Tonight we were going to try to get through 3 acts in 2 hours. Turns out the stage had just been repainted, and the fumes were horrid. So director Tiffany had the cast of "Firstborn" rehearse in an upstairs room most of us did not know existed - a mirrored rehearsal space with a great dance floor.
We carried our own chairs upstairs. I knew one thing after the first 10 minutes. No way would we get to Act 3 tonight! Tiffany is tweaking bits as we go and making subtle entrance and exit and blocking shifts, and scenes were repeated.
After about an hour we realized that another show, filled with Motown music, which has been rehearsing onstage, was back at it, loudly. I am so amazed that our actors were able to concentrate beyond that, and didn't get knocked out by the fumes. Everyone did a great job.
After our warm-up games led by Dee Dee, my minimalist participation this time was to stand in as Sister Rachelle and do my Sister Jackie at the church in Act 1. I actually would have liked to know that I could go home after that, but somehow I powered through in anticipation of doing my own parts later.
Good thing I left my office in time for that 10-minute nap at home prior to the rehearsal.
The night left me with a feeling of incompleteness and a bit of confusion. So once I got home I vegged into a couple more episodes of "Slings and Arrows," wallowing again in other actors' pain and turmoil and surmounting of Xtreme challenges. How about those scenes where MacBeth's character is played by an understudy who loses his way, drops 15 minutes of lines, yet is beloved by all, then gets replaced by the original actor after all? Did you see that one? Highly recommended. One thing about a TV series about acting - it's so full of subplots, it's thick. I'm sure our lives are, too.
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