During the first dramatic reading of the play, I took on the part of Charlie, the old man who was dying of lung cancer.  For the second dramatic reading, I wanted to be able to observe the audience reaction to the script. So I chose not to take on a role.

The lead role this time went to a good friend of mine named James Scroggins. James and I had been in several plays together, and I had directed him in a few also, including The Cultivation of Succulents, which I wrote and directed about five years ago. James also played the part of Tom, Charlie’s middle son, in the first dramatic reading of Blessed Event.

There were a number of other cast changes from the first dramatic reading to the second one. In dramatic reading number one, the cast was as follows:

Charlie – Jim Hetrick

Gertrude – Michele Hettinger

Michele (Charlie and Gertrude’s daughter) – Jill Luberto

Bill (The oldest son) – Thayer Kitchen

Tom (The middle son) – James Scroggins

Philip (The youngest son) – Matt Mello

Cheryl (Tom’s wife, and a supreme sweetheart) – Marina Cone

T’Aunt Sophie (Charlie’s boisterous and larger-than-life sister) – Michele Gagne

Stage Manager (who reads aloud all of the set descriptions and character actions to the audience) – Ilona Metell.

The reason why I listed the cast here was so that you could see how, in the theatre, things are always in flux, and, many times, you have to fly by the seat of your pants, and make changes and alterations at the last minute. (It is not for the feint at heart!)

You see, except for the role of Charlie, I would have LOVED to have used the same cast members for the second dramatic reading also because I knew and trusted them. In fact, I would have been happy to use the same cast again when the show actually went into full production.

As you will see, that was not to be the case.

When I moved James into the role of Charlie, I needed to fill the role of Tom.  So I tapped my friend Chris LaCour for the part. I had just seen Chris act in the drama Wait Until Dark, and I was duly impressed with his acting abilities. (Chris and I had been friends for a few years prior to that also.)

This would mean a huge difference in the demeanor of the character of Tom.  James is of average build, and his style is mellow and easy-going.  Maybe even a little understated.  He belongs to the Clint Eastwood School of Acting which says, “Don’t just do something; stand there!”

Chris, on the other hand, is 6’ 8”, he’s got the physique of Man Mountain Dean, and he wears his heart on his sleeve. 

I knew Chris’s Tom, would be radically different than James’ Tom. (James’ character was much closer to what my idea of the character should be like, but I was willing to see what another really good actor would do with same role.)

Next, because of scheduling conflicts with other shows, Marina could not participate in the second reading. So, I tapped my friend Jacqueline Wheeler, who is a fine actress, and with whom I had acted in You Can’t Take It With You. I had also directed her in the American/British farce, Leading Ladies.

Again, Jacqueline and Marina are two very different actresses. Both are very pretty physically. However, Jacqueline is in her early twenties and Marina is somewhere around forty. Both are exceptionally talented, but Riney would tend to be a little more calculating and reserved in her acting, while Jacqui just lets it all hang out.

The rest of the cast remained the same.

***

Now, at this point, let me tell you something about my good friend James Scroggins. (Actually, I call him “Jim”, but he has made it a point that he prefers to be called “James” in print.) He and I go back a good ten years or more in the theater. We acted together in Harvey, where I played Elwood P. Dowd and he was the Judge and in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing.  I’ve also directed him in several comedies and dramas since that time.

James is a scholarly man who scrutizes a script with the eye of a sensitive and talented artist, and often times he has made suggestions of revisions on scripts that I have written, and has made descreet comments to me about directions I have given when I’ve been directing shows. I have always taken his observations and comments seriously, and that has always served me well as a director and a playwright.

Sometime shortly after the first dramatic reading of Blessed Event, James contacted me and requested that the two of us get together at The Main Street Café (Where else?) some time soon.

At that meeting, after some pub food and a couple of pints of Certified Gold Lager, James had a suggestion for the script.  He said that he thought another scene should be added with Charlie and Tom.

(In the show, Charlie is dying of cancer. There are actually two Charlie’s onstage.  One is a manniken in a hospital bed strapped to a breathing machine. The other is an actor who acts as a narrator and as a sort of spirit who carries on subconscious dialogues with his wife and children when they come to his bedside to say good-bye. In the original script, everyone of these family members reconciles their differences with Charlie. James suggested that it would be more realistic if one of these relationships was not satisfactorily resolved.)

My first reaction to James’ suggestion was a paternal, protective one for my baby. I remember thinking,  Nope. Ain’t gonna do it.

However, James did set the wheels in motion in my mind, and I did go home and start going over all of the relationships in the play yet again.

Well, to make a long story just a little longer, I did write a new scene for the show, and in it, Tom and Charlie end up loving each other, but do not resolve their issues.

***

We had two rehearsals for the dramatic reading two nights before the event. The first one was held in my living room to get the actors in new roles used to their parts and to introduce everybody to the alterations and additions to the script. The day before the first rehearsal, I got a panicked call from Jill telling me that she would not be available to rehearse the following evening, and that she would understand if I felt the need to replace her in the show.

I felt no such need. Jill is a friend and wonderful actor, and she knew the part inside and out.

I called another friend of mine, Marie Saddlemire, who had acted with me in George Orwell’s 1984, and I asked her to fill in for the rehearsal.  She was delighted to help out.

The second rehearsal was going to held two days later, one day before the actual dramatic reading.

 (More to come.)