Enter: the Actor

With a simple confirmation email from Mary, a critical piece of the puzzle—and the final member of the team—clicked into place. I had an actor. No ads posted, no phone calls, no auditions. We found someone within our circle, someone well-suited for the part.

On Wednesday last, Mandy and I met with Mary and Ryan at a bar in the West Village—purportedly Dylan Thomas’ favorite watering-hole. Simply, he had read the script and loved it. One more voice of praise—just what I need. And better yet, he’s excited to do it.

Matters under discussion at this creative production meeting: rehearsals—space and schedules; the bike—mechanics and staging; the script—memorizing and fluidity; and even costuming.

Fortunately, with such a small show, rehearsals should be rather straightforward and focused. They would begin the first week of April—by which point the script should be mostly memorized. Where the rehearsals will be held remains to be determined. We need to hash out suitable times, and find a place (or several places) which meets our traveling—and my financial—needs. And of course we need to consider schlepping around the bicycle.

Yes, always with the damn bike. However, we have several minds ready to tackle this problem, with the addition of Ryan. And it was refreshing to know that he read the script with the staging of the bike in mind. He offered a few suggestions and posed some questions as to the potential resistance felt while riding, and whether I had pedals of the clip-in variety (I do not, but they're something I should get a hold of since he’ll be bringing his own shoes). And while the staging dilemma remains, I still have technical problems to resolve in the meantime. Yeah, more grease and gears!

As we discussed our timetable, as well as their thoughts on the script—I believe the topic was its “memorizationability”—Ryan if asked if this was the final version. According to Mandy’s testimony, I looked at him as if “he had three heads.” I stammered something of a response. No, this was not a work in progress. Honestly, I’ve only read the script once since declaring it “final,” and only because I was bored and that’s all I had with me to read. Did it need work? Would something come up? The only thing I was rather sure of in this entire project was the script. (And considering my usual opinion of my work, this is an atypical turn toward confidence on my part.) So, memorize away. Nothing’s gonna change in the wording (the staging is another story), unless something sounds stupid. Oh wait. How does it sound exactly? We should have a reading.