DdS - Altar boy flashbacks

This afternoon was the second rehearsal for DdS, and the first one where we really got the chance to play around and look at any of the scenes in detail. The show opens with a choreographed routine in which the head waiter and I set the table in meticulous detail before the two leading men crash into the restaurant with a loud and rambunctious energy. So for the first hour and half, Aaron (director, but a different Aaron than Henry V), Jerry (the head waiter), and I played around in order to find the vocabulary of that first little beat of the play.

Jerry had been a waiter/head waiter in his time, so he knew how everything would be done at high-end restaurants, and he was bringing that knowledge to the table in rehearsal. While I've never been a waiter and don't have any of that experience to work with, I was an altar boy when I was younger (no jokes, please), and so I know a lot about ritual, procession, and following the lead of an authority figure. (again, no jokes.) So as we worked out stage business where Jerry sets the table and then I keep handing him plates, I knew exactly the sort of tone and spirit to throw into the scene. It was fun, it really worked, and it provided for some strange flashbacks and I thought about all those Sunday mornings spent holding the Bible for Father Joe.

After that, we worked on the first fifteen pages or so which involved a lot of standing around for me. Not waiting to work, but literally standing around as the waiter and... well, waiting to take their order and fetch the water pitcher to refill their glasses. I have to make sure that I have comfy shoes for this show... Then, for the last hour of rehearsal, we all got dressed up in our costumes (or pieces of our costumes) and then had a photo call for press photos to use to promote the show. I'm sure they will appear online shortly and I will link to them, but it's always fun getting clothes, playing dress-up, and getting my picture taken. After all, I am an actor.