THE REHEARSAL PROCESS

The process of preparing a show in rehearsal is a mystery to most people. Books have been written about going "from page to stage" Each process is different, and is often mysterious even to those involved.

Jeff Mason, who will be playing Jed in ISU Theatre's production of 5th of July opening October 3 has agreed to write about his journey during rehearsals Perhaps other members of the cast will also offer insight.

Here is Jeff's first post:

September 3
Well we've just completed our 2nd night of blocking and things are going great! We spent last week in table work slowly making our way through the script. New discoveries were made every night and we were all very ready to get started this week. Last night, as with most first nights on our feet, started a little awkward but we kept going. It was a very different experience for everyone to come in with our lines mostly memorized. This already has made a huge difference in our process. We were able to begin playing on our first night. Tonight was a little slower. We blocked out the most physical scene in the entire play. Obviously this took quite awhile, but now its done and we still have roughly 4 weeks. That's all for now!

September 10
Tuesday night we finished blocking the entire show, and we did it a day ahead of schedule. There are a few rough spots in Act 2 that we didn't get to block as well as we would like but there's always time for that tonight. Yesterday I had a fitting and got to see one of my outfits that Doris made. It is absolutely gorgeous. Eventhough its 70s-tastic I almost want to take it home with me. Monday we start in Fisher already, this process is going fast!

September 14
We're in Fisher!! Tonights rehearsal went a little long because whenever you throw in something new to the rehearsal mix everything feels different. So tonight we only made it through about 10 pages. That being said, now we can start nailing down a few things since we are in the performance space. I'm really starting to see these characters now, with of course, a little pushing from Brad. I just looked at the calendar and we're less than 3 weeks! Exciting and Scary! Thats all folks

September 17
Tonight we finished going through act one and got a good way into act two. This week we've been working our way through the show and stopping and starting as we need to. Friday we run the show for the first time. Everyone is pretty much off book and we have really been focusing on listening to what is being said and reacting to it because that is what will truly make this show come alive. For me there is a lot of that! I am on stage throughout most of the show and yet I don't have a huge amount of lines. So far this week has been a huge lesson in maintaining a dialogue with the cast but not actually saying anything. Its really tough at times to maintain that kind of focus. Only one more week before tech!

September 19
Last night we had an amazing rehearsal. We only had to go through the last ten pages of the show so we could really take our time and work through it. We've started warming up by just saying lines from the play to each other and it has really helped to get us into the world of the play. I'm a sucker for ending moments and boy does this play have one! I won't tell you exactly what happened but by the end of the night Brad, Don, and I all had tears in our eyes. Tonight is our first run through and next week we begin running an act every night. The set is coming together nicely and that is only helping us.

September 23
Last night our rehearsal began very slow and sluggish. About 15 minutes in Brad stopped us and we did a few warm-ups to get us energized. We started the 2nd act over and there was a huge difference! This was definately one of our best rehearsals. We were all having fun and making alot of new choices. It was a great night. We have tonight off, then 3 more rehearsals and its our first tech.