Sunday, February 13, 2011

Ay Yi, Yi!




And after writing what I wrote this morning, I went to rehearsal and shed no grace at all and certainly did not accept it from anyone else.
Lord, Lord. Why can't I follow my own advice?

It's crunch time for Steel Magnolias and I feel like we're not there. We're...vague.
One of our cast was not there as she had another project and it feels so wrong not to have everyone there this close to our opening. We need all of us, all of the energy and the whole damn shebang to make it work and dress rehearsals are famous for making everyone freak the fuck out and rise up out of sleep to scream, "We're not ready!" and today's dress rehearsal was no exception.

I'm just having such a hard time inhabiting Truvy. Her shoes are there, her hair is there, her costumes and jewelry are there but her soul...it's trembling somewhere close and I can feel her but Mary is the one having problems with the rollers, the hair style, the reactions. Mary.
Mary needs to get the fuck out of the way and let Truvy step forth.
Mary needs to fucking focus.

I've never been in a play where there's no backstage time. There is one scene where a few pages of dialogue go on before I come in but that's the one and only time I'm not onstage. Which, in a way, is good. I don't have to sit backstage and fret but it also makes for nerve-wracking constancy. Any time I have offstage I have to be stripping like a whore on dollar night and getting redressed as quickly as possible. And there are four completely different changes from clothes to hair to jewelry. And I have to do it myself and honeys, I get spaced OUT! Jack told us tonight that yes, this is our first dress rehearsal, but if we take this long to change, the audience is going to go out for sandwiches.

ARGGGGHHHH!

Can you tell I'm freaking a bit?

Okay. Breathe.
Ommmmmmmm....

Right.

This is the part of the whole thing where I have thoughts like, oh, I'M TOO OLD FOR THIS, I SUCK, I'M GOING TO FUCK UP THE WHOLE PLAY, JAN AND JACK TRUSTED ME TO PLAY THIS ROLE AND I AM LETTING THEM DOWN!
Etc.

Well. It is what it is. And there are some parts which I feel good about and there are some that I don't. This is normal, this is how it goes, this is COMMUNITY THEATER!

Ah lah.
The show will go on.
We shall do the best we can.
And we shall pray the prayer of the community theater actor:

Let the audience be drunk and happy. Lord, let it be so.

Amen. Yours truly.
Truvy.

14 comments:

  1. i shall be there in the audience..drunk AND in spirit.

    you'll be fine..looks great so far..wish i was there...

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  2. If it's any comfort at all, you sound like a real actress, to me. In a great line of dramatists --

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  3. you are brave, courageous and close.

    yes, i am thinking under this wave of terror is your Truvy awakening.

    hey? can you cut my hair?

    xoxoxoxox,
    r

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  4. From what I saw today, you guys are going to have a great show. I've been working with these guys for nearly seven years now, and always have these "we're not ready" thoughts. Besides, after the costume change boot camp that was Later Life, this should be a cinch.
    Still sorry about mispronouncing the town name in the DJ dialog. It sounded right to me.

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  5. Drunk and happy. A fine thing to be and wish for. And it will be fine and even if it isn't, it will be fine.

    Xxoo

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  6. As you say, it will be what it will be and I'm sure it will be great and afterwards you will look back on it and think, why did I worry so? Or you will think I should have worried so.

    But it's not all up to you, Ms Moon, anyhow. You can only do your best

    As I say to my thespian daughters before a performance and before an exam: 'break a leg'.

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  7. Think Dolly Parton. Think swanky hairdresser with a heart of gold!

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  8. Screamish- Okay. Thanks!

    Elizabeth- Drama being the key word.

    rebecca- No. I cannot cut your hair, dear one. You would not want me to. But I know a lady who can!

    Jon- Well, the only way to know how to pronounce that is to hear it. You make the BEST DJ ever.

    Ms. Trouble- Oh. I know.
    But still, one wants so much to do one's best.

    Elisabeth- Thank-you, sugar.

    Ms. Fleur- No. I cannot think Dolly Parton. I'm fighting that with all my heart. I am NOT Mary playing Dolly playing Truvy. I am Mary playing Truvy. It's complicated enough with the presence of Dolly The Icon as a middlewoman.

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  9. Oh I wish I could be there. And drunk.

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  10. I'm sorry you're not quite feeling it yet, but you look awesome.

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  11. You will be great when the curtain comes up. It's normal to worry.

    I love you so! And I do really love your hair.

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  12. Hey, it is community theater. You guys aren't some kind of super broadway actors. Maybe that is what makes this so special--it is a bit unpolished. Go for it. Truvy will come in when she is ready.

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  13. Truvy is so gorgeous! I just love the way her hair curls exactly right at the ends. Wow!

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  14. Wow. Sounds exactly like dress rehearsals. You have to show up no matter what. I've never seen Steel Magnolias but I just looked it up on Netflix and it's streaming live so I will check it out. When is the performance?xr

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