DIVA Weekend - Rehearsal Day

Long, long day of rehearsal!

We arrived at the church around noon and spent an hour or so just organizing the space and figuring out our tech. The church is quite large with friendly staff who are excited to have us. The ladies hosting the event will also be serving dessert, so the front part of the sanctuary has been cleared and outfitted with tables and chairs.

After lunch, which was graciously provided by the church staff, we started the music rehearsal. We'll be doing 3 songs together - "Lean on Me," "Your Grace is Enough," and "Dear God," which was written by Leah and Beth. Tara took control of the musical rehearsal, assigning parts and solos. For a group of women who've never sung together (and Tara and I just met DeAnne yesterday), we actually sound really good together. It started to get really fun, so that's always a good sign.

Next, we rehearsed the drama portion of the event. It's in a talk show format where the host, Darlene Carmichael (played by moi!) interviews several Bible ladies. (I have the most wonderful pair of pink cat's eye glasses trimmed in rhinestones that I wear. Stunning!) It's a lot of script to handle with just a few hours rehearsal, and I was assigned the role of director. The goal became making everyone as comfortable as possible with the cues, blocking, and lines. I also reminded the ladies that it's better to have clear dramatic intentions than perfectly memorized lines. No one has ever been saved by a precisely memorized speech - it's better to communicate the heart of the character and her message.

Around 6pm, we were all ready to stop, so we went to Farmer's restaurant for home-cooking. Due to a waiter's mistake, I managed to go home with a free piece of pecan pie, so it was a good night all around.

Since then, we've all just been chatting and sharing stories and enjoying each other's company. Tomorrow will be long and tiring, so some sleep is in order.

It's raining tonight. I wonder if the buffalo sleep out in the rain? Just wondering...