Knee Deep in Proof, First Contact with Christmas Carol...

This week we hit an important milestone in our rehearsals for Proof.  We finished Blocking the whole show.  We now move into putting the whole thing together and getting the feel of the arc of the show through stumbles and runs of larger chunks of it.  Sunday will see our first Stumble Through of the whole show and we will see where we are at for lines.  Since we did so much text work off the top I am not worried about that.  Already my actors are taking sizable chunks off-book and trusting themselves.  With a cast of four that means that everyone has a lot to get into their brain and body but they are all hard workers and seem to be really trusting the process.  Already I am seeing them trusting the emotional response and on Tuesday night we had a few moments of us tearing up at the table as we watched their work.  Truly lovely moments coming through.  Makes me happy as a director!  Now to put it all together! We are also blessed with a super fast and dedicated production team.  The set is built and we have blocked the whole show in situ.  Layers of paint have made for cool discoveries as we come in to see the world becoming more and more real each rehearsal.  It makes it easier for the actors to inhabit the world when it feels so complete right off the bat. We are lucky!

At work, we started Christmas Carol rehearsals this week.  Tuesday was the Meet and Greet and First Read Through.  There are quite a few new faces this year.  I have only ever seen the show once (last season) and this is my first year on staff for Carol, so I stayed for the Read to hear it.  I was a little surprised to see how much it moved me just from the table.  I must admit I had a couple tears to wipe away.  It is a testament to the actors in the cast that they could bring the piece to life without anything but their voices and their emotional commitment.  It will be all the more magical with the sets and costumes, but for me there is always something special about that first Read-Through! In any case, it is going to be a bit more active and noisy at the theatre with all those kids and the rest of the cast in the building.  I am looking forward to it.  Some of my favorite local actors are onstage, so it will be great to see it again!

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