So, here we are. SATURDAY'S VOYEUR 2015 rehearsals have begun. Over 13,000 people came to see VOYEUR last summer, and I feel like I always get asked a lot of the same questions by patrons after the show: "Is it so much fun to be in VOYEUR?" "How do you guys have so much energy?" "What are the rehearsals like?"
Allow me to give you the answers you crave, VOYEUR-goer.
"Is it so much fun to be in VOYEUR?" Even though I feel like this answer is obvious, I will confirm your suspicions with a resounding YES. We are stuck together as a cast from May 11th through the beginning of September. Do you realize that that is four whole months? We basically lose our minds together and get to know each other VERY well. With that comes a lot of fun. We take camping trips together, have porch beers on the SLAC patio after two-show days on Sundays, go to the movies together, and have mental breakdowns together.... You adopt a brand new family.
"How do you guys have so much energy?" That is a question I will never be able to answer. I'm not sure where it comes from. But one thing is for sure; we feed off of you, the audience. Hearing you hoot and holler when the lights go down gives us that extra adrenaline push we need. When you laugh outrageously at jokes and get involved with the characters on stage, it is what we actors live for. Being able to provide that joy for people is a big part of why we do what we do. We also drink a lot of coffee. Like, a lot. Like, gallons.
"What are rehearsals like?" While we have a LOT of fun during VOYEUR rehearsals, it is actually very hard work 95% of the time. You probably think that we just show up and "be funny", but we spend a lot of time in the beginning sitting down and reading the script really slowly.
We try to discover who our characters really are. Cynthia (the director) is very adamant that we don't treat this show like a Saturday Night Live skit; all of our characters are "real" people and have desires and goals. Ask any comedian and they will tell you, comedy is serious! You can't think you're hilarious on stage or no one else will.
Many of the cast members do not have a Mormon background so we always take a lot of time to explain the ins and outs of the LDS faith as well as its history. (I am still shocked by the things I discover due to the fact I knew NOTHING about Mormons before moving here.)
Then, we have all of the music to learn with the help of the incredible Kevin Mathie. And folks, it's a LOT of music. When we first get the songs, they are much longer than what you end up seeing in the show. We even cut a few whole songs along the way but still, many, many remain! We have to figure out whose voice sounds good on which part of the harmony, which key works best for everyone, where to make cuts...
Staging! This is the brunt of our work. We stage a scene, change it, re-stage it, change it again, run it a few times, bring in people to watch it, get feedback, change it again, re-stage it, cut some stuff, add some stuff, find the beats of the comedy, re-stage it, etc. This can be difficult for sure, but it's all in the best interest of the show; we want it to be the absolute best that it can be.
So, there you go! I hope that answers some of your questions. Below is a behind-the-scenes video I created to give you an even more personal look at a day in our lives. We sure do appreciate ya and can't wait to see you this summer!
