What a cathartic meeting! After playing out the adapted text and score in my mind for months, I beheld, in real life, a beautiful quilt of talent applying voices and imaginations to this new vision of music and mirth.
The strategy for casting the show was a little unusual. We sought to build a dream team of performers who would populate the stage with many different energies and brands of charisma. Thinking of what roles would be played by whom was secondary to the goal of creating an awesome dynamic between 9 singing actors.
Many of the people we asked were participants in this years "Mama's Next Big Act", an 8-week talent contest at Don't Tell Mama. We had gotten to know this charismatic bunch over the summer and were excited to make some magic happen with them. Beyond the contest, the rest of the cast were approached mostly because we were big fans of their cabaret outings.
We were beyond delighted that most of our wish-listed actors we asked were able to commit to the intense rehearsal schedule that we have outlined for November. One of the cool things about the group is the age diversity. We have actor/singers in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. You'll be hearing about them all as the rehearsal process continues.
In a cabaret show, there are rarely any sets or scenery beyond some lighting and maybe a star curtain. The advantage to this is that the personality onstage is what creates the feeling of the scene. For Penzance, we want to crowd the stage with as colorful a bouquet as possible, to create a beautiful and thrilling sense of place.
For this first rehearsal, I treated the ensemble like a new sports team. It was about putting everybody on the field to kick the ball around and get a sense of how they will play with each other. Toward this goal, we laughed and sang through a variety of moments in the play with each performer taking turns being this or that character. We turned a trio into a group number
Whichever role they draw, each actor will develop a unique character blueprint. I will encourage them to bring something surprising to each role that has never been tried in a penzance production.
Many marvelous potential paintings revealed themselves in this scrimmage!
But by necessity, we have now divided up the roles for December and each player is focused on creating a brand new vision of their century-and-a-half old character.
Anchors Aweigh!
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