Before the final rehearsal starts - lots of sniffles and waiting for the urn to heat up; distribution of gloves, long and short; discovery of alternative spaces for changing; checking out what is locked and what isn't with the caretaker; acquisition of some teaspoons from the Sixth Form Centre, courtesy of the caretaker; setting out of biscuits to go with the tea once the urn has reached a suitable temperature. So, important stuff, then. Oh, and changing into costumes. It's quite cold so the Hot Box girls, who are thinking of renaming themselves the Refrigerator Fillies, compromise as they practise one of their routines, as evidenced by this fetching combination (note the thick lumberjack-style shirt under the satin dress):
We're ready for beginners now and Ali points out that since there is no overture, the call for beginners must be observed. Tonight's rehearsal is going to be run straight through as though real, with no talking on stage, no entrances from anywhere other than where they'll be on Wednesday. So, with only the pianist to conduct, Martin gets us all started. The lights are dimmed and then raised as the crowds start to populate Runyonland.
Follow the Fold: I've never noticed before how much the bobby soxers have to giggle while Sister Sarah is attempting to address the public. Teenagers clearly haven't changed much!
The gamblers start to complain about the lack of places to gamble and there is some disorder in the entries but Lieutenant Brannigan gets a promotion and we laugh through it. This is our last chance to get used to the time available for changing between scenes. The Oldest Established Crap Game threatens to disestablish itself briefly but Martin starts to conduct from the seats and it rights itself.
Sky and Nathan chat outside Mike's News although some kind of time warp is in operation as Nathan is able to acquire a recent copy of the Bicester Advertiser. New York must be an even more incredible city than we realised.
The scene in the mission does not get off to a good start as the band are unable to find their way through the curtains to the door. Ali's solution is to have the set slightly further forward which should make it easier. It causes a brief interruption to the flow of the action but they pick it up again once they've made it through their entrance.
Other than a reminder from Ali that the curtains need to be opened for the Hot Box Club scene, the next section goes pretty well. The stagehands are clearly coming to terms with what needs to be done and it's definitely getting faster. Ali, meanwhile, has taken to watching from the back of the seats.
After we have been thoroughly instructed in male behaviour by Benny and Nicely-Nicely, the mission gals and guy are back, though a little too early - Martin has some music for them so they are sent off with the instruction to always wait for some music. That's a risky instruction even if appropriate for this entry.
The rehearsal continues through to Havana, with a more complicated scene change that happens relatively smoothly if silently. The opening music has plenty of performers dancing, though Ali stops Martin to see if there have been some additional bars slotted in as we seem to be taking a long time to get to the action. The debate is resolved and the scene progresses. The fight choreography proves particularly successful tomorrow though the chairs all remain upright - I'm sure all the bar fights I've ever seen (admittedly, fictional ones on tv and the big screen) have resulted in furniture lying at haphazard angles as well as bruised fists and egos. [In conversation with one of those involved in throwing punches, this was a conscious decision as falling chairs would be too noisy. So, like a real fight then. :-)]
Back in New York, Sky and Sarah have their big love song before they are discovered along with the gamblers and act one is over. Ali summons the whole cast now for notes. These vary from trouser colour to timing of tambourine beats. Martin raises the issue of one of the wigs since he is in danger of wetting himself. When Ali suggests she might give someone else a comedy wig instead, Martin advises her that she might need a new conductor in that case as he will be changing his trousers. There is also a request for the mission to arrive sooner when Sky is kissing Sister Sarah, as there is a longer kiss involved than he feels comfortable with at present. Neil claims he led the troupe as quickly as possible but someone stage-whispers that they were waiting just off-stage to see how long Sky and Sarah could go for. Raised eyebrows...
Act Two starts with the Hot Box girls dancing their showstopper, which distracts the eye from the uneven tinsel that was pointed out in the interval. But the rest of the act proceeds with minimal disruption, bar the occasional prompt. The cast are a bit shocked when, on the gamblers entering the mission, all the placards that have been propped up against the back wall slide noisily to the floor. Shock at such evil people daring to return, presumably. There is also a little confusion over exactly which stage-props should be on stage when in the last two scenes, but the stage hands visibly make a mental note to correct it and we carry on!
The finale is reached and completed and Ali summons everyone for the second batch of notes while things are still fresh in people's minds. Lastly, with the caretaker waiting in the wings to lock up after us all, a quick run through of the bows.
So, a final rehearsal later and are we ready for the show on Wednesday? Better buy a ticket and see. And a huge thanks again to all the folks at The Cooper School for being so helpful and making sure that all our hard work hadn't been wasted - you have been phenomenal!
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