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My last entry was about the woes and stresses of acting in this musical that I'm in (and here's the website for the group, if you're curious -- I set it up myself, as well as being responsible for all the artwork). This entry will be about the lighter side of things....such as my wonderful hats and what I can do with them (no, not that...).
I have this great brown-and-black suede broadbrimmed hat with silver ornaments and a braided band and tail that the lovely Litharriel and her cousin Raney gave me the summer before last -- it's a very dashing accoutrement, and I've managed to use it to great effect so far in the musical, as of last night when I brought in all my fanciest hats.....this, together with an "outrrrageous accent", of course, won me the epithet of "Senor Zorro" from my fellow actors -- and I will not complain if that stays in the show all the way to the last performance. Also, the very handsome dark-brown fedora Litha bought me when we were weekending in Bloomington is used in the danced chorus to my first solo, for which dress shoes that make a good 'tap' impression are a must...
Other highlights of ad-libbing that have become part of the dialogue:
* Upon being introduced to my fellow cast members in the show, I kiss hands (with the ladies, at least :P) and say in turn, "Bewitched" (to Connie), "Bothered" (to Jeff -- 'Jeff Conway', actually, as Tom was not up on real names he might want to avoid), and "Bewildered" (to Laura, aka Jeff's ex).
* After my over-the-top dramatic schmaltz-it-up treatment of "It's Warm and Wonderful", when I say I "get compliments from both sides of the fence,' Connie asks, "You mean you get compliments from both Democrats and Republicans?" -- and I reply seductive-rakishly, "Even from Libertinarians...."
My singing's going very well, especially with having my solo/duet pieces transposed up just about a third (from Tom's standard non-singer's C Major) and having figured out upper harmonies where I need them on the ensemble numbers (where, in addition to the perpetual low Ds and Cs, having four people just in upper and lower unison would sound ghastly). My dancing is...spontaneous and inspired, everyone agrees. :-| And my acting in itself is, I think, quite "flamboyant" enough even without retaining any of the standard drag fare that Tom had originally written in, and apparently for a definitely older style of gay (there's only a very ambivalent reference to having done Charley's Aunt, and not precisely liked that very much, and a suggestion for "high heels, fishnets and feathers" that gets a rather ~:-S~ take from me -- not to name names as to where I got it...). Tom was very fond of La Cage aux Folles....so that's where his character idea of Martin came from. My own (decidedly younger and more metrosexual) conception owes far more to John Barrowman and Johnny Depp, and does not by any means want to be pigeonholed as merely a queen when he's a veritable chameleon. Just so ya know..../:)
Connie and I (though both very 'dominant' IRL) are BFFs by the end of the show (okay, she's not exactly Judy Garland, but I've always had a soft spot for the odd girl/guy out in a dramatic love triangle, cf. Eponine); as for the actively-romantic element, I'm sure you can figure that out from either my comments or the program's layout of songs. Not too much in the way of surprises there, but a lot of singing and cattiness and hamming it up along the way (>:)...) -- so I'd say it's worth seeing to see it in action, even if the "hokey"-ness is a bit much to accept as realistic. The Logic Nazi in me is constantly wincing......but hey, I'm not on the user-end when it comes to this particular exercise of suspension of disbelief, and my mind is wound up with the logistics of things and relationships and making them as believable as possible. If we get even halfway close to my perfectionistically-high standards, I'll have to consider that sufficient and satisfactory for the audience at large, whose minds aren't quite fixating on all the same things that mine is.
So, that's the rundown of things as they are in rehearsal....and if anyone in the area (seeing as this is going out to my Facebook feed too) feels inclined to come out, just drop me a line well-ahead if you can, and I (if I can, given my shortness of time online for this week at least) will email you a flyer with the $2-off coupon that goes out to our regular mailing list.
Apart from that.....yep, I'm rather busy with this, so I wouldn't expect too much from me socially or personally until the end of the month. If it happens it happens, but I'm not counting on being able to do too much (or especially start anything new in the way of RPing, which is also acting of a very immersive kind) until this is over and can be safely gotten out of my system so other engagements and issues can get due attention.
_
I have this great brown-and-black suede broadbrimmed hat with silver ornaments and a braided band and tail that the lovely Litharriel and her cousin Raney gave me the summer before last -- it's a very dashing accoutrement, and I've managed to use it to great effect so far in the musical, as of last night when I brought in all my fanciest hats.....this, together with an "outrrrageous accent", of course, won me the epithet of "Senor Zorro" from my fellow actors -- and I will not complain if that stays in the show all the way to the last performance. Also, the very handsome dark-brown fedora Litha bought me when we were weekending in Bloomington is used in the danced chorus to my first solo, for which dress shoes that make a good 'tap' impression are a must...
Other highlights of ad-libbing that have become part of the dialogue:
* Upon being introduced to my fellow cast members in the show, I kiss hands (with the ladies, at least :P) and say in turn, "Bewitched" (to Connie), "Bothered" (to Jeff -- 'Jeff Conway', actually, as Tom was not up on real names he might want to avoid), and "Bewildered" (to Laura, aka Jeff's ex).
* After my over-the-top dramatic schmaltz-it-up treatment of "It's Warm and Wonderful", when I say I "get compliments from both sides of the fence,' Connie asks, "You mean you get compliments from both Democrats and Republicans?" -- and I reply seductive-rakishly, "Even from Libertinarians...."
My singing's going very well, especially with having my solo/duet pieces transposed up just about a third (from Tom's standard non-singer's C Major) and having figured out upper harmonies where I need them on the ensemble numbers (where, in addition to the perpetual low Ds and Cs, having four people just in upper and lower unison would sound ghastly). My dancing is...spontaneous and inspired, everyone agrees. :-| And my acting in itself is, I think, quite "flamboyant" enough even without retaining any of the standard drag fare that Tom had originally written in, and apparently for a definitely older style of gay (there's only a very ambivalent reference to having done Charley's Aunt, and not precisely liked that very much, and a suggestion for "high heels, fishnets and feathers" that gets a rather ~:-S~ take from me -- not to name names as to where I got it...). Tom was very fond of La Cage aux Folles....so that's where his character idea of Martin came from. My own (decidedly younger and more metrosexual) conception owes far more to John Barrowman and Johnny Depp, and does not by any means want to be pigeonholed as merely a queen when he's a veritable chameleon. Just so ya know..../:)
Connie and I (though both very 'dominant' IRL) are BFFs by the end of the show (okay, she's not exactly Judy Garland, but I've always had a soft spot for the odd girl/guy out in a dramatic love triangle, cf. Eponine); as for the actively-romantic element, I'm sure you can figure that out from either my comments or the program's layout of songs. Not too much in the way of surprises there, but a lot of singing and cattiness and hamming it up along the way (>:)...) -- so I'd say it's worth seeing to see it in action, even if the "hokey"-ness is a bit much to accept as realistic. The Logic Nazi in me is constantly wincing......but hey, I'm not on the user-end when it comes to this particular exercise of suspension of disbelief, and my mind is wound up with the logistics of things and relationships and making them as believable as possible. If we get even halfway close to my perfectionistically-high standards, I'll have to consider that sufficient and satisfactory for the audience at large, whose minds aren't quite fixating on all the same things that mine is.
So, that's the rundown of things as they are in rehearsal....and if anyone in the area (seeing as this is going out to my Facebook feed too) feels inclined to come out, just drop me a line well-ahead if you can, and I (if I can, given my shortness of time online for this week at least) will email you a flyer with the $2-off coupon that goes out to our regular mailing list.
Apart from that.....yep, I'm rather busy with this, so I wouldn't expect too much from me socially or personally until the end of the month. If it happens it happens, but I'm not counting on being able to do too much (or especially start anything new in the way of RPing, which is also acting of a very immersive kind) until this is over and can be safely gotten out of my system so other engagements and issues can get due attention.
_
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