There Ain't No Cursin' Durin' Rehearsin'

I am in a new musical. This production is entitled, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.' And guess what! It's actually really funny. When we did our read-through in February, I hadn't expected the script to actually make me laugh as much as it did. Well played, script...well played. Anyway, the rehearsal process has been rather vigorous lately. We started off in early march learning choreography. There are a few numbers (one in particular) that have a lot of dancing in them. While it isn't the hardest stuff in the world, and dance is somewhat difficult for me. Then we did a few one-on-one vocal rehearsals and we began blocking the show.

Blocking was a monotonous process, because you need to write down everywhere you go and develop reasons for why you are moving there. I realize that it helps quite a lot to have a purpose and to know where to go and when, but at the time it felt like it was just going to change anyway. Now, though, we are in the process of focusing on more of the acting now that we have the basic foundation covered. I had a bit of trouble with memorization in the beginning, but now that we have run through everything, it is coming along quite well.

My character, Pseudelous, is a slave to one of the rich family's in Ancient Greece, the house of Senex. Senex's son, Hero, falls in love with a beautiful virgin courtesan, but she has been sold to the great captain, Miles Gloriosus. My character attempts to bring the two lovers together by weaving a twisted tale of lies and disguises. Just as the opening song says, it truly is a comedy tonight. As far as acting goes, I have decided to play my character with a bit of variety. On the page, he appears to be a witty, outspoken character, but as a slave I picture him being only outspoken to certain people. For example, he would speak to his master, Hero, with his arms folded across his body and arched over to look up at him. Whereas, when speaking to Marcus Lycus, the owner of the courtesans (who thinks that Pseudelous is free), he would stand straight and speak in a relaxed manner. 

The show goes up on April 27th for the world to see. It is coming up quite fast! I am sure that we will be ready. Rehearsals have been really great for the past few weeks and the show is only getting stronger. I hope everyone enjoys it....or else.