Well, last week I figured out that I'm old. This week I realized that I am super cool. Like ridiculously cool. Unbelievably, unequivocally cool. So cool, in fact, that I am sitting by myself on a Friday night doing character research for my next two shows. I'm sitting here wearing my favorite yellow shorts and my inherited Iowa State tshirt, on my too-big-for-my-room, overstuffed gray futon, with my laptop, dozens of acting books and journals, a couple scripts and a giant pitcher of iced tea. I told you I was cool.
I've been trying to take this whole acting thing seriously, or as seriously as I can, because after all it is, umm....well, my job. Hell has frozen over. There were many, MANY roles in the past that I treated as vehicles for people to hear me sing. Tacky, I know. That, paired with the fact that most of my roles as of yet have been fairly iconic, well known characterizations that don't need a whole lot of shaping from the actor beyond what is in the score and the script. For example, in Joseph, I was pretty much just along for the ride and only had a few moments when I had to make a strong choice of my own. Along the same vein, Link Larkin is not the most active character ever written in the modern MT repertoire. He is fairly (and purposefully) two-dimensional and vapid for most of the show, and even in the end, isn't really as dreamy as everyone thinks he is. And yet another was Jimmy Smith in Thoroughly Modern Millie. This was one of my dream roles, not because I really could relate to his life or his ideals, but because I wanted to sing the crap out of his big number in the first act. Tasteful, I know.
Luckily for me, the future of my career, and those kind enough to come see me in shows, I have begun to actually think about the guts of these people whose skin I'm borrowing for the evening. Along with having a more balanced taste for shows, I have also been given the opportunity to play some deeper, more realistic characters as of late. The one I'm hitting hard tonight is Lucas from Bare. The wonderful (and frustrating) part of this guy is that the script is very open ended concerning him. Essentially what I'm given is that he is the Catholic boarding school's fun loving party boy and is also the purveyor of altered reality (drug dealer). I don't think I've ever given more thought to a fictional person in my life....except when I was little.....I had an imaginary friend named Bobby, and he dominated my time. The process of creating Lucas has been totally fascinating so far. I am doing a ton of research on the drugs that he deals, the goings-on of Catholic boarding schools, teen psychology and I've also been doing a ton of people watching. All of this research (in theory) will help me make honest choices when I forget all of it on stage. That's the frustrating thing. All of this is only the groundwork. The real deal happens on the boards with the other players. Their choices shape mine and vice versa.
My other musical that goes up in THREE WEEKS is a little more ambiguous. My character's name is Johnny and beyond that, I know little. I've read through the script about 4 times and still can't get all the action to work in a way that makes sense in my head. We have a table read soon and hopefully that will shed some sort of light on this whole thing. Fingers are crossed. I have an audition in three days with a company that I've wanted to sing with for a very long time and they're doing a show that fits my type PERFECTLY. I'm trying to not getting my hopes up, but I'm not doing a very good job.
Zombie Prom is going super well, but I kinda don't know what to do with myself with how long the rehearsal period is. As far as I know, most high schools put up a musical in 5-8 weeks. We have FOURTEEN. Right now, we are still about 5 weeks out, but all the music is memorized and sounding fantastic. If I have any say in this, ZP is gonna be one of the best high school musicals in the Twin Cities this fall. The cast has been fantastic to work with. They are super willing to try anything I throw at them and they are like sponges when it comes to learning about theater and singing. The rest of the production team is fantastic as well. The choreographer is a dance major at the U of M and he has managed to find the perfect style for the show - campy, energetic it actually follows the storyline. Other choreographers - take notes. The director and tech director are both faculty at the school and they have been super supportive and just let me do my thing, which has been awesome. I start rehearsals with the pit orchestra tomorrow morning, so I should probably hit the sack, but I am bringing the instrumentalists doughnuts and juice, so hopefully they don't kill me for the early call time. They should know, however that if I had my way, I would be getting up at the crack of .....well,.....about 10:30. Oh well.
One last thing. I have had a surprising amount of people approach me and tell me that they have read my blog, and then give me a look like I might bite their head off. I just want you all to know that this is not some secret diary that you found under my bed and are reading under the covers by flashlight. I put this up because its a fun way to put my thoughts on paper...er screen and its an easy way for friends in other vicinities to keep up with what I'm doing/thinking/experiencing in life. So read freely! Meanwhile, I have to be out the door in about 7 hours, so I need to be asleep in T-15 minutes if I plan on being a friendly person tomorrow.
No beige!
A
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