Rehearsals: DAY 1

Monday was our first rehearsal. To be honest, I felt a little unprepared, because it seemed like everything was happening all at once. Getting ready for disco fever took longer than I expected. We've been cleaning, painting, and decorating for seventies dance night, which has taken up lots and lots of time--but hopefully lots of people will show up.

And so, on Monday, I felt a tad bit unprepared. Thankfully, everything ran pretty smoothly anyway. Our cast of bugs is going to be great together. I think they all fit their roles perfectly. Sabrina Grant is playing the motherly Miss Spider; Sidney Thomas, the worrisome Ladybug; Heather Grebel is the blind Earthworm; while Danielle Powell is the "guy's guy" Centipede.

Preston Messer will be playing the musically talented Grasshopper.

The rehearsal had me smiling from ear to ear. Even if I had wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to stop. All of the bugs-- some theater veterans and some newcomers-- are going to be phenominal. And Aden, the young boy playing James, surprised me. It's not that I was expecting him to crash and burn, I was just thinking it would take a little more prodding to get much emotion out of him. But-- like I said-- I was surprised.

From the time he opened his mouth, he was already James. He had obviously gone over his lines prior to rehearsal (Shout out to his mom, I suspect!) and was able to deliver them without issue. I have a sneaking suspicion that he could've done both of the scenes we covered without the script altogether.

Now that the first few rehearsals have broken ground, we'll start to dig deeper into the blocking and mannerisms of each character. I hope things will continue to go so well, and that I can make sure to be fully prepared from now on.