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Rehearsals for the show will begin at the first of May and are usually held on weeknights from 7-10 PM. We will never rehearse on Sunday and there will be no performances on Sundays or Mondays. "Tech week", the last week before the show opens, can always bring surprises and long, intense hours of work ... be prepared for anything.
The show will open on Tuesday, June 19th and run through Saturday, July 7th.
Never been in a musical before? It's a world of its own ... nothing else compares. Semi-organized chaos may be the best description of the process leading up to opening night. Many of us have sung with a group or as a solo performer. Rehearsals are fairly straight-forward, held on a regular basis ... presentation, tone, enunciation, breathing, sustain and dynamics with maybe a little choreography thrown in to please the eye, working with the music, costumes, possibly make-up.
Dance is somewhat the same ... a lot more physical exertion, counting silently as you anticipate the next move, lots of stamina, working with the music, costumes, possibly make-up.
Acting in a play ... lots of memorization, when and where do I move (and why), the use of props, staying in the light, quarter towards the audience (don't turn your back), project your voice to the folks in the back of the theater, when and where to enter and exit the stage, pause if the audience reacts to lines(laughter), costumes, make up, hair, physical characteristics, emotion, language, accent, motivation, listening to what the other actors are saying so you can act (or react) accordingly.
All three are equally important, taking lots of work and rehearsal to get it right, getting comfortable and letting it become second nature ... probably needing about equal amounts of effort. Now, take all three elements and stir them together to make a musical. Schedule sufficient time to rehearse each one separately, concentrating on the weaker segments without forgetting the strong ones and then start trying to combine the parts into one performance ... smoothly ... making it all flow seamlessly so the audience is swept up in the love and the laughter, crying during the sad parts and being mad during the battles. The audience should be drawn in so deeply that they feel part of the story, never wanting it to end and singing the songs for days after they leave the theater.
Does it sound impossible? Many times it feels impossible during weeks of rehearsal. Many times, you would swear that it will never make it, that it will never come together. And ... usually within the last few days before you open, the magic begins to happen ... you know that you have a "show". The horrendous gaps of empty space between scenes and between lines magically disappears. When you finally stop feeding lines to the actors, they start saying them as though they are their own thoughts. The finished music is there, beginning and ending at the right instant. The props and the sets are finished and everyone knows their places. The sound effects suddenly appear and add to the atmosphere instead of surprising everyone. The costumes are complete, they fit and the changes are worked out. The lighting is set, focused and framed to help the characters jump out at the audience. The sets draw the audience into a different time and place. The microphones are assigned so that everyone has one (that works) at the appropriate time. Sets and props move quickly and quietly when the audience is otherwise occupied. Guns have ammunition. Horses know where to go and are calm. Cast members are quiet backstage and begin to help each other ... they've grown together like a family and stop thinking just about themselves. More and more.
It sound impossible ... it sounds crazy ... and maybe it is kinda crazy. But it all comes together ... and it's magic ... and it's fun ... and it's worth it! It's a lot of hard, bone-wearying work. It's physically, mentally and emotionally draining. Take all of the above and add hot summer weather, ice-cold spring rains, wind, humidity, mud, thunder, lightning, mosquitos, moths and other insects, aircraft, traffic and occassional small, indifferent or rude audiences ... what have you got. Success! Friendship! Accomplishment! When you hear the applause and the laughter, the gasps and the groans, the tears and the terror ... when you see the red sunsets and the full moon rising over the stage ... when you feel like "This is fun" and you want to come back and do it again ... you somehow don't want it all to end, even though you will definitely welcome the rest ... you know that you've conquered the beast ... you've met a very big challenge. You did a musical!
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