tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238205990531360445.post3567651287285611629..comments2023-07-06T09:06:05.962-05:00Comments on The Porcupine Girdle: Sorry I LaughedCraig Walkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02212106911274170755noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238205990531360445.post-46105108331071479112006-12-06T00:15:00.000-05:002006-12-06T00:15:00.000-05:00I was talking with Grahame Renyk about a moment in...I was talking with Grahame Renyk about a moment in rehearsals for QMT's Into the Woods where a similar thing seems to be occuring. I'll try and explain it as concisely as possible.<br /><br />Cinderella has just gotten her Prince to admit that he has been sleeping around behind her back. He retorts "I was raised to be charming not sincere." She slaps him right in the face, and their argument continues.<br /><br />My question to Grahame was how do we avoid the inevitable laugh that the Prince's line will get, so that it doesn't feel like it disrupts the energy of their argument. His advice follows very closely this idea of scolding the audience, and said that he had been discussing the idea with you during Master Builder. His advice was: let the audience laugh at the line, hold the beat a bit longer before Cinderella goes in for the slap and then let it rip. The slap will probably get a laugh too, because people will have been jolted out of the drama of the moment, but if Cinderella powers through with her next lines then the laugh will be muffled quickly. <br /><br />I'll be interested to see how it plays out once we're back in rehearsals come January. <br /><br />By the way, when I was in an interview (Nov. 28)with the Queen's Journal I was explaining this instance as an example of the black comedic tone of the show and they incorrectly attributed it to me when I clearly said it was my professor's technique. But you can't really count on the Journal to get it right most of the time. <br /><br />Michael MurphyMurphhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09561051596128855956noreply@blogger.com