TECH SITZPROBE BINTAN TECH

It has been ten days since my last entry and the majority of those ten days have been long and arduous. We are still working in all the various elements of the show, and things are getting better and smoother every time. We have fallen into a routine of doing a fully-dressed run of ACT I in the afternoon, followed by notes. Then time to remove make-up, have dinner and do a fully-dressed run of ACT II in the evening, followed by notes. It's grueling, but the results are easy to see.

Now that we're running the show in make-up, my call time is usually around 1:30, which gives me one hour in the make-up chair and thirty minutes to get into costume/mask/mechanicals.
And speaking of full costume, I feel like I am now allowed, finally, to show you what I look like in full Scar-drag without fearing the wrath of Disney since there are pictures of fully-dressed Scar all over the internet.

I'm not sure why they had to paint the sneer on,
my face does that quite naturally.

Before we got to enjoy two glorious days off, we ended on a high note by having our Sitzprobe. This may be a strange and somewhat uncomfortable term for those of you who live in the normal world, but fear not. It's a German word that simply means to sit and sing, paying special attention the the sound. It's our first chance to hear what the orchestra sounds like, after rehearsing with a piano for months, and it's their first chance to hear us. It's always, always, for me, the most exciting day of rehearsal. Everyone gets very giddy and it's hard to keep the whole thing from turning into a Rave.

Me at microphone, partial orchestra right, ensemble standing, left.

Later this week, we will also be doing a Wandelprobe, which is a similar thing except that we walk the stage, as we would during the show, with microphones but no costumes, so that we can hear exactly what the music will sound like during performance.

And to add to the above photo, here is a visual representation of all of our home countries.

In order to take full advantage of the relaxation opportunities that two days off can offer, Lyall (Zazu) and I booked a beach cottage on the nearby Indonesian island of Bintan. Many Singaporeans vacation on Bintan as it is easily reached by ferry in less than an hour. Though the entertainment on the ferry, at 8:10 a.m. left a little something to be desired.Our simple but comfortable room at
Mayang Sari Beach Resort,
at Nirwana Gardens

The view from our deck

Our director, John, also took advantage of Bintan but he stayed at the spectacular Banyan Tree Resort. We went to visit for cocktails and dinner, but felt obligated to take advantage of the amenities...

Like the private, horizon-style plunge pool

Lyall & John paddle in the sunset

And the various snacks stocked in the kitchen
(Just what flavour are these "export quality" crisps?)

We arrived back in Singapore feeling very relaxed. A little too relaxed, perhaps. It wasn't easy getting back up to show energy on our first day back. And it was particularly difficult putting my flying harness on over my sun-burned waist-line.

Tonight, we will be running the whole show, with no notes or dinner break between acts, for the first time in many days. And on Tuesday, March 2nd, we get our very first audience for an invited dress rehearsal.

Onward...