Look at me; There's got to be something more than what they see

one of my best friends

I attended rehearsals for Grease on Friday night and tonight (yeaterday technically). We open Tuesday. This particular director doesn't like to hold rehearsals the night before opening nioght. It's a combination of a superstition on his part and a belief that the cast will perform better on opening night if they're rested. 

I won't necessarily be rested, as I have medical school with which to deal, but I probably won't be as bone-tired as I would have been if we rehearsed tomorrow night, as studying will always come first for me even if an important dean is telling me not to sweat it and that I'll get as many chances at scoring acceptably on tests as I'll need. I'd still be studying into the wee hours after rehearsal until I felt confident in terms of my mastery of the material. I may study a bit late, but at least the studying won't have to come after a rehearsal.

Rehearsals have gone well. The cast knows their lines, their dances, their songs,  and their blocking. I suspect the only thing holding them back was the character portraying Sandy, and I'm not hlding them back. There have been a few changes in choregography, which is throwing the Danny Zucco character for a bit of a loop, but I'm confident he'll get it, and even he thinks it's for the best. The previous Sandy was a bigger girl than I. The choreographer addded a few more lifts because I'm a lightweight. "Danny" will get it and it will work out well.

I'm very fortunate that this is a flat role in terms of acting. i could recite the lines for something reasonably heavy, but I wouldn't do so with any depth. This is Grease, not Man of La Mancha. I can do this.

It's funny that everyone sees the Sandy character as a blonde, primarily because Olivia Newton-John played the role in the movie. I assume that's one of the reasons the dean thought of me when his wife was looking for someone to step in as Sandy. Marie Osmond was originally slated for the role but turned it down because the message in the end wasn't really in line with her Mormon values. With or without her Mormon values, though,  I can't really see Marie Osmond as a perfect fit in the role quite to the degree that Olivia Newton John was, I tend to wonder; would Marie Osmond have totally changed everyone's image of Sandy (or would the movie have been a flop)? I think the contrast of a darker Danny and a fairer Sandy works well, anyway.

By the way, I readily admit that my fittingness for the role in terms of my hair coloring is totally courtesy of Lady Clairol. Without chemical assistance, I'd be a dishwaer blonde at the very lightest. Some people who color their hair are reticent about admitting it. I'm not in the least. Besides, my brother knows. If i tried to keep it some sort of a secret, he would have something to hold over me. It's in my best interext to be open and above board about the natural shade of my hair.

When I was a baby I was a towhead. As a young child, my hair bleached out totally every summer but darkened each winter. The baby picture of me is taken in December just after I rurned two. It's December. I'm wearing warm-weather clothing because we're in San Diego.

Close friends of our family just gave birth to identical twin girls. Both babies were closer to six pounds than five and seem to be very healthy, for which we're all very grateful. For identical twin babies (they shared a sac and a placenta, so there's no question about their monozygosity versus disygosity) they don't seem to look all that much alike. It will be intereting to see how their looks change and how much they end up looking alike. I suspect their looks will grow more similar after they age.

I'm including, if I can find it, a video of the reprise of the Sandra Dee song. i'm fortunate in that i can sing the entire role in my chest voice. I sound mature in my chest cvoice. When I have to resort to my head voice, I sound like a little girl -- very dolce, but very young. It wouldn't work well for this role, so I'm really glad Sandy's singing parts are relatively low. in the ovie versio, part of the vocal is skipped, but you get the idea.