Did Shakespeare Ever Have Trouble?

Last Sunday, we had our first full stage rehearsal that went through the entire Christmas play that I am in. I told you about the play a few weeks back. It's called "Imagine Christmas" and Powhatan Community Church is running two shows of it on Christmas eve.

The rehearsal overall, I thought, went really well. We still need a lot of practice, but my friend Sandy, who is in charge of the overall production, said she felt really good about how everything was shaping up. Sandy and the production team have been hard at work on this and it shows. Everything they have put together so far is pretty amazing and now we just have to get the thing polished up and make sure all the gears are meshing together. We are running out of time though as Christmas eve is quickly approaching. I imagine this is going to be our usual PCC thing where we run up to the last minute and everything comes out awesome. That's not to say we aren't going to have some problems come up. Last minute problems are also a hallmark of any good PCC production. However, my friend Beth has already said, "Everything's going to be fine." As I mentioned before, when she says that, you can bet that it's going to be ok. I wonder if old William Shakespeare ever had problems like we do when running one of his productions. I think his biggest trouble must have been when getting ready to do a show at the Globe Theater (outdoors) and he saw the rain clouds building. I imagine he must have had a similar saying though such as, "All shalt be not unwell."

So how did I do on Sunday? I wasn't nervous on the stage but for some reason, I kept forgetting a couple of lines here or there. I had basically memorized my lines on paper. However, it's a whole different ballgame when I am interacting on stage with my friend Chad (the other talking angel). There is just a lot more distraction and I am moving around which seems to cause me to drop a line or two. My strategy to fix this is just going to be to memorize my lines even more, meet with Chad a few more times offline, and then try and concentrate more when I am back onstage.

Apart from my lines, Beth, Chad, and another friend, Regina, all offered me some great criticism on my acting that I think will help me play this part a lot better. When it comes to acting, I feel like the great baseball player Yogi Berra when he was in grade school. According to an interview he did a long time ago, his teacher came to him one day about his extremely poor academic performance and told him she didn't think he knew anything. Berra responded by saying, "You don't know the half of it lady. I don't even suspect anything."

Beth, Chad, and Regina all have a lot of experience in doing these stage performances and I really respect what they have to say. Some of it is easy. Regina reminded me not to forget to look forward and face the audience instead of always looking at Chad. Then there is the harder stuff. Beth gave me some advice about projecting more and not holding back. Likewise, Chad has been encouraging me to really cut loose and get loud and get a little crazier. That's the harder part because it really isn't me. But I seriously value their opinions and expertise and if that's what they think will make my part better, than that's what I'll just have to learn to do.

We have another big rehearsal on Sunday and then a couple of more before Christmas Eve. I'll let you know how it all goes. I know I've asked before, but if you're really not doing anything Christmas Eve, you should come and check us out. It's going to be a great show. You won't be disappointed. I promise....