Rehearsals and Auditions

It’s been a crazy month so far with rehearsals and meetings in full swing for The Wedding Singer and auditions for Meet Me in St. Louis stacked on top of it all. I’ve mostly only praise for my great Wedding Singer cast - no complaints from me as far as talent. Honestly, the cast is as talented - in some cases, more talented - than many “professional” companies I’ve worked with. My only real point of contention is rehearsal attendance. I know, it’s community theatre and people have lives and blah, blah, blah. Um, hello? I have a life, too. A very full one, thank you very much, and my tired ass is at every friggin’ rehearsal. I’m sure I have the biggest commute of anyone - two boroughs, two states and two rivers! My Tuesday evening commute to the theatre and back to Queens is longer than the actual rehearsal! Sorry, I don’t mean to yell. I guess I just have to accept rotating absences as par for the course. It’s how community theatre works and I just have to get used to it (insert long sigh here). But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Rant over.

Even though The Wedding Singer process is turning into one long game of “guess-who’s-coming-to-rehearsal?”, the show itself is really starting to shape up. I mean, I can only guess the opening number will look spectacular, as I’ve never actually seen it performed with the full cast at any given run (I know, I’m such a bitch). That said, it will be a great show. I mean, an 80’s period musical is inherently funny - parachute pants, the “Roger Rabbit,” mullets (see pic above) and jelly shoes? How can it not be hilarious?

As far as Meet Me in St. Louis auditions, it’s going to be a crap shoot. Unlike other years where there have been some obvious front-runners, this year’s group looks to be on equal footing. Granted, we’ve only auditioned half the group and callbacks are always full of (good and bad) surprises. Thankfully, MMISL is not a dance heavy show. And by the looks of our dance callbacks, that is a very good thing. For you mothers that read this blog, don’t get your panties all up in a twist. There are some excellent dancers amongst this year’s high schoolers. All I’m saying is that a full company dream ballet with this group would not be pretty.