Another opening, another show!

Well, in this case it's another closing of another show. I am currently in the green room during our last performance of "The Lone Star Love Potion". Like I've said in previous posts, this show seems so thrown together it's insane. It feels like a new performance every night, but not in a good way. Line flubs out the wazoo and a lot of ad-libbing. Thankfully I'm not a major player in this show, so it doesn't affect me as much, but it's still a sad thing because it had the potential to be an amazing show. Don't get me wrong, it's a good show, but I think with all the time restraints and stress of summer rep held it back from reaching the next level. It's really not at the fault of any person specifically, it's just a result of bad circumstances. Nevertheless, it was still a great run of a good show.

Tammy Jo was a fun character to play. I got to play the Texas beauty queen, which I don't get to because I really don't look like one. But it's been fun, especially getting to play around with the sexy side. One comment I got about my performance was that it was a one dimensional character, which kind of upset me. But the more I got to thinking, the more I was ok with that. Tammy Jo is not a 2-D character, at least in this play. Each actor is like a character in Clue: the butler, the maid, the lawyer, the heiress, the sleazy husband, the nerd, and the cowgirl. It's a farce, so the last thing the playwright is worried about is deep character development. In this case, the story is the most important part. The characters could be taken out and changed into something completely different and that's ok...as long as the story is still intact. So I'm ok with the fact that Tammy Jo is a one dimensional character because that's the way that she is meant to be. She doesn't go through any meaningful changes through the play. She's just dear ole Tammy Jo.

And the more I think about it, the more I realize Pidge didn't go through any real changes either, and I think that's the way it's meant to be. We talked early on in rehearsals about how Cabin Fever was set up to show the flaws of every character except the one every puts the blame on, and that's Pidge. She becomes the scape goat, but through the course of the play we realize that everyone is messed up except Pidge. She's actually pretty normal. I mean, I guess she changes a little bit, by kind of accepting her family again even though they decided to blame her for everything, but that's pretty much it. I've had a summer of changeless characters, on purpose of course.

So, as intermission ends, I sit here a changed actor. Through all the bullshit of summer rep I've grown so much as an actor. I've learned a great process to help me get into character and stay in character. And I've gotten to play around with two amazing characters for a girl of only 20. Summer rep might have been hell, but the acting experience will stay with me for the rest of my life. Now....PHALLUS PAN HO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!