One week of rehearsal down! My voice has finally come back. That was seriously the most frustrating illness-related thing that has ever happened to me! I'm still not real strong yet but at least the meds and vocal rest did their jobs. Today is Monday and we're off so I'm still taking it easy and staying in so as to rest my voice some more.
Friday night our Mother Abbess arrived to start rehearsals in the form of the amazeballs Meg Bussert. I am lucky enough to have her as a scene partner and roommate. Meg has had a long, rich career in the theatre. She still does the occasional gig but primarily serves as a professor of voice and acting at NYU while her teenage son finishes high school. Meg has been entertaining us with fun stories of her heyday. She played Marian to Dick Van Dyke's Professor Harold Hill, Guinivere to Richard Harris' King Arthur (see video below from the HBO taping) and received a Tony nomination for her performance as Meg in Brigadoon. The other day when I was released from rehearsal I stuck around to watch her work and am so glad I did. It would be crazy not to stay and watch someone like her work and she did not disappoint. It was like getting a free master class. This house has become like Little Women with the four of us gathering in the dining room at dinner, Meg at the head of the table leading discussion and all of us hanging on her every word. But even better is her demeanor. She clearly doesn't see herself as any better than any of the rest of us and she's incredibly giving onstage. I knew I was going to like her when we went grocery shopping together and she asked me "So how's Rex, cuz he kind of liked himself a lot back in the day." Then last night she dropped a huge f-bomb in the kitchen. Loving her!
My interaction with Rex starts this coming week but I've pretty much already been warned to be prepared to cover for him in our brief scene. Oy. He's very actor-y and weird. The other day he was babbling something about making a contract with the audience. He can't seem to retain his lines or blocking, something Meg blames on his misspent and chemically-altered youth. He walks around either playing the prop guitar or practicing his captain's whistle which is making everyone nuts.
I'm getting along great with everyone so far. My friends Adinah, Bruce, Chris and Ed are all here so that added comfort from day one but everyone's pretty cool. My fellow named nuns, Linda and Blair (no, not Linda Blair) are very nice. Linda is going to be a funny Sister Berthe and we're all enjoying the interaction with one another and developing the characters' relationships. It's not Nunsense but these ladies will definitely have personalities!
Gail, our Maria, just left the Mary Poppins tour and her husband is on the Wicked first national. At first I wasn't sure what to make of her but after hanging out I really like her. She has a great deal of energy and is super healthy. My other roommate is Ashley and she plays Liesl. She's only 22 but is very mature for her age and a very sweet girl. So it's a nice, chill and pretty quiet house since it's all women with roles who have to focus during the rehearsal process. I hear the ensemble housing is party central already!
Well that's the end of week one wrap-up! But check out Meg as Guinevere. Stunning. She's 60 now and sounds older, of course, but still gorgeous.
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