The Gypsy In My Soul

These few weeks of rehearsal in the ensemble of this show have been an enormous reminder to me of just how hard the task of the chorus singer/dancer is. Truly, the ensemble members are the hardest working people in the show and we have to be able to do it all--sing, dance intricate choreography, provide assistance with scene shifts, act as set dressing, and play small roles; sometimes many characters in the course of each performance. It has been a seismic shock to my system to be challenged to rise to the occasion of taking my place "in the line" as it were. And all I can say is that A) my hat is off to the gifted performers working alongside me--their talent, their stamina, (their YOUTH) astonishes me... and B) I intend to prove myself worthy of being in their midst. It's taking a lot of brain strain, sweat, and epsom salts but I'm getting there!

We did have a wonderful glimpse of the show that we are creating this week in an invited run through. The Goodspeed staff and crew, the producers, as well as guests from the current show, "Carnival!" and Jo Sullivan Loesser herself crowded into the studio to watch us do our second only run of the entire show. We are still at a tentative stage with much of the business, and the complicated dances and transitions, but I have to say, our company pulled it out and gave a wonderful early performance! I have been going in early every day and drilling the choreography, and clearly the other performers have also been doing their homework, because we really stepped up and put our all into it, and we now really feel we have a show. And a delightful, fast paced, and amusing show it is. In just two days we rehearse with the orchestra for the first time and then it's an intense few days of technical rehearsals leading to our first performances. Rest, focus, and more epsom salts are in order. Planning to spend my day off out in the beautiful weather and stunning scenery of the Connecticut River Valley. Every day, Mother Nature paints a few more leaves in shades of red and orange, and autumn is beginning to blaze across the region. In just a week or two it will be prime foliage time and I hope many "leaf peepers" will come out to see beauty and stop in to have a great laugh with us at Goodspeed and this terrific show.