SAVE THE DATE!

Just got word that Old Hickory will go up April 29th at 7 pm! It's funny timing because Wallace and I met last night to plan a schedule and then rehearse and among the things we wondered was when we'd know the date. This morning I checked emails and there it was!

Last night was a truly substantive rehearsal. I read through the surgically altered play, wondering if Wallace was going to be as charmed by it as he was by the original. His reaction was all I had hoped it would be. So far so good. Wallace and I are really simpatico. He is attuned to the needs of the writer (being one himself don't hurt) and he doesn't so much suggest changes as ask questions. And they are generally spot on.

After I read through it we talked for a bit and then started at the top of the play and did some exploration, finding moments, beats, that sort of thing. There are a lot of places the script could be more specific, and we're exploring to find those, sometimes they're obvious. While I was reading I was making mental notes of things that struck me. Simple things like instead of 'like this friend of mine used to say' give the friend a name. It's funnier and more specific. Pulls the audience towards you a bit more.

Anyway, I was stunned, stunned I tell you, when Wallace said that our two hours were up! It flew by! That I think is a very good sign.

There seems to be very little question that Wallace is thinking Fringe if this goes well. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, because . . . well . . . if I don't pull my weight with this performance, nothing else is likely to happen. He did say, however that there are a lot of areas to explore or things that can go back in that I cut, should we want to take it from forty to sixty minutes. That's good enough for me. I'm just thrilled to be on this ride. I haven't been this immersed in a rehearsal in a loooonnnngggg time. The last non-reading acting that I have done was the production of THIRTY ODD YEARS at Theatre Artists Workshop which was at least four years ago, maybe more like five. Too long. Which of course is why I dove into the solo pool to begin with. You can travel light and walk the highwire sans net; I just can't wait to feel how it works (assuming it does). The big challenge, after we settle on the script is going to be learning it. But there is lots of time and April 29th is better than April 19th, that extra ten days is a godsend.

By the way, it's kind of funny to be walking around Manhattan with a bag full of butcher knives and cleavers. If ever I was going to be mugged this would be the time (if someone wanted to compare knives, I think I'd probably win . . . but my luck they would have a gun!)