Did I say this was going to be easy?

Well, there you have it, gentle readers. It has finally happened. A little later than last time, and with none of the true hair-tearing and barely audible cursing, but we have finally reached the day where it seemed like rehearsal would never end. Part of that, for me, was because we worked Tell-Tale this morning and after running through the killing and the very end a few times, we ran the whole thing, and then I sat down for notes. Oh dear lord. First off, i don't think I've ever had an experience where I was told I was too subtle. Well, to be fair, Pat never said I was too subtle, but since she was telling me she didn't see things that I knew I was trying to get across, it stands to reason that my portrayal was too small and subtle. Don't worry, my friends, I'm having a hard time believing it myself. In fact, i didn't think I had the genetic makeup for subtle. And while I have to say I agreed with everything Pat was saying she does have this tendency to tell you something, explain it so you understand it, then continue explaining it for another five minutes or so. No matter how many times I said "right" or "yep" or (trying to still be that underplayed subtle guy) "I got it." she would just keep reiterating things to me over and over again. And that's where it gets frustrating for me. Just tell me once. Explain it if you have to, but once I make all those understanding noises, move on. It means I got it and am ready to be infused with the next morsel of brilliance from your directorial smorgasbord.  But that's the problem with some of the people around here. They love to hear themselves direct. Ah well. Like I said, I do agree with most of what she was saying, even though I have to admit, since it all involved intensity and intention, I did come out of it feeling just a little beat to shit. I thought I had a pretty good handle on this thing, but apparently not. Of course, to listen to Pat give examples, I'd be talking like Boris Karloff on valium, so it's a fine line I have to walk. But hey--at least there's a challenge. Gives me something to focus on while I'm napping through Monkey's Paw.

Besides my drawn-out ordeal, we also fit Ted into the Headless Horseman puppet and tried to make sure he wouldn't go careening off the stage, especially when Bob and Alice starting whipping his cape around during the ride. They were yanking on him pretty good, and I was worried he'd get pulled backwards right off the edge of the stage. Thankfully, we managed to get through it all without breaking him, so that's good. And I actually had a pretty high point on the day as well. I got to go back to Costume Works and try on the Ichabod jumpsuit, which fit perfectly. The gals at CW liked it so much they're thinking of making all the Ichabod costumes like that, regardless of how fast the costume change is for the actor. So for anyone out there who may, in the future work for Chamber, play Ichabod, and be presented with an outfit you can get into in about 8 seconds, you're welcome. One of the ladies who worked thee whom i had not previously met came in with her newborn son. And I mean NEW--5 weeks old. Absolutely adorable. Of course he didn't DO anything, but he was neither crying, vomiting, nor pooping, so really, it was the best kind of baby viewing you could ask for.

When I got back from CW, we worked through the Monkey's Paw. And I mean we WORKED through it. It took about 3 hours to get through the whole thing. One reason is that we are stopping and tightening things up far more than we probably would if our rehearsal was longer. But since we have to start doing runs of the entire show come Friday, and we have a producer run on Monday, I think Pat's a little more particular at this stage, if that's humanly possible for her. Working Monkey's Paw, for me, wasn't strenuous, just slow and kind of boring since I'm on for roughly 30 seconds. I did get some good napping in, which any actor will tell you is the most important thing at a rehearsal. And I am now in possession of our van, which is brand spanking new, with less than 2000 miles on it and all the amenities you could possibly hope for. I discovered that Flo, who is from a small town in Texas just outside of Houston, also finds great humor in my T-shirts (I'm batting 1000 with this cast!) and knows at least one Blood Sweat and Tears song. Oh, and both she and Ted like to do karaoke. The road doesn't seem so terrifying anymore somehow. (See, it doesn't take much to make me happy. Now to KEEP me happy, that's a whole different kettle of fish. Now FISH....but that's another story.)

We also met our electrician today. He didn't hang around very much--I'm sure he had electrical things to do, not to mention running around and getting the physical taken care of. But he seemed very nice for the minute and a half or so I talked to him this morning. Like everyone else right now, he seems very laid back. Which is good, because electrician (at least last tour) struck me as one of the more stressful jobs on this tour. His name (alias, that is...) is Schneider. Let's see how obvious everyone finds THAT! And I'm still waiting on guesses for Harvey Kneeslapper......

Well, anyway, I have stayed up far too log and must away to bed. Slowly slogging through Necklace and Frog tomorrow...hope I'm not too subtle.