Three Rehearsals In, Just the Beginning

We started rehearsals for Hair last Thursday. We rehearse on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, but let me tell you that with this show that doesn't seem like nearly enough. There are at least a hundred songs in this musical! OK, maybe not that many but it feels like it. Even though some of them are very short, they are dense with wordplay. And not necessarily logical wordplay. Try stream-of-consciousness political hippie satire laced with LSD and a sprinkling of pot, if you get my drift. All I'm saying is, Holy cow, where in my brain pan is all of this stuff going to fit?

I haven't really gotten to know many of the cast members that I didn't already know from other New Line productions, and I think that everyone is just concentrating on learning the music so we haven't been terribly social with one another. I know that as time passes and we get a chance to hang out that this will change. The cast seems very diverse to me and I'm curious to see how everyone responds to the material. I know that everyone has their comfort zone, but so much of this play is just plain outside of everyone's comfort zone! I didn't know that many of the songs coming into this, so I was really rocked by some of the lyrics. But taken in context, the lyrics have to be strong to convey their message. And speaking of comfort zones, I have to say that it will be interesting to see how we all gel together as a tribe. Especially since some of us will be naked.

There. I said it. Yes, I know it's for a relatively small segment of a song, but hey, it's on my mind. Yes, I know it's optional. But I said that if I made it in the cast I would at least make an effort to take off some clothes. I am still not sure about the full monty, though. I think either it will feel right or it won't.

My expectation for Hair is that it will push my buttons, raise some deep issues and make me evaluate everything about myself. So far I have not been disappointed, as the top issues at the forefront of my mind are acceptance of both my physical and artistic self. Funny that I have tried to desperately pummel both into shape over the course of my life. I have started The Artist's Way (by Julia Cameron) for the fourth time (I still haven't made it out of week 1 of 12). I expect some transformative things to come out if it this time, especially as I continue working on Hair.

I don't think this blog is going to be anything like my High Fidelity blog at all, and it may not make any sense to anyone but me, but I am going to try and faithfully log everything that I can during this experience. To that end, I am posting a sort of "transformation to-do list" that I would like to manifest while working on this production. Not that Hair is the only means to this transformation, but it is definitely one of the catalysts. Talk to you soon.

Nikki's Transformation To Do List

1. To discover the true nature of my artistic self and express it without fear or reservation.
2. To truly accept myself for who I am.
3. To gain a better definition of the life that I want to live.
4. To rediscover my spiritual self and re-integrate it into my daily life.
5. To express more love in more ways, each day.