Today's rehearsal is brought to you by Sound. Corey and his crew are EQing all miced peeps at the Flynn! There are 51 mic'ed cast members...everyone except 2. Glorious sound, but what it also means is a lot of transmitter switching throughout the show. That's not unusual, but the amount of switching and the sheer puzzle-ry of figuring out who needs what when is mind-boggling. Freda, my assistant, has been working with Corey because this is just the kind of details that can completely derail me. I need all of my brain cells to do other things, so Freda went through our character by scene grid and plotted all the mic changes. Then, after I created a hair/makeup/costume change document (cause I don't do grid!), she plotted that on the character by scene grid. So now, ALL of our crews have the benefit of an easy access "change" chart--courtesy of Freda! It still is going to take time when we movein and start teching things, but at least everyone will be on the same page--literally!
In other news, my costume goddesses are working round-the-clock on details that ALWAYS seem to pop up at the last minute, no matter how much we communicate. Example: Are the convicts going barefoot? We need to checkwith out tech director before we make that decision. So, message from Lyn to me, from me to Stephen, from Stephen to B. Hopefully they can go barefoot, but we wont't hear from B til later today. Also, the courtroom scene. My cast didn't realize that they are part of the court personnel, so when Lyn was fitting them for robes, they were very confused. This made Lyn nervous, so she sent me an email, which I responded to and made sure that my cast knew what was what. Two days. More unexpected details: In the Act 2 Epilogue, Fantine, et al, need to make their entrance pretty far down stage. She is in white, so is visible before I want her to be seen...Can I get black silks or cloaks for she, Eponine and the Bishop? Lyn is very acommodating, but I've added 2 hours of work per set of blacks. More: Costume fittings are taking longer, and folks were late to rehearsal. I had to ask my stage manager to make sure that costumes let them go in time to get to rehearsal. Erg. I fear the message was delivered in a way that made me sound like I was having a tantrum. I need to offer some concessions to Lyn so that she gets what she (and our cast) needs!
My cast took a huge leap at rehearsal on Friday, everyone from JVJ to ensemble. They took my breath away several times! Abby continues to discover fresh things about Fantine; she is truly lovely. Kianna's Eponine is grounded and connected and fierce and almost shy. Mark's Javert is powerful and riveting. Margaret and Bob are cunning, hilarious and mobile-faced--and spot-on responsive to notes and new ideas. Merrill's Cosette makes me smile--her energy is fresh and lovely and feminine and she and Michael are so, so lovely together. Michael's Marius is masculine, emotional and heartbreaking. Ben's Enjolras is contained power--when he lets it rip, it makes your hair stand on end! My Barricade Boys are so invested and smart about the show and their performance. I just love them all. My ensemble has no idea how powerful they are--no idea. They are beautiful. And Ian! His JVJ came alive with power and emotionality. He's been sick for the past two weeks and has been forced to explore other ways--not just vocal power--to communicate JVJ's story. I know that he works unceasingly to get a deeper, richer understanding of his work, and something clicked for him. The details, the transitions, the scope and sweep of his character arc are REAL and something we can see him experiencing in his body, mind and soul. He in particular is on a path of discovery and being in the moment that will serve him very well for the next three weeks. Goose-bump inducing.
I feel so honored that they have been so willing to put themselves in my hands. I don't feel right saying that I'm proud of them--that seems to imply a judgement or an imbalance of power somehow, and I truly believe that this work is a collaboration. But I am grateful! and so excited for them to have an audience. And so eager to tell them how wonderful they are! Opening night is less than 2 weeks away---it's almost time to unleash the Beast!
To the Barricades!
KAK
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