I had left Joe’s clothes in my car, d’oh! I remembered when I was maybe 10 minutes from campus, too late to turn back. I’ll try to flag him down tomorrow to have him try them on.
The accompanist was extremely patient despite the fact that we were short an Edie! So we skipped “Daddy’s Girl” and just ran the other two songs a few times apiece. Most of the problem spots have been fixed — we just needed him to tighten up the timing and help Edith with specific notes. She maintains that she needs a lot more practice still… I thought she sounded fine…
A little note that Edith, accompanist, and I agree on is how she should approach “Will You?”. The song starts out all performance-like because it is a presentation, an entertainment for the party guests. It has a turning point, though, which is Edith’s speech in the middle during which Edie is inside saying a silent goodbye to the house and leaving. After this, the lyric becomes emotional and heartfelt; Edith is expressing her own pain. When she asks “Will you?” at the end, she is actually genuinely asking for an answer — from Edie, from Gould, from Phelan (well, maybe not Phelan because we all know what happened there even though it’s been cut from the selection) — from anyone who’s ever walked out and left her behind. The actor joshed that she should say those last two words “like a person” but she’s totally right — she has to soften her tone from how they were said in the first part.
Nothing like a D#5 (or an F#5, for that matter) to cement myself as an alto… the things you learn about yourself when having to fill in for one of the actors! BUT I STILL HIT THE NOTES. AND I DIDN’T SOUND HORRIBLE NEITHER. So there.
Magic To Do 