The first performance is behind me. Sure going to miss it after tomorrow.
It's been very late nights all week. Last night I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Getting up for work this morning was just peachy.
Can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice? It's kinda hard for a girl who has learned to go to bed between 9 and 9:30. Maybe I should have taken vacation time this week too.
Couple of nights I left work and went straight to the church. Didn't see my son until breakfast the next morning. Kinda warned him that this was going to happen this week, but I have a feeling it's not just my kitties missing me.
It's kinda nice being missed, but I'll enjoy having a life with my son again.
Was very nervous early on but after the first scene I really got into it. Got into it so much that I cried more tonight in all the right places than I have any other time. Have to admit, I was afraid I'd be so nervous that I wouldn't be able to relax and get into the scene enough to cry.
No problemo.
Tonight some dear friends and co-workers came to see. Tomorrow there'll be even more friends, co-workers, and a little bit of family coming back to town to see the performance. I sure hope I can forget they're out there.
The pressure's on!
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6 comments:
Hey! I know this sounds weird but I was just recently cast as Norma in "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and have been trying to find any kind of info about it online...and that lead me to your blog! Any advice? Anything you can tell me about the character? I dont have my script yet but there's not a lot of info out there about this particular show!
This was one of my favorite shows that I've participated in in quite a long time. It opens at Thanksgiving, just days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Norma is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she is so busy taking care of her dad, son (we played Mickey as Nickey so ours was a daughter), her younger sisters, and so many of the other odd assortment of characters that live in their building, that it is only late at night when she has a chance to allow her fears and doubts about the world and if she will ever see her husband again show through. There's a great deal of fun between Norma and "pop" and it makes for great comedy but deep down inside, Norma is scared about what is happening all around and feeling helpless to do anything about it.
I have a whole bunch of additional posts from September on leading up to our performances last year, so you might be able to glean a little more from those. They were fresh and new to me and I wrote extensively about how the script affected me.
Feel free to visit again - I'll be happy to share more insight as you need. :-)
Ok thanks!
Is there a lot of singing with the character? I know about that one beautiful song "Everytime I Turn Around"--love it love it.
Thank you :)
I was a little surprised to get this part, I thought I would probably be Angie b/c I'm 21, but they cast Angie as a 15 year old
That is an absolutely beautiful song, and as I got into the character could hardly get through that song without tearing up. There's only one more part that Norma sings and that's the ending of the Frankie Donatello song. The music in this is just wonderful (I'm a big World War II/Big Band era history fan). We actually added a "pre-show" to the show and had all of the radio singers come out to share more of the songs from that era that didn't make it into the actual script. It was about thirty minutes added on to the show and was a great way to get the audience into the feel of the time and setting of the show.
I just took a moment to visit your site. One thing you'll really want to hold onto in this show (Norma is supposed to be in her mid to late thirties) is that post your wrote "Hold Close" about your friend going through chemo. This story is about life and loss, grieving and giving. To give Norma the life she needs to shine, dig down deep, remember your own tragedies and triumphs, and how very precious the life is that God has given each and every one of us. There is a beautiful, late-night scene between Norma and her dad that made me cry so easily each time we rehearsed it and performed it. There is a scene near the end where Norma receives a telegram - and isn't sure she wants to open and read it. Give that moment the pause it deserves and you'll hear a pin drop in the audience.
Sorry, don't mean to "direct" from afar. My own life has carried tragedies and this character was very near and dear to me. Allow yourself to feel very deeply about every aspect and you'll do great - no matter the age.
Thanks for your ideas! I too love 1940s stuff, shows, songs etc so I was thrilled to get this show/role. Thanks so much for your help, I'm sure I'll be updating my blog soon about the show!
Hey, I just wanted you to know that we had read-thru tonight so I FINALLY got to read the script--which I absolutely loved. THe director has decided to cut Stella Ashton out of the picture of that song so now it's a Norma solo.
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