Tag Archives: rehearsal

Wednesday with Quentin Tarantino

Posted on July 23, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

Wuss-out Wednesday follows Tired Tuesday when one is on overtime and in a play.  I do love the overtime. For one reason, it gives me a good excuse to slack on everything else.  Uh, I mean, it gives me a chance to further my career, make a contribution in the workplace and… oh hell, nobody’s a good enough actor to sell that line of bologna.  I’m sure you’ll believe I can use the extra cash, but it is vulgar to brag about one’s income (especially when it’s really nothing to brag about) (so don’t bother hitting me up for a loan) (you know who you are).

Where was I?  Ah yes,  striving to post something, anything before going to rehearsal.  At last night’s rehearsal I showed that although I know my lines, I do not know my blocking (that’s moving where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there, for you non-theatre folks) (and for any pedantic theatre folks who want to correct my definition, oh just give it a rest!).

In my defense,  it is kind of a complicated play.  There are flashbacks AND re-enactments.  I think it’s a little bit like a Quentin Tarantino movie.  I can’t even add “but without all the violence,” because my character chops off her husband’s head (that’s not a spoiler; everybody knows that about Roxalana Druse).

I studied my lines again today while on breaks at work (I know, I should have been writing my blog post; one can’t do everything, after all).  I even said them to myself while I was working.  Luckily, my job is not one where I deal with the public.  I don’t think my co-workers were particularly disconcerted.  After all, they’re used to me.

Right now I’m as tired as I was on Tuesday with rehearsal tonight and more overtime tomorrow.  But that is OK, because the show must go on!  Tired is not too great a price to pay for stardom!  Or even for having fun being in a community theatre play.

 

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I Did Mention The Play, Right?

Posted on January 14, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I may have mentioned this blog might become All Busybody All The Time. Astute readers will recall that Busybody is the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre. I’m the busybody who discovers the busy body. Opening night is Jan. 30, which is kind of bearing down on us in an ominous fashion.

Did anybody read yesterday’s post when I was having that dreadful bout of Writer’s Block? I had rehearsal. I had to make that blog post then get myself ready to ACT. I had to change into clothes for rehearsal, I had to make sure I had my rehearsal props, I had to look over my lines again, I had to think about my character. I can’t write and act at the same time!

Actually, I kind of can. I realized a long time ago, I act like I write. I know all kinds of stuff about my character that never shows up on stage. Today while I was at work, I started thinking about my relationship with this other character in the play. In the play, we are old friends who actually went out on a date once. I started thinking about what my character used to be like, and what the other character used to be like, and why I married the guy I married (uh, in the play). I had worked out a huge backstory involving characters who never even appear onstage.

This is what I do. When I was in Harvey, I didn’t stop with backstory. I started writing a sequel in my head. In the dressing room before one performance I started to recount it to other cast members. I ran out of stuff I had thought up while at work and started vamping. The other cast members were rapt, or perhaps I flatter myself.

I had rehearsal tonight. I did not write my blog post before rehearsal. For some reason I trusted I would be able to come up with something after rehearsal. How silly of me. On the other hand, this is Tired Tuesday. Perhaps this will be all right. See you on Wuss-out Wednesday.

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Props or Post?

Posted on December 18, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It’s going to be post. A real Wuss-out Wednesday post, in fact. For one reason, I’m too flustered to do anything but sit here and type a few words. Sorry, kids, but you know this usually happens on Wednesday (and other days, you don’t have to point that out) (you know who you are).

I have mentioned I am in a play at Ilion Little Theatre. It’s called Busybody, and I have a sizable role. We have rehearsal tonight. At our last rehearsal, two nights ago, I made a big deal about needing rehearsal props and said I was going to bring in a bunch of stuff for my character. I wasn’t trying to be more actressy than thou. It’s just really hard for me to pantomime and not have magically disappearing whatever.

Last night was the only night I didn’t have any place to go in the evening. I had a list of things to get done, one of which was to gather props. Long story short, I did one thing on the list and that wasn’t it. In my defense, what I did was pretty important. I made White Trash to contribute to my workplace Christmas feast on Thursday. It is important to me to participate in these things. And many people like to eat White Trash.

Full disclosure: when I got home from work today I had enough time to look for props. And I had time while on breaks at work to write a better blog post than the one you’re now reading (oh, I hope somebody is reading it).

Unfortunately, I had a bad headache most of the day. It had dissipated by the end of the day, but I still felt all vague-headed and stupid when I got home. And I still had things I had to do. I had to take my dog for a walk and figure out what to wear to rehearsal. The latter was not as easy as one would think. For one reason, there is a part in the play where I have to shove a piece of paper down my front. This is not so easy to do in a turtleneck, as I discovered at the last rehearsal.

Wait a minute, I just realized something: the piece of paper I have to hide in my shirt is one of the props I had meant to gather. So by taking the time to go through my closet and find a shirt I could hide a piece of paper down, I lacked time to find the paper to hide. It was a lose/lose situation! Had I just worn the damn turtleneck, I would have had time to find the paper to hide but been unable to practice hiding it.

I know, some of you are snorting that a piece of paper is hardly a difficult prop to find. You’re right. I can probably manage that one. Anyways, while I was writing this nonsense, time has passed and I really have to finish getting ready to head out for my rehearsal. On the brighter side (for me, anyways), now this is done. I can hit Publish and not have to worry about this after rehearsal.

One final note: My Freudian slip was showing just now: I accidentally typed a space between Pub and lish. That’s right, folks, all things considered, I would rather just hit the pub.

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It Snowed On My Excuse

Posted on December 11, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I knew this was going to be a Wuss-out Wednesday. I even had a title picked out: “In My Defense, I Have Rehearsal.” Well, we all know: things don’t always work out for Mohawk Valley Girl.

I wrote a little bit while at work today (yes, boss, before my shift started), but not a blog post. I worked on an article I wanted to submit to Mohawk Valley Living. Then I studied my lines for the play I’m in with Ilion Little Theatre. I’ve mentioned that play before. I’ll mention it again no doubt. I thought I would hurry home, type my article into the computer and email it off the magazine, then barely have time to type in a quick blog post before getting to rehearsal. I thought perhaps I would make my blog post after rehearsal. I would have more time but would also be more tired. Either way, wussing out was on the agenda and rehearsal was to blame.

As I drove home, I wondered about my evening. You see, after the weather not doing much all day, winter started to huff and puff just in time for me to drive through it. Snow fell, wind blew, 4-wheel drive was appropriate. Would I have rehearsal? Would the snow stop as abruptly as it seemed to have started? I had no time for these questions, because my desk-top computer is slow to get started and slow to continue. My brain isn’t so fast either. But one must work with what one has.

I got the article written to my satisfaction, or at least as well as I felt I could get it, and was waiting for the little circle to stop swirling on my email when the phone rang. Rehearsal was cancelled. I thought that was a good call. After all, an actor can break more than a leg spinning out on an icy road.

Now that I didn’t have to worry about rehearsal, I didn’t have to wuss out, did I? Well that would be nice, wouldn’t it? Unfortunately, I used up what little brains I had writing that article. The best I can do is try again tomorrow. Goodness, is it going to be Non-Sequitur Thursday already? How the time flies.

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Vegetables or Blog?

Posted on December 4, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

To chop vegetables or make my blog post, that is the question. Perhaps a little less profound than “to be or not to be,” but I find it entirely appropriate for Wuss-out Wednesday.

It would really be a good idea if I chopped vegetables for my lunch tomorrow. I have some celery, which does not last as long as one would like. I have carrots and radishes, which last longer but are not nonperishable. More to the point, I am NOT meeting my weight-loss goals and including raw vegetables in my lunch will help. If I needed another reason, there is the therapeutic benefit of chopping up vegetables.

Of course, one reaches the full benefit by also sipping a glass of wine (only one since there is a knife involved; safety first). I mean, it’s still a soothing thing to do even without the wine. But I say give yourself every advantage. Unfortunately I cannot benefit from wine till later. I have rehearsal in about an hour.

For those of you just tuning in, rehearsal is for the play Busybody at Ilion Little Theatre. It will be presented at the last weekend of January and first weekend of February. I have rather a large part. In fact, rehearsal is less than an hour away. Less than an hour? Yikes! No wonder I’m so flustered. I don’t think chopping vegetables would calm me down at this point with or without wine. Is typing in my blog post having a similar therapeutic effect? Not noticeably.

So I have determined that neither chopping vegetables nor posting my blog is going to make me feel any better right now. However, consider this: I can eat a lunch without vegetables. I have done it before. But in three years I have not gone a day without making a blog post. I am not going to start today!

Therefore I make bold to hit Publish for this collection of nonsense and continue getting ready for rehearsal. Will the vegetables ever get chopped? I don’t know, so I must leave you in suspense. See you on Non-Sequitur Thursday.

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Not a Better Blog Post

Posted on October 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Note to self: Never say, “I’m going home to write a blog post about this.” It’s a recipe for disaster.

OK, not really a disaster. You see, I was at a rehearsal. Some time ago (it seems), I auditioned to be one of the witches in a scene from Macbeth to be presented as part of Little Falls’ Third Thursday on Oct. 16 (perhaps you read my blog post about it). I’m the third witch (we’ve already done the jokes about method acting and spelling it with a B).

We had our first rehearsal tonight, meeting at Ole Sal’s at Stone Mill in Little Falls. Before rehearsal I had the natural trepidations. Was I really up to this? What if I had learned the wrong scene? What if the other witches didn’t like me? I JUST COULDN’T TAKE THE PRESSURE!!!

I was just only kidding about that last line; I can take the pressure. It wasn’t really that much pressure. True, I haven’t been in a play for over a year, but acting is like riding a bicycle (it’s been even longer since I’ve ridden a bicycle, but that’s a whole other blog post).

Anyways, I did fine at the rehearsal. In fact, I had a lot of fun and I was really glad I had gotten involved. At the end of rehearsal, I said I was going home to write a blog post about it. Only, as often happens with me, I want it to be a BETTER blog post than what I have just written.

As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I owe my readers a better blog post about the new fence as well. All kinds of better blog posts to write! Well, never mind. It is Non-Sequitur Thursday. I won’t promise a better blog post tomorrow, because tomorrow is Lame Post Friday. But it’s always possible. As the great Fats Waller said, one never knows, do one?

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