3/5/11

Awful awful day. I believe myself to be in the midst of a major cast up-rising (Ok, slight exaggeration.) I won’t say too much about the ins and outs of it but practice today went terribly. After shifting everyone down to the dance-studio I hoped that we would be able to work on the staging. Although it has been nigh on impossible to get full rehearsals I thought that at least, as most of the cast were friends with at least one other member that rehearsing and familiarising the lines in the mean time would have allowed us to get on with blocking the scenes. We got to about scene 4 before members of cast started dropping like flies. I think I have probably tried to incorporate too much when we have such a short space of time. However, I’m finding it really hard to let go considering that this should have been a viable production given the amount of time that has passed since it was first written and cast. I have a really important decision to make in regards to how this project can go ahead. It seems to me that the options are to cut portions of the script or to pull the script all together and just do the songs. It’s really sad to have to go this way but I feel that the latter option will be the best when it seems that even learning lyrics is a struggle. I asked everyone tonight to pull together just for these 2 remaining weeks and to prioritise this production as it was going to be a struggle but I felt that everyone was more than capable and talented of making it a brilliant show. In doing this I have been accused of attempting to blame members of the cast for this production failing to come together, of holding unproductive rehearsals or cancelling rehearsals all together and also of guilting people into missing rehearsals for other people’s shows. I would be the first to hold my hand up and say that I have been too ambitious with this production and better organisation would have benefitted the whole project. It is, however, almost impossible to hold productive rehearsals when a vast number or the cast are unable to gather together at the same time and attempts at holding script-rehearsals when main cast members have not been able to make it have led to frustration and are not just a waste of their time but also a waste of mine. It also is unproductive when nobody pays attention and acts as though they would rather be doing something else. I should have stuck to my guns regarding rehearsal times. Having a definite set rehearsal time every week for both the band and cast and sticking to it would have been the best thing to do. If people weren’t able or willing to make a decent proportion of these times then I should have tried to recast the roles. Instead I tried to accommodate everyone else’s priorities and allowed this project to fall to the back of the queue and for that I am obviously a poor manager and quite possibly unfit to direct! However, I think that everyone is aware that a project like this where no one is being paid is a labour of love and requires team-work and dedication and at times I don’t feel that this production has received that. If (and that’s a big IF right now) I ever attempt a similar project in the future I will be firm with my rehearsal and production schedules and set firm deadlines. I need to remember at the end of the day that this is MY degree and I need to do whatever ever it takes to succeed in it. That is all...Rant Completed ...Over and Out.