September 22 – Day 16: A Whole Lotta Nothin’ Goin’ On


I know I’ve threatened this in the past, but I expect this is going to be a short post, because not much of anything happened. We moved to our third rehearsal space, in the 29th Street studios we’d done a few Sam and Dede rehearsals at. It’s about a 40-minute walk from the apartment, so I decided to hoof it, especially since my call was 1:30, rather than 12:00.

It’s a nice enough building, and I’m sure cheap (or reasonably-priced) rehearsal space is hard to come by in New York, but it is a little cramped. We’ve all been crammed onto folded chairs all the way down the hall (and around the corner, in at least one case) when we’re not being used. Surprisingly, there’s not a lot of noise leakage from other groups rehearsing, but the solidness of the walls also tends to trap things. I remember that, for one of the Sam rehearsals, we followed a group of rambunctious teens, and the remnants of their sweaty rambunctious smell lingered for quite a while. There’s water and snacks available at the reception desk, but I don’t know if I’m really at a point where I want to pay a buck and a half for a Snickers while on a break. Fortunately, there are a number of food places nearby, so there’s no need to sacrifice. 

 Our building (it doesn't have the watermarks in real life).

Since I knew I was going to be walking, I thought about stopping at Tompkins Square Bagels, but the line was literally out the door, so I thought—said, actually—“screw that.” I knew I’d be going through Union Square (where there’s usually a farmer’s market on Saturdays), though, so I hoped to get some kind of breakfast there, but the vast majority of what was available was vegetables and meat. There was some fruit, as well, but that was mainly apples, and I really didn’t feel like apples. I ended up having a mini corn muffin that Dared (one of my new cast-mates) brought, as well as some pita chips that were giveaways after Uncle Vanya the night before.

 Welcome to New York.

We finished blocking Act One and got through most of Act Two before it was time to go. Spacing was still not ideal; all of our spaces have allowed for either enough depth but not enough width, or vice versa, but we got the gist of it all, in terms of spacing. I’m reminded of when I directed The Farnsworth Invention at Palo Alto Players, and the rehearsal stage bore little resemblance to what we were going to end up with. I kept telling the cast, “Don’t worry; it’s all going to change anyway,” a slogan I ended up having printed on mugs as an opening night gift. (I thought it also applied to the theme of the show anyway.) Just as with that show, I have a feeling that, come next week, a lot of things are “going to change anyway.” Unfortunately, we’ll have only three days to make all the changes before we have an audience.

We broke at 6:00 and I decided I wanted to get some supper, so I stopped at one of the places I’d been meaning to go back to, the Westville Restaurant on the corner of 11th and Avenue A. It’s a nice place, if a bit cramped, but I was there early enough that I was able to get an indoor table that was next to the sidewalk. (The weather has turned fall-like, more or less, so it’s quite pleasant to be outside.) I had the chicken and mashed potatoes, and it was quite good, even if the portions were a little small; so much so that I opted for the apple pie a la mode for dessert.

 Hey! That guy's sitting at my table!

I walked home in a very good mood with the intentions of catching up on the blog, watching the Dodger game, and catching up on some of the stuff I’d been DVRing. Unfortunately, I fell asleep for about an hour and the start of the Dodger game was delayed by a Cleveland/Boston game that went into extra innings. Fortunately, the Dodgers won, and I was able to do a lot of the others without staying up too late. My goal was to get to sleep early enough that I'd be able to get a full eight hours before I had to leave.

I did get the sleep, but it turned out to be a mistake.

(Whattya know? This did turn out short!)

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