-Part 2-

Eight days after I received the news of my casting in the role of Pontius Pilate, I arrived at Stage Center's rehearsal space for my first rehearsal. Emily rode with me, and we both walked into the studio. Thank goodness I had a seasoned veteran like her there, for I had no idea what to do. There were schedules and music and sign in sheets and librettos...I was lost in a world of drama, and this was my first five minutes of involvement

Emily got me signed in, we collected our music and schedules, and paid our deposit for our librettos (so you know, a libretto is the book of songs that are sung in an opera without the entire musical score written in). We sat down, and I buried my face in my various JCS paraphernalia. A few people introduced themselves to me. I immediately forgot their names, as per my modus opererandi, and got back to looking at the schedule.

Jared Watson, the director, called the room to order and introduced himself.  He then introduced Seth Taylor, who is playing Jesus and was serving as interim musical director. He explained the first days of rehearsal would be dedicated to learning all of the ensemble music. Even when principals aren't on stage, they are encouraged to sing backstage to make the sound good and rich, so everyone learns the songs. And we jumped right in.

Earlier Seth had arranged us into groups according to our vocal range. Keep in mind, I have had ZERO formal voice training. I don't know an alto from an elbow, so when I was asked what range I was, I gave him a deer in the headlights look and said, "Uhhhhhh."

Seth said, "Sit over there." So I did. Apparently l am a baritone/tenor. Who knew? Not me, that's who.

Over the next few days, we learned all of the songs that the ensemble sings in the show. Principle music wouldn't start for a few weeks. After that, on the schedule was staging and choreography. As my last post stated, dance and I don't see foot to foot, so I knew I was not going to be choreographed.

Walking into the space for the first day of staging, I saw that the set was outlined on the floor in bright tape. We started staging (where we were standing, walking, sitting, running, moving, etc.) and started to get a feel of the show.

After about a week of learning several scenes (and dancers learning dances), I finally sang in front of the entire cast. They approved, I felt accepted. I am part of Stage Center, now. I really like it!

One reason I love Stage Center, and theatre in general, is because the people involved are genuinely awesome people. They are happy, upbeat, and positive folks. And that is something that, far too often, we don't get enough of in our lives.

As you can see below, during rehearsals, some selfies were taken. There will be more, I'm quite sure!

Next week...principle's start rehearsing their music, and we start dressing up like our character. I'm ready!

To be continued...

Gary is portraying Pontius Pilate in Stage Center’s production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” The production runs July 30-Aug 8.Tickets go on sale July 13.

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