BBAJ Week 2: Historical accuracy and the blocking block!

We had three more rehearsals during our second week of the show. The first was a read-thru-sing-thru of the entire show (so fun!), and then we blocked the first 1/3 of the show over the next two rehearsals.

The Blocking Block!

It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how well you think you know your lines, when you add in stage blocking your mind totally freezes and you can't spit out your lines correctly if your life depended on it. I'm not sure about other actors, but for some reason adding movement to the mix totally messes with me at first. Thankfully this "blocking block" doesn't last long, but it's frustrating none the less. Other than that, blocking is usually a fun part of the process, where you get your first feel for what the production is going to be like.

Historical Accuracy

When I first saw the show I had read about its historical inaccuracies and even did a little wiki-ing about Andrew Jackson of my own to confirm. One of the inaccuracies is how Andrew Jackson's parents died. The Broadway production made it clear that Andrew Jackson's family was killed by Indians even though they actually died of cholera. The dialogue is open for interpretation, even though the stage directions call for arrows whisking about. Scott wants the scene to be as historically accurate as possible and even though it didn't seem natural at first (the scene as written is very hokey and cries out for bad acting), it plays great! The Broadway production gave the audience a reason for Jackson to hate Indians, but racism is more often irrational and I think it's a better (and more accurate) choice to portray Jackson's hatred that way.

Goal for week 3:

Learning how to keep a straight face! I'm seriously going to have to think about chopping the heads off babies to keep from breaking during one of my scenes. Any suggestions?