I caught the tail end of the third rehearsal, and it
appeared they were just finishing up their first full run-through; they were
working on the final scenes of the show.
It was wonderful watching these professionals doing their jobs - not
just reacting to Sean’s direction, but contributing their ideas, many of which
got incorporated. And when they
didn’t, Sean wasn’t dictatorially dismissive, but explained his reasoning (no
“because I said so”s here!).
The actors still had scripts in hand, of course, but they
did a marvelous job of envisioning the stage and sets. The scenery is in the process of being
built elsewhere in the building, but in a show as tight as this, its construction
is not independent of the rehearsals.
The actors made at least a couple of requests for modifications in order
to make their performance work better.
It’s also amazing how something as subtle as a turn can make a difference in the humor. In one case,
Sean simply asked an actor to do a 180 away from the audience instead of toward
it – basically the same movement but in reverse, and it was incredible how just
that small change conveyed the action better and appeared funnier. In another, Sean asked the actress to twirl, and it was
hysterical just watching her practice how many times in order to end up facing the
correct direction. Of course, in a
performance, she’ll probably get it
right, and the twirl itself is adorable, but maybe she won’t, and that could be funny as well.
And timing is a large part of the humor of the show – not just the
intrinsic humor of the script – but, as Sean put it, “the actors will just make
it to their marks in the nick of time.”
Unlike a drama, where you aren’t supposed to see the effort the actors
are making to portray their characters or to get from an exit to an entrance on the opposite side of the stage, here
we should, and we will, and there’s no way the audience won’t laugh!
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