Well, today was our last day in the Ballet Room. Our last day on the Lincoln Center Campus. Ironically, we spent the bulk of our last day of rehearsal working on the first scene of the play. Beginnings are crucial in theater (and in life too, you know what they say about first impressions...but that's for another, more cliche-ridden, blog). We spent some incredibly productive time breaking open the first scene beat by beat, exploring all the nuances of the brother-sister relationship. Matt and Marin found some great new stuff!
On Monday we reconvene at The Duke. I think all parties involved would agree that we are very ready to start working on stage. The interesting part about tech is that for the next few days, to a large extent rehearsals won't really be about the acting anymore. Henry will shift his focus from the actors needs and the nuances of the writing to issues of design. GRACELAND takes place in only two locations (both ingeniously represented on a single set), so we won't have to worry too much about huge set changes, moving furniture, or other potential tech logjams. However, lights and sound play a huge role in the show. I don't want to give too much away, but I suspect we will spend A LOT of time over the next few days discussing just how loud we can blast a certain overhead sound cue...
Jenny Mercein is the Assistant Director for Graceland.
