h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, the blocking and dancing over the weekend wasn't too painful, as the chorus really aren't involved in the action all that often. The choreography includes moves known as 'plucking the apple' and 'the swallow', which compares to the 'camel', 'wave', 'ostrich' and 'bear hunt' in Die Fledermaus two years ago... I can do all the moves in essence, and even in the right order, it's just that I have trouble looking elegant whilst doing so.

Now all that remains is to polish the choreography, do the tech/dress rehearsal and go for it. It's all a bit quick and scary, but at least there'll be a lot of adrenalin flowing on Friday night.

>'plucking the apple' and 'the swallow', which compares to the 'camel', 'wave', 'ostrich' and 'bear hunt'<
Are they like the mashed potato and the jive?

Are you secretly "getting it on down" in Canterbury?

Shhh, don't tell anyone, or we'll have hoardes of people flooding here and driving rental prices up!

David - off to practice his nifty moves

*considers buying advertising space during Euro 2004 and then thinks better of it.*
I'll leave you to boogie alone, then.

Friday? Is that opening night? How long do you have to prepare for this thing, anyway? It sounds as if it's all going rather quickly.

This is by far the shortest rehearsal period I've ever encountered, which is probably because it's a professional company on tour with the show, with plebs like me as their chorus! It's very scary, though, that we've had at most one and a half days of rehearsal and we open today (just on-line briefly before skipping merrily up to the theatre). We assume the leads are more rehearsed than us...

Today's schedule

10 - Costume fittings and 'parade'
11 - Final chorus rehearsals
1 - lunch
2 - technical/dress rehearsal
5.30 - food
7.30 - opening night

There's only one response to that -

Well, it's already too late, but hey, break a leg! (In the theatrical sense, of course.) And have fun!
I can't even begin to imagine performing after so little rehearsal. I'm really impressed.

Thanks!

In opera, they say 'Toi Toi' instead of 'break a leg'. I haven't got a clue why...

And no whistling backstage!

Oops! Sorry for whistling! Do I have to run backwards around the theater three times now? (Or some variation?)

Are you allowed to talk about M-----h (the Scottish play) in the theater in opera?

No, Macbeth may not be mentioned (oops!), nor some obscure Verdi thing about Destiny or some such. But it's all a load of superstitious silliness. I'd quite happily do all the naughty things, but it would upset people, so I don't.