Darkness breeds philosophy

Day 15 - Monday

Morning: we have a new movement teacher, Tania Alvarado, and also move to a new movement studio, one that comfortably fits all of us inside. The new sessions threatened to bring back pilates, but Tania's approach is very gentle, more of a warm-up than a work-out. After that we walk down to the Church to continue work on Oakalla Prison.

Both the afternoon and the evening session are in the Eric Harvie theatre, working through as much of Cosi as we possibly can. Like all first stage&piano / tech rehearsals it's slow going with lots of sitting around for the chorus. It's very tiring, but such is life: day after day in rooms without windows. I'd almost forgotten, what with all the stunning views from our rehearsal studios here.

Cosi onstage

There are rumours of another jazz gig tonight, but we go to the wrong building, and I'm too tired to move, so end up going to bed. Because I'm in both choruses, I miss both sessions with Christopher Hunt, our new acting teacher (this is a trend that will most probably continue).

Apart from tiredness, I'm feeling a sense of removal from my 'real life'. It's almost as if nothing exists past the mountains on the horizon. There's only these shows, this scenery, these people, this way of working. It takes actual effort to remember to reply to emails, text messages, etc. It seems odd now that I write it down (and you're probably thinking I'm making it up to add drama), but nevertheless it's a fact.

Day 16 - Tuesday

Morning: another refreshing warm-up, then I have another coaching on Cosi with Gordon, as we may be performing excerpts sometime next week with the understudy crew. It's nice to have some time to sing on my own, as opposed to chorus work (which is fun, but vocally tiring). It even affects my singing in the 30min chorus rehearsal we have directly after, like a 'soloist hangover'. Nobody mentions it, so who knows, maybe there's no point in getting hung up on this whole 'chorus blending' malarkey? Or perhaps there's a middle ground I've yet to discover.

Afternoon: Lillian Alling hits the set! In true form I claim the 'first fall onstage' trophy, with a display of over-energetic boxing in the Brooklyn Boys scene. We manage to work through a substantial chunk of Act 1, despite the staging being a bit trickier than that of Cosi (Kelly makes extensive use of the various levels onstage, as well as the stairs, lines of sight, etc). The most fun is had when the Telegraphers first scale their posts, I certainly don't envy them that scene anymore (well, secretly I do, but it's nice to be able to have a laugh).

The Telegraphers on their high rickety posts, senza safety harness

Evening: LA chorus vs the set, and we get to meet most of our supers, who will be intimidating us in scenes 2 (Ellis Island, where they will be border officials) and 9 (Oakalla Prison, they play the guards). Again, slow going due to the set and new people for Kelly to bring into the scenes, but the final product promises to be well worth it. I am however so tired that I pretty much head straight to bed.

'Oakalla, near Vancouver... but much closer to hell'