Ladies and germs, I must apologize because I have been remiss in keeping up with these blog posts! I suppose when life gets crazy I want to settle down and watch Netflix rather than think back to how the creative process is going, whether in performing, apprenticing, or coaching. But, no more, I say! I am going to make a better effort at coming here at least once a week to update all you lovely people on what's going on here in Ottawa.
So, what is going on, you ask? Well, turns out we are only a few short weeks away from Tommy's opening night! Honestly, I can't believe it. It seems like it was only a little while ago that I was sitting down for coffee with Brian Boggs, musical director for this Orpheus production, to discuss the possibility of apprenticing with him. Luckily we worked it out and here I am, over a year later, finally nearing the end of this process. It's been an absolute whirlwind and I've already learned so much, from the audition and casting process to teaching the material, to conducting techniques and how to stay consistent in set tempos (the last two are the joy and bane of my existence at this moment). Just a week and a half remains until we add in the orchestra (AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!) and then it's hell week and showtime!
I'm so excited to see things come together. Being on the production side, I feel very disconnected from everything else that's been going on behind the scenes because my focus has solely been on the music. It's not a bad thing, it's just completely different to performing in a show. As an actor I would have other things to attend to, like my blocking, character development, relationships with other characters... and costumes!!! I think that's the biggest difference for me on the production side, that I haven't tread a toe in the costume department for this entire show. Costumes are one of my favourite parts of a production ("Dress up," anyone?) so I'm very stoked to see how everyone looks when we get to dress rehearsal. From what I understand there are more than 700 costume pieces in this show! To say it's costume heavy is an understatement. Really, though, this show is everything heavy! I guess that's just the nature of a rock opera like Tommy.
I think that's about all I want to say about Tommy for the moment. It's going to be one heck of a show and I'm so proud of all the work the cast and crew has been doing. We just had our final music review last night and the cast is sounding amazing! Honestly, I got chills. You can get the chills too, you know! All you have to do is head over to centrepointetheatre.ca and get your tickets for June 3-12 (you didn't honestly think I was going to let you get away without a shameless plug, did you?). I've even made it easy for you so all you have to do is click on the link above and it'll take you straight there. Just a note that this show is rated R, as there is a host of mature subject matter, so maybe make this a leave-the-kids-at-home-parents'-night-out kind of thing. If you're not a parent, then I also recommend not going alone. You're going to want to have someone you can sing with after the show because those songs will be stuck in your head (yes, even "Fiddle About" – the worst thing to have stuck in your head as you're trying to fall asleep... trust me on that one).
Alright, show update, the feels, shameless plug... methinks I got it all in. Off to start my day! Probably with grocery shopping. And cleaning.
Peace and love!
Joyanne :D