My Three Angels: First Dress

Madame Parole (Teresa Doggett) shares a secret about her taste for Chartreuse with Emilie (Penney Kols).

I LOVE dress rehearsals. There is always this magical moment when all the actors put on their costumes for the first time and really look at each other is if to say, “Oh, that’s who you are.” It’s amazing for everyone to suddenly being seeing the world of the play in exactly the same way and we get that final push into performances. Teresa Doggett’s work for this production is stunning- I absolutely squealed to myself when I saw Emilie’s gorgeous ACT III dress. The multi-talented Teresa really brought something amazing to this world in Cayenne with such elegance. One of my favorite little details is the way that she distressed Jules’ and Joseph’s prison uniforms much more than Alfred’s to show that Alfred is the “newbie” to the group. Nice.

Marie-Louise (Amy Baker) excitedly tells Felix (Larry Dell) and Emilie (Penney Kols) about Paul’s arrival to Cayenne.

While there is still a little bit of fine-tuning to do with the designs- hooks, buttons, a few tweaks to light cues, a little more paint … the world is coming alive in splendid fashion. The vibrant set and the gorgeous costumes have really helped the cast to see and act in this environment in new and exciting ways.

Convicts Joseph (Whit Reichert) and Jules (Garrett Bergfeld) watch the Ducotels from above.

Once again the show as a whole took a huge step forward last night. While there are still kinks to iron out everything ran much smoother last night. The “traffic jams” from the first tech have mostly been avoided through a few tweaks in the blocking. There are wonderfully warm and comic moments developing between the characters. It’s so gratifying to see everything truly come to life. That said, there is still room for work in regards to pace, flow, and focus.

Once again we attack this beast tonight!