All in all we had a pretty decent rehearsal last night. Overall pacing was much better than it was last week, but we still drag in spots, the most noticeable of which are the two roadkill scenes. All you really need to do there is shorten the pauses between each line, and it should be fine. The "effort" you use to deliver your lines perfectly conveys the discomfort you are feeling, which is the general purpose of the scene.
Many of you asked about the light that's always on in the cellar hallway. What I'm going to do is to add either a blue light or a very dim incandescent light so that we can see a little bit of the cellar when the bulb is supposedly burned out. I'm going to add a brighter light that will come on once George has fixed the bulb. That will likely be controlled by Julie upstairs, but I may actually tie it to the light switch so Mitch can flip the switch in that scene and have the light come on.
Before I get to individual notes, thanks to everyone for their flexibility with arriving earlier, rehearsing later and working with both Liz and Olivia last night. It was really helpful! I think tonight should be have a better rhythm, and I know that will help everyone.
Line notes will be coming today as soon as I get them from Cheryl, so keep an eye on your email for those.
For my Chelseys: Don't forget to move to the front door near the end of scene 2 so you can open it for everyone. That movement should happen as soon as Mamie Jo says "Let's watch the sunset..."
Also make sure when George is talking to you near the fireplace (after you get the dog, but before you sit in the little chair) that you are a bit upstage of George so that you can cheat out and face the audience. Doesn't have to be significant; we just don't want the left side of the house to see your back for so long.
For Andrew: Make sure we can see you stuff the suitcase into Mitch's gut ("Oh Mamie, you shouldn't be carrying that."). It may have just been my seat, but as I recall, the handoff happened where I couldn't see it. I've got an idea for that that I'd like to try tonight. Hopefully someone who reads the blog today will remind me of it before rehearsal so we can see if it works.
For Mamie Jo: I loved that you had to come back and reappear on the stairway landing to say "Well, he's YOUR brother!" when you and Margaret are leaving near the end of scene 2. It looked great!
For Mitch: Try toning down the mimicking of George's moose head re-enactment. I think you can get pretty wild on the shotgun blasts, but other than that, try to make it more of a silent recital of his diatribe with some simpler motions.
For Margaret, Joanne and Gloria:: All of your blocking looked really good last night (except when Joanne gets covered by George in front of the couch; but hopefully we fixed that last night). Focus tonight on making sure you get your lines in at the right spot. Cheryl and I will try to catch those times when someone walks on your line so that we can fix those trouble spots before we open.
For Richard: When you and Mitch are sitting on the sofa in Scene 1 (p. 12 after Mitch comes out of the cellar), try to start moving towards the door as you say "Stop it! You're killing me!" That allows Mitch's next line to be delivered more as an aside that he probably would not want you to overhear. It also gets us to Mitch and Joanne's exchange about the laughing academy a little faster too.
Also, Make sure that you are laughing at the end of your first set of lines that open Act 2 (right after "...casket and all."). Mitch's Chinese water torture line should be over your laughter. Otherwise, it looks like you stopped so he can say his line.
Next, let's try to speed up the parts in the will reading where you're showing things to Mamie Jo and Margaret. I don't mind you flipping pages for effect, but this is one spot where I don't mind you adlibbing the page number as long as the end of the line is intact so that nobody misses a cue line.
Finally, GREAT JOB on reading Rafe's letter. I meant to tell you that last week. I know it's coming and I still tear up when you deliver those lines.
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