We auditioned for this show the week we got back from winter break, so the end of January. We got the cast list 2 weeks later because of audition conflicts, illnesses, and callbacks. The day the cast list went out was the longest day EVER, and when we finally got it around 6:30 that night, I'm pretty sure you could hear me screaming for joy all the way across the campus. I got the part I wanted: Van's Sister aka Lucy Van Pelt. And to make things even more amazing, My roommate got CB's Sister aka Sally Brown. The cast is 8 people. The final breakdown is: 4 guys and 4 girls- 5 freshman, 1 sophomore, 1 junior, and 1 senior. AND, and, and, and, and a FRESHMAN GOT CB aka Charlie Brown. We were all so excited.
Rehearsals began on April 4th. The show opened May 4th. You do the math.
The read through was so fun. It was awesome to hear the characters through the voices of my friends. We would get our rehearsal schedules a day or two in advance, but before the first week was out, he had the ENTIRE SHOW roughly blocked. It was pretty cool, truth be told.
Then we began delving deeper into the blocking, the language, the crafting. I had to make sure I crafted with CB and Van aka Linus because Van's Sister had a relationship with CB and Van and Van's Sister are siblings (duh. Linus and Lucy). But I digress...
I think I was the first person completely off book, not gonna lie, although we were all off book by the 18th of April, only 2 weeks into the rehearsals. That seems like an eon ago already, a whole other lifetime. We've come so far since then, getting more comfortable with the blocking and the text and with each other. We are at the point where we are a family. When we're on pre-circ we're an incredibly dysfunctional family but a family none the less.
In the play, my character has been institutionalized for setting the "Little Red-headed Girl's" hair on fire. hehehe. That was really fun to craft. In her scene, CB comes to visit her for the first time since her incarceration, but what starts as her screwing with his head turns into him one-upping her for the first time since she's known him. The ensuing conversation is incredibly memorable and insanely fun to go through. He tells her that he kissed Beethoven (aka Schroeder) and that they've had sex, to which she replies, "You're a HOMO, CB!" On a side note, some of my absolute best friends are gay, so that line is totally her and not me; the hardest part of her character was not getting angry or the relationship with CB (which I truly thought it would be), it's the fact that she is a bit of a hater. Well, more than a bit. Well, she probably still has feelings for CB. Well, I mean, come on. Her ex just told her he's probably gay. What would you do?
In the end, she levels the playing field with the confession, "I was pregnant." Now, of course, no one knows if she actually was or not because she hasn't been fully serious with anything else the entire scene (I know because I had to decide of course, but I'm not telling), so she does leave CB hanging. The final moment when she calls him a blockhead is just so touching, even though she's shouting at him because it is so reminiscent of when they were kids that it just makes me want to smile (once I'm off stage in the shop doing my victory dance).
Oh, and did I mention that as part of my preparation to play Van's Sister, I learned how to knit and made the scarf used in the show by hand? No? Well, I did. I had my mom teach me over Spring Break (I started March 12) and I finished the scarf the Monday of Holy Week (April 18). It's yellow with a solid black section for the neck, black fringe, and a black zig-zag stripe at either end, the "Charlie Brown" stripe. We used the unfinished scarf (with the knitting needles still in it, I might add) for the few weeks of rehearsal when I was still working on it. When I got stuck at rehearsal, instead of doing homework (which I have started to regret), I would sit, watch the rehearsal, and knit. If I had a four hour slot that I got stuck there for, I could get a good 2 inches done. I was so excited to finish the scarf and feel like I'd really accomplished something important.
I think college has opened me up to being predictable in unpredictability because my final act this week to get into character was to dye my hair. Jet black. I'm still not totally used to it. I see it out of the corner of my eye and go, "O right. There's no red there anymore," but it's not until I look in a mirror that I go, "OMG. It's really, really dark now." I had one of the theater people dye it on the Dreyfuss steps on Tuesday afternoon. It looks fantastic. Oh, and did I mention it's permanent? I loved seeing the looks on my friends' faces as I told them this little detail.
I love having my own mirror in the shop for make-up. Our Beethoven made signs for everyone with our names and a cartoon of our character. I then went on Google and found several cartoons of Lucy to tape to the mirror. They make me smile, and they help me get into character, so they do their job very nicely. I especially love the one where Lucy is pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. That never gets old.
One of the best things about the opening night show (aside from the roar of applause and cheers after my scene which was AWESOME!!!!!!) was the fact that my parents, choir director + co, and choir friend ;-) were all there to see the show. It really warmed my heart to know that they were there and to see them afterwards. Thank you guys. It means more than words can ever begin to express.
I'm so proud of my fellow cast members. I can't wait to do this 3 more times. I know I will be so sad when it's over on Saturday, but we are gonna knock 'em dead!!!!!
(OK, so I wound up talking about my part of the show for most of this, but can you blame me? It could also be that it's 2 in the morning on Cinco de Mayo now, and I should probably be heading to bed. Roftlcopter.)
"Doo d' doo doodoodoo Dooooo dooo. Doo d' doo dooooooo"
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