Sitting behind the table, between checking the stopwatch and taking notes on everything from choreography to set pieces and acting beats, thoughts like this one flit through my head. "It's Me" and "That's the Way it Happens" are the two adorable Juliet songs in particular that have made it to Grand Night, and both feature the delightful trio of Emily Levey, Nick Lehan, and Scott Russell. It was just the way the tracks happened to break down; we didn't decide, "These three clearly represent the soul of Me and Juliet and therefore MUST present both songs, together!"
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| Maria, Nick, and Emily come downstage center. |
This afternoon was our first big day of blocking. Among the numbers we got through: the aforementioned Juliet songs, "The Man You Used to Be", "I Cain't Say No", "A Hundred Million Miracles", "When the Children Are Asleep", "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top", "We Kiss in a Shadow", "Maria", "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy", "The Gentleman is a Dope", "Oh What a Beautiful Morning", "Love, Look Away", "Something Wonderful", and "This Nearly Was Mine".
So...yeah. We did a little of stuff today.
As an actor myself, I can appreciate the sheer mental overload happening, which makes me admire our cast all the more. Each comes out of the box a remarkable musical theatre talent, but carries as a bonus a very special personal charm. We as a production just have to luck into this and marvel at the magical result, like how the real-life friendship between Nick and Maria Egler informs Nick's performance of "Maria" and makes for a nuanced and fun-filled number between them.
There's still much to do. It's easy to think that doing six hours of blocking rehearsal on a Sunday can exhaust you, but days like today are actually energizing. For the first time you see what it looks like on it's feet, and there's nothing like that.
I can't wait to see the whole thing. Which at this rate will probably be in like three rehearsals.
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