Good News, Part One (My Cast is Made of Awesome)

After a thoroughly crappy two weeks ago, last week and this past weekend have turned out wonderfully.

I'll start with A Christmas Carol this weekend. I've been blockingblockingblocking the past several weeks--blocking and then drillingdrillingdrilling. Again and again. Polishing and perfecting the timing, the movement, the text and the acting. One of the reasons these scenes are so complicated is that not only are the traffic patterns tricky, they're also set against the Readers' lines--since I wrote the play, of course I can take out or add lines if necessary but I'd rather not do that, I chose every line for a reason. And then to make it even trickier, the choir is singing over some of these transitions and scenes, so that has to time out as well.

On Saturday we spent four hours in the Music Room and finished the blocking. And the MD taught "Once in Royal David's City" to the Cratchit family, and then "Deck the Halls" (the curtain call) to the cast. We went over some of the bigger scenes that we hadn't run in awhile, and things seemed to be going smoothly. I finished up the rehearsal by working with Mark (Dunn) and Sheila, the two Readers who have some of the densest text in the show (the food porn against the Introduction of Christmas Present, and against the London Streets at Christmas). I worked with them on personalizing the descriptions and words, getting it out quickly and articulately, and at the same time, not rattling it off. We also worked on the timing of the final scene in Act One (yes, we now have an intermission!)--the scene I call "Goodbye to Christmas Past." It's very *dramatic*--as Scrooge is struggling with the Ghost, the Readers are excitedly telling us what's going on, and in the background the choir is reprising "Remember O Thou Man." The scene ends

Mark: ...and had barely time to reel into bed...
Sheila: ...before he sank into a heavy sleep...
Choir: ...Therefore, repent!

It's all very exciting ;-)

Sunday was a long day--we were in the Music Room from 12 to 5:30. We caught up some of the people who hadn't been there on Saturday. The choir wasn't there--they should've been but at the last minute two of them had conflicts (the third had a long-standing conflict) so I had to sing-in for the choir. We girded our loins, gulped and went ahead with what was supposed to be a stumblethrough--but went very smoothly indeed. Amazingly smoothly. For long swaths of time, I only had to stop to give the Readers their entrances and exits.

Can you believe that?! We had our first runthrough nearly THREE WEEKS before we open!!! Does my cast rock or WHAT?!

After the finale, the whole cast applauded. I was literally dancing around, I was so pleased. I still can't believe it--I was marveling at my wonderful actors. I was saying "see, that's the way you do it--you cast the best actors you can and you work around their conflicts, no matter how severe. Because this is when it pays off. They get it. They know what they have to do to make it work."

It's a great cast. Everyone is bonding nicely, and a couple of cast members have approached me about doing some sort of charitable excursion as a cast--a soup kitchen or something like that, something in the spirit of the show. I mentioned this yesterday afternoon and everyone seemed agreeable.

There's a place for us...

The other exciting news is that...*drum roll* Lori and I have FINALLY found a place. We signed the lease last Friday and are moving in!

Needless to say, this is a huge, HUGE load off my mind. We have discussed this for a long time--over a year. Last spring I was prepared to get my own place but she didn't have the dinero then so we put it off til the fall. We were going forward tentatively (due to her situation) and then the fire at Chris's apartment happened. Mickey and I each came up with the idea of having him take over my spot, and after that I was trying to find a place sooner rather than later. Lori and I went to see several places together including one 2-bedroom in, of all places, Elizabeth's building. The apartment was gorgeous and I wanted to jump at it--Lori thought her bedroom was too small and wasn't thrilled about it but finally agreed. Then we spoke to the woman showing the place who said they didn't take guarantors (which Lori had to have). So the broker (who was hired by the landlord [Tesse's and Elizabeth's landlord]--I've never had to use a broker, and hope I never will) asked me if I thought *I* could qualify for the apartment all by myself. A $1650 apartment, on my income! I really wanted the apartment though, and even offered to pay a year's rent up front. She kept shaking her head and saying "no, with this landlord, it's all about the income. He's been burned--they've had to evict people." I know that the woman across the hall from Elizabeth and me, the one who let the mold take over the apartment, didn't want to leave and had to be evicted, and didn't Elizabeth say something about her ex-BF getting kicked out? Anyway, the whole thing was extremely annoying--not only do I have perfect credit and a high credit score, I can pay all that rent up front! Just ridiculous that that doesn't qualify me.

But it definitely turned out for the best in the end. Last Monday I saw an ad in CL for an apartment that sounded promising--2-bedrooms, $1400 a month, hardwood floors, being renovated, cats allowed. I made an appointment and Lori and I checked it out. GORGEOUS. An old pre-war building with a nice big lobby, marble steps on the staircase, 2 decent-sized bedrooms, a nice-sized living room, lots of light. We both immediately liked it and talked about it for a little while, and even picked out bedrooms.

Thursday I was on the phone going back and forth between the owner and Lori, trying to set up a time so that we could meet. FINALLY we hammered it out--2 pm the next day--and we showed up to meet the guy. He's an attorney on the Upper East Side and is...really cool. I liked him immediately. His mother works in the office AND they have a cat there! A big fat blotched tabby, just like Tatiana. Naturally I had to meet him. And when we walked in, they were listening to the Broadway cast recording of Rent. After the scrutiny I had to undergo for the other apartment, I was trying to explain everything to the guy (especially that I haven't had a lease in my name for over a year) but as soon as he saw my credit score and record, he waved me off. He said "I'm not a landlord, I'm an attorney. All I care is, can you pay the rent?" He approved us immediately and we chatted for a while, talking about logistics. I want (NEED!) to move in right away, but Lori wants to give her current roommate notice so she can find someone new. The landlord said "well, the lease starts on Dec. 1 and you've just paid the first month's rent--tell you what, whenever you move in, just prorate the rent, and apply that to January's rent." Oh my Lord! What landlord do you know would do that?! Lori and I danced out of there--we are SO excited! We started planning parties and furniture immediately. Mark your calendars for February 24, 2009 for our Mardi Gras party!

So I'm moving in right after I get back from Thanksgiving--Dec. 2 or 3. It's a bit hurried but hey, so have my last several moves been! As I said, the place is gorgeous and our apartment being renovated right now. Oh, and it's rent-stabilized, and we can sublet if we want. Eeeeh! My bedroom overlooks the backyard where there's a nice big tree that has beautiful leaves right now. And there's a fire escape off one of my windows so we can have a cookout! *And*--get this--my bedroom has French doors opening onto the living room! Now I can live out my Joan Crawford fantasy of accepting the Oscar in my bathrobe and maribou mules!

Oh, oh, oh and I forgot to tell you where it is--Inwood! Just one stop down, on Vermilyea off of Dyckman. Right by Fort Tryon Park!