Things have gotten way out of hand since my last post in nearly every facet of my life...
Thursday night, I was at home learning lines from my newly acquired role of Ann in AMS (I'd called out of my Millie duties to rest my foot from Tuesdays needlepoint) when I got a phone call from John (the new director) asking if I was going to be at the theater. I said no, I was currently at home resting Harvey (that's what I decided to name my tattoo. More later). He put Todd on the phone, who also asked me if I was going to be at the theater because they wanted to do an AMS reading. I gave the same answer, but said that I was just icing my foot and could show up at the theater if they needed me. They said they'd call back and let me know.
...They never called.
Friday I arrived at the theater, set up my tables for dinner, got dressed... the usual. Then, one of the girls asked me what was going on with AMS. I told her a brief version of what unfolded Tues and Wed. When I mentioned that I was now the role of Ann, another girl turned to me and said, wait, I thought Kate was playing Ann...? We spoke for a min and it was nearly confirmed that Kate was indeed playing Ann. It seems that while I was home Thursday night an impromptu audition was held for Kate to read (I thought for the role of Sue, which is what she was being considered for) and she was then cast in the role of Ann... excuse me?
So, I got on my Huffy bike, left the dressing room and texted John. He said the stage manager was supposed to call me to inform me of the change... Do you see anything wrong with the situation? I'll help you:
#1 They booted a girl out of a role with no prior notice.
#2 They (once again) cast the role without an audition (me).
#3 They decided to hold an audition (behind my back) with someone who wasn't even originally considered for the role... I smell deception...
John asked me to consider the role of Sue. I said I'd think about it.
I called John after the show Friday night and we had a nice chat. Well, it was more an annoyed barrage of questions (me) vs a harried apologetic non-explanation of the situation (him). He took all and none of the blame at the same time. I explained that I was very hurt and frustrated with the whole situation and I'd have to really think about whether or not I still wanted to be involved with this production. Never in my life have I encountered such turncoat backstabbing "frenemies" (friends who are sometimes enemies) as I have with this show.
As much as I want to be involved with a show, this show, I don't know if I possess the good nature to go back into it smiling. Having known myself all my life, I will harbor a slight bit of resentment over the face that I was moved from a role I enjoyed into a role I believed I deserved and then back into the role I enjoyed, having had no chance to prove that I deserved either role in the first place. (Auditions for this show were never held, remember? They just cast people willy nilly, hoping they'd be right for the part. Mistake.)
So, John and I left the conversation at the fact that I needed the night to sleep on the situation and decide what my answer would be. Little did I know AMS would never cross my mind Saturday...
I woke up Saturday, happy to have my first free Saturday morning/afternoon since July. I was all geared up to clean my tragic mess of a room, do my laundry... That is, until I received a phone call from Carole, our production manager. It went something like this:
Carole: Hey, Michelle. Deborah threw her back out last night. (Side note: Deborah plays the second female lead, Mrs. Meers, in Thoroughly Modern Millie... big big role)
Me: Ok...
C: and her understudy is in Florida until Sunday night.
M: uh huh...
C: I need you to play the part. Can you do it?
M: ?!?!?!?!?!??!? ...Sure.
This was at 11am... I had 7 hours to learn a leading role in a major musical. A role I knew virtually nothing about. A role I paid no attention to. A role I never thought I'd play. A role I'm a good 20 years too young for. A role I know had to know well enough to perform for a Saturday night audience of over 200... looks like I'm not going to be doing any laundry. *siiiigh*
Well, I busted my hump and learned the role. Luckily, I had in my possession the script and a tape of the final dress rehearsal. I went to a friend's house for the accompaniment cd's and spent the day learning lines, songs and blocking.
That evening I went to the theater 3 hours early. I taped parts of the script onto the set where Mrs. Meers spends most of her time. You see, she runs a low end motel for aspiring actresses with little money. A actress herself (turned con), she poses as a Chinese woman (dressed like a Geisha... so not PC, I know) and runs a white slavery operation, selling her orphaned tenants to "Buddha". They are shipped to Hong Kong and forced to work as street walkers. All that to say, she spends most of her time behind the front desk of the hotel. I cleverly taped my lines into the hotel register on the desk to have handy just in case my brain failed me, for some reason, after 7 hours of rigorous study. *phew*
For the most part, the show went really well. I flipped the verses on my song around, but (I'm hoping no one in the audience knew the show verbatim) I played it off well and was pretty safe. A couple of line flubs here and there, but I nailed I'd say 85% of the show really well. I also found out that night that I was going in for the Sunday matinée... On top of all this, my 7 hours of study, an evening's performance and tons of stress left me with a strained voice.
Fantastic.
I woke up Sunday morning with a little more confidence but a a lot less voice. I prayed a lot, drank hot water with honey and lemon, went through half a bag of throat lozenges and prayed some more. Luckily, my froggy squeak of a voice worked well for the character. I was able to use the squeaky bit for the lines I delivered in a Chinese accent, and the froggy bass was good for when I dropped the accent and spoke in my character's actual voice. The songs I had to sing are deep in the alto range, so that was another blessing.
Aunt Wendy and Uncle Matt came to see me perform on Sunday and really enjoyed the show. I was just hoping for a nearly seamless transition from Deborah to me for the sake of the rest of the cast. They were wonderful, by the by. Everyone was on point, ready to catch me if I fell, and cover lines if I dropped them. I didn't drop entire lines, luckily, only a few words here and there, but I was covered by my fellow actors and it all worked out very well.
All in all, it was a very stressful, nerve racking, exciting, confusing, rewarding weekend.
Thank goodness it's over!
No comments:
Post a Comment