Much Ado About Nothing: it's looking like a show!

A lot of things were accomplished this past week with the show, and it's starting to look like one now. People are either off book or close to being so. I'm getting costumes finalized with the director. Everyone is delving into their characters and having fun (at least they are when it's not 90+ degrees during an outside rehearsal).

Monday was hard core scene work with one of my scenes (1:3).  It was the first time Angie had Kevin and I work it since Matt came in for the Shakespeare workshop. She had us go through it once, then asked us questions and gave us things to think about. We then broke the scene down and went through it again.  After that, she broke it down even further, and we went line by line to find the emphasis, juicy words, inflection, meaning, etc. It was great - I love digging into a text like that and really understanding it.  I feel that it's important too, especially for Shakespeare. So Kevin and I worked out that scene. Then I worked a bit with Gavin on 3:3. At this point, I feel that the latter is the weaker one of the two.  Kevin is easy to play with and try new things.  It's different with Gavin.  I don't want to arrive at a "rehearsed" feeling, but I'm not sure how to keep playing when my partner does the same thing almost every time.  At least it's making me think about my own acting, and how I can be a good scene partner to others. Oh - and it was extremely buggy outside on Monday.

Wednesday was a later call time, and the cast worked through 2:1.  It's the masked ball scene.  Choreography had already been started, so we reviewed and taught the people who hadn't been there the first time. We then worked it from the top of the scene up until where we had stopped the dance.  Angie is pleased with how that's looking, so it's encouraging.  Note to self: whatever costumes the cast is wearing during that scene need to be moveable and comfortable.

Saturday was our longest day yet. Since we're performing our show outside, we had to build the stage.  Fourth Room Theatre still had their platforms from last year, but we needed to raise them to specific heights: 16", 12", and 8". We met a little after 9a and brought everything out of the barn, then spent 1.5 hours screwing the legs on and positioning the platforms for the show. It's going to be really neat.  I had an idea of angling a couple of the platforms, so they weren't flush edge-on-edge, and Angie really liked the look.  We had a bit of a break and then were back for rehearsal at 12:30.  Fawn worked through the remaining choreography for the dance, then taught Kevin and I a bit for our scene together. It really adds to our characters and their relationship. Once Fawn was done with the choreography, we ran the show from the top and got through almost the whole thing. Energy was down because of the work morning, high humidity, and bugs. So the plus side is that we stumbled through.  Negative side is that it wasn't pretty.  But I feel that's normal for the first time in the space.  And we still have almost 3 weeks till we open. Angie isn't worried from what I can tell.

Today Angie and I met at the Coralville Center for Performing Arts to look through City Circle's costumes. We've gotten a lot figured out already with the items she pulled from Iowa City Community Theatre. We went in looking for some specific clothing pieces and accessories and found some ties, gloves, hats, a couple outfits, and shirts.  So our collection is growing! It's fun to see everything coming together.  I really do love costumes.  And vintage pieces make me really happy.

Oh - forgot to say that we've been hanging posters around the area.  I took some to North Liberty, and I hope they pique peoples' interests. It's hard, though.  I've been brain-storming different marketing and PR things for the show, just because I want people to know we're doing this.  I mean, it's not a matter of ticket sales and making the show worth our while.  We're doing this for free for the community.  We want people to come and have an enjoyable evening. That's why I want so many people to know about this. In working with so many community theatres over the years, I've noticed a lack of good marketing and PR.  Maybe I should think about a minor...

Anyway! That's all folks! Until next time,
~ Noel