Ack!

Learned yesterday that they were going to take publicity pics of the show at this evening's rehearsal, not tomorrow's! There ensued a mad scramble to sew the nightdress & mobcap for the woman who, at 6' tall, is a trifle hard to fit. The fact that the instructions were less than helpful ("do ___ as shown" but no illustration; the Notions list didn't mention fusible interfacing and had a too-low yardage for the trim) both made the assembly take longer and kicked my blood pressure up a few notches. I did get preliminary alterations done to my Act I blouse but it's still too big, even after taking it in 2-3 inches at the shoulder.

So while the costumes weren't complete for the pics, we did have everyone dressed, and the director and the person taking pictures (who also is a major bigwig in the company) both made a point of telling me how much they liked how everyone looked.

While I was still working on the nightdress, with the mobcap still to create and my own costume still untouched, I started thinking about the fact that 3 of my numbers still needed their choreography finished. Despite knowing better, I still got all spun up about it. I had settled somewhat by the time I got to rehearsal and into my Act I costume (that blouse is just huge - still needs much work) but was still spinning enough that one woman made a point of looking me in the eye and saying "Stop spiraling!" :D

Cat-Like Tread still needs to be worked (we've been shown the choreography once), but Frederic, the Pirate King & I ran the Paradox trio and Away, Away a few times, and I got to see that the costuming is actually a lot further along at this point than many shows I've done. (In once case, I didn't get a major costume piece until the night before we opened.) I still have my Act I blouse to take in and the skirt needs to have the hem marked & sewn, I have sashes to make for 2 of the Stanley wards and the nightshirt for the Major General, and the Police Sergeant's jacket was cut for someone more "well rounded", but Samuel finally found a vest that both fits and looks good, the Pirate King & Frederic both have pirate pants that fit, Mabel's sash is perfect, and the other tweaks are similarly looking good.

And once I can relax a bit about the costuming, I desperately need to go back to my lines & music! When we ran the dialogue going into "O False One", I missed a cue entirely, messed up a line, and probably got some of my blocking wrong too. I suppose this is what comes of spending two weeks focusing on costuming the entire show. It's a wonder I haven't dreamt about it yet.