Chance = Change

So what happened was: though I had several callback auditions for it months ago, they booked another actress (and a wonderful one too) in the role of "Matryona" in THE POWER OF DARKNESS at the estimable Mint Theatre...i was fine with it because I did enjoy my audition process for it so much, and my life was already quite busy and fulfilling I forgot all about it....until a couple of weeks ago when Gary E. (my agent) called to tell me that the producers wanted to know if they extended the limited run of the show would I be interested in stepping in to that role since the actress they'd cast could not do the proposed extension. No money, really, and none of the goodies attached to opening a serious play in the City...just good hard work with good actors in a good show for a very brief time....i hemmed and hawed about the idea, then agreed to see the show on a nice "comp" they set aside for me ...It was, as expected, very wonderful (The Mint does terrific work)and i was tremendously moved by it. Lured by the prospect of working with these swell actors, i told Gary to accept the idea on my behalf. Given the complexity of the piece and the tremendous amount of work it would take to replace any of the actors in it, I mostly believed the extension would not happen, and accepted the offer mostly to show respect for the work they'd done. Well, I thought I was safe when I did not hear back from The Mint for over a week. And I was glad because I truly was not sure the sort of work that I needed to do on the role of "Matryona" could be done in two weeks worth of rehearsal with a stage manager....THEN...Gary called Monday late and told me the game was on, and I needed to pick up a script as soon as possible...I'd open on the 30th....!!!

ACTORS' NIGHTMARE! Honestly, the minute I opened the enormous (and I do mean enormous) script (the show runs 3 full hours!), panic set in. True, deep, chilling panic. I knew,as I hurriedly applied my best memorization skills to the task last night, I KNEW
I WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO MEMORIZE ALL THOSE LINES IN THE TIME GIVEN ME ...Matryona has enormous chunks of talking, page after page after page...a thing I would normally relish and attack with joy and enthusiasm...but i saw a hill far too steep to climb with every page i turned....it is not normal for an actor to be glad NOT to see her character's name on a page...and I began to beg for pages on which I did not have to appear.....and getting more tense and nauseous by the minute...i saw days of sheer misery ahead in which all I could do would be to stay glued to thousands of lines hoping to cram them into my head...i realized i learn my character's language a lot as I rehearse it...i memorize quickly, but not without a process that takes time....so...i slept not a single wink last night...not one wink of sleep...and early this morning I called my dear and darling agent....i told him my need...to get out of this promised commitment...he thoroughly understood...filled me with good cheer and honest support...and, like the wonderful agent he is, he took care of business on my behalf! I love Gary Epstein! More on this to come, but suffice it to say: I am so relieved.

I learned enormous things from this near miss...and I want to write about those things...but right now, I must go pack ,for we are departing for Abingdon tomorrow...! And I want to wear pretty things and celebrate the Fall in the beautiful mountains of Southwest Virginia! I can hardly wait to see everybody!

So for now: dosvedanya! (so long, in Russian!)