Sex on the Beach

Last night, as every night, rehearsal was supposed to start at 6:30p.  The same actors are on time every day, and the same actors are late every fucking day.  It's really just Greg who pisses me off.  Maybe this is because he's not doing as well as the other actors (though he is doing better).  But why is it that the same actors are late every day and the same actors are on time every day.  If you're late every day, doncha think you might want to leave a tad bit earlier!  Grr.  I was livid.

I almost turned blue.  Really.  Okay, no, not really.

Rehearsal really did go quite well, though.  The actors are so surprised at how fast each of the scenes are without me interrupting (!).  Dan said, "Each scene seems so long."  Because of how frequently I have been stopping them, they have this idea that each scene simply lasts forever.  But in reality, the show isn't long to begin with, and my cuts are going to make the whole thing come in at c. 90-100 minutes.  After the normal rehearsal, Brittney and Mike and I stayed and worked on that lovely Act 2 meeting scene again.  Mike has such good instincts.  As soon as he gets the book out of his hand, he's gonna be great.

So whenever I try to get Michael to do something sexual onstage, he kind of quiets down and kills the energy of the scene by lowering his voice and his intonation and everything.  I don't mean that he's shy about sex or anything, he just gets all low-voiced and flat.  Yesterday I figured out why.  So I had Brittney on stage, and I said to Michael, "I think we're having a bit of a miscommunication.  And this is what I think it is: sex to you is gentle and sweet and full of love and sincerity and kindness.  You touch her hair, lower your voice, talk to her nicely.  Sex to me is this:" I said, and then grabbed Brittney, pushed her agaist the wall, etc.  "I want you to be rough and loud.  I want you to make noise and treat her like an object," I said.  Brittney nodded.  I think he got the idea.  The whole situation got a lot better after that.  But how funny!  It's amazing what a director can notice if he's paying attention.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that "sex" means something so different to two similarly-aged males.  That word carries so much stuff with it.

After rehearsal, I went and got food with and  down in Playa de las Focas.  We had a nice time and I bought Danny a shot for his birthday.

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu.  Say that three times fast, I dare you.