Road to Opening Week 9: Matt Armet on 6 Weeks to A CHORUS LINE at Stratford

Well, we've had our tech dress rehearsal and our first dress rehearsal since I last wrote to all of you. They both went very smoothly. It's so amazing to finally see all of the pieces come together. The costumes look incredible! The lighting design is unbelievable (so I've been told from others who get to watch from out in the house) and dancing to the full orchestra will NEVER get old!

I want to take a second to talk about our amazing understudy company. There are nine dancers that appear in the Opening Number, who then get cut after the first 20 minutes of the audition. Not only do they have their own characters to play in the top of the show but they also cover two, three or sometimes four other characters on "the line." Since the first week of rehearsal, Donna has been constantly swapping them in and out for different characters that they understudy. She literally says "covers in" and they come give us a high five (or butt slap HA) and we run the number again. This is a great opportunity for them to get a shot at dancing in the proper spacing and trying out sections of dialogue. It's also beneficial for the main cast to get a chance to sit out and see what else is going on onstage. I personally find it incredibly helpful to sit out and observe what everyone else is doing in every number.

Let me just tell you, these understudies are absolutely amazing. They are so integral to the show running smoothly every night. They sit out and watch the rest of us rehearse all the time and then hop up and do everything perfectly the first time. They are unreal! Having understudied a lot in my career, I understand how challenging it is to sit out all the time and always be on standby and at the ready. My hat goes off to our understudies. I love them all dearly. No matter who you see on for any character when you come to see A Chorus Line, you will be in great hands. They don't miss a beat.

Quote of the Week! This quote happened quite a few times the other day while we were fixing lighting levels on stage. It's a simple quote from the show, but coming out of our stage manager's mouth, from out in the dark house, will never fail to make me laugh. The quote is "Can we take it from, 'Tits, when am I gonna grow tits?"

Tune in next week for a very exciting blog about our second dress run, EPK Shoot and our first preview performance.