Wednesday, February 18, 2009
So first and foremost when I first read the title for this play before I auditioned I though, "FINALLY they are doing a play centering around women." (they do a lot of plays that have tons of male roles, and very little female roles...and women are the bulk of what show up to the auditions.) Come to find out once I got a description of the plot that Leading Ladies was a play on words...because the "ladies" were actually men...in drag. Yup. BUT there were still a grand total of 3 roles for women, two of which were for someone my age...so there was still hope.
The PLOT:This hilarious comedy centers on two English Shakespearean actors, Jack and Leo, who find themselves so down on their luck that they are performing "Scenes from Shakespeare" on the Moose Lodge circuit in the Amish country of Pennsylvania. Wh
en they hear that an old lady in York, PA is about to die and leave her fortune to her two long lost English nephews, they resolve to pass themselves off as her beloved relatives and get the cash. The trouble is, when they get to York, they find out that the relatives aren't nephews, but nieces! Romantic entanglements abound, especially when Leo falls head-over-petticoat in love with the old lady’s vivacious niece, Meg, who’s engaged to the local minister. Meg knows that there’s a wide world out there, but it’s not until she meets “Maxine and Stephanie” that she finally gets a taste of it.
Once I got my hands on a portion of the script to audition with, just that small snippet was hilarious...and the role of Audrey, was just something I did not want to miss. She's as described in the character listing a "naieve bombshell". She comes across as
so I was hoping to get work with Katelyn and Theresa again whom I had gotten to work with on "Forum". They were both assitant directing.I was SOOO excited when I got the phone call that I had gotten the part, and better yet it was from my friend Katelyn only an hour or so after the 2nd night's auditions so, I had apparently blew their socks off from the very first night and I was completely stoked.
The first read through was so much fun and proved just how masterful of a casting director our director Jerry truly was. We hadn't even started to act the roles out but just having everyone read as their characters was beyond my expectations, and the script was INCREDIBLY funny. It had us in tears. Plus the guy who was going to play Jack who was to be Audrey's love interest in the play, happened to be the same guy that I had auditioned with for another play called, "Della's Diner"...and he was hilarious in that reading, so it seemed fate that we ended up being able to do a play together anyway even though neither of us got to do Della's!
It took us awhile of rehearsing the play several times over and over before we started being able to control ourselve
s in laughter. The jokes gradually faded, even though some things even when we started dress rehearsals were still being laughed at.When the boys got to transform into their official female counterparts at some our first dress rehearsals provided for a whole new level of laughter.
For the play...I had to rollerskate on stage for my introductory scene, which I was absolutely terrified about. I hadn't skated since I was 12, and skating in the rehearsal hall was ENTIRELY different then skating on the actual stage...which ended up being far less room to maneuver, and bore dozens of little things that could make my little pink wheels skid...hereby making me...fall. Although, I only fell ONE time during one of our rehearsals and that was it, so I've gotta say those were pretty fair odds.
This was also to be my first on stage/on screen kiss. Sorry boys, alas its been taken. At the end of the play...Audrey (at this point all revved up about being engaged) grabs her newly made fiancee and plants a rather forceful sexy smooch on him, so that was some new, interesting territory for me with this play.
This was also honestly the first thing I've done on stage...theater wise that I've had lines...so it was THRILLING to get to be up on stage and actually open my mouth to the audience, and getting to hear if they found me funny or not.
And the nice thing about the Pensacola Little Theater is that you get to go out to the foyer and say goodbye to everyone that just saw the play so I got to hear feedback on my performance things like, "You make a really good dumb blonde." "You were SO cute!" "I LOVED your character." "You were definately my favorite." "You did really good on those skates!" "I really loved your Brando impression." So it was just all really nice to hear :) Its motivating. And the
play in general got some amazing feedback...people were saying that it was the best play they've seen the theater put on in the entire time they've been going so, yay!It was also fun because the entire play was set in 1958, and so all the costumes, the music, the props everything was 50s related...and us gals SO wanted to keep all our vintage dresses!
All in the all the play was so much fun and I've been missing it since the day I stepped off the stage our closing day of the show. The cast was so well put together, and we all got along famously, which from what I hear of the theater world doesn't exactly always happen...but we were just one big happy crazy family. I truly hope I get to work with everyone again.
