I am once again in rehearsal for an amazing show. And something ocurred to me. The last few musicals I have been in, with the exception of new work, there has been no table read. Day 1 of rehersal begins with learning music and Day 2 is movement or dance, and Day 3 begins staging. The only problem is the characters are being developed on the fly. The words and lyrics are coming together, but at the start they are missing some depth because the actors did not bond through a table read.
For those who are not in the business, a table read is when the actors sit around with the creative team and read through the lines and lyrics without music or commentary. It allows for individuals to hear what is being said and begin to create cerebral relationships. This is imperative in a musical because actors are given the responsibility to tell a story through words, lyrics, and dance. Some light and funny scripts create 2-dimensional characters on the page. But, the table read and a conversation with the creative team before leaping in can provide some depth and meaning to the laughs.
Lately, this has been missing. And guess what?! We notice. The actors feel disconnected to the script and lyrics at the start. We feel disconnected from each other and the creative team. And this can lead to a disconnected process. Do not get me wrong. We are all professional and can make the magic happen despite the missing link. But, we owe it to ourselves and to the work to make sure that we are always singing, acting, and dancing from the soul. We miss out on making the characters an extension of ourselves and not simply a recreation of what was just done by the previous actor who played the same role. And then we are simply dialing it in, and missing out on the supernatural magic that occurs when a real connection is discovered and shared. This spark usually occurs during the table read so please bring them back. Actors are missing them.
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