The suspense isn't killing me as much as the monlogue....

First a correction...yesterday I described a classmate's monologue and referred to him as Late Guy because he hadn't been there the first day. That was unfair, since he'd had an audition and a callback that evening...we'll change Late Guy to "Big Break?".

Now, I'm sure you're all wondering how my monologue for Sam went. As I'd planned I jumped up first today and we were off and running. I think I overcompensated because i didn't want to get the note that there was no emotion behind my words, so I came off very angry...which was a defensible choice but not entirely right for the piece. (Astrov's monologue about forests) As I do in these situations, I tended to rush - though not as badly as I have on other occasions. Sam gave me scene partners for another go-round (Big Break?, Class Secretary, and one other whose nickname is pending)...and that helped as it usually does.

The larger note that I got - which was absolutely dead on - was that I was thinking of the monologue as a speech to be recited rather than something to act. I rarely feel self-conscious or uncomfortable onstage anymore, but the artificiality of standing up in an empty room and doing a monologue for someone (or in this case a whole class) doesn't do anything for my game if you know what I mean. As Sam pointed out, even if a set was built for me and costumes provided it wouldn't matter if I didn't internalize.

So obviously I didn't feel entirely good about that, but it's something to work from. All the other monologues today were good and quite different, and everyone over the three days has benefited from the coaching. The biggest surprise to me was Throaty-Voiced Girl, a very quiet young woman who did a dynamite job with Nina's Seagull speech.

I'll be doing a scene from Cherry Orchard with the Tall One (these nicknames aren't easy), a tall blonde woman who is one of the people who hasn't done her monologue yet. It's from the end of Act 2 - Anya and Trofimov.

Today we had our first "Movement Techniques" class w/ Joanne Edelmann. This is by far the most physically demanding of our classes - so demanding we only have it once a week. The highlight was an exercise where we each perform a movement solo and then the group performs as one and becomes as ensemble, working together and finding a way to end the piece cleanly....A good way to build a connection with one's classmates...Tomorrow is another work-til-6.30 day...then a break..