Tonight was our final dress rehearsal for Rumors. Although we were Pudney-less, I felt that it was finally the first night that, had there been an audience, we would not have embarrassed ourselves. Part of that must have been due to the fact that since it was finally a closed set (that is, all entrances done through the correct stage exits and passageways, etc.) and all of the house lights were down (leaving our director and all who were watching from afar in near darkness), it felt Much More Intimidating. Funny that having the lights OFF makes it more terrifying -- but it finally felt like really being on a stage! It's been a long, long time. I think it must have been the stage fright this all instilled (at least it did in me) that got us going and knocked us into perspective!
In recent rehearsals, one of my favorite on-stage presences (BNap), who plays my best friend in the show, and I have been playing a game called "steal-the-funny-one-liner". And when I say "we" are playing a "game", I mean she is taking over my lines when I forget them. And I have a lot of potentially funny non sequiturs (at least seemingly so -- does "sucking his thumb" perhaps prime "I can't believe I'm paying a baby-sitter for this night? Only Neil Simon can know for sure...). Meaning that many of my one-off lines are very difficult to remember, unless (apparently) you grew up with the GTW, a la Nappa, and have just decided to memorize the entire play. So, when BNap stole one of my less punchy "Oh who gives a shit?" lines, I finally just gave up and countered with "Apparently not me." This is gonna be fun when we start doing it for real, tomorrow!
