Saturday-long rehearsal day

Thunderstorms rolled through for half of the night. They were far away, though I could see the flashes of light through the window blinds. The time in between the light and sound was long. It's quiet now, and damp. Supposedly really humid again, but I can't feel that now. Need to leave for rehearsal shortly. Don't know if I should bring my winter clothes, we aren't scheduled to work the second act, but maybe we will have time, plus I can always work with my scene partner, though she won't be there until the afternoon. At least the air has cooled down because of the storms. Maybe it won't be too hot in the rehearsal space. I could always mark them and leave them there, then I won't have to drag them around all the time. Gotta get moving.

Well, no work on Act II, but we worked transitions, and I sit in the background of one of the scenes, so needed to be in the studio. If anything, the studio was more stuffy than usual, muggy after the storms. Ate pizza during the break, right before we did a run-thru of Act I.  The pizza made me want to curl up in a fetal position, but had to sit up on the side of the stage for the next two hours. I don't know if it's the cheese or the wheat, I suspect the cheese. Need to remember to bring my own food to rehearsal. We will run the whole thing on Wednesday, I'll need to be off-book. I pretty much am, trying to work out the physical stuff I have to do, in a mirror, and get my diction down.

We're supposed to have more thunderstorms this afternoon/evening. I was going to go check out an art walk, but I'm still sick to my stomach from the pizza. So I don't know, will see how I feel in an hour. It smells like something is burning, hope it's not my computer.

Tired

I probably only got 2-3 hours of sleep last night, woke up at 4 am and couldn't fall back to sleep, though I tried. I'm hardly functioning at all. We finished our initial read-thru early, and then were working on narrative together and I was saying random words to my scene partner as I tried to discuss it with her. My brain came up with semi-related words which my mouth spoke, but they weren't the right ones. All the kissing pretty much has to start happening now.  He (the director) says that we just need to do it. There is no trick. I suppose it's better to get comfortable with it before the public performance. She has to kiss (a man) in her other scene, too. They worked that one tonight. The performance is in about five weeks.

I went to the dentist before class. No sore throat, yet. Hopefully, that was just a fluke. One thing I like about him, is we have similar taste in music. So, when I'm feeling "aauugh! I have a new sensitive spot that the metal probe just found." I also can go to, "ooh, I really like that song." Works for me. Apparently, you can't really numb the lower teeth without numbing the entire lower jaw on that side, so I'll have to find another way to deal with it. (I get novocaine for part of my upper gum-line, makes it so much easier for the hygienist if I'm not jerking around in the chair in anticipation of pain.) The dentist is also nice, and I don't have to go back for a while.

I notice the seagulls near work try to drop down and blend in with the students eating lunch outside, as if to sneak up and grab some food when no one is looking. It would work better if they didn't start squawking. Sometimes people can be pretty oblivious, but the squawks are so loud, you take notice. And yes, I did stay awake just to say that. I have to get up early so I can drop off my rent in the morning, too. Buenas noches.

Where I ended up

Beach. Extremely low tide, I guess makes sense with the supermoon tonight. I wasn't expecting to find that, nor the crowds so early, coulda' walked north for miles. I didn't of course. I attempted to walk to the water's edge, found myself trapped surrounded by water to wade through, but sloshed on through the eelgrass beds. (Finally just got around to rinsing out my shoes.) I didn't see a lot of critters, though I did find these large, green, water dwelling arthropods. (Photo is blurry.)


Green arthropod at beach/LHerlevi

 They looked like super-sized versions of something we used to call "potato bugs." There were other colors, greys, beiges. Someone found a large cockle, and some kids were shouting about a bullhead and an eel. Under the dock were gigantic starfish, and frilled anemones, then a school of salmon circled around, I suppose on it's way to the Locks.

I shot a few pictures but was more interested in mucking around and looking at stuff. Had to rush back up the hill to the bus after the dock, so that I could get to rehearsal on time. Barely made it. I got lucky on both the bus home and the bus downtown. Rehearsal went okay. It was our last one. I asked if we could meet again before the performance to run lines, connect. It felt like too long of a break in between rehearsal and class last week, I felt separated from it. I don't like what I'm doing with my hands, but I did figure out more regarding the first things I say. Also, for the last 45 minutes all I could focus on was the fact that I was hungry. Note to self: EAT before rehearsal. It was super distracting. I was hoping to meet up with a friend, but haven't been able to contact, so will watch a movie instead. Not sure if I like enough of the pictures. Will see how the film turned out. I think they want ten submitted, to choose one from. It's really hot in the house now. The lovely full moon is crossing the night sky very atmospherically behind wisps of clouds.  I think it's gonna rain.

Feeling scratchy from the mold, but good rehearsal

Feeling a bit scratchy from the onions maybe. We had our best rehearsal last time thru tonight. Physically, I felt more anchored, we also interacted more physically than we have before, and that would make sense. Perhaps she only wants him to leave when he crosses a "line." So, then I'll need to figure out what that line is. Also, what makes me put up the walls between us, and what's the action? (This is so I can remember these things, find them again.) We only have next week for in-class rehearsals. I feel like they go better in class, with other people watching, but maybe that's because we actually did accomplish something by ourselves beforehand. I think I know what her "big" want is (in the grand scheme of life, only I don't know if I want it from him.) I'm getting clearer on it, but still need to slow it down. Gotta go, my computer is about to update itself, and the battery smells weird. And I should sleep. She said that my trouble wasn't because I was a bad actress...that's actually good to hear. (What is "blogsrating." is it some sorta' spam-spreading service?)

And I've been trying to drink non-homogenized milk because it's supposed to be better for you, and I've been able to find a non-raw version recently.  Now I just need to find a way to easily skim off the butter before I drink it: the fatty chunks are not that appetizing in a beverage.

Evening

Tonight, when I was trying to write after rehearsal, I knew pretty strongly that no matter what else I end up doing, I want to coach or teach or direct. It's not a new thought, thought about it years ago, just pretty solid tonight.  We rehearsed on a tennis court, throwing objects at each other to indicate intention: when we are sparring, when we are asking, when we are fishing vs. when we are connecting or talking more to ourselves. I think we still could've gotten more specific on intensity of intentions, but we were hogging up the tennis court and there were a bunch of kids that wanted to ride their bikes around. They thought we were strange, one asked what type of game we were playing. It was liberating to not be in the studio, plus we need to rehearse more, and studio time adds up (you have to pay for it.)

I want to act, too. I think it would be fun, and I want to prove to myself I can, but tonight the directing/teaching instinct was a lot stronger. I might feel different tomorrow. Oh, and I definitely want to teach adults, everyone wants to work with kids, but adults need second, third, fourth, chances as well.

Saturday, no singing robins

Really need to catch up on the rest of my life today, just not enough time for everything, even if I do say I value it all. Went to another play last night, got a ticket in exchange for watching the door and letting people in the building. It was a comedy, well done. A student production, great accents (multiple accents), great physicality and timing, and pretty fun in general. Unfortunately, I've been so exhausted lately that I fell asleep for parts of it (what else is new? been happening a lot lately) and so woke up thinking, "Wait, when did he get shot? Who is that woman, where did she come from and why are they hand-cuffed?" Still, well done, fast-paced, believable. The man next to me looked at me oddly at one point, I hope I didn't mumble anything or fall over on him. When I woke up this morning it occurred to me that part of my problem in my acting class is that we are not in rehearsal together enough, it really demands more time, and barring that (work schedules, finding rehearsal space, etc.) I need to know my own character inside and out when I get to rehearsal. Seems obvious, but I realized that in my rare longer speeches, I'm not seeing the scene I'm talking about, and I need to, and there are some other things I haven't gotten specific about. I'll have to think about them while doing other things because I'm meeting my scene partner in 5 hours and I need to go work on my garden and run a bunch of errands before that. The advantage of riding the bus is you don't have to think about driving, and so you can focus on other things. And pulling up weeds will hopefully clear my head.

I think I need to watch some old movies with witty dialogue and quick-paced verbal sparring. Katherine Hepburn comes to mind.

The play was The 39 Steps.

night, but not Friday

The flocks of geese across the street call to each other in the dark. Earlier I went to see a photo exhibition and when I got off the bus it had begun to hail. After I left the gallery, I walked 20 minutes in the rain to the library to return an overdue book, in hopes of snow.  It snowed a little, now and again. I barely made it back to rehearsal in time. There were only two sopranos tonight so I was trying to sing loud and practicing air-moving techniques from the voice class.  And though I definitely have more vibrato, and, I think, more volume, my voice itself is shot. I sound like a boy going through puberty when I speak, however, my throat isn't sore. Still, I guess I understand why the ENT doc said not to sing (or shout, or whisper.) I'll take a break again after Easter, but I love the Good Friday music and I really want to sing it. The other choir only has two more concerts until late summer.  Both of those are in April.  And even though the cherry trees are only beginning to bloom, people are showing up to take pictures of and with them, and climbing them, and standing in them while conducting everyday conversations. I love them all year, but they definitely stand a bit taller now.