Round and Round We Go......

It seems like just yesterday I was walking around campus, anticipating everyone's arrival here in Virginia. Or getting excited thinking of all the actors, interns, designers, and other production folks that would soon gather and begin rehearsals. The office was a bit lonely, the theater quiet, the green room still, the parking lot empty. However in a blink of an eye everyone has arrived by trains, planes, and automobiles (literally), and the hustle and bustle that is the festival has officially begun. People going this way, people going that way, meetings, meetings, e-mails upon e-mails and so on and so on......IT.... is all amazing! The energy and excitement that is in the air is electrifying. Everyone is bursting with ideas and was ready to get started.

The Complete Wrks cast are still going strong as they performed a little of the show for the board of directors recent meeting and got ready this past weekend to head into some local high school this week to perform for the students.

They are troopers for sure as all three of the gentlemen that are in Complete Wrks also have roles in Hamlet, which began rehearsals this past Sunday. They will continue to rehearse both shows as they finish up the high school performances and prepare for the run at Renaissance Theatre in downtown Lynchburg. They are handling it very well, although sometimes they may feel like this over the next few weeks.

So we now officially have three shows that are up and running either in rehearsals or actually beginning performances. I am sure I can speak for all the casts when I say that everyone is having a lot of fun doing what they love and beginning to explore all the new roles that they are taking on.

This week the Hamlet cast has been with Geoff up in the studio theater plugging away at table work and beginning to get the show on its feet, while the Alice cast has been down in the rehearsal room with Susan tackling character work.


Since I am playing a role in Alice in Wonderland, I have been in rehearsal with the rest of the cast this week. Susan has had us doing some really neat exercises to get us thinking and feeling like our characters. At one point we used all of the objects in the picture below.

One thing is for sure, even in the few days that we have all worked together, you can already feel the cast coming together and beginning to gel. Everyone is so supportive of each other and the creative juices have been flowing!!


There has definitely been a lot of belly laughing going on this week in our rehearsals as we continue to bring out and develop these characters that live in Wonderland. All of us are stoked to think about the little ones that will be coming to see the show. The idea that we get to take the audience on a journey to this magical place where they can forget about the outside world and let their imaginations run wild for even a short time is really, really cool.

I am so excited at things that are to come from all three shows as we continue to move forward in the coming weeks. I hope all you faithful readers will continue checking back day after day and enjoy the journey through different sets of eyes.

Even as I sit here in a quiet room, I lean my head back, sigh a bit and a little smile dances across my face as I think about what a truly unique and special time we have going on here. I hope you are able to catch some of the magic too.......

Till next time~

Cheers
MAH
Company Manager