12:30 pm - Sun 3/03/02
\"Crossing the Line\"
Last week, I used the fact that I had the day off on Monday as incentive, to get me through what I thought would be a "challenging" day on Sunday (Working late, having to get up early for rehearsal, then having to work till closing at the bookstore).

But while I was running at kind of a low ebb the latter part of the day Sunday, it was fine, and MONDAY turned out to be more of a struggle. Go and figure...

So TODAY, I'm going to just plan on letting the day take care of itself; While I look forward to having the next two days off, I'm not seeing tomorrow as the visit to Nirvana that will make this "hellish" day bearable.

So far, today has gone much the same as last week, except that, realizing I didn't need so much travel-time, I didn't leave the house till 7:30 (I still got to the theater five minutes early).

The director was there, and Awet, who's playing "Alexis", came in the same time I did. but everyone else kind of drifted in late (By the time people got there, and the director said what he had to say, and introduced Stephan, the theater manager, and took us through a relaxation exercise, we didn't start acting till maybe 20 after 8).

I read "Mr Bryant" first, while JR (The OTHER "Mr Bryant") read "Todd", since the real Todd has a previous engagement, racing in today's LA marathon.

I asked a question about a bit of business I wasn't comfortable with, and once again (Like with my concerns about the "dialect")felt like I didn't really get an answer to my question, and that I hadn't been UNDERSTOOD, but I just let it go. I'd determined for myself last week that I was going to be "Agreeable Guy" on this one, and let JR be the "Problem Child".

And JR did his part, from not bringing a pencil, to altering the lines to suit his tastes, to debating the director's direction to be less "animated" (i.e. less fake).

In a way, JRs phoniness is a relief to me--I don't have to feel competitive with a guy who sounds like he's just reading lines--but it's also already starting to feel like a PROBLEM for me as well. I'm not getting much direction, for example, and I KNOW it's not because I'm Laurence-Frigging-OLIVIER here; I'm just looking good because, whatever my shortcomings, I'm trying to come from someplace REAL. JR sounds like he's auditioning for "Uncle Remus" or something.

But I've got to cut this short. Work beckons.

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