Tonight is the first read-through for Richard III at Shakespeare Orange County. It has been quite some time since the audition; enough for me, in my insecurity, to assume they’d decided to drop me in favor of someone talented a dozen times over. Waiting isn’t easy.
I found out this morning that in addition to Clarence, I’ll be playing the smaller role of the Lord Mayor. Richard III has a monstrous-long list of roles, and this is a fairly sensible bit of double-casting, since Clarence is only in Acts I and V, while the Lord Mayor is only in Act III. I’ll never get too bored backstage, and this is the first time in a number of years I have had multiple characters to play in a single show – unless you count Renfield, of course.
This show represents a number of firsts – my first outdoor amphitheater show, my first Shakespeare that isn’t a comedy, and my first Equity schedule, which means afternoon rehearsals as well as weekends, because we open in only 23 days.
I don’t get an easy start, either: we’re rehearsing my big soliloquy tomorrow afternoon, and, judging by the schedule, there won’t be much time to work it if I can’t nail it. But this is the challenge I sought when I tried out for this company. Time to see what I can bring.