I'm still loving Over the Tavern. I think I laughed more tonight than I have in a long time. The cast is incredibly close. It's funny how a sped-up rehearsal process also speeds up our bonding.

Something great about how fast all of this is going is that I now know that I can memorize lines in about a week. A week ago Tuesday was when we had our table read, and tonight, we were off-book for Act I. Of course, we still called for our line sometimes, but it wasn't often. I am so impressed by this cast's professionalism, and also their willingness to have fun.

When I think of an Equity show, I think of strictness and order, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun, at least in this cast. Today, I heard some of the funniest stories during breaks. I also appreciate that the director lets us have some silliness leeway. While we obviously have to get on with rehearsal and do the scenes seriously, he doesn't sigh and throw up his hands if we get the giggles once in awhile (like we did today). People have also already started to play pranks. The people playing my parents are good friends, so backstage, on the wood by the door, they write things to make fun of each other, which are pretty entertaining to read. I just like that, though we're there to work, we're allowed to have fun, too.

I don't think I've been this happy in a long, long time. Don't get me wrong- I haven't been walking around depressed or anything, but I have definitely been sulking a little ever since my last show ended (which was last March). I am just so happy to be in a show again, and especially this particular show.

We had our first rehearsal on the 13th, which was a table read and the beginning of some blocking. Since we rehearse for less than a month (we open on the 12th of February), we're moving very, very quickly (the play is two and a half hours long). i was really excited to see who had been cast- I had the cast list before we started, but I couldn't put most of the names to faces. The lady who I'd worked well with at the callbacks is playing my mother, and they really chose an awesome guy for the lead role of Rudy. One kid who I was sure was going to get it was pretty rude at the callbacks, whispering through everyone else's scenes, so I am glad he wasn't cast. Our Rudy had such awesome comic timing and does research on his own, which is pretty awesome. Everyone else is so well-cast, too. We have seven people in the cast and I really like each of them.