Evan Buliung and Yanna McIntosh in Act 2 (Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann)

CLOUD 9 opened last night and it was fantastic! The show’s grown so much over the past week of previews, it’s really found its rhythm and now it really flies.

It’s obvious that the actors are really enjoying themselves and taking their audience on a wild ride along with them. The house was packed, and they were loving it. Lots of laughter, a few gasps – everyone seemed to be having a great time. Afterwards we all got to celebrate at a great party across the street at Zelda’s. The cast was finally able to kick back, relax and have a much-deserved drink or two.

It’s been a great process working on CLOUD 9, now we get to share it with the public and allow them to enjoy this amazing world that we’ve all worked so hard to create.

Blair Williams and Megan Follows in Act 1 (Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann)

Last night was our first preview! So great to have an audience, it really took the show to the next level. The cast did a fantastic job (of course). The audience was right there with them the whole way, with lots of laughs in all the right places. Today we are back in rehearsal to tinker with a few things: adjusting a couple of technical elements, working on some scene changes, and doing a little scene work. And then getting ready for preview #2 tonight.

From the wings, before the cast got into costume

Last night was our Tech Dress (aka Technical Dress Rehearsal), the cast’s first run in full costume! They look truly amazing, Judith has done an incredible job. Today we’re working out some technical details on stage and then tonight is our final dress rehearsal before we get our first audience on Tuesday. It’s been a long week for everyone but spirits are high. I think all will much appreciate a day off to rest.

Evan makes a truly gorgeous woman and Ann-Marie is stunning as a blonde! The show is a real treat; it’s funny, touching and wonderfully bizarre.

This morning started with a costume quick change rehearsal. Megan’s got some really fast changes in the first act – her costumes are truly incredible and she looks fantastic.

We’ve been in the theatre for three days now. The first day was just working through the show for spacing, with everyone getting used to their new home. Yesterday and today have been spent doing a Q2Q (that’s “cue to cue” in layman’s terms).

The days are long but everyone is in good spirits and the show is looking just wonderful. Tomorrow we’ll do our first run in the theatre, something we’re all really looking forward to.

Ben's new haircut (Evan seems to like it)

Early Saturday morning started with Ben getting a new look: he’s had a radical new haircut for the show. Meanwhile the rest of the cast ran lines, or as Evan put it, “It’s too early to remember things.” Next up we reviewed songs (by composer Paul Sportelli) and the musical staging.

Tomorrow is our last day in the rehearsal hall, and Tuesday is our first day on stage! We jump right into tech. Moving on stage is always exciting and scary – it will be great to be in the space and adding all the design and technical elements of the show. Judith and the rest of her design crew have been in the theatre all week getting everything ready.

We’ll be doing two more runs of the show from start to finish this afternoon and tomorrow morning, before a well-deserved day off.

We proceeded to review Act 1. We’ve been working through the act in detail over the last few days, looking at what the engines of the characters are, and where their turning points occur. We now have very clearly drawn characters. Next we’ll be honing in on the central story lines and really clarifying the action for each character. We are getting clearer and clearer about what the relationships really are.

In the afternoon we concentrated on Act 2, and then capped it off with another invigorating session with John Stead, our fight director. What an exciting way to end 2009!

Happy New Year!

David Jansen as five-year-old Cathy

It’s early days of rehearsal, but David Jansen is getting right into character. In Act One he plays the patriarch of the family Clive, and in a brilliant bit of casting (suggested originally by playwright Caryl Churchill, and embraced by director Alisa Palmer) he plays five-year-old Cathy in Act Two. She’s a tyrant of another kind; David says his favourite line so far is “I want my beads!”

Blair Williams rehearses his part with Yanna McIntosh at the piano

This morning started with a music rehearsal; our wonderful composer Paul Sportelli wasn’t in today, so Ben Carlson lead the cast through a vocal warm up. Then Yanna McIntosh took a seat at the piano and led everyone through their individual parts. Staging for the songs is the next challenge and we took a bit of time today reviewing some ideas we thought would work for specific characters.

So far in rehearsals we’ve touched on all the scenes at least once. So the rest of the morning we spent working through the play from the beginning.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been rehearsing for two weeks – it’s gone so quickly. It’ll be good to take a hiatus over Christmas; the time off will let everyone review the work we’ve done and try a few new things on our own.

Working through a play is a forensic process, and table work is the first step. The next step is getting up on our feet, which takes us deeper into it. And that’s how we’ve spent the last few days.

The first thing the actors did is just warm up the space a bit – trying to discover how to use it, and figuring out where everyone gravitates to naturally. Today they made nice, light passes through the scenes and let the relationships start to take shape. We’re all discovering what their characters want, what is energizing them, what their appetites are.

Cloud 9 is a wonderful challenge; its transgressions and its boundary-less quality, I think, is what will be the greatest provocation to an audience.

Cloud 9 is a comedy about family, it’s about people trying to connect with each other. It’s filled with people overwhelmed with desire, with longing, and usually completely estranged from themselves. And like any great story, it’s about identity: how will I fulfill who I am?

Cloud 9 is an adventure too – the play and the production. And Alisa has gathered a cast of fantastic actors to go along with her on the adventure. The room has been full of laughter and engaging conversation.

So far we’ve been working through the play at the table, tomorrow we get up on our feet. Will be exciting to see where that takes us next…