Rehearsal Day 14, July 10th

As I submit these blog entries, I find myself losing track of the days. How long have we been in rehearsal? What is the date? Did this happen yesterday or today? As far as I know, maybe it's happening tomorrow. The only thing that is comprehensible right now when it comes to time is that the work is endless and seamless. Mornings fall into afternoons that dive into evenings and before I know it, I am waking up to my script in front of me, searching for my character. The rehearsal day has become the rehearsal month- never ending or beginning. The work is continuous and that is a blessing for an artist.

After the stumble-through night we were welcomed back into the rehearsal space with a discussion of changes being made. Some things were cut, one being an entire song. It was challenging for some of us. We put our heart and soul into the work and create an arc for the character. Then to have something big changed really messes with your work. But in the end, the changes are necessary to tell the best story possible, and we as the actors must take it as a challenge. So now we head into two weeks of taking the stumble-through and juicing out the best show we can.

Personally, I now confront the hardest part of my process. I realize my character and who he is. Now I must discover which pieces of me are right for Marco and which are not. I have to search through my identities and pick and chose which are right. I am finding myself putting too much of the sensitive, emotional side into him and not enough of my positive, self-assured side. He needs to live by expectations, always anticipating things to work his way and then let the disappointments take effect. All things I must explore. And I have two weeks before we have an audience. The real work is just beginning.

Here we go... - Jason Heymann

(Working in the maze on the 20th-something version of the opening!)