Below are my journal entries from October 18th- 22nd, the week where I was sick twice in a row and learned the power of fire cider.
October 18: Sick!
Yesterday, I woke up with the worst stomach bug I’ve had since I was in public school. Today, I feel fine, but I definitely was worried that I’d miss the stumble through tonight. However, I made it through the whole day and I’m feeling way better! Today, we did the first stumble through with the whole cast and Angie there. I definitely know what I need to work on to get better moving forward.
There are multiple times when the back and forth between Matilda and Mrs. Phelps got muddled tonight, that I think will come with time and better memorization. Also, I really need to get the book out of my hands so I can start playing full out. In an earlier journal, I set a goal to be off book before the next rehearsal, but school work and applications cut into my memorization time. I’d say right now I have 75% of the text memorized, but I’m not confident about it. So, I need to commit the rest to memory and set the book down. I also need to get my website started, so far I’ve been writing all of these journals in a Google Doc because I don’t understand how domain of one’s own works. Don’t worry though! I have an appointment with the DKC for the 20th, so the website will be up and running then and I can get everything on the site and formatted how I want it.
October 19: Detail Work
Today, we started to work through the show with a “finer brush.” So, we’re going through the show slowly and working out any moments that are strange/don’t make sense. It’s also giving us a chance to add props, and realize more moments that we haven’t had a chance to explore.
October 20: Costumes and Dialect Training
This morning, I had a costume fitting and worked on some dialect coaching with Marc. Because of this, I had to cancel my DKC appointment, but it’s okay because I got my website up and running on my own! So, we are live folks. It’s definitely not as difficult as I thought it was when I first downloaded it and I’m glad I took another crack at it. It’s not aesthetically pleasing yet, but it gives me a starting place, which is what I needed! Work through scenes continued today! We’re also introducing more props every single day, which is quite exciting, but it also adds another layer that I have to worry about.
In my dialect training, we focused on some of the signature sounds some more. I was struggling with diving full force into the dialect, so we went over some of the sounds again and broke down what I can do to make my accent sound more intelligible. I’m focusing on some sounds that are more prevalent in a Gentry accent, which is found in people that are more classically trained/of a higher social status. So, we played with how to meld that into an Estuary dialect more.
October 21: Designer Run
Designer run today! I woke up very congested because of allergies and the changing of the seasons, so I spent the morning hydrating and resting my voice. I also had my daily fire cider, which has become an important part of my routine and one of my favorites. I noticed the bottle in Wonderbread after my 24hr bug, and I decided to try it. Everyday since, I’ve had it at the beginning of rehearsal. Today’s goals are to take another step forward with Mrs. Phelps and to focus on my vocal tract posture. Vocal tract posture is an important part of any person’s dialect, so I’d like to bring my attention to it. To achieve the vocal tract posture I’m after, I place the tip of my tongue behind my bottom teeth and then I place the tip of my pinkie in between my teeth. I do this multiple times throughout the run of rehearsal and when I’m rehearsing my dialect to remind me of my vocal tract posture.
Since we had the designer run today, we were able to run the whole show without stopping from start to finish for the first time since the stumble through. In the morning, we worked the end of the show and then we had a lunch break. After the lunch break, we warmed up and then did the designer run. It was a little strange doing it for new people, but what really threw me off was the mirrors being gone. While I don’t dance, I’ve still become very used to the mirrors. So, it was definitely different than I’ve grown accustomed to and a few times I found myself missing the mirror. Overall, I felt like the designer run went well and I was able to advance my character work. After that, we got mic trained! I haven’t worn a mic for any show at UMW yet, so I’m a little nervous about the responsibility and making sure that I take care of the mic.
October 22: Sitzprobe
Our last day in Wonderbread came sooner than I feel like it should’ve. I’m nervous and excited for tech week to start because I’ve never been in tech for a show this large. There are so many moving parts and I know it will take a long time work some of the moments. It’s also exciting that I’m going to be apart of the process of putting a show this big on it’s feet. Since it’s our last day in Wonderbread, we did our last full run that we’re going to have for a little while. I think it went extremely well and that we’re in good shape for the days ahead of us, but it’s also important to not get too cocky and stop working towards better. So, in my downtime when not onstage at the beginning of tech, I want to keep working on my dialect work and understanding of the character.
After the dinner break today, we had the Sitzprobe, which is the first time we had the band in the room with us! It was so exciting to hear the songs played the way they written to be performed with a whole band for the first time. There’s also just something extremely exhilarating about live music, no matter how many times I’m around live music it never stops being exciting. It was also super awesome to see all the hard work the band has put in to prepare for this rehearsal!
So, overall, it’s been a pretty bitter-sweet day. I’m ready for the next step of the process but I also feel like we only recently hit our stride. I know that the work that needs to get done will happen and I trust the process.
