"How blest am I in my just censure. My true opinion."

This summer is flying by.  (Yeah, I know summer hasn't officially started yet.  You pedantic bastards).  What I mean to say (bastards) is that we had our last rehearsal until tech...for 8 days.  (freaking out!).

Those first two sentences were so hostile...I'm sorry.  (bastards).  (Side note: If you are offended by the word "bastard," you probably shouldn't see this show because I say it like 600 times).  (Side note two: You should definitely see this show regardless of your stance on bastards).  (Side note three:  Shakespeare was the previous master of parenthetical phrases...the student becomes the master!).

I'm so in love with the people in this show!  Everybody is so gooooood!  And committed!  It's inspiring working with a group this solid.  And as I am also understudying BJ in Merry Wives, I actually got to spend time with that cast as well. (bastards...heh).  They are lovely and that is going to be a delightful production.  (Except when I do it.  BJ is going to be his usual brilliant self.  I am going to be a train wreck.   ((not Cy understudying BJ in Midsummer train wreck, but certainly not Garret understudying Greg in As You Like It)).  (((like the sub-parentheses?))))  But everybody else is so good that they will drag me around and my terrible French Accent may make you laugh.  My eldest daughter told me that everybody would laugh...at me. (Everybody's a critic). <----------This didn't need to be in parentheses.  (Sloppy.  D-).

Steph was really happy with our final run before tech.  This is heartening.  Because she doesn't say it if she doesn't mean it, and she has the worst poker-face around.  If she is unhappy...it's not a secret.  But I agree that the show took a huge step forward.  (It was also super helpful that we had the entire cast together ((for most of the rehearsal)) for the first time ever).  I felt really shout-y, and that's not what I want to be.  But I was able to drop into the world and not do that for the last half.  Everybody else killed it.  We had a great morning of scene work!  And that led to a really focused run.  Good fun.

Leah continues to inspire and amaze me! She is so present and powerful onstage.  I would say that I see her as a younger me, but the truth is she is much better than I was then or am now. (But I wrote most of another blog about her, so I'll stop praising her or else she may ask for more lines to be added back).  It's so much fun to watch Jonathan and Cy work together.  They may be two of the best clowns we've ever had at SBTS.  Jonathan came into callbacks and blew everybody away.  Sometimes you just know about somebody.  He's one of those.  His future is bright.  If I could buy stock in him, I would.  He's literally a genius.  And Cy is Cy.  There is nobody like him.  (Thank heavens).  Tom, who plays Falstaff in Merry Wives, also is a big part of the Bohemia landscape.  He's the Shepherd who raises the lost princess.  He's a pro!  (My lovely and talented wife actually worked with him about fifteen years ago or so and I was so impressed with him that I remembered him immediately when he came into the room to audition for us.)  Allie and Jon play the young lovers Perdita and Florizel. They are so smart and fun to work with.  Allie also plays Mamilius in the first scene and it's the most adorable thing outside of #Crockettbear. (See SBTS insta for visual proof of that ridiculousness). 

You know who is absolutely killing it this year?  Chris Nelson!  His speech as Antigonus on the shores of Bohemia is the best thing in the show.  It's gorgeous.  Like his hair.  Greg was made to play Camillo.  He literally is everybody's best friend and most trusted ally.  Indispensable.  That's Greg.  (Although his goal to play the bear took a major hit this week as our young friend Crockett showed up and stole all of his thunder.  RIP #gregbear.)  Bridgid is bringing Paulina to life as a fire breathing dragon.  It's excellent, and I want to kill her (Leontes does.  I don't.  I find her delightful).  We have our own Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in this show, although their names are Cleomines and Dion.  They are played by Sean and Ryan.  And when we are in Bohemia, apparently Cleo and Dio have identical cousins who have an even closer relationship.  (The real love affair in Winter's Tale!  These two!)  Olivia is playing Mopsa and the dance between Mopsa, Dorcas and the Clown is truly a delight!   BJ, aside from being hilarious in Merry Wives plays my "brother" in this.  He's always great.  He can literally do anything.  There's also some guy in Bohemia named Bob who may be the real heart and soul of the production. 

So, that's a look at where we are heading into tech on Monday.  I'm excited to get back to it.  I'll be at the park tonight cheering on my Merry Wives friends!

More to come!












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