I can't remember my blocking and other stories

Blocking rehearsals: I love them.

I really do, because you don't really have to think about singing well. You just walk around the stage and write things in your score. I get all theater-y for blocking, and usually dress for the occasion. Ahh theater!! Where you can freely emote and not have to worry about coming in on time. Thespian chic is what we're going for. So Saturday, I wore my new black leggings with a shorter skirt and black tank top...my hair had been freshly dyed and I was feeling cute.

We, at Opera Company A, however, are lucky enough to have our rehearsals in a dance studio of sorts facing an entire wall full of mirrors. Which is supposed to be really helpful, I'm sure. But you can't tell me it's good for the dancers to have a wall full of fat mirrors that seem designed to make your hips look way bigger than you thought you were. It seems to me like that could trigger some bulimic episodes for people who have to wear leotards to class. It almost triggered a bulimic episode in me, for god's sake.

I tried so hard to concentrate, all the while feeling bitterly disappointed that I didn't look cute after all, but rather like a bottom-heavy whale who had put on some black leggings. Oh, and then there's the problem of Lauretta, my character, anyway: I have a strong inclination to play her as kind of a spoiled princess, but another to be campy and cheesy, and really play up the ridiculous silly contrast of her music to the rest of the show. However, I think what may be expected of me is to be a very sincere Lauretta, pure and in love. I can do sincere. Usually. But not while standing in front of a fat mirror looking like a whale.

So today, in preparation for tonight's rehearsal in front of the self-same mirror, I found myself putting together my outfit very carefully. As if what I wear in front of that thing will really make a difference. Sigh. The only solution? To forget about the mirror altogether and just BE Lauretta. Enough of this already.