MONDAY AUGUST 6

Only 4 more rehearsals before tech week. And tonight will be the first rehearsal for J. Blanchard (Simon Stimson.) Please welcome J and help him with entrances and exits, please!

Tech week belongs to the tech crew: John Wind on light design, Jean Furter on sound design, and Sedric Willis our light board op. (Be sure to thank these guys!) I’d like everyone to be pretty much picture perfect by next Monday so that focus can be given to the tech crew. They are the ones who make you look good on stage.

Speaking of looking good, some of you have asked about costumes for the wedding and funeral scenes. I’d like to keep the overall feel simple and neutral. Sarah wore her “wedding gown” last Thursday; it’s a simple white sundress in a very flattering cut. She doesn’t carry a bouquet, but I may try a small, wedding veil on her this week.  It communicates that she is a bride and it looks good on her. That’s all it needs to do.

Howie Newsome is wearing cargo pants and a nicer corduroy shirt. He’s not the kind of man who would own or wear a suit. It keeps his look outdoorsy, but it’s a few levels nicer than his work clothes.

The baseball players should wear trousers and perhaps a polo or other short sleeved shirt to the wedding. Their taunting scene with George wouldn’t make sense if they wore nick slacks or, for the girls, dresses. I'll have four identical baseball caps for you to wear this week.

The Webb’s and Gibb’s families would wear semi formal clothing- nice dresses for the ladies; slacks and long sleeved shirts for the men. They’d probably also wear a tie and a jacket.

Mrs. Soames would certainly be in a dress. Sam Craig would likely wear a suit. The key is to keep it simple and in a neutral palette. Likewise, accessories like necklaces or earrings should be simple and flattering. Pearls or simple chains would be good choices.

With the exception of the baseball players, you can all probably wear nearly the same outfits for the funeral scene. If some of you can switch to a black dress or black jacket, great. If not, that’s OK. I usually wind up attending two or three funerals a year, and believe me, I’ve never been to one yet where EVERYONE wore black.

Let’s keep up the pacing tonight; the show in its final form simply cannot run three hours! (And we haven’t even been taking intermissions.)

 Fun fact #11

On p 30, Mrs. Gibbs says “Myrtle Webb! Look at that moon will you! Potato weather for sure.”

What, you may ask, does the moon have to do with potatoes?

There is a great deal of folklore about the four phases of the moon, the varying rate of gravitational pull, tides, and gardening. Just as the moon pulls the oceans into high and low tides, so the moon also pulls moisture up or down from the soil.

In the first quarter, the new moon, water is pulled up high in the soil. Seeds swell and sprout more easily and the increasing light makes leaves grow faster. Crops that grow above ground and produce seed outside the fruit do best when planted in this phase. Examples: lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and grains.

In the second quarter, the gravitational pull is less but there is even more moonlight. Types of crops that prefer to be planted in this phase of the moon are ones that produce above ground but have seeds inside their fruit. Examples: beans, melons, peas, peppers, squash, tomatoes.

In the third quarter, after the full moon, the gravitational pull is once again strong resulting in increased soil moisture. But the light is waning. This is the best time to plant root crops. Examples: beets, carrots, onions, peanuts, and, of course, potatoes.

In the fourth quarter, gravitational pull is decreased and light is at a minimum. This is a time of rest.

So the full moon that sparks romantic thoughts for George and Emily makes Mrs. Gibbs think of planting potatoes.

This circa 1900 farmer appears to have planted a bumper crop of root vegetables.