“Something Rotten” Happened this Summer on Stage!

Now that it has been three summers in a row (check out these links to read about summers one and two), I am officially saying that community musical theater is my summer “thing.” Earlier in the year, the plan was to audition for whatever show was going to be produced. When it was announced that it was “Something Rotten,” I was thrilled! For me, the main things I hope for in a show are lots of dancing and ensemble opportunities. This show is it! (If you have never seen it before, I recommend you look on-line. You can find a recording of entire performances.) In the past I had gone to a performance of this show, but I did not remember all of it, so, in “preparation,” I watched an on-line video and knew that I wanted to be a part of it! This show has a lot of tap dancing. I’m not as flexible as I used to be, and I get dizzy easily when spinning, but I CAN TAP! (I would call myself an intermediate tapper which I figured would be above the average for community theater. I knew that I would be able to hold my own with that style of dance.)

AUDITIONS

When it was time for auditions, I chose a song I had used in the past, “100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man” from “Wonderful Town.” (Ironically, my husband was auditioning right after me. The song choice didn’t mean anything!) It’s good for an alto voice. It also provides the opportunity to sing and act in a one-minute audition segment. Plus, I still had the sheet music from a few summers ago; “no need to reinvent the wheel,” as they say.

Although it was not mentioned with the audition information, I did bring my tap shoes and was glad I did. There was a tap segment for the dance audition. I was ready(ish)–as I have noticed over the years, I can still do the steps, but it just takes me a bit more time now to remember the choreography.

I did not get a call back for any specific part, but, honestly I didn’t expect one. When the cast list came out, I was very excited to see my name. (For various reasons, my daughter and husband were not participating in the summer show in the end even though it would have been fun to perform together.) Admittedly, I was a bit anxious at first. I actually had a role! I did not, though, remember the character (despite having seen the show before). Would I still be able to participate with the ensemble? That was my fear—I would have some lines but not be able to participate in the ways that I had hoped. Fortunately, those fears were unfounded! Phew! More to come…

REHEARSALS/CASTING

Our first rehearsal was a read-through. When I arrived, there was the combination of familiar and new faces of the cast and production team. We would know each other well soon enough! We all sat around the table and read through (most of) the script. I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time!! There was no doubt that this was going to be a fun show. With this cast, team, and script, I knew that this was going to be an enjoyable summer!

As an aside, work for me is not any lighter in the summer than any other time of year. Several cast members are educators, so they often have more summer flexibility. As a pediatrician, summers are different than other parts of the year but still crazy busy. I had a choice—I could be busy all day, collapse at home in the evening, and realize that I really didn’t get a chance to enjoy summer OR I could be busy all day and then be busy outside of work doing something I enjoy with a really cool group of people. So glad I chose the latter! (Dinner may have been eaten at random times, but, no biggie.)

“Something Rotten” generally has a largely male cast. Our cast was largely female. This did NOT get in the way of anything! Some of the traditionally male roles were made into female roles—Brother Jeremiah became Sister Jeremiah (and the performer in that role completely made it her own!); Lord Clapham became Lady Clapham (me!). Other male roles stayed male but were played by women (and played brilliantly!)–Shakespeare, Shylock, and all of the Renaissance writers. Additionally, this largely female cast in a largely male show allowed many of us to sing different parts than usual. Many of us, myself included, went down a part. Instead of singing alto, I sang tenor. It was great!! I could comfortably hit all of the notes!

SINGING

Even in summer number three, I still felt anxious and out of place in the music rehearsals. When looking at music, I know how long different notes are to be held and can see notes moving up and down. I NEVER asked, “are we singing a B or B flat?” The only reason I paid attention to questions like “are we singing the C or G?” is that I could identify the line I was supposed to follow. I have no idea how they sound different off the top of my head. There was so much going on that I couldn’t even figure out how to record the appropriate parts in any way that would be useful for me after the fact.

Last year we had access to a program that allowed us to listen on our computer or other device to the different parts of the music. I could play just the alto music, all of the parts, just altos with sopranos, etc. That was extremely helpful. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to a similar program this time around. I could listen to rehearsal tracks, but those didn’t help me find my part. I made sure to try hard to listen to all of the talented singers (they truly did amaze me) around me during rehearsal and hope that something would stick. My hand written notes in the music would include comments such as “sing near the nose,” “upper mouth feel,” and “change to head voice.” Honestly, by the time of the performance, I really hoped that I was singing my part. If nothing else, I was singing something with gusto while on (and off) stage!

SPEAKING

During the scene rehearsals in which I had lines, I fully admit that “impostor syndrome” was rearing it’s ugly head. Being surrounding by a lot of talent is great but intimidating! I did not want to stand out as the “ok one” with a lot of great actors. (I am perfectly content with standing out as long as it is for a good reason.) I was so hoping to fit in seamlessly with the rest of the cast on stage. With the guidance of our fabulous director, by show time, I did feel like I could hold my own (and was actually very proud of myself for that).

As an aside, you know that you are part of a talented cast when many of the performers with small parts or ensemble parts had well earned lead roles in other shows. Kudos to the production staff of this show for giving everyone in the cast their “moments” or funny ‘bits” on stage. Everyone had their chance to shine! No exaggeration here! Throughout the rehearsal process, I often felt like I was part of a musical theater master class; the director was not only a fabulous director but also a terrific teacher! He often explained his choices which was not only helpful but helped the cast become better performers.

DANCING

Dance rehearsals are always my favorite. The fact that tap dancing was a big part of the show made it even better! I didn’t have trouble doing the choreography, just remembering it (initially). Saying that, I did miss three of the dance rehearsals (two for fun reasons, one because I had to work—got to pay the bills), so reviewing choreography from videos was a bit more challenging–not impossible but challenging. The hardest part of that was trying to figure out where I was eventually supposed to be on stage.

A quote that most of you will probably never hear but many of us heard at a rehearsal: “I want to be a tap dancing egg.” This was a statement made by many grown adults. If you know the show, this will make sense. If you don’t, it’s still funny to think of a bunch of people saying, “I want to be a tap dancing egg” and sincerely mean it. That should tell you something about this cast and show!

ALL TOGETHER NOW!

As mentioned, this was a big ensemble show with lots of movement and dancing. There were also LOTS of moving parts! The entire production team was amazing in terms of coordinating everything. The phrase “teamwork makes the dream work” applies here. As an example, there was a big production number right in the middle of Act 1, “A Musical,” which was probably my favorite number in the show, and I still smile thinking about it. During this number, we sang off stage, sang on stage, danced on stage, went off stage, ran around backstage to get to the other side, danced back on-stage (granted, not all of us were doing all of the same things at the same time which added to the “excitement”), moved around the stage, managed to collect a few props at different times during the number, and finished with flourish and style! Whew! ((At one point, there was consideration of a shoe change during the number as well (out of tap shoes into other shoes), but, fortunately, that idea was nixed because it would have been really difficult due to timing and turned out to not be necessary.)) This number was amazing because it was truly a group effort! (Shout out to the stage crew that helped as well. They, plus the few members of the cast who were not in this number, managed to get the proper props to lots of moving cast members at the right times.)

There was one small scene during which I got a little creative and kept my fingers crossed. After one of the production numbers (not the one described above), the performers in that number left the stage, the music continued to play, and I alone stayed on-stage waiting for another character to enter. For some reason, this scene was never actually formally staged, so we “winged it.” I continued dancing, my own little go-with-the-flow solo, doing some “classic” dance moves. I personally thought it would be funny to be a bit anachronistic and perform moves such as “the lawnmower” and “the sprinkler” (during the Renaissance, of course) while waiting for the other character to come on stage and call my name. I don’t know if others saw the humor in it like I did, but the director didn’t stop me, and it stayed in the show. Granted, I don’t think I played up to my dancer “strength,” but I feel that my “moves” were more fitting for the show.

Overall, this show was so much fun! The show itself is hilarious, but, more importantly, all of the people involved were fabulous! I truly enjoyed spending time with them! It says something when people spend time together outside of rehearsal after spending so many hours together in rehearsal. We even had a group “field trip” to an area Renaissance Faire! (Truth be told, meeting up and trying to spend time with a large group was challenging, but I did feel like I got to know some other cast members better because of that time together.) Since the show has closed, we have still managed to stay in contact and see each other. Although I don’t plan to audition for another show until next summer, many of the other cast members are involved with various productions throughout the year. I am filling my calendar with theater dates to support them and be entertained by those shows!

WELLNESS

My blog goals nowadays are still aimed at encouraging wellness. Why then did I write about the summer musical? Being part of it supported my personal wellness in so many ways. I challenged my brain by learning lines, working on the music, and practicing choreography. There was the physical activity involved with dance. There was A LOT of laughter! (That is the best medicine! I’m a doctor. I know!) The biggest health benefit of the summer for me was the building of connections with people in person. Despite all of the technology available nowadays, I still feel as though in-person connections are so powerful and important for keeping us well. In my opinion, technology can help bridge some gaps and allow us to stay connected with people who are physically far away. In no way does it replace the benefits of in-person relationships. Participating in “Something Rotten” was really SOMETHING FABULOUS! (Granted, my cholesterol may have gone up because of too many “eggs on the brain.” If that makes no sense to you, go see a production of the show!)