This past week (or I should say several weeks) were incredibly busy. I was working nearly full time as a Standardized Patient at Temple Medical School as well as attending rehearsals and performances for A Little Night Music, seeing other theatre, and going to the gym as much as possible. Yesterday was my first real day off so I took care of things I've put off like getting a hair cut.
This week in particular was stressful. But the kind of stress that you hope for as an actor. The woman I'm currently understudying, the incredible Karen Peakes, got a little sick and needed to go on vocal rest.
Let me set the scene.
So Tuesday night we had our final understudy rehearsal before our full understudy run on Thursday. Earlier on Tuesday I saw on Karen's facebook that she wasn't feeling well and there were two shows set for Wednesday at 2pm and 6:30pm. So I thought for good measure I would email the powers that be at The Arden and tell them that while Wednesday's matinee would be my only conflict because of work with Temple, if really need be I would get out of work and make myself available.
Good thing I did. Later on Tuesday we decided that I was to come in at 9am on Wednesday for a costume fitting and if she was feeling alright for the matinee I would watch the matinee and hang out until I got the word for the evening performance. I told my boss at Temple and she said it was totally fine and she congratulated me. So off I went to the Arden Tuesday night for our understudy rehearsal and I slept relatively well until packing a bag for myself and catching a bus to The Arden.
My costume fitting was nerve wracking but fun. Alison Roberts, the costume supervisor, was so friendly and conversational and made me feel right at home. The costumes and shoes she pulled were gorgeous and fit me like a glove. It was my first time really wearing an actual corset (and it was a joy to have my friend and colleague Meredith Boring backstage to lace me up).
So after the fitting I checked in with the assistant director, Sam Tower and we talked for a while about the character and how I can better tell her story. I sat in The Arden's offices and tried to calm myself, having been on stand by for nearly 20 hours, not knowing definitely if I was going to go on.
Finally, I decided to sit outside and go over my lines and song. The birds were chirping and it was beautiful outside. Then around 10:45 I got the call from the stage manager, the lovely John Grassey, saying that it was official: I was going on at 2pm.
The official call. After that I went backstage, sat on the floor, went over lines even more, and started to cover my tattoo. I actually didn't really know what to do with myself with that time so having an activity like that was helpful.
About a half hour before "half hour" (the official call time for the actors) we had a "put in" rehearsal. The cast was amazing. They all checked in with me and said that if I had any questions or any concerns they would make themselves available. Ben Dibble, who played my husband Carl-Magnus, took the reigns on the dancing and was SO HELPFUL. He made me laugh but made sure to let me know that he was there for me. Everyone did. I felt like I was walking on air. Chris Mullen (who plays Fredrik) took me through step by step of our little waltz we do at dinner and he said "we finally get to share the stage with each other". I was enthralled. We went through a few scenes with the time we had (which was 30 minutes) and then I was off to get make-up and costumes on (in which I discovered the beautiful Alex Keiper bought me a tasty good luck doughnut!). There wasn't any time to collect myself so....
...THANK GOD I WAS PREPARED. We hadn't had the full understudy run yet. I know my lines verbatim. My blocking was pretty solid as well. And what my character was doing was mostly there, though I must admit I discovered so much on stage.
I was most nervous about the dancing and the singing. Mostly because it was the first time I had done anything with the full orchestra. The first time I ran "Every Day A Little Death" with an instrument other than piano was the 2pm matinee. Yes. It was terrifying.
What was nice about being prepared was that I met my personal goal. If I was to go on stage I wanted to go in confident and make sure that no one worried about me. I wanted to allay the fears as much as possible and with my confidence say "I got this. No worries". I also didn't have to worry about what my next line was. I was in the scenes. Fully. It was so fulfilling.
One funny thing that I discovered while on stage were the scenes that we hadn't gone over. While we were doing them I thought to myself, Oh my gosh...we NEVER went over this in understudy rehearsal. Including the long (and I mean long) kiss at the end of the show. That just had to do with actor availability.
I did wind up going on for the 6:30pm show as well. I had so much fun. It was surreal and exhilarating. I was up there on The Arden stage. With my teacher from undergrad, Grace Gonglewski (who plays Desiree) up there with me. I even got to look her in the eyes during the dinner scene and say "Dearest Miss Armfeldt, do regale us with more fascinating reminiscences from your remote youth". It was a blast and I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Ed was able to see the 2pm matinee and afterwards he went downstairs to the greenroom with me and Terry Nolan, the director, was there and he gave me the biggest hug. I was near tears. I'm so happy with my experience.
The 6:30 show was completely different, in that the actors backstage were carrying on like it was a normal show. I'm sure that the first understudy brings on a bit of anxiety, especially since they really had no gauge of how I was going to do. But the evening performance was deeper for me. I wasn't nearly as nervous (though the song was still nerve wracking) and I felt so much more "in it".
This was the sign in board backstage. The question of the day was "How great will Cindy be today?". Of course everyone was so nice (except JAKE BLOUCH!)
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| My costume for Act I |
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| Grace and I in our dinner attire |
Thursday's understudy run went swimmingly. Everyone did a great job! A bunch of the cast was there and Sam and Terry were as well. Karen was feeling better by Thursday and she went on for that performance. I'm glad she's feeling better. Honestly I wouldn't be nearly as deep into the character if I hadn't watched her discover and grow with it over the past month. She's so talented and I could only hope as an understudy to bring to the character what she brings with such precision and ease.
After our understudy run, when I got the official call that I wouldn't be going on, I went home and slept for 16 hours. I guess running on pure adrenaline for a 48 hour period will do that to you.
Thank you, Arden Theatre, for giving me the experience of a lifetime.
Until next time,
-Cindy
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