The day has finally come! Today was the first day of rehearsal at WST, and it was lots of fun!!! It was really cool to finally be at the Meet and Greet as an actor and not a staff member. It felt like I had somehow crossed over. It was also great just to see so many familiar (smiling) faces.
The cast seems so great already. A lot of the actors are making their Walnut debut, so that is really cool. I love that we have such a young and enthusiastic group. As Chuck (our director) spoke about his plans for the show, I started to get really excited just to be a part of it. As frustrating as these last 2 years or so have been, reading sides and singing songs for this character, I have grown to love the show and know it pretty well. But this is a whole different level and I am excited to actually be working on it instead of auditioning, researching, etc.
We got to see some of the sketches of the set, as well as a model and it really looks cool! After seeing so many sets on that stage and how different the space can look, I must say that this is even more amazing than anything I have seen there so far. I can't believe I'll actually get to see these visions come to life!
One thing I came to realize right away is just how difficult my role will be, for many reasons. In all my years of training and performing, I have never known what it is like to be an understudy. This is such a great learning experience for me because it requires an extraordinary amount of focus, motivation and self confidence. Because of the demanding nature of this role, I am forcing myself to really shadow her through rehearsal long before my understudy rehearsals begin. I'm also just learning a lot about Tracy and about the show that I couldn't have even imagined before -- and it's only the first day!!!! Having the folks from the Tour is really helpful in that respect, and they are all so valuable, especially for someone like me who is understudying and learning an extra track as well. It's also hard for me to get used to not singing or speaking in rehearsal. It seems like everyone is working so hard, singing away while I silently observe. This is something I am sure I will get used to as time goes on, but again it is so strange to be hearing all the music and not singing along.
I'm so glad I'm taking the time to write down all these thoughts -- I hope as rehearsals go on, I can keep up with it a little bit and have some kind of record of this experience! Back to the '60's I go...
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