The past two nights we've been rehearsing Good News at Carousel Theatre on Granville Island. Thursday night was "Ladies' Night," where we girls of Pi Beta Phi learned our group numbers: a punchy, Andrews-sisters inspired number called "He's a Ladies' Man," a few cheerleaders' songs about dear ol' Tait College, and a sad number about leaving sorority life behind called "The Girl of Pi Beta Phi." The music is relatively easy, and the harmonies intuitive, so it didn't take long for us to pick this up. Caitlin Hayes, our musical director, makes me laugh as she shouts out "So cute!" and "I love it! Adorable!" as we work our way through the songs. How she plays piano, conducts, and turns pages, I don't know - I don't have the coordination for it. She is obviously a far more skilled musician than I, but that's not too hard! After singing alto in Sweeney I've switched gears and am singing both alto and soprano in this show. At some points I have to hit some uncomfortably high notes for a "fake" soprano (I wouldn't say I'm a real one but I do a good job of pretending), including a High C. I joked last night that I sounded like Smurfette and Caitlin said, "We-ell...it is a little smurfy." That made me giggle.
Last night the gals and guys reunited and we ran through all the group numbers, and then did a complete run-through of the show, with dialogue, solos and duets. Yes, that's right, after three rehearsals, we're running the show. And to tell the truth, it ain't half bad. I expected that the Applause! model of a one week rehearsal period would be fraught with stress, with performers running on adrenaline and fear of the audience lurking around the corner. But everyone is pretty relaxed, and we're in good shape - if we had to go on stage tonight, it wouldn't be great, but it'd be passable.
Lots of laughs last night as we ran through some of the very antiquated dialogue. For instance, what does it mean when someone says, "Don't worry, it'll be jake!" Not like, Jake as in a person, but "jake" as in an adjective? Your guess is as good as mine...so some of the show hasn't really stood up that well. But I think the songs are catchy enough, and the story simple and sweet enough, that people will still enjoy it.
Off to an all-day rehearsal at CBC Studios today, then we have another long day tomorrow at the Alpen Club. This will give us plenty of time to put some spit n' polish on the show for Wednesday...