Monday Schedule:
Work Act I
Tonight’s rehearsal took us through the entire first act without the pressure of a run- through. It was very helpful to work through all the different transitions and scenes with
comments from the director interjected. I met with Gary previously to work through some of the choreography of Color and Light. We smoothed out certain areas and then went on to add movement to Sunday in the Park with George. The basic movement that he added was an operatic poise with two shoulder pops at “Well if you want bread”, two modeling poises with hands on hips for the pause, a right leg extension on “expression” and a slide in on “affection”, and finally a left hand sweeping gesture for swans. I feel much better having something set there and the movements felt very natural.
Once in rehearsal with the whole company, we spent the first hour of the rehearsal working out the different nuances of movement for the final scene of Sunday; however my movements did not change at all. It was good to sing through it though and be able to work on the connection and fascination with George and with Louis. It is amazing how telling that moment is when her attention is diverted from George to Louis and Marie and back to George again.
When we started the actual work through, I was surprisingly confident to try to connect more with the acting and motivation at the expense of the technical side of the production. John gave Michael and me that note in a previous rehearsal and I will try to fulfill that. It just seems quite weird when I want to be getting everything right. I have to divorce myself of that mentality at this stage in the process and concentrate on working through the objectives of the scenes and
lyrics and songs.
I could technically write my entire thesis on Color and Light. If I am truly leaning towards the actor’s process in relationship to pointillism, this song/scene has a wealth of
information and could very well be the basis of this theory. The amount of things that I have to combine in this song is absurd. While brainstorming I came up with (and later on in my thesis I will spend an entire chapter on analyzing this selection through a chart of all the layers that create this song):
Accompaniment – mirroring pointillist characteristics Text – fragmented monologue
Melody – Pitches with unclear references for the singer Movement – 1. Dab Powder 2. Powder Chest 3. Powder Arms 4. Dab Powder 5. Admire in Mirror 6. Dab Powder 7. Powder Face 8. Brush Hair 9. Examine Clothing 10. Tweeze Eyebrows 11. Follies Dance 12. File Nails 13. Perfume Spritz 14. Pin up Hair
15. Study face in mirror Emotions 1. Playfulness 2. Enjoyment 3. Excitement 4. Suspicion 5. Frustration 6. Happiness 7. Calm 8. Frantic 9. Doubt 10. Judgmental 11. Insecurity
12. Bewilderment 13. Desire 14. Fascination 15. Curiosity 16. Lust 17. Longing 18. Disbelief 19. Hurt 20. Anger
This song is so complex and very difficult for actress to combine all these elements into one scene with ease and enjoyment.
For the most part, the work-through felt like a run-through due to very little starting or stopping. I made all my entrances and exits without the help of my cheat sheet. Everybody Loves Louis went really well, because I was able to connect with the text and in doing so brought more physicality to the process. I had a very hard time connecting with We Do Not Belong Together for some reason tonight. I explored more of the anger side of the song which did not carry me towards the hurting side of this piece. For me personally, I will go to the hurt side before the anger side in real life. It takes a lot for the anger to finally kick in and once it is there, there is no turning back. Because I gravitated towards this choice in the piece first, it was somewhat impossible for me to revert to the hurt, broken state that Dot is obviously overtaken with in this piece. I really wish I could see myself on stage. It would inform so much about my acting. I hate the fact that I can never observe myself and see if my acting choices are reading correctly. I know that is why the director plays such a crucial role in the rehearsal process; however it would still be beneficial to be able to screen yourself.
Some notes that I received from Dr. Steve about the music are as follows: 1. “Pass” off on 4
2. “Park” off on 4 3. 2nd Pass of on 3
4. Clarify vowels on “on an ordinary”
5. Enjoy the safe place of the vanity in Color and Light
6. Don’t go too forward downstage during Everybody Loves Louis 7. Deliver the line “did someone carry you around” with a meaner tone. 8. Give more space before -
• Your Eyes George • Warm inside his Eyes
• Seems we never know, do we. 9. More emphasis on “George”
10. Match the voice quality on “And I need” to “Someone”
11. Place the punctuation on “No one is me. We do not belong together.”
12. Make the silence before “I have to move on” more definitive and stronger by raising the stakes