An Ad for Another Production of Arsenic and Old Lace -- Mortimer Sings the Blues

Arsenic and Old Lace Schedule of Practices and Director's Notes

Let us make every effort to be off book on these practices -- It is time for everything to come together ...

(note cards can be used this week, if needed -- also, you may need to make notes on your blocking, as we will drop reading stage directions aloud after this week)

Tuesday, August 9 --  (Act 1 twice) (6:30 PM school)

Wednesday, August 10 -- (Act 2 and 3) (6:30 PM School)

Thursday, August 11 -- (All acts) (6:30 PM school)

Sunday, August 14 -- 3 PM at school (all acts)

Monday, August 15 (All Acts) at Main Street Pub and Grill
                            Check Lighting and Sound Effects 6:30 PM
Dress Rehearsal (Pictures)

Tuesday, August 16 (All Acts) at Main Street Pub and Grill
                  6:30 PM

Wednesday, August 17 (All Acts) at Main Street Pub and Grill
Dress Rehearsal and Makeup 6:30 PM

Thursday, August 18 -- PERFORMANCE 6 PM  (Intermission after Act One each Performance -- Toast at end)

Friday, August 19 PERFORMANCE 6 PM

Sunday, August 21 PERFORMANCE 3 PM


The Dinner at the End of the Play will also serve as our Cast Party


Curtain Call -- 
The Four Police Persons
Rev. Dr. Harper, Dr. Witherspoon, Mr. Gibbs
Dr. Einstein and Jonathan
Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha
Mortimer and Elaine 
Teddy 


Then Jeff and Crew
then acknowledge Hellmans
then the final toasts

If needs be we will practice at 2 PM on Sunday, August 14

If we have time each night we will do parts of  the same or another act in addition to what we are focusing on. We will stop at 9 PM each night, no matter where we are in the script, until the week before and the week of, when we may go later if necessart. Please make practices if at all possible, we are entering crunch time. Learn your lines and make notes to yourself on blocking so that you are where you need to be on each line of the play.

We are in progressing well, we just need to tighten it all up for a good show.  And remember to invite people to buy tickets and come to the show.

Also, if you need any prop or costume accesory tell Shelly so she and Diane can look for it for your character.

Once You Learn Your Lines, Acting Becomes Fun!

How to Memorize Lines!

Memorization Tips for Actors and Actresses

from the late great actor George C. Scott:

How do those actors and actresses memorize hundreds of lines? How does someone commit all those fancy Shakespearean lines from Hamlet to memory? Memorizing lines takes practice and constant repetition. However, there are a few ways to make the memorization process run smoothly and quickly.

Read Out Loud (And Repeat, Repeat, Repeat):
For most performers, there is no short cut to memorizing lines. To learn lines, an actor must recite the play out loud, over and over again. Most rehearsals encourage this by “running through the lines” or having a “read through.”

By the time opening night arrives, most actors have spoken their lines hundreds of times. In addition to constant repetition, consider these supplemental techniques:

When possible, read lines with other actors or with a friend or family  member.  The other person will give you support and provide good learning tension for the memorization of the lines.  You will never learn your lines by osmosis or magic.  Open the script and work at it.  There is absolutely no other way. Once you learn your lines you are like a baby that has learned how to walk.  Now it can be fun!

Write them down while saying them aloud

Make note cards with your lines.  Write them down while saying them aloud to cement them in your brain. Do this process several times, until you get them.  First, just write your own lines. Then write them with cue lines and your lines.  Then write them with cue lines and your line and the next line.  Use a card for each of your lines (Note cards are cheap and it will be worth it to you -- once you learn your lines, every other part of the production comes into place.  You can then concentrate on blocking and stage business to accentuate your lines and identify your character's personality.)

Listen to Your Cast Members:

Sometimes inexperienced or poorly trained actors spend rehearsals staring blankly at fellow performers, waiting patiently to say their next line. Instead, they should be listening attentively, responding in character at all times.

This will not only generate a better performance, it will also help the actor learn his lines because the context of the dialogue is absorbed. Pay attention and the other person’s lines will serve as a cues or “memory triggers” during the performance.

Record Your Lines:

Because there is often not enough rehearsal time, many performers find ways to listen to the play’s dialogue during everyday activities. Turn your work-outs, chores, and recreational activities into a “read through” with the help of your headphones or your i-pod. Aside from constant rehearsals, this method seems to be the most popular way to memorize lines.

Use a tape recorder (or  an MP3 player-GW) to capture the lines from each relevant scene. Some actors prefer to record the lines of all the characters, including their own. Then, they not only listen intently, but they speak all of the lines. Others opt for recording the lines of fellow cast members, but they leave a blank space so that they can insert their dialogue while listening to the recording.

Monologue While Motoring

Personally, I have found the freeway to be to best place to memorize lines. I mastered all of my Shakespeare monologues driving back and forth on Highway 128. If your commute to work is twenty minutes or more, then your automobile can become a makeshift rehearsal space. For one, it’s a nice private place to listen to your recorded dialogue. Then, when you have the basic dialogue and monologues down, you can perform as your putter your way through traffic.

The acoustics in your car might be lousy; however, it’s a great place to guffaw, growl, or shout your lines, getting them nicely solidified in your memory banks. Hopefully, your carpool group won’t mind!

Get Up and Move!

Whenever possible, incorporate your stage directions while you say your lines aloud. According to a scientific study conducted by psychologists Helga and Tony Noice, the combination of movement and speech strengthens a person’s ability to recall the next line.

Here’s how Ms. Noice explains it: “Memory is aided by physical movement. In one study, lines learned while making an appropriate motion — e.g., walking across a stage — were more readily remembered by actors later than were lines unaccompanied by action.”

So, during the learning the script, make certain your join the words with appropriate movements and gestures. Of course, this tip might not be helpful if you are playing the paralyzed protagonist from Whose Life is it Anyway. But for most roles, the Noice team has provided excellent advice!

Think Positively and Don’t Panic!

Don’t let the butterflies in your stomach torment you too much. Most thespians experience stage fright minutes, hours, even weeks before opening night. While a certain amount of nervousness can get the adrenaline going, too much anxiety over lines might hinder an actor’s performance.

Actors forget lines now and then. It happens. When it happens, however, most of the time the audience never notices. Forgetting a line is only disastrous if the performer breaks character.

So, if you forget a line in the middle of your performance, don’t freeze. Don’t get flustered. Don’t look out to the audience. Don’t call out, “Line!” Stay in character. Keep the scene going to the best of your ability, and with the help of your fellow cast members you will get back on track.

Take solace in the fact that if you forget a line once, you will probably never forget that line ever again! Sometimes embarrassment is the strongest and toughest method of memorization!

Make Plans to Come to the Classic Comedy!

August 18, 19 and 21

Backstage in Bancroft Production

at the Main Street Pub and Grill

Bancroft, Iowa
Tickets on Sale Now at the
Main Street Pub and Grill
$30 each for Dinner and show

Blocking and Stage Business -- Some Explanations and Rules for the Play

Think of acting as like baking a cake. To make a cake, you need the ingredients -- eggs, milk, etc. To make a cake pretty, you need things like icing.  So we start with lines in acting, and then add other things to make the illusion a reality on stage.

Blocking is stage movement such as go downstage right at this one specific line or part in the play. Stage business is what makes blocking into acting. It's what a character would really do. 

Imagine how your character walks -- not how you walk, but your character -- blocking is putting stage directions into reality onstage.  Remember the divisions of the stage that we posted earlier.  You can go back and find them on this blog.  We have a narrow stage, so we will not be moving as much physically, which means, all the more, we must show "movement" in our eyes and facial expressions, and, when we do move, it must be for a purpose.

Remember that a key concept is usually only one movement on stage at a time, allowing the audience to focus on the moving character and/or on the line being spoken at the time.

Stage Business

Stage business are the actions that make real the character, in addition to the blocking movements.  This includes all visual activity an actor does on stage other than personal business that fills out the details of his character. Some stage business is in the stage directions of the play itself.  But some stage business, because we are a COMMUNITY theater, must be altered a bit for our audience and our non-professional cast.

So pats on the fanny become pats on the arm or shoulder, and kisses become pecks on the cheek or "stage kisses" -- where on actor's back is to the audience and foreheads touch in imitating a "kiss".  The key is to sell the illusion of the kiss without being personally invasive on another actor or actress.  Hits on the head become hits ont he back or arm, with the reaction of the one hit selling the illusion.

Stage Furniture Needed

a small dining table

a small desk

a set of shelves where the wine is kept

period stuffed chair or small couch

period lamps (2)

period telephone

A WINDOW SEAT BOX (one may need to be made)

Steps for staircase (that leads offstage to a platform)

Props Needed (more may be added, but these are necessary)

 bugle (trumpet)

painting easel

set of china for shelves and to be used by Martha and Abby

Garnet Ring (Grandmother Brewster's)

large envelope (Mortimer's)

papers to be signed for committals and pen

Body for window seat

Second body (Mr. Spenalzo)

luggage for Jonathan and Einstein

Medical bag for Einstein's instruments

glasses for wine and Elderberry wine container

handcuffs for Jonathan

fake (rubber or plastic) billy club

fake pistols for police persons

Cross for Rev. Dr. Harper to wear

Costumes Needed

check with each actor

Police Costumes (4 uniforms)

Elaine's outfits
'
clerical collar for Rev. Dr. Harper

Yet Another Production -- Arsenic and Old Lace Trailer

Still One More Arsenic And Old Lace Trailer

Another Arsenic and Old Lace Trailer from Another Production of the Classic Play

A Commercial by AAnother Drama Troupe for Arsenic and Old Lace -- JMB Drama Presents: Arsenic and Old Lace