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10/29/2005: "Theater"

I went to my first rehearsal of "The Nutcracker" today, a Round Lake Area Park District Community Theater/Studio of Dance co-production. Holy cow. I wasn't really surprised -- it was pretty much what I was expecting -- but it's a little jarring with the long dialogue-free dance sequences and only instrumental music. And it's slightly overwhelming to jump in at the 6th weekend of rehearsals. But never fear, in my role as Herr Drosselmeyer, I won't have to fumble through all the fancy serious dance type of dancing. You know, as opposed to the kind of dancing I've done in musicals. The main thought I had was, whoa, this is almost all blocking. Much more than I could scribble down in the margins of the script. Compare that to "Charlie Brown" -- opening next Friday! -- which has very little blocking. Outside of the musical numbers, the "Charlie Brown" characters very often just pop up on one part of the stage, say a couple lines, and disappear.

"The Nutcracker" will be my 6th show of 2005. I didn't really think that would be possible when my 1st show didn't open till Memorial Day weekend.