Day 10: Cozy Shawls and Breaking Character

Tuesday's rehearsal was...well, I don't even know how to describe it. There was a lot going on, to be sure.

When I got there, Mrs. Micki had a shawl for me to wear during the run through to see if it would work. It's a pretty cool shawl, people. It really kind of helped me get into my character easier.

We kind of improvised the new opening scene that I'm in, but that's okay, because we're still working on that. Then I tried to sit and study my lines, but it's hard for me to focus when people are talking; even if they're on stage. So I went outside so I could have a little quite and say my lines out loud, rather than trying to just mouth them to stay quiet inside.

I went back inside to see if Katie would run lines with me, but Mrs. Jacque was giving notes so I just sat down and got a comfy. The shawl was taking it's effect. It wasn't warm in the studio, but the shawl was really comfortable, and honestly, I fell asleep for a little bit. Haha! I don't know if anyone noticed, but that doesn't usually happen to me! ... Fortunately, I'm not a deep sleeper, so I woke up when Mrs. Jacque was done giving notes, and I asked Katie if she would run lines with me.

We went outside, and decided to run hers first, because her scene was next. Maddie joined us because she was in the same scene as Katie. We ran the lines, then went back inside.

The scene spurred one unforgettable stage outtake, so to speak. Gabe and Kay have a scene where they're supposed to eat ravenously and continuously-to music. Unfortunately, they don't have music for it yet, so they were just improvising. Gabe has the cue line for them to stop, but after about 30 or 45 seconds of their eating, Kay pipes up and, in character, yells "I think we're done!" We all lost it, and both Kay and Gabe broke character a little bit. I don't think that bit will be forgotten for a long time.

Tuesday, although quite amusing, was not our best rehearsal. The producer is coming to see it tonight! Hopefully we can step up our game and be perfect. ;)

~Ana

Day 9: Adding to the Story

You know how I've been saying I only have 10 lines, and I'm in about 5 minutes of the play? Well, that is now a false statement! I now have 17 lines! What?! Guys, this is the most lines I've ever, ever had in a play! I'm just a little bit ecstatic about this. I feel like I can add a lot more to my character now!

It is a little confusing though. I'm in the first scene, as myself, as my character, in a different time. Haha! In the end, too, I am myself, as my character, in a different time. Basically, I'm telling the story of Pinocchio as my character, going by a different name. Woe. It kind of adds a little bit to the story, knowing that it gets told as a sort of fairy tale or legend later on. {{if you're not following me at all, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get out my thoughts!}}

That's what I found out on my 9th day of rehearsals. =)

~Ana

Day 8: Cameras in the Corner

Yesterday was our first rehearsal off book. I will be the first to say that I did stumble over my lines a bit =P I'm working on it guys! It's okay. The reason we had to be off book was so that the understudies could see what we were doing without a piece of paper covering our faces the whole time. But here's the kicker--we were being recorded! I don't know about you, but I get kind of nervous when I'm being recorded. I feel like whatever I'm doing has to be absolutely perfect.

So, being off book, with understudies watching, and being recorded, I think we all kind of...got a little frazzled. The run through wasn't all that great. It was unfocused and the energy level was low. We ran it again, and tried to up our game. I think we did a little better the second time, but it's really not ready for the stage =P We have performances at the end of October! We can have it astoundingly perfect by then, right? Right? ....I hope so.

That's what happened last night.

Happy Friday the 13th. Be careful out there. ;)

~Ana

Day 7: Fooling Around

We're done blocking!!!! Yay! Now, we're going through all the scenes and getting in the details: how we should react, how we should stand, speak, move, and look at different points in a scene. This is the part in the rehearsal process that requires a ton of focus-- but, that's kind of difficult.

I got there earlier than I needed to, but that's okay (it's always good to be early in case the director needs you for something, or just to get some extra time if you're caught in traffic.). I did some math homework while I was waiting for my scene. It was rather difficult, because the events taking place on stage was more than a little amusing. They were using fake bread rolls for wood, it was quite humorous. Next to me, Sam and Ben were talking monologues, and Sam was reading one of them out loud. I didn't know they were reading monologues because I was so ensconced in my math homework. Everything would have been fine...if Sam hadn't have started professing his love for Ben. It was from the monologue, I promise! But the way he was reading it made it seem...real (Props to you Sam, you wonderful actor, you.). As soon as I realized he was just reading, I was fine, but I was worried for a second. Haha!

Later, we were rehearsing my scene, but Madison, Moriah and I were technically on pause while our three little boy actors (appropriatley dubbed FOG [characters Feliciano, Orsino, and Gavino. Get it?]) worked through a rather difficult scene. Madison took to dancing with a stool, and, well, I don't remember what Moriah and I were talking about, but there was a lot of laughing.

This is indeed turning out to be quite an adventure. I don't have another rehearsal until October! Oh, no! But, I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out =D

Peace.

~Ana

Day 6: Prank Calling

Today's rehearsal was, in a word, eventful. We had a bit more dancing at the start, moved some flats and set pieces we didn't need, and eventually got into practicing the scenes. I sat through the first scene. I'm in the second scene, so I got through that as well...but soon after that, I felt a slight rumble in my tummy! What's that, tummy? I asked (Oh, and for those of you who don't know, I talk to various objects--frequently.). My tummy told me that I was hungry! What?! So I went to me car to get some food. Some oranges, and pretzels. Yay!

I sat outside and ate my pretzels happily outside. I guess people are drawn to the scent of pretzels. Well, not really, I offered it to them, but people just kept coming outside! It's not that any exciting conversations were going on, but suddenly Leah got a text message from somebody she didn't know! Gabe told her to call the person, but Leah thought that would be rude, so she just texted the person back asking who the person was. The person texted back presently, and it ended up being a person the Leah really didn't know.... So! Gabe decided to call the person! He dialed the number, and waited a really long time while the phone rang, then he talked to the person pretending that he was from Verizon tech support. It doesn't sound as funny writing it down, but it was freaking hilarious.

So, of course, after he did that call, we decided to have Gabe prank call other people. They were all people somebody knew, so they didn't qualify as crank calls =P. Gabe took us through a various assortment of characters: Joe the Verizon tech support guy, a German Model who drove a Volks Wagon down the highway, a Canadian dude- they all had us cracking up outside, eating pretzels, together. Haha! Especially since Gabe would go from one kind of character to another halfway through the call.

Yes. Eventful. =D

Read a book. They're like whole new worlds just waiting to be discovered by you.

~Ana

Day 5: Dancing....

Monday's rehearsal went on it's usual quirky way. Typical character development, status, focus, script analysis, dancing,- wait. What? Dancing? ...Yup. Dancing. Haha! Yippy....!

Brilliant Miss Katie is choreographing a dance for all the cast members to participate in. ALL of them. Even Mr. Dennis got his groove on! The dance isn't to do on stage, it's more like a warm up. A stress release. Well...it's just something fun and completely chaotic to do. Well, chaos is a big term. Well, sort of (I'm just gonna say 'well' a lot. I'm sounding like David Tennant! Woe.). I've always loved dancing. I was in ballet when I was really young, some jazz when I was a little older, and I did a lot of swing dancing in high school. This dance is gonna be spectacular when we all know it, but as of right now, well, it's kind of falling apart, and that's why it's so chaotic. After all, this is a group of actors, not dancers, we're talking about here. There's gonna be some confusion as to what a pivot is supposed to look like. It's definitely a working process. We got through a whole 23 seconds of the song we're doing! Whoop Whoop!

Have a cup of tea. Be happy. That's all.

Next rehearsal tomorrow.

~Ana

Day 4: Character Development

Developing a character is one of my favorite parts of being a play. It's like the journey of best friends.

1. You meet your character and you poke and prod to find out things about their past and their general interests. When I met Fare Madrina, I felt like I could be good friends with her-but my first impression was that she was a little sharp around the edges and a little hard to understand sometimes. So I poked and prodded at her to find out what was going on behind that fairy mind of hers.

2. As you hang out with this person more, you gradually notice certain odd traits about them. Yesterday, I noticed that Fare Madrina walks funny. She doesn't walk heel-toe, like normal people do. She either places her foot straight down and walks like she's on a line, or she walks toe-heel.

3. You get to know the person so well that you know what they will say in response to things, you know the melody of their speech, and you can mimic what they do almost to perfection. I haven't gotten this far with Fare Madrina. I don't even know if she's really Scottish or not! But, hopefully in the next weeks, I can decipher more of that.

More fun tomorrow!

Your daily dose of Doctor Who:
"Always bring a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good."
-The Tenth Doctor =D

~Ana

Day 3: Blocking

Some of you, once you read the title of my post, probably cringed, or just stopped reading all together because, well, who wants to read a blog post about blocking?? Some of you were confused, and asked yourself, what the heck is blocking? So, now you're really interested in what's going on here. It must be something worth your while to read this, after all. Haha! I guess I'm over exaggerating a little bit. But only a little! Blocking is one of the most frustrating, confusing, and kind of boring parts of the play making process (even for the directors. We're all suffering here!).

Blocking is just an easy way to say this is where you need to be when you say this line, and this is what you need to be doing while that other person is talking, and these things will be ingrained into your brain in about two weeks. The director goes through the whole script and literally walks us through each line and what we all need to be doing in each scene. This is easy for a shorter play, but our play is 13 scenes long- and when I say long, I mean looonnng. Each scene takes about 30 to 45 minutes to block. For this play, we're taking 3 special days to do the initial blocking, then 4 more special days to go over that blocking and fix anything that the director decided to change. It's not hard work, but it's very tedious.

I have nothing against blocking! Without it, we would all be a jumble of actors saying lines, bumping into each other, and just causing general havoc. It is a process that requires patience and focus, but it's worth it in the end.

In other news! Fare Madrina gets a key and a broom for props!! The key (at least the working prop) is shiney and copper looking =) It's pretty. I like it. That's all.

Next rehearsal is this afternoon!

Think positive. Find the silver lining.

~Ana

Days 1 and 2: Meeting the Cast

Day 1: The first day: The informational, not awkward at all, meeting.

There isn't much to say about what happened on day 1 of Pinocchio. I got there, turned in my tuition (no, I'm not being paid to act.... Maybe someday, though;)), got my script, and got a brand new binder cover (it's so official!!!). Then I stood in line for a bit and talked with Mr. Dennis (aka, Gepetto). He's an amazing man. The line slowly progressed to the costume measurement stop (I won't go into detail) with Mrs. Micki, and then to the make-up stop with the wonderful Michelle.

There was much talking after that. Rules and guidelines-- be on time, memorize your lines, listen to the director, ect.

Overall experience? A little awkward, but in a good way ;) Haha!

Day 2: The second day: The table read and general questions about things.

So, some of you who don't know what a table read is, let me tell you.

The whole cast sit around a table (in this case, a bunch of plastic tables placed in a somewhat circular form) and read through the entire script. You may have seen this if you watch the special features and behind the scenes on movies, where there's some random shots of the actors reading rather animatedly from a peice of paper with the whole cast around a conference table. It's a way of familiarizing yourself with the story, as well as with how your fellow actors will respond to their roles. Our table read took a grand total of 1 hour and 16 minutes, which is really good! Considering it's an 80 page script. It can be a rather tedious business, especially if you're like me are in only one or two scenes, or even if you're the main character (Madison did splendidly with Pinocchio <3) when your voice goes hoarse after the first act.

After the table read, we all sat down around the director, the phenomenal Mrs. Jacque, and she walked us through how she wanted us to develop our characters as well as answered any questions about the play.

One thing that caught me off guard was that she referenced me when she was going through some examples of character...things. She was telling how she, as a director and playwrite, saw characters as a certain way and she kind of type casted according to what she thought she needed. But, she said that I brought something to Fare Madrina that she wouldn't have expected! She even said that it gave her chills during my call back! What?! I was so flabbergasted and flattered =) It made me feel really good about myself. Also, she said she liked my Scottish accent. Win!

Next rehearsal is on Friday! I'll try to post something Friday or Saturday morning about that adventure.

Cheers!

Dream your dream. Catch a firefly.

That's all.

~Ana

I Got Cast!

Okay, so, I haven't been in a play for three years. That's a long time! At least, it is for me. So, recently, I took a chance on auditioning for a play. Pinocchio, as you can tell from the blog title.... I had no idea how it was gonna go down.

The audition was a monologue audition, as opposed to a cold read audition, which is what I'm used to. I've auditioned with a monologue before, but that was years ago. I had a hard time with most of the ones I could choose from. So I just picked one out randomly, and made it as 'me' as possible. Turns out the character I auditioned for was intended for a younger actor, but that doesn't matter.

The audition went fine, except for the fact that I forgot two sentences of my monologue, and I even got to do a cold read for a different character (such a blessing. I felt much more comfortable with that one.) I went home...and waited for that oh so important call back email.

And, it came! Monday night, 11:19pm. I was called back for three people. And none of them were what I wanted, but completely understandable roles. All 'motherly type' characters. And, it stands to reason, because I had played motherly types before. Agnes in Robin Hood being example number one. You might hear more about that character later on.

Call backs went better than my audition (Thank you Jesus), and I was feeling pretty good about them, but I felt like the other actors who were called back were much more suited to the characters we were called back for (that was a long sentence. Sorry.). It was grand fun though. I made new friends, and reaquainted with some old ones. I went home...and waited for that oh so important "You've Been Cast" email.

And, it came! Haha! Today, about an hour ago. I'm so freaking happy! I'm still shaking, really, because I'm so excited! I'm cast in the role of Fare Madrina. She's one of the forms of the Blue Fairy (the motherly type one ;]). Not a very big role, but an important one. And, I decided to record all my adventures with Fare Madrina in this blog. Sometimes she'll even come in and do a post for herself! But, I don't know her very well yet, so I feel like it would be odd to ask her to do one now.

I hope you enjoy this Character development blog =) I know I will!

~Ana