Update: As the turd turns

Busy, busy, busy…

We’re in rehearsals every night for Camelot at the Ashtabula Arts Center and, as usual, things could be going a lot better. We ran Act 1 last night in a little over two hours…not bad, if you overlook the fact that the lead had to call for lines nearly every time he spoke. We’ve also yet to have the full cast represented at a rehearsal and, in fact, it looks like the full cast won’t be available for the entire show run.

The director reminded everyone that there are seven scheduled rehearsals before the show opens, then commended everyone on the job they are doing in the standard “holy crap, this turd is never going to come together, but I can’t let the cast see that” speech. Tick, tick, tick…

It would be nice to see the lead give some indication that he’ll be ready come opening night.

Singing, dancing and acting at the same time has been a challenge for me. I’ll remember the song and tempo, then forget the dance…or vice versa. I’m just waiting for that golden moment when everything comes together…of course, it’s not helped by the fact that important cast members have been absent from the above singing and dancing escapades. It’s much harder to follow a song when the people assigned to sing various parts are not, in fact, singing them.

In lieu of banging her head on the floor in frustration last night, Doc-wife took to momentary outbursts of quiet, but highly imaginative, profanity. Hopefully, it was just that 24-hour viral Tourette’s Syndrome, and will vanish as the actors learn their parts (if wishes were fishes…)

The show opens Aug. 4.