"We'll be alright...": things to never sing in an apocolypse.

Hello, again, fellow morbid friends! We had our first full read/sing through this week and it was stellar. Aside from the distraction of trying to follow script and score separately (there's a lot of spoken sequences in the middle of songs), it gave us a great idea of the structure of the performance.

One of the reasons I always like Scott's "Miller-ography" is his tendency towards minimalism. Being a "more is more" kind of person in my everyday life, I always picture most musical numbers with lots of choreography and movement. However, when it comes to this show, that is simply not necessary. It's about setting the mood and letting the music and lyrics take you through the action of the story.

I love the concept that Scott created from the very beginning of the show. The blocking for the opening numbers "Perfect/Night" consist mostly of our characters wandering around the space. Scott's explanation for this action translates as we are ghosts forever stuck in the events of our final moments. We are familiar with this place and know something happened, but can't quite figure out or remember why...I LOVE THAT. OMG. It was such a traumatic experience, that our spirits can't move on.

Hot damn.

I also got to see how little Barbra actually speaks, haha. I just kind of stare into space a lot and scream occasionally. For me...not talking is hard (ha!) I'm a very facially expressive person and I believe that may be one of the reasons Scott chose me for this part (that and maybe he thinks I'm insane?). It's going to be hard to get into that stoic/lost presence in the space we rehearse (the children's play area in the basement of a church) and the fact that I have to be so attached to the ever-ridiculous Zak (our Ben...if you knew him you'd understand, he makes it hard NOT to laugh during rehearsal). I sometimes watch actors in show and go "WHY ARE THEY SO BORING? They have so much to work with!" Well, I have that opportunity in a very difference way: subtlety.

In other news, Sarah and I did some costume shopping yesterday, and in short: JACKPOT. I knew that the most difficult characters to dress were going to be Helen and Barbra. I thought they would be the LAST pieces we would find! But, in a lucky visit to a local vintage store, TFA (The Future Antiques), we found their main pieces that we think really emody the characters. When I put on my dress, I came out of the dressing room and Sarah and I reacted with perfect glee. When Sarah came out of the room with hers on, she simply stated "Yup. This is it. I feel like Helen." How more perfect does it get than that?

We have a great balance as a team. We both have an eye for style but know how to keep each other within the lines and integrity of the design. Usually along the lines of:
"GAH! I love this dress!"
"Me, too! She would never wear that...we would."
"Yeah...you're right."

Here's a sneak-peek:

Babs...

Harry...

Helen...

Happy Spooky Saturday!