Rehearsals have begun!

The ship has sailed, rehearsals have begun. The cast is on time, the cast is ready. I don't think I could be more excited about the progress.

We've been focusing on getting the blocking done - you know, you go here, you go there, step in here on this line. What's helping tremendously is that everyone knows their lines! It's much easier to get into the flow when everyone isn't stumbling over lines.

Now that we've got the blocking down for most of the first act, we're going to be running it, and running it - finding the parts to let it breathe. I have a tendency to do that as a director, I rush everyone. Because I don't want to have those moments where actors mug. Some actors, if given too much time, will mug for the audience - as if to say, look at me, I'm here, and I'm acting, see?

Ugh. I hate that almost as much as I hate it when actors find themselves motioning with their hands, waving them up and down, or in the words of hamlet, "Sawing the air with their hands, thus..."

But, none of the actors have been doing that. Everyone is making it incredibly easy to direct them.

So far, our first act is noisy - everyone is running around. And now that everyone knows where to go, we're going to find the parts to breathe, the funny parts, the human parts. You know... the acting parts!

But it's going great. I recommend that anyone who is looking to write a play, put up a play, read Moss Hart's memoir: Act One. It chronicles his journey to the Broadway production of "Once in a Lifetime." Inspriational, and educational. Anyway... great job everyone.