{photo: Veronica DiPerna as a Chorus Girl in Runyonland.}

The past week and a half has been (as always) a race toward the finish line.  Final days in the rehearsal hall were spent cleaning, focusing, tightening, throwing out, rethinking and speeding up.

{photo:Todd A. Horman and the company of Sit Down.}

Sit Down, You’re Rockin the Boat was a blast and a bear at the same time.  It is rhythmically quite challenging, but so exciting to sing that the company has a natural tendency to speed things up.  Which may be fun, but can also prove lethal if you can’t keep up with the choreography (we did have a few spills from the mission benches).

Loesser’s score continues to dazzle me.  It is beautiful to listen to.  But when you get in and actually try to learn the harmonies and intervals, it is far more complex than you might have originally imagined.

{photo: Stacia Fernandez (center) and the Hot Box girls.}

The dance numbers have required an equal amount of attention.  A cast of 19 is not small for PCS, but it’s not huge for a Guys and Dolls – and so finding a balance of choreography that can convey the intent of a number, while not wearing out the tightened number of performers you are leaning on to pull it off – has been a challenge.

We finally moved onstage Wednesday evening for the Sitzprobe (the company sings through the show with the band for the first time).  It’s always such a gas to move into the theater, and begin to imagine how the show will feel with an audience.  It’s also deeply disorienting (’wow – I thought it would be deeper than this’, etc.)

The band is in the pit again this year, but will sit lower than they did for Cabaret.  This should make it easier to balance the sound, but it also poses a few challenges for our musical director, Rick Lewis (pictured above) – as he will be standing about two and half feet above the rest of the musicians – so the actors can see his hands.

{photo: Robert Mammana, who plays Sky Masterson, in his sightseeing guide costume.}

Adding costumes has a variety of effects on the company.  Some actors feel overwhelmed, others totally excited.  And then some (ala Robert Mammana, who makes a cameo in Runyonland as a Sightseeing Guide) just enjoys the new look.

Loads of logistics are brought to the company for the first time:  a discussion with our sound technicians about how the body microphones are handled, protected, and worn.  Or here (with Richard Mathews and our Stage Management team listening intently) as Bonnie, our Wardrobe Mistress outlines how costumes will be cleaned, managed and organized.

Bonnie shared that the show contains 95 costumes changes, including 21 that have to occur in less than one minute.

{photo: John Plumpis as Nathan; Leif Norby as Benny Southstreet; and Todd Harmon as Nicely-Nicely.}

All the visuals for the production have aimed at achieving a “hyper-theatrical quality” – and our first day on stage allowed us to see all the costumes in motion, and together for the first time.  Many were on the right track, some were a bit too realistic to compete with the cacophony and will require further exaggeration.

{photo: Robert Mammana as Sky kisses Carey Brown as Sarah.}

But the real excitement of moving onstage comes when the lights, costumes and vocals all begin to contribute to creating a moment that begins have a magic of its own.

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