A Christmas Carol: Meeting w/the Director
Today I met with the director of A Christmas Carol to discuss the basics of the project, and the roles I will be playing.
As I mentioned before, the project is set in New York (modern day) and there are some basic given circumstances that differ from the original#–Scrooge will be a woman, and a few of the characters change gender as a result. One of the characters I will be playing is Ben, Scrooge’s former lover (the one who breaks up with her).
Since the script is going to be a result of guided improvisation, I am left with the task of fleshing out the background and behavior of the character. The first actual rehearsal is on Thursday (Oct. 27th) and the director has asked that each actor give a presentation explaining and describing his/her character. That leaves me a few days to gather photos, images, writings, etc. that help illustrate my conception of Ben (as well as the smaller roles I will be playing).
In the original text, the lover leaves over Scrooge’s zeal towards a “new Idol,” the Idol of gold. It is implied that this new “Idol” has replaced a different “Idol,” a cause or a common goal from which Scrooge has turned. I’m leaning towards the idea that Ben and (Ms.) Scrooge met while working in some kind of social benefit cause (Unicef, Housing Works, etc.). I will have to mold this down to something definite, but that’s the general idea.
#–#–
In “general” news, I’ve taken a temp job to pay the bills… I will be working as a contractor for Bloomberg, working on the first ever physical asset inventory for their technology services. I know, it sounds terribly interesting. But I’m getting paid some great wages for decent hours, and it won’t interfere with my rehearsal schedule. The company has an awesome mindset towards its employees#–for one thing, it provides free meals, snacks, and beverages. And that rocks. It takes off a lot of stress in the mornings, figuring out what to do for lunch (do I bring it, do I buy it, blah, blah, blah) and it means I can save some money, too! It’s also casual dress, so I will be comfortable while I’m there, and won’t have to change clothes for rehearsal (if you’ve ever carted wardrobe around NYC, you understand the relief).
The only downside is the sheer volume of hours I will be putting in each week: 40+ hours of work (I will be making overtime on a lot of days), at least three hours of rehearsal each night, and fitting in time for writing (and my girlfriend). Yikes! For some of the project, I will be taking a bus over to Princeton, NJ (at 6:30 in the morning, no less) to work at the Bloomberg facilities there. In order to meet the bus, I will have to wake up at around 5AM. When rehearsal runs until 10:00 PM, that means a cranky Coleman.
Tags: Acting, Personal_Life, Theatre.
4 Comments so far
The hours sound pretty heavy to fit in with your creative stuff but the $ and perks sound really nice! Maybe make a plan and figure out how long you’ll stick with it (if it’s open-ended). I know (from experience) how easy it is to “get comfy” in a job and used to decent pay! Must…resist….
By Trevor on 10.25.05 @ 10:06 am
It’s a contract gig… six weeks minimum, eight weeks maximum. No worries on getting too comfortable…
Nicholas hollered back on 10.25.05 @ 11:28 pm
Cranky Coleman? What? Inconceivable! Love ya, Nitch-olas! Lol! I think that that is crazy cool! The whole Ben and temp job thing! I’m so excited for you!
In other news: I’m going to stay in the Theatre Department at SMS/MSU. Carey and I had a great convo today about it, and I thought back to what you were trying to tell to me all of the those nights that we got into fights over college, and I’m putting down my defensive wall. I concur with what both of you are saying. I need to give it a chance before I turn it down.
Thank you so very much for yelling at me all of those times! I really needed it because you were right! I know that I never admit that, but you were. Lol! Carey and I are going to take our Theatre classes together so that we can critique each other. For some odd reason, I like it when you and Carey critique me because you don’t give me the ****, you cut straight to the point, and I appreciate that!
Sorry that this “comment” has turned into a post on your blog…but you know, I just wanted to say thank you! And I’m going to call you here in a few minutes and leave a message on your phone if you don’t pick up about how much I thank you and love you for everything that you’ve done for me!
I love you and I miss you! Much love and God Bless!
The Casey Ellen MacLaren
By Casey Ellen on 10.28.05 @ 2:52 pm
Well, we all need encouragement and a shove in the right direction from time to time. I’m glad you decided to stay in college, and I’m also glad that you came to that decision on your own terms#–not simply because someone told you to do it.
Nicholas hollered back on 10.30.05 @ 8:02 pm
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