Suck It!

I had a nasty headache this morning, but it has receded to the mountaintops waiting for its next chance to storm the battlements.
I have ibu and decongestants manning the walls however. And I'm not afraid to use hot oil and caltrops.

Monte came to watch rehearsal last night. We did a full run thru (minus one number). Even with raggedness, it was only 2.5 hours. Sweet! (I did cut two numbers from the show, so that helps a bit.) It means that this won't be an interminable evening at the theatre.

Monte declared the show "not suck". Obviously ragged, but still fun. When they do it right, downright enjoyable. And just by having a new set of eyes watching, it forced my eyes to look anew and I was both pleased and frustrated with what I saw.
Frustrated: girls who should know the dance well "marking" it or just not knowing it - it's hard to tell. Regardless, the look on the face said "I don't take this seriously."
Pleased: I'm a pretty clever choreographer occasionally.

New thought: I think I am going to cut the reprise of "Always True to You". It just goes on forever and Lois isn't THAT good. Besides, the verses in the reprise aren't as clever. I'll review this afternoon and see.

I gave notes afterward. I'm trying to impart acting lessons in the midst of all this so I gave a brief sermon on "raising the stakes" - on making specific choices onstage, on making what you are doing important. Every character needs a reason - a life-or-death reason - for being there and being involved.
I also told them that they have until next Wednesday night to learn the dances and if I see people who don't know them, I will cut them from the dance number. If they are front and center and don't know it/won't sell it, I will move them. It motivates them. Probably because they know I mean it.
And the best moment of the night was trying to get one of my gangsters to threaten with a fist. I blocked him to threaten the other gangster with his fist, but it's the wimpiest thing I ever saw. During notes, I said,
WINDY: Ben, threaten me. *shakes fist at him*
BEN: *wimpy fist thing vaguely in my direction*
WINDY: No! Be mean! *threatens with scowl*
BEN: *wimpy fist thing even more wimpy than before*
WINDY: Ben, flip me off.
BEN: *startled* What? Really?
WINDY: Yes, flip me off.
BEN: *flips a very aggressive bird*
WINDY: Aha! Do it just like that, only without the finger!!

I was successful in finally getting a decently threatening fist. You just gotta find the right metaphor sometimes.

The set continues rather rapidly to appear. Yay. Sit-sing tonight. I'm anxious and excited to hear the orchestra.

A ton of sewing to do.

Other places of my life are not-so-good right now. I don't have time or energy to spare to address the issues. However, the suckage saps my energy and motivation. Oh, the catch-22 of it all.

1. Think of a word or a phrase that you would use to describe me.
2. Go to Google Image Search (or your preferred inferior search engine) and search for that word.
3. Select the picture you see as the most fitting, and post it or a link as a reply.
4. Do whatever you want to do next.