Singing Librarian flashback: Preparation Fugue
My second flashback is cheating in some ways, as it’s to an aspect of my most recent show, and I have already discussed it, as it was happening, on an h2g2 discussion thread. But I think it might be an interesting insight into the joys and woes that go into making the near-impossible seem effortless.
Spring 2006. The Marlowe Theatre. Me and My Girl. I played the Hon. Gerald Bolingbroke, an upper-class twit and one of the principal roles. This involved a number of marvellous costumes and a couple of essential props – a monocle, and an engagement ring. The poor fool spends most of the show trying to persuade a perfectly awful woman to marry him, so the ring made several appearances, and the monocle had to be worn with all of the costumes, being secreted away in a range of waistcoat or shirt pockets. Learning how to use a monocle was an entertaining struggle in itself, but I mention it as an aside because it’s vaguely relevant to the scene in question.
The scene is the last one in the first act, the preparation for a grand party (which will soon be interrupted by the famous Lambeth Walk), and the beginning of the scene made us all break out in a cold sweat every time it approached. The Preparation Fugue. Continue reading
The Singing Librarian Talks 