An Actor Is Still Preparing...

Posted by Billy Christopher Maupin

Rehearsals are now well underway for Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter with an absolutely hysterical cast. These people are so much fun and delicious to work with! Maggie Roop, Thomas E. Nowlin, and Corey Davis round out the ensemble as Granny, Lady Camilla, and the Blacksmith respectively, with my stunning (hahaha) turn as the King's Father at the end of the show.

We started learning the choreography for our big "tap number" last night. I have never in my life tapped. Well, maybe my fingers on my desk during chemistry class, but ya know! So some minor adjustments were made...and I was cut from the number. Just kidding! Dawn was amazingly kind and simplified a few steps and it's going to look fabulous! Cathy Motley-Fitch, our dance captain, gave me quite a bit of help during our break as well. A "time step"? Huh?! A welcome challenge!

I was talking to Jackie Jones (who plays the Queen Mother with this riotous Rosanne Barr-esque take on the role) who is quite quick to pick up these dance steps which until last night were completely foreign to me and she was very reassuring. This morning before I head off to work, I found this video in my email sent from my darling Jackie:


How cool is that! I love YouTube! It's such an invaluable source of research now! (You can also find the Theatre IV commercial on there. And the Barksdale Theatre commercial, where you can catch a glimpse of me having a blast laughing on the couch with Joe Pabst, seen as Lumiere in Theatre IV's production of Disney's Beauty and the Beast:)

So...back to work. More lines and songs to learn! And that shuffle and time step!

Shuffles and time steps! Oh my!