So, rehearsals are going well. We finally had all 4 Plaids on Tuesday, and the past three days have been very very productive. We've moved through a third of the show, getting the songs on their feet. There's a really great attitude in the rehearsal room, and I've been having a ball with this cast and crew. Here's the run down:
Mark, co-director and choreographer: Definitely gay. So much fun. I think we have a good working relationship. He's confident in me and my ability to maintain the show which is especially good because he's going to miss a lot of tech.
Michael, the co-director: Great, if a little flighty. Taking blocking notes when Mark is staging is easy. Taking blocking notes when Michael is staging is near impossible. I've been warned that Michael tends to wander off during rehearsal, a reputation he has lived up to in the past 6 days.
John, the music director. He's quite friendly, but when he talks I get distracted by his crooked bottom teeth. His upper range makes him sound like Kermit the Frog and Katie wants to call him Jim because his beard makes her think of Jim Hensen. He plays all sorts of showtunes during breaks (Ragtime, Birdie, Chicago, Oklahoma, etc).
Katie, the ASM. She just finished her first year at George Mason and she's from Alexandria. She likes Billly Joel and the Monkees, and she's very very sweet. I wonder if I haven't delegated enough, though, but I think she'll be fine backstage.
Bill, the bass. Bill is very tall and adorable. Also quite gay and sweet. In his face and his voice, he kinda reminds me of my friend Steve from college. He also has a great sense of humor and will sometimes make faces or wink at me during rehearsal.
Ethan, the baritone. He's the least prepared, or so it seems at this point, but he's definitely trying. And his voice is quite good and in the right style. And his boyfriend is in Ohio.
Billy, the tenor. Billy's probably the cutest in the cast, and he's straight! He has a girlfriend which the costume shop thinks he'll soon propose to (he asked how to get a girl's ring size without her knowing). He has a great sound and I'm really excited to see him in this role.
Ben, the ridiculously high tenor. Ben has easily the most personality. He is constantly doing silly things during rehearsal that cause Katie and I to either laugh or look at each other like he's crazy. Or he'll wait til a break is over to go to the bathroom or water fountain or get something to eat. If I didn't like him, I'd find him really annoying. He has a sort of Paul Rudd look about him and his tone is very clear and floats really well in the style of the music. And he's maybe an inch taller than me. (Ben's the one who had to miss the second day of rehearsal to audition for the Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto--he claims he didn't get the job because he was too tall.)
So, yeah. It's a motley crew and we have fun. We've been collectively bringing in snacks for the rehearsal room, so we have a lovely spread of apples, bananas, grapes, cherries, wheat thins, pistachios, peanuts, honey roasted peanuts, snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisin cookies, vanilla crunch granola, baby carrots, and chips ahoy cookies taking up space on my table.
We actually got ahead of schedule today, which was quite unexpected. We got to the song that requires hitting the ketchup bottle with a spoon.
I'll write more later on the crazy crew here and how they're coupling off.
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