Here I am, this is the second murder mystery play-type-thing I am posting about in the Xanga. How interesting.
In November I was somewhat forced by my parents to attend an audition for a in-town play with three of my sisters. The audition consisted of a read through in which I read the part of Reeno for the first have, and I'm not sure who I read--if I did read anybody--for the second half. I requested to please not have a part. And thankfully wasn't given one. Two of my sister's became actors over the course of that week and my other sister and I became helpers-in-any-way-the-director-sees-fit, anything that couldn't be done by another member of the team was flopped onto the two of us. And the team wasn't all that big, but we managed beautifully.
A series of practices on Tuesday evenings ensued for several weeks before the Christmas break, not one of those practices was seen through with all the actors present so my sister and I played understudies. We played parts for various actors (and always left the rehearsal being told what a superb job we did, better than the real actor. Particularly my sister, she's an amazing actor. I act with her and find myself striving to do better.) I understudied for nearly all of our actors. 'Sept maybe three. I think the most fun I had when understudying was playing the Lady Ariadne Dithering-Ninny. She is Lord Ninny's fourth wife and not a bit interested in him but much more keen on her husband's plane mechanic. She plans on divorcing Lord Ninny and marrying him as soon as possible. (But Ninny doesn't mind 'cause he's actually engaged to the strange prima donna....yeah, lots of various love things going on between the various characters in this play.) Ariadne is so stuck up, her lines are so ridiculous (and funny), and making eyes at the guy she's in love with is so very stupid that it's really very fun to do. I did have a ball. It's great to let your leg pop up behind you, clasp your hands before you, bat your eyelashes, and call out in a voice as honey, "Ricky, oh, Ricky, where's Budgy?" And I did pretty well on willing myself not to shake to much well on the little duct-tape outline on the floor representing the stage.
About a two weeks ago we where coming down to the last few practices. We had only a week before we preformed before the big audience. We would be doing so that coming Sunday so that week consisted of two extra practices besides our annual Tuesday practice. Plus dress rehearsal on Saturday. On Tuesday our prompter was employed several times, quite a few times, far to many times! I'm not sure that everyone realized they only had a week. I voiced Ehrhardt, a German concert Meister for a neo-dada quartet consisting of three basses and a banjo. Most of his lines are angry lines, telling other people to shut up or else making arguments. So I found myself slamming on the plastic table we where using in the character's anger and annoyance and temperamental mood. The table made a great deal of noise when I did, which prompted more banging from me...and thank goodness it wasn't a dress or something because I would have surely broken the china they would be using for the "real thing". Ack. As it where, I turned Ehrhardt into a arguemental and pondering old German who is easily subdued by Isadora.
On Friday, the day before dress rehearsal, I played Dirk Belltone, a somewhat deaf ready announcer who as allot of "Nevermind" and "more about that later" lines. Some of his beganning lines are also very...well, sarcastic. I can be good at being sarcastic, and since I know all of Dirk's lines by heart he's my favorite person to play. Though being the one that "starts out" the action is slightly unnerving. That day I pulled his character even further by making him really sarcastic, when Reeno pulled be by the ear across the room I did my best to exaggerate the pain by about five times, you know, screw your whole face up and then scrunch your shoulders up, and then do your best to look like your screaming in agony without actually making any noise. You know. Sarcasim is my friend, *hugs sarcasm well secretly kicking it in the shin*
Dress rehearsal was the Saturday before the performing Sunday, all the actors did well, despite microphone troubles it went very well. My three sisters brought two of my little sister's along with us to dress because they wouldn't be able to see the "real" performance, and dress is the next best thing. Sadly the two of them did not sit still and I don't think they really listened to the play. Instead when Holden was pulling out evidence one of my sister's where running circles around him. Ugh. Yes, absolutely no regard to the rule Detectives Don't Like Being Used As A May Pole.
I got up somewhat early on Sunday, because of car/van troubles only five of us went to church, the sermon was good, one of the passages read from was the passage quoted in the second verse of the song Isaiah by the newsboys, well he was reading that I took a subtle look down the pew to make sure no one was staring at me. No one was. After the service we made Record Exit Times, we where out of the church and pulling out of the church driveway with all family members intact and also my best friend was buckled in with us within what seemed like seconds, and all too soon we where also home and racing to get into costumes,get a little lunch, and get to the highschool, (which had been lent to us for the use of the play).
My sister and I did random small jobs, helped set up tables, gave this to that actor, searched for that actor, at about half an hour before the start of the pre-show the two of us entered the vestible and began greeting guests with things like "Welcome to the Ninny International AirPort, this is the South Hangar, please check in at the placecard table first," and things of
that sort. We greeted for a half hour plus a little, then, when we spotted Ariadne and Ricky coming in to the performance "hall" we went in also, and stood just past the doors until Holden came in, at which point we moved in further and stood under the lights, very ready to gasp and pretend we hadn't actually heard this conversation between actors about a zillion times, at this point I found myself convulsing from stage fright, even though I wasn't on stage, I did manage to calm myself a bit later and remained somewhat steady through the rest, though on the brink nearly the entire time, much to my distress. We had great fun crying over the fact that Budgy plan had been found "up to it's turbos in mud in Farmer Fanny's field," and when the "cockpit door was upon, [Lord Ninny] was still inside, slumped over the controls, with a face as red as a hooker's lipstick."
Yeah....that issued laughing from the audience.
In the end, all went well, despite a fake mustache falling off, a gun refusing to fire at the first pull of the trigger, and silences when a prompter wasn't heard by the actors on the opposite end of the stage all went well. We took a group photo afterward, cleaned up, and went home.
Such, such is my latest theatre experience.
