Community Theatre — Hospitality

April 10th, 2013

Community theatre, rehearsal and performance

Well, I had another weak moment like the one mentioned in my December blog. Not only do we have the Missoula Community Theatre but several other community theatres as well as budding playwrights. The university of Montana has “The Missoula Colony: A Gathering of Artists in Support of the Writer’s Craft,” which fosters a place for aspiring playwrights to try out their plays. Missoula is a wonderful place for theatre.

Anyway, eight days before the opening of a new play called Hospitality, still in re-writes, I received a frantic call about stepping in to play the elderly, very crazy and weird Aunt Martha. Their original actress had quit. Could I say “No”? Absolutely not. The show must go on. I went to the rehearsal that night, did a cold reading without a complete script and was immediately accepted into this wonderful family.

My next order of business was to get the whole script and start memorizing the 8 out of 11 scenes. This character talks a lot, has three monologues, and sometimes her lines come from nowhere — just interesting interjections, not easy for an ‘older’ mind to grasp.

We have had three performances and have three more this week. I have managed to get through each night, forgetting a line here and there but everyone has rallied around and helped me out. The play has been very well received. It is a story about relationships between sisters and how important place is to one’s heritage. I personally think it is very good. It is quite funny, with my character supplying most of the humor, but it is rooted in love of family and the land. The role of Aunt Martha is a dream come true to an old character actress. I just wish had had more time to develop the character.

So what have I learned from this production? Several very important things. One, before I go on-stage I need quiet time, to go over lines in my head and get myself ready to perform. Another has to do with the rehearsal process. As I wasn’t a part of the original cast who had been working since January, I didn’t know the show. I always, as an actress, have bemoaned the rehearsal of scenes over and over — well, no more. As an actor you need to know the essence of a scene and it needs to become natural. I know I should have come to that realization years ago, but I didn’t. As a director, I had no problem with it, but we are never too old to learn. And finally, the last and most important thing I learned was what I say in the Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide, page 93, Chapter 9 Off-Book Rehearsals.

This was our director’s first directorial debut. He is an accomplished actor and singer, great to work with on-stage but didn’t, or wouldn’t, put his foot down on memorizing lines. At my first rehearsal, one week before we opened, the actors were still asking for lines! I couldn’t believe it. During subsequent rehearsals they still asked for lines! Finally on Monday, three days before we opened, we all had to sail through. I had gotten most of the scenes done but still carried a book on several of them. Please, please, and again please do not allow your actors to carry books/ask for cues past the 3^rd week of rehearsal. If you continue to allow your actors to rely on cues, your play will become a play about cues and no story telling and/or characterization will happen.

Community Theatre — Hospitality

April 10th, 2013

Community theatre, rehearsal and performance

Well, I had another weak moment like the one mentioned in my December blog. Not only do we have the Missoula Community Theatre but several other community theatres as well as budding playwrights. The university of Montana has “The Missoula Colony: A Gathering of Artists in Support of the Writer’s Craft,” which fosters a place for aspiring playwrights to try out their plays. Missoula is a wonderful place for theatre.

Anyway, eight days before the opening of a new play called Hospitality, still in re-writes, I received a frantic call about stepping in to play the elderly, very crazy and weird Aunt Martha. Their original actress had quit. Could I say “No”? Absolutely not. The show must go on. I went to the rehearsal that night, did a cold reading without a complete script and was immediately accepted into this wonderful family.

My next order of business was to get the whole script and start memorizing the 8 out of 11 scenes. This character talks a lot, has three monologues, and sometimes her lines come from nowhere — just interesting interjections, not easy for an ‘older’ mind to grasp.

We have had three performances and have three more this week. I have managed to get through each night, forgetting a line here and there but everyone has rallied around and helped me out. The play has been very well received. It is a story about relationships between sisters and how important place is to one’s heritage. I personally think it is very good. It is quite funny, with my character supplying most of the humor, but it is rooted in love of family and the land. The role of Aunt Martha is a dream come true to an old character actress. I just wish I had had more time to develop the character.

So what have I learned from this production? Several very important things. One, before I go on-stage I need quiet time, to go over lines in my head and get myself ready to perform. Another has to do with the rehearsal process. As I wasn’t a part of the original cast who had been working since January, I didn’t know the show. I always, as an actress, have bemoaned the rehearsal of scenes over and over — well, no more. As an actor you need to know the essence of a scene and it needs to become natural. I know I should have come to that realization years ago, but I didn’t. As a director, I had no problem with it, but we are never too old to learn. And finally, the last and most important thing I learned was what I say in the Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide, page 93, Chapter 9 Off-Book Rehearsals.

This was our director’s first directorial debut. He is an accomplished actor and singer, great to work with on-stage but didn’t, or wouldn’t, put his foot down on memorizing lines. At my first rehearsal, one week before we opened, the actors were still asking for lines! I couldn’t believe it. During subsequent rehearsals they still asked for lines! Finally on Monday, three days before we opened, we all had to sail through. I had gotten most of the scenes done but still carried a book on several of them. Please, please, and again please do not allow your actors to carry books/ask for cues past the 3^rd week of rehearsal. If you continue to allow your actors to rely on cues, your play will become a play about cues and no story telling and/or characterization will happen.

To see a review of the play Hospitality in the Missoula Independent, click here.

Community Theatre — Hospitality

April 10th, 2013

Community theatre, rehearsal and performance

Well, I had another weak moment like the one mentioned in my December blog. Not only do we have the Missoula Community Theatre but several other community theatres as well as budding playwrights. The university of Montana has “The Missoula Colony: A Gathering of Artists in Support of the Writer’s Craft,” which fosters a place for aspiring playwrights to try out their plays. Missoula is a wonderful place for theatre.

Anyway, eight days before the opening of a new play called Hospitality, still in re-writes, I received a frantic call about stepping in to play the elderly, very crazy and weird Aunt Martha. Their original actress had quit. Could I say “No”? Absolutely not. The show must go on. I went to the rehearsal that night, did a cold reading without a complete script and was immediately accepted into this wonderful family.

My next order of business was to get the whole script and start memorizing the 8 out of 11 scenes. This character talks a lot, has three monologues, and sometimes her lines come from nowhere — just interesting interjections, not easy for an ‘older’ mind to grasp.

We have had three performances and have three more this week. I have managed to get through each night, forgetting a line here and there but everyone has rallied around and helped me out. The play has been very well received. It is a story about relationships between sisters and how important place is to one’s heritage. I personally think it is very good. It is quite funny, with my character supplying most of the humor, but it is rooted in love of family and the land. The role of Aunt Martha is a dream come true to an old character actress. I just wish I had had more time to develop the character.

So what have I learned from this production? Several very important things. One, before I go on-stage I need quiet time, to go over lines in my head and get myself ready to perform. Another has to do with the rehearsal process. As I wasn’t a part of the original cast who had been working since January, I didn’t know the show. I always, as an actress, have bemoaned the rehearsal of scenes over and over — well, no more. As an actor you need to know the essence of a scene and it needs to become natural. I know I should have come to that realization years ago, but I didn’t. As a director, I had no problem with it, but we are never too old to learn. And finally, the last and most important thing I learned was what I say in the Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide, page 93, Chapter 9 Off-Book Rehearsals.

This was our director’s first directorial debut. He is an accomplished actor and singer, great to work with on-stage but didn’t, or wouldn’t, put his foot down on memorizing lines. At my first rehearsal, one week before we opened, the actors were still asking for lines! I couldn’t believe it. During subsequent rehearsals they still asked for lines! Finally on Monday, three days before we opened, we all had to sail through. I had gotten most of the scenes done but still carried a book on several of them. Please, please, and again please do not allow your actors to carry books/ask for cues past the 3^rd week of rehearsal. If you continue to allow your actors to rely on cues, your play will become a play about cues and no story telling and/or characterization will happen.

To see a review of the play Hospitality in the Missoula Independent, click here.