REHEARSAL JOURNAL

Yesterday we had an eight hour rehearsal block for YANKEE TAVERN. Steven Dietz worked with Liesl Tommy and the cast. They rehearsed the script changes/re-writes and worked thru the play. It was so important to have the playwright present. The script gets stronger with each new draft.

FIFTY WORDS: We stop-worked each of the five scenes. We spent most of the rehearsal on Scene 1. It is important that the play has a strong beginning. We worked on pace, tempo and rhythm. We also concentrated on creating the truth in the scenes. We discovered that “less is more” in this play. Adam(Tony Crane) and Jan (Joey Parsons) are establishing the rituals and behaviors of a married couple who have lived together for many years. This means making “honest”, “believable” choices. This is a couple who know each other very well. The audience has to believe that this couple have had a long relationship and are very familiar with each other. We had a long and sometimes difficult rehearsal because this is a super-charge-emotional-tense play. At the same time FIFTY WORDS is very funny…full of humor, love and pain.

Today: We will have a five-hour rehearsal for FARRAGUT NORTH. We will focus on all the scenes between Molly(Heidi Niedermeyer) and Stevie(Eric Sheffer-Stevens); and the Tom Duffy Scenes with Anderson Matthews and Eric Sheffer-Stevens. Tony Crane who plays Paul is in New  York City today shooting a film and will return on Sunday for a Run-Thru.

Ed Herendeen