Becoming Jafar: The Read Through

Alright, so, Day One.

The read thru went great. The best part was that I already knew my role: Jafar. I had played him on-stage back in 2007 as I've already mentioned in my previous blog post. But this time I get to be a tiny bit more creative. See with the last performance of Aladdin being in 2007, and my first with Fantasy Theatre, now that this is my 6th show between now and then, I'm a bit more comfortable at what I can do with the character.

When I got to the rehearsal studio, we were handed out scripts. I knew all of the actors except one who I havent worked with. Everyone else I have performed with in shows such as Treasure Island, Wind of A Thousand Tales, and Max and The Grinch.

You know something, it is amazing how much you forget! At first, the story is about a bunch of gypsies who want to do a play, and they end up performing the story of 'Aladdin'. It's actually pretty funny how much you forget, as I have a whole two or three scenes that I had no idea about. But it all came back, and so did the lines. I felt myself looking up after glancing at the line, because it was slowly coming back to me. Slowly but surely!

When we got in to the 'Aladdin' part I was able to begin using my deep, evil voice. And of course I could have just 'read' it, but something took over me and I felt myself booming out the lines as if I was on stage. Keep in mind I was still at about 95%, recovering from laryngitis! Close to the end of the scene where my character is yelling at Aladdin to give him the lamp from the Cave of Wonder, my voice starts to go. I knew there were only a couple more lines until I had a substantial break, so I continued to belt them out. My voice nearly blew out completely. I can't help it, I just like being so evil and getting in to the character! I found myself sweating on my forehead JUST from reading the lines, so you could imagine how much I'll be sweating at rehearsal and on stage during the performances!!

At the end of the read thru, the other actors were assigned/designated their roles, and I went out for a beer with the director. We chatted a bit about how I want to do a few things differently this time compared to last time, to develop the character more. All he asked is that at next rehearsal (Sunday September 20), I take it easy on my voice. "I know what you can do, so don't strain your voice!," he told me. I respected that!

So I just highlighted my lines and will aim to know them all by Sunday.

Wish me luck!

Chris