Thursday, April 15, 2010

If I Had a Segway...

Rehearsal Day 16: Blocking and Burgers
Four Weeks Down.
21 Days to Go.

Last night wrapped up the fourth week of rehearsal and also wrapped up out schedule for blocking the show. We worked major scenes between the lovers, Bear (Jake Autizen) and Autumn (Madeline Chilese). This includes the Queen-esque rock ballad, "Sharing My Time With You." Cyra Polizzi, who will be playing the part of Ana the BusGirl joined us to add her gorgeous voice and hilarious backup singing to Maddy and Jake. Every scene between Bear and Autumn seems torn right from your favorite cheesy romance novel or soap opera (unless you watch All My Children. Because that's awesome. And if you do, you get a gold star in my book. But I digress...) and is so full of delicious, cheddar-y melodrama. Maddy and Jake kept pushing it more over the top as time went on, making their choices more specific and oh-so-wonderfully cliche.
There's a home for us baby!
Just hold on!

The dynamic between Bear and Autumn really came out after working the song and two other scenes where it is full-on melodrama. The stage pictures are hilarious and some of the specific movements, no matter how subtle, really make the scenes pop.
At the end of the night, the rest of the cast joined us to block a scene involving Autumn's creative powers with pitchers and soup. Having blocked and gone through literally every other scene in the show, it seemed almost too easy to get this one knocked out and in the books. With ample time left in our day, we plowed ahead and ran Act Two from the beginning to Anthony's song. When we ran the second half of this act on Monday, it seemed incredibly fast, but it is somehow even more so in the beginning of the act. The rhythms are essential to much of the dialogue and go by in the blink of an eye. We stumble through on Monday, and I think we will all be blown away, excited, and exhausted by the end of the night.

If you are interested in a dolly tour of Chicago, because you can't afford a Segway tour, Mr. Zagoren is now taking reservations.

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