Suzanne on drugs...

Okay, so last night at rehearsal I tried out my new ideas for Suzanne. I felt like I was going way over the top with it, WAAAAAAAY over the top. I even said to 'Judy', "I feel like the way I was doing before was: This is Suzanne. And the way I'm doing it now is: This is Suzanne on drugs." But 'Judy' said it sounded fine. And the actor playing Myron complimented me, saying I was playing Suzanne much funnier than I have before. And at the end of the night Stan the director complimented me as well: "Good job with the character adjustment." So, YAY for positive feedback!

I also discovered that I'm not the only one who was still finding their character. The leading lady, 'Marion', was talking to Stan about how she feels like she's in a buffet, and there are all these exciting exotic dishes in the different characters, Chinese food, Indian food, Mexican food, and then there's Marion in the middle of them all, Mashed Potatoes. And she said she's not quite sure how to spice Marion up without making her off the wall like the rest of us.

And then later I was talking to the leading man, 'Tyler', and he said he was still having difficulty with some of his lines, he's been having a hard time remembering them, and it's bothering him because he likes to have his lines down pat. I said that I'd discovered that with myself, when I'm having a hard time remembering a specific line, it's because I don't understand that line, what the meaning of it is, the motivation behind it, or how it connects to everything else. 'Tyler' was like, "Exactly."

The point of those two examples being that I'm not the only one who still was/is searching for my character. I was thinking before last night that it was just me lacking the experience and knowledge, and not keeping up with everyone else. So I'm relieved to discover that my experience is just part of the process, and I'm more or less on the same level with everyone else.

And last night, for the first time since we've started rehearsal, we actually had all of the actors there, at least for Act II we did. We had been joking earlier in the evening that the stage manager would just stand in for whoever was missing on opening night. But it looks like everyone will be present for most of the rehearsals from here on out. Keep our fingers crossed.