the question. The Sycamores find it hard to realize Alice's view. Tony knows the Sycamores live the right way with love and care for each other, while his own family is the one that's crazy."

my character, Alice, has been quite interesting to play. on some levels, I feel like I am very closely connected to Alice, and on other levels she is nothing like me. I can't wait to continue developing her character in rehearsals. the great thing about rehearsals is being able to constantly explore and discover new things about the character you are portraying!

I have to say that I am extremely excited about this play. we have a very talented cast and a hilarious script. there is one downside, however. we open in four and a half weeks! the pre-production process of this show is going to be VERY short and I feel like before I know it this play will be another one for the history books. right now I am in the middle of trying to memorize lines which always seems to be a challenge in the midst of trying to complete all my other school work. however, one method I learned from a fellow actor has been very helpful! I wrote down all of my cue lines (the line right before your own is said) on one side of a note card, and my line on the other. these not cards are a great way to test yourself, as well as familiarize yourself with other lines in the play. I highly recommend it! writing the notecards themselves is definitely time consuming, but worth it in the end. I am going to try and memorize all of Act I, Scene I as well as Act I, Scene II before tomorrow night's rehearsal, but this is how many lines that is...


time to get to work!

p.s. pictures of our awesome set and rehearsal photos to come soon! (hopefully)