TUESDAY JULY 10

I was very pleased with rehearsal tonight. All of you are working so diligently on the characters that you're creating. Don't be too hard on yourselves during the process; you're trying to read lines, mime 15 different things at once while relating to another actor on stage and trying to remember where you exit. I may sometimes push you to "overdo" some aspect of character development and then pull it back later. Or maybe I'll have you try different sorts of delivery for some lines. This is all part of the process of defining your character. Well before we open, you'll have a crystal clear picture of who you are on stage and what you should be doing. Right now, I love that you're all being flexible.

By now I think everyone has noticed the subtle differences between the Gibbs and Webb families. Keep in mind that one is not better than the other; they're simply different in how they communicate and relate to one another. Both families managed to produce two lovely young adults (in addition to Wally and Rebecca) who fall in love in a very healthy and normal way. Like most families, they're basically successful even though they are sometimes a bit dysfunctional. It will be beneficial to exaggerate these differences for a time before dialing them back again. Knowing the extremes of how your character might act will help you discover how they might behave on a typical day.

I'd like you to be off book for Act I by July 18,

for Act II by July 23,

and for Act III by July 30.

I'd rather have you calling for lines after those dates than to keep trundling around with a script in your hand. I always try and keep someone on book for you; my usually policy is no more than a week of calling for lines before I make you struggle through it with no help at all. For most actors, this is more than enough time to memorize. As you well know, the sooner you get that book out of your hand, the better your performance becomes.

Fun Fact about OT #5

On p 42, Dr. Gibbs tells Mrs. Gibbs that George is upstairs shaving. He likely would have used a bristle brush to make a soap lather (no shaving cream in a can) to apply to his face. And he would have attacked his beard with a straight razor. Safety razors were invented in 1880, but the blades still had to be sharpened by hand. This was no easy task and many men resorted to taking their safety razor blades to a barber or other professional to be sharpened. For many, it was simply easier to stick to the tried and true straight razor, which could be sharpened with a leather strop.

It wasn't until K. C. Gillette came up with the idea for a disposable razor blade in 1901 that safety razors began to appear in wider use. (Gillette sold the actual razor handles at or below cost, but marked up the replaceable blades appreciably, thus ensuring a healthy profit.) 

The proper way to hold a straight razor.
Free advice: if you drop this,
do NOT try and catch it!

Can you fathom starting off
every day by dragging a well-honed
piece of steel across your throat?