Sunday, May 22, 2005

Geta, get thee gone! and other miscellaneous notes

This should be my last geta post - after putting the women through our paces at rehearsal yesterday, our director decided the geta are out. They make too much noise, they slow us down too much, and we aren't even on the wooden stage or dealing with stairs yet. Our costumer, herself a chorus member, was out of town over the weekend and therefore may not yet know that she now has to figure out what we're going to wear on our feet. We were suggesting ballet slippers or those canvas Chinese shoes; preferably something cheap or already in our possession, given that we've already spent $22 for the tabi and geta.

We're getting down to the wire - just 3 more rehearsals before load-in. One week from tomorrow I'll get my first chance to work with a body mic. I'm wondering whether I'll need to do anything differently to accommodate the fact that I'll be mic'ed and the other altos won't. If nothing else, I'd better be note- and word-perfect on everything; I imagine that mic won't let me get away with anything!

One thing that seems to be no different whether I'm chorus or a lead - now that we're getting close to opening, I'm getting antsy to start working with the potentially problematic costume bits, eager to see what my costume will look like (one of the things I love about theater is "playing dress-up"), and impatient to get on the set to see how we'll have to adjust spacing or timing. That's when it starts feeling "real" - when we have our costumes and get to wear them on the set. That's when the magic starts to work - going from jeans and sneakers to a wig and kimono will make all kinds of difference in our performances, and having an audience to play to will be that last, most critical ingredient that completes the spell. Even in shows I was glad to see close or when I've been blocked at the back of the stage, getting out on that stage with a live audience made magic.

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