Copacabana – fourth week of rehearsals

21 July 2010

Week 4

Firstly, I must apologize for the delay of week 4’s blog. This is due to how utterly hectic the last week has been.

Week 4 started with us all being hot-seated by Craig. This is an exercise which helps us with character development. We start building a back-story to all our characters and find out how they are all connected. Individually, we have to enter the space as our characters whilst everyone else interviews us and asks us questions. These questions can literally be anything. This is such a good exercise, which adds another layer when it comes to putting the show back on its feet.

We have also had the luxury of using the staircase in the rehearsal space. The staircase is a huge part of the set so it is vital we get to grips with it sooner rather than later. Every actor’s worst nightmare – a staircase and 4-inch heels.

We continue on with the rest of the week gradually going over the show and adding more detail to scenes, occasionally completely changing what has previously been blocked. It’s always interesting revisiting certain areas of the show, especially after all the character work we have recently done. As a company, we come to realize that original choices that were made weren’t necessarily the right choices. This is the joy of the job though. Being able to experiment with ideas.

It is very noticeable that we open in a week’s time – everyone is starting to feel the pressure. Time is running out and we are all aware of how much we still have to do.

Friday is the first day we run the whole show. This is always an interesting one. After the run you begin to realize how much you still have to do and work at. Although, saying that, the run goes quite smoothly.

Next week is tech week and that’s a whole different story. This is where we find out if all the quick costume changes etc are really possible. I can’t quite believe we have come to the end of the rehearsal period. It’s been a real rollercoaster of a ride. Mind you, after all this sweating in the heat, we are all feeling slightly more confident when it comes to wearing our rather skimpy showgirl costumes. I’m looking forward to getting the show up and running and seeing it all come together.

Laura Pitt-Pulford (Lola La Mar)