First blocking rehearsal - whew!

Today we got through quite a lot of blocking in 3 hours. We started with the Act II finale and got that roughed in with the people who were there. It's rough, of course, but for a first run-through it went well, especially given that all the women (except Katisha, I think) are carrying parasols and all the men are working with fans for that number. The traffic patterns are the kind that look more complicated than they are - easy to teach to a large group but not simple-minded. All the movement of people and props should present a lovely stage picture to the audience and "leave them with feelings of pleasure" (W.S. Gilbert, The Gondoliers, Act II finale).

While waiting for people to reassemble after the lunch break, we blocked the Three Little Maids (TLMs) in Three Little Maids from School. More parasol work, though blessedly minimal. Our director seems to be going for atmosphere rather than intricate prop "choreography". Since we're using those lovely oriental-style parasols with the designs on them, we won't need to do much with them to create a pretty picture. So the TLMs' parasol work for this number is limited chiefly to shifting the parasol from one shoulder to the other, and bringing them out in front of us as we turn in a small circle.

In both numbers, the chief challenge for me today was hanging on to my parasol while making blocking notes that I'd be able to understand later, scribbling them into my score at what I hope were the correct places. At least I'm off book now for the Act II finale music; only dropped notes or words when I was trying to sing while remembering the instructions we'd just been given.

Once all the men returned from lunch, they started blocking the opening number. That one calls for some fan choreography; based on what they were doing today, that will look impressive once we have all the men.

While the men were learning their fan work, the women were measured 20 ways to Sunday for costumes. Our producer/costumer/chorus member did a tour in Japan (her husband was in the Air Force) and is determined to have us look as authentic as westerners reasonably can. That means authentic tabi socks and zori (see http://www.karankoron.com/online_shop_zori.html for pictures) for everyone. There was talk of putting the female leads in wooden geta (photos at http://www.egeorgeonline.com/getapage/), but I think they've been dismissed as too noisy, not to mention the risk of one or more of the women breaking an ankle or otherwise doing herself an injury. J's also looking into an affordable rental for real Japanese-style kimonos for all of us, men and women alike, and has mentioned having someone come in and show us the proper way to wear them. Sounds like we're going to look absolutely MAH-velous - I can hardly wait!