Rehearsals and What's Overheard

In the second installment of "A Peek Behind the Curtain," Thomas Nelson student Hannah Styron, who plays Agnes Evans in "She Kills Monsters," gives insight into the first two weeks of rehearsal. The show is schedule for April 3, 4, 5, 9, 10 and 11 in the Dr. Mary T. Christian Auditorium.

The beginning, the perfect place to start

Auditions, phew. I am not going to lie: They are always terrifying. No matter how much you have auditioned, it is always nerve-wracking to walk into the audition room. Luckily, I have auditioned and been apart of the casting process before. This makes it much less anxiety inducing as I kind of know what the director and production staff are talking about. The best piece of advice I could give about an audition, or even a job interview, is to go in knowing the panel or interviewer needs you more than you need them. Walk in with a confidence that says, "I am everything you have been looking for," and you'll soon start to believe it!

While auditions are terrifying, the worst part of the casting process would be the waiting. After callbacks, the waiting is what drives me crazy! Wanting to know what the outcome is means checking the cast list every five seconds. Thankfully, my brother and I went out to get something to eat after callbacks, which helped get my mind off of it. I actually found out I had gotten the part of Agnes while in his car!

Now we're ready

The show has a cast, so now what? Rehearsals! My favorite part! For me, as much as I love the final product of performing, the rehearsals still are my favorite part of a show. Getting to know the cast and the world that the director is creating is so much fun! At this point, we have almost the whole show completely staged. That never happens. Like. Never. It does help that this show is shorter than most.

Rehearsals usually go something like this:

Step 1. Warm up with the ASM (assistant stage manager). Usually it is Ward Hall leading warm-ups.

Step 2. Block, or stage, the scene. This process is led by our fearless leader, director Dana Margulies Cauthen. This step means figuring out where each person is when they say their lines. Sometimes this means choreographing a dance battle, other times, it means choreographing an actual battle!

Step 3. Go through the scene we just did all the way through.

Step 4. A break, usually five minutes.

Step 5. Repeat Step 3.

Fun and games

During rehearsals, we have a game we play called #overheardatrehearsal.

The first rule of #overheardatrehearsal is No Names. The second rule of #overheardatrehearsal is NO NAMES. The third rule of #overheardatrehearsal is no context is to be given!

Such #overheard gems so far are "I cut the eyes out of a frog once." And "I am Orcus, the embodiment of your parents," and many other double-entendres.

Etc.

School-wise, things are going well! I am enjoying my classes. The big roadblock this past week has been dealing with a persistent jaw ache. I have a hypermobility disorder that causes chronic joint pain and frequent jaw dislocations. So, having a talking heavy role has been tough as I'm dealing with the pain. But I am looking forward to the next few weeks and what they will bring!