Gearing Up For Genki

This was our final weekend of regular rehearsals for the Genki Musical, and next weekend we will have the technical rehearsals. The tech rehearsals are basically our dress rehearsals; we'll be going through the whole musical with all the costumes, props, lighting changes and music. We've already been practicing with some of these elements, but there's still a lot to be smoothed out.

Some of us were freaking out a bit about the Gaga dance because we couldn't remember the formations we're supposed to be in for parts of it. We learned the choreography at the dance retreat, but only recently started learning where we'll be positioned for each part of the dance. At one point we're in two lines, at another point we're in a diagonal line, then a circle and later a triangle. It's not super complicated, but it's hard to remember where each person should be when we never have the whole group together at once. So today we went through it again with the choreographer and took notes on where everyone needs to go.

During practice, Amy asked someone to take video of the dance using her camera. This way we can watch and practice on our own time. The video is now on YouTube for your viewing pleasure ;) One thing to note is that some of the people dancing aren't actually in the routine; they're standing in for people who are absent. They all did such a good job that you might not even be able to pick out which ones they are. As for me, I'm the one up front in the bright orange shirt. Another note: when five of us enter walking in a straight line along the back of the stage, we're actually going to be "riding" in a tram. That prop hasn't been finished yet, but it's going to be freaking awesome, from what I've seen.
Here's a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T4A-BbU7Js

For a little bit of context, the musical is a combination of some local history and the story "A Christmas Carol". Chosogabe (played by Julie, the girl with blonde hair and a black and white tunic shirt) has conquered all of Shikoku island, but there is an invasion by Toyotomi, who is trying to unite all of Japan. Chosogabe is faced with the decision of whether to fight Toyotomi to keep all of Shikoku, or to surrender. There is little hope that Chosogabe can defeat Toyotomi. To help him make the decision, he is visited by three ghosts. One ghost shows him his past, another shows him his present, and a third (played by myself) shows him the future. In the scene immediately before the dance, Chosogabe has been transported to present-day Kochi. The dance number is where the Ghost of Tosa Yet to Come enters the scene. After the dance, I get to show Chosogabe what the future will be like if he continues on his current path.

Anyhow, I'm excited to try out the dance with costumes and the tram next week, but I'm also nervous because we're running out of time to get the whole musical cobbled together. Apparently this happens every year; everyone is freaking out during the final rehearsals, and then somehow everything just falls into place. I have to say, though, I think all of us are about ready to be done with spending each weekend practicing for Genki. We could all use our free time back. No one has it worse than Julie, who is in every single scene. But I'm guessing that actually performing will be a lot of fun, especially since we'll be going on tour within the prefecture. We get to visit several other towns before the final performance in Kochi City. I'm still hopeful that it will all have been worth it in the end. At the very least, I've gotten to hang out with some pretty cool people each weekend.