Hello, theater!

It’s our first day of technical rehearsals tomorrow afternoon for “Allegiance”—and I can’t wait to get started! It’s the first time that we’ll come face to face with the real sets and put on our 1940s costumes, complete with vintage pieces of clothing truly dating back that far.

Out of respect for the artists designing the show, I am not at liberty to post photographs of any of the designs (a few of the cast members who did were requested to take down whatever photos they had put up of costume fittings and anything design-related). You’ll just have to contend with my descriptions.

Authentic costumes

Every single costume fitting I had required that I wear the proper underpinnings used at the time—a girdle (not the kinder and gentler Spanx, but a real, industrial-strength girdle), panty hose with seams running down the back of my legs, a bra with more pointed cups, and a full slip.

The girls are always in dresses or skirts, plus vintage coats, hats and shoes. I’ve got a myriad of blouses, a few skirts, period shoes and a hat or two. Our boys have full-blown army uniforms, farmer garb, baseball jerseys and dance hall suits. Don’t they look swanky!

Heavy sets

In the rehearsal room, we’ve been using a couple of the set pieces that are actually going on stage, in order to get used to certain set moves and cues. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be working with the real pieces. Now we’ll know exactly how heavy they are, and at what speed they can fly. Thankfully, the stage will not be raked (the actors are thankful, especially the ones that did any production of “Miss Saigon” that was on the raked stage… our hips and backs are still crying out for help).

Hurry up and wait

The thing about a musical production is that there are going to be quite a few set changes, which require a lot of time and a lot of work. The crew will have to work in tandem with the cast to make sure all the right moves get done at the right time. Many of the moves are set to music, adding the music department in the mix. Our conductor, Laura Berquist, will have to keep her eyes open while she waves her baton, to keep everything in perfect sync.

One single set move can take hours to perfect, to make sure the actors on stage are safe and the set isn’t damaged. I foresee certain musical numbers taking at least a couple of hours, on account of the number of set moves or lighting cues involved—also because of how specific the lighting positions will need to be. Both actors and lighting people will have to be very precise at where the bodies and the shafts of light are positioned, to make sure that no one is engulfed by shadows.

Since there will be a lot of waiting, I’d better bring a few things to keep me from getting bored: a good book (my iPad has a few titles waiting to be opened), some music and a yoga mat for stretching. I’d also better bring a jacket to keep me warm. This theater might just be a meat locker.

We have about 10 days to get all these done.

Finally, the music

On my day off, after a visit to the Natural History Museum, I headed to our rehearsal hall for a brief pit stop and heard an orchestra start to play the familiar songs from the show. I had walked into the first day of orchestra rehearsals, and everything sounded incredible! I can’t wait for our actual sitzprobe (orchestra rehearsal with the cast) this weekend. And I can’t wait for our audiences to come see the show.

We had our final run-through last Sunday morning; a bunch of us held script pages due to a few brand-new scenes that had gone in from the night before. Stafford Arima, our director, had asked us to do our homework and, much to his delight, the actors were, for the most part, ready with the edits and new stage directions.

Working on this original musical has been a very exciting process, one that I’ve been part of for the last few years. It began with a small reading at the Japanese-American Museum in Los Angeles. Only three of the actors from that reading are still involved in this production: George Takei, Michael K. Lee and myself.

We’ve seen it grow and stretch—old songs taken out, new ones added, characters deleted, storyline refined and made more specific. We’re falling in love with the characters we now get to play.

Only George is playing his original character Sam, with the addition of Ojii-san, or Grandpa. Michael is now Frankie, and I’ve gone from Gloria to Kei, and with the entire piece.

Here’s hoping that “Allegiance” will continue to live after its last curtain call at the Old Globe in San Diego, California.