The dance routines are finally starting to come together, and I’m really surprised at how good they look now.  We did more of the Jitterbug today, and Claire finished teaching it to us, and it’s going to be so amazing when it’s completely polished.  Her choreography is fantastic, and as one of the more intense dance numbers, I think the audience is really going to like it.  Actually, the rest of the cast watched us do it, and they really seemed to enjoy it, so I’m excited for audience reaction.  (And I’m really excited that I’m going to be doing the entire Jitterbug on a raised platform, as if I’m overlooking the Jitterbugs.  This is definitely my favorite scene in the show!!)

Haley cleaned up the Munchkinland scene, which needed a lotof work.  Now it’s adorably choreographed, and I think it’s going to look really cute when it’s finally perfected, which’ll be in the near future.  I didn’t see the Poppies or the Snowflakes rehearse today, but I’m sure they’re looking in better shape now too.

We’re going back to blocking tomorrow, so hopefully we can do a full run-through on Saturday.  We’ll see…

Rehearsals are now going full speed ahead, and it’s gotten really exciting.  We all came back from February break to an almost-completed set (as always, Mama C and Stage Crew are absolutely amazing), almost everyone is completely off-book, and the costumes are almost completed.  Though there’s still a lot of work left to do, we’re in really good shape.  I don’t think we’ve ever done run-throughs like this three weeks before the show before, so I’m feeling pretty optimistic.

We did an Act I run-through between yesterday and today.  It was the first time I had ever seen the ”home scenes” (everything pre-Twister), and they’re looking pretty good— the Twister is going to be pretty awesome once the lighting and sound comes in.  Munchkinland has the coolest scenery in the show—it’s really colorful and reminds me of CandyLand, and that feeling will be amplified come Hell Week and full costumes.  Once again, the Scarecrow scene is looking absolutely incredible, but it’s even cooler now because we have some of the sets.  The Tinman/Trees scene is really cute, and the scenery is also clever—apples are velcro-ed onto the set, so the Trees (Kelly, KK, Claire) can throw them at Dorothy and Scarecrow.  And I love the Lion’s scene.  Robbie plays the Lion so well, and he sounds amazing on his song.
The Poppies and Snowflakes scene needs work, but we’re doing all dance routines and songs tomorrow, so hopefully that’ll be pulled together.  I enjoy that scene, though, because I have the “Poppies, poppies, poppies!!” monologue.  (Oh, and I finally got my broom!!!!!)  The singing for this scene by the Heavenly Chorus is so beautiful, though—the girls sound awesome and the harmonies are tight.  Haley also sounds great on her “You’re out of the woods…” solo when STLD near the Emerald City.

We briefly worked on Act II today, but hopefully we run through the entire thing on Thursday (since tomorrow is devoted to just singing and dancing).  Also, every rehearsal now is full cast (and Saturday rehearsals begin this week), so we’re rehearsing a lot and being really productive.  I’m excited.

I can’t believe the show’s in less than three weeks!!

Hey guys sorry for the delay.  Nothing has been going on.  My school is on break, so it’s not like I’ve been neglecting my duty as blogger, I just haven’t had rehearsals.  Just…FYI.

Yesterday was all about dancing!  Our amazing choreographer, Erica, knocked out number after number, tightening and solidifying everything we’ve already learned.  

“Magic to Do” is almost perfect.  Mr. Reid has assured us that the curtain will be done when we get back from break so shadow play will probably be the first thing we do when we get back.  I’m really looking forward to that!

I watched rehearsals for “Glory” and “With You.”  Both numbers are near perfect and both look unbelievable.  I’m really proud of everyone for nailing those steps because they are not easy.    

Of course, no dance day would be complete without a little “No Time At All.”  We’ve choreographed about half of the number at this point and it’s hilarious.  At one point, I bump hips with one of the studs and it is sent down the line of studs.  I can guarantee there will not be a single straight face in the audience.  Luckily, I’m standing in front of the studs for most of the number or else I would never be able to make it through.  

We’re on break now, so we have a week to rest up.  Things will be in full swing when we get back.  I can’t wait!

Today’s rehearsal started out with a game of “Friends and Neighbors.”  For all of you that don’t know how to play, the group forms a circle and one person stands in the center.  The person in the center introduces themselves and says, “I would like to say hello to all of my friends and neighbors who are (blank).”  The blank is filled in with a specific characteristic or trait, such as wearing a certain color or feeing a certain way.  Everyone got really into it and some of our defining characteristics were a little silly.  Honestly, it was just really great to see our cast laughing and joking around again!  Things have been little stressful this week and it was nice to be reminded why we all do this in the first place: to have fun.    

Most of the cast worked on the staging for “Morning Glow,” which is a huge number that comes at the end of Act 1.  I’m not a part of that scene so I traveled over to our theatre classroom where they were working on the choreography for “With You.”  On Broadway, “With You” was a giant onstage orgy.  However, Mr. Reid decided to change it up a bit.  Continuing with our international theme, “With You” is done with Indian Dance Drama.  One of our “With You” girls, Dasha Akelin, wasn’t at rehearsal today so I filled in and learned some of the dance with our other four incredibly talented “With You” dancers (Amanda Lugo, Melanie Graff, Caroline Trugman, and Darian Marchetto).  Nisha Sunny, a student in IB Theatre Arts, is choreographing the number for her independent project and she’s doing a great job.  She has a clear idea for the dance and is really helpful when it comes to teaching all of the steps.  She even brought in traditional Indian outfits for the girls to wear.  They looked gorgeous!  I really wish I could be a part of this number!

Tomorrow is devoted to dance, dance, and more dance.  We’re going to be tightening “Magic to Do” and “Glory” and of course, developing moves for the studs of the stud farm!

I don’t think words can justify how absolutely adorable the Scarecrow scene is.  Steven is sounbelievably amazing as the Scarecrow—he sounds fantastic, he moves incredibly, and he’s just all-around phenomenal at the role.  This is definitely my favorite scene in the show.  Between Steven, Maddy (who is the perfect Dorothy), the amazing-sounding Crows (Kyra and the Hakim sisters), and the hilarious script (seriously—the entire cast was laughing when we ran through this today—it’s so funny!), this scene will definitely have the entire audience smiling and laughing.  I am so excited for this scene with the completed set and costumes.  It’s going to be wonderful!!!

I think it’s safe to say that everyone in the cast is in love with Gidget (Toto).  Haley’s brought her the last few days so she can get used to Maddy, the stage, and the rest of the cast, and she’s just so, so, so cute.  To think, my character jokes about eating her…

This show is wild.  I love it.  And I love full cast rehearsals.

My musical afternoon started out with a trip to Carvel.  That’s right.  I started my rehearsal with soft vanilla ice cream and rainbow sprinkles.  Yesterday we ran Act I and it was unbelievably exciting to see all of the pieces of the show come together!

“Magic to Do” is like the rainbow sprinkles of our production.  It’s the beautiful conglomerate of color that opens our show.  (Thanks to our Pippin, Seth Nachimson, for that analogy.)  The dance moves are pretty tight at this point.  The only thing we haven’t worked on is the shadow dancing which starts the number because the curtain is still being sewn.  Hopefully it will be finished when we get back from break and we can perfect all of the undulating and swaying.

Yesterday was the first time I was able to see some of the other numbers of the show.  The soldiers are doing such a great job!  As of right now, “Glory” is one of the tightest numbers of the show.  “War is a Science” and “Simple Joys” are also looking fantastic!  

We worked on “No Time at All” a little bit as well.  I still can’t stop laughing!  The stud muffins of my stud farm are not holding back at all and one glance behind me and I lose it.  It probably didn’t help that our Lewis (Kyle Sheehan) and Catherine (Alex Annunziata) were sitting in the audience laughing at me the entire time.  I’m hoping that by next rehearsal, I’ll be able to keep a straight face.  I really want to work on being more interactive with the studs and on developing more gestures for the character.  

Our lovely Leading Player, Lindsey Sherman, wrote this on the chalkboard at rehearsal and I think it’s a good note to end on… Be Positive!

So yesterday we had the first rehearsal for the parfumerie store clerks (Luke Solomon, Tim Bidon, Molly Klinghoffer, Jason Avezzano and me).  We were rocking it out with our harmonies.

In the musical, whenever a customer enters or leaves the store we all have to sing “Thank you, madame, please call again, do call again, madame” in super crazy harmonies.  We were pretty successful and I have a feeling this is going to be a really good show.  Plus, I might be able to wear a red wig (!!!!).  

Anyway, I’m sick today, so I had to miss this rehearsal and I don’t know if I’m called for tomorrow, but I’m actually excited for rehearsal. 

AND P.S. I get to be in the big dance scene (with a different colored wig!) YAY.  hungarian dancing + wig = happiness for Hailey Fyfe

Full Cast rehearsals were more productive than I had originally thought.  Not only was it awesome to have the entire cast there, but the musical numbers (well, the singing, at least…) have become much more pulled together.  The Crows (Naimah and Aliyah Hakim, and Kyra Smith) sounded absolutely amazing.  They were probably my favorite of the day (actually, the entire Scarecrow scene is just adorable!!).  The Heavenly Chorus also sounds amazing heavenly!!  The harmonies are tight, and it’s just going to become even better as the show progresses.
Today was actually the first day I heard most of the musical numbers.  As the Witch, I never had to be at choral rehearsal, so it was so cool hearing all of these incredibly talented people singing some of the most well-known movie songs ever.  (I must say, I absolutely loved the Oz music—the four main characters, the Guard, and the Ozians did an absolutely wonderful job.  I’m quite excited to see the staging of that scene.)

I walked around rehearsal today in a black cape and witch’s hat.  It does not get much cooler than that!!

Rehearsals are going to really pick up from now on—it’ll be full cast three out of four days, which is awesome.  Not only will we all bond in that amazing “drama is a big, happy family” way, but I think it’ll be more productive as well.  Brilliant move…

Thursday night, we worked more on the Jitterbug scene.  Though I can’t actually dance in the show, I brought my tap shoes anyway—I figured I could just stand in for someone, as I did the first time we rehearsed this number.  Well, it definitely came in handy!!  Not only did I stand in (side note:  Why can’t people show up to rehearsal!?!??  Is it really that hard to stick to a schedule!?!??!), but I might actually get to do the dance during the show… but behind a screen, so the Witch’s silhouette would just be projected.  That makes me so excited, because I absolutely love tap numbers in shows…. last time I did one was freshman year during Anything Goes, so this is extremely exciting for me because it’s my senior year, I’m the Wicked Witch, and I might get to tap dance. 

Score.