THURDAY, AUGUST 4: Got Fringe passes, Minneapolis maps, and lots of good eats (there are more restaurants in one city block here than in all of our home-spot, Kirksville, MO) while trying not to feel nervous about OPENING NIGHT!!!! Wandered to our venue around 9:30 and set up the stage while bouncing around like bunnies on meth. We had a great show in terms of energy (even shaved a couple more minutes off the run-time), but there were only 6 people there to see it. Definitely time to run around the city nude, covered in "Georgia Out of My Mind" body paint. Whatever that is.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3: Left at dawn's crack. A 7-hour drive took us 8 by the time we feasted on roadside delicacies and purchased tacky patriotic knick-knacks. Got in around 3, grabbed some coffee, and headed for our tech rehearsal, which went superbly. We're all knackered. Sleep.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 2: A speed-through this morning to prep for the open dress-rehearsal tonight at Truman. We expected 5 or 10 people to show and give us experience in front of an audience before leaving for Fringe, but we had a FULL HOUSE! Friends, colleagues, and random folk filled the seats and inflated our egos and excitement (does that sound dirty?). It was a lot of fun, and we got plenty of positive feedback.

MONDAY, AUGUST 1: Two different rehearsals again, including one in the evening with a couple audience members. They gave us a lot of feedback. And we still need to tighten up the timing to shave a few minutes off and maintain momentum. We leave in two days. Good Lord!

SUNDAY, JULY 31 : An evening practice after a day off. Went pretty well considering. Our lines hadn't completely flown the coop. The techies had been hard at work on set, props, and lights. Cool to see it coming together. Jesse and May are working a LOT better. I'm finally feelin' it.

FRIDAY, JULY 29 : Two rehearsals today. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Run-throughs both time with a tech in the afternoon. The second went much better. I have too many damn costumes!

THURSDAY, JULY 28 : A good run-through today, working in the costumes and not being allowed to call for a line. Still ironing out the ending which could crash the whole play if it doesn't fly. Had to rehearse at 8 am to allow the light-hangers (we're doing the show here as well) to do their thing later--and then they didn't show. Typical.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 27 : More costumes today and trying to figure out the quick changes (faster than a speeding bullet), which can make or break the show's pacing. Not to mention helping us figure out who the heck we are for that particular 4 minutes.

TUESDAY, JULY 26 : BECKY: I'm sitting here drinking an MGD trying to decompress after tonight's rehearsal. (Low brow beer, I realize. But, hey, I'm trying to get into character here.) Daryl has written one whopper of an ending, which we worked rather extensively tonight.  Thankfully, my colleagues are very gracious--and willing to watch as I flop around like a fish on the floor.  Not literally, but it sort of feels that way.  We did make some strong discoveries amidst the flopping though.  Getting under the skin of these characters is both enlightening and cleansing.  Kind of like an enema.  Daryl has a knack for writing characters that are larger-than-life, but just real enough to scare the hell out of you. That's why I love her work. So...the process continues.  I shudder to think where it might go next. Can't wait.

MONDAY, JULY 25 : Spent a lot of time laughing. Everything seemed to have to do with sex, as things always do. Put this many girls pretending to be men in one room together, and I guess it's unavoidable. And when I DO get to play a female, she's a hopeless ditz. Art may imitate life, but it must be the life of crazy people.

FRIDAY, JULY 22 : A run-through so we can work on transitions and time the bastard. We come in at 15 minutes over, which we know we can thin out some by tightening up the pauses. But for the rest of the overtime, it's time to get out the trimming shears. Ouch, but necessary and probably actually good for the play. Then some more picking apart of various performances and their effect on the play's themes. As usual, I worry that the funny stuff isn't funny enough and that the serious is TOO serious.

THURSDAY, JULY 21: Started trying on some costumes today. Can't decide whether Ed's glasses look more like Elvis Costello or Pat, the ambigulously-sexed character from SNL. Perhaps the latter is more appropriate. A rough rehearsal day of picking apart the Ed/Raynelle scene. Becky's work always seems so smooth and effortless (even though I know she'd disagree), while I feel like a Grade A Incompetent. The director and A.D. interpreted the scene much differently from how I heard it in my head when I wrote it. The experience felt like therapy. If you can survive it, it's good for you. We ALL survived.

TUESDAY, JULY 19: Going script-less continues today as we hit the Jesse/Simms scene and Raynelle/Ed. I understand mentally what I want to do with Jesse physically, but I realize when I watch some video shot of the rehearsal, that I just ain't gettin' it visually. But we did find some nice moments in the scene that gave us some idea of the potential, and Becky's humming right along on Simms (scary! she's scary!).

MONDAY, JULY 18 : Off-book today. Aghhhhhh!!!! Just for the first few scenes though, and our prompter/stage manager comes to the rescue when needed. Becky does some great work as Coco today, expertly using a pool skimmer as an instrument of sexual innuendo, while I think I'm getting a good handle on May. I've been chewing regular gum, but I may switch to bubble.

THURSDAY, JULY 14 - SUNDAY, JULY 17: We take a break so that Becky and I can go to NYC to see the Off-Off-Broadway premiere of my first play, Greyhounds. The two of us were in the play's first run here in Missouri. The New York trip is a blast and a great learning experience for both of us.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 : We run the entire show today--still using our scripts. My mom's in town for a visit and watches the practice, after which she gives me some "pointers" and comments that Becky's Mexican accent is great, except for one time when she sounds Russian. Mom apparently has a future in either the theatre or the UN.

SUNDAY, JULY 10 - TUESDAY, JULY 12: Blocking the play. Especially fun is the Carver/Simms scene in which Becky and I get to paw each other like horny teenagers. I may need to wear elbow pads.

SATURDAY, JULY 9 : We get this puppy up on its feet for the first time which makes us all feel relieved, knowing that the process is finally underway--we've been thinking about this experience for a year! General all-around silliness is intercut with discussion about the characters--motivations and physicality.

FRIDAY, JULY 8: Our first rehearsal is just the three of us: Daryl, Becky, and Joan as director. Whoa, Nelly, it's scary to start this process. But the anticipation wards off most of the fear and, after some nervous chit-chat, we do a reading (we'd done a couple of these back in the Spring, trying to smooth out any unevenness in the script and also to decide who would play what). For me, Daryl, it's double-jeopardy because it's not only my voice I'm hearing but my words. And for all of us, there's the realization that this is the most physical play we've undertaken together.