Since the day Spring Break ended, I have felt like a masked vigilante, except instead of wearing a spandex suit to physically fight criminals, I was wearing a red dress to verbally fight my on-stage husband. By day, I have been a student, meticulously taking notes and (trying my best) to participate in class. By night, I have been an actor, yelling and prancing around a stage at rehearsal.
My journey into this Cornell double-life began at the beginning of the semester when I auditioned for the shows being produced by Cornell’s student-run theater company, Cog Dog Theatre Troupe. In February, I was offered the role of Claire Ganz in Rumors by Neil Simon, a comedic play about a group of wealthy, married couples all attending a dinner party at which a looming scandal ensues.
My character, Claire, is the third character to arrive at the party. She is a blunt, cynical, refined socialite — everything I am decidedly not. During our first rehearsal, our director, Aaditya Bahl, who everyone calls “Deets,” said, “SophieAnn, stop smiling. Claire is a bitch.” Thus began my journey of gradually separating myself from my character. With each new scene we blocked, I got to know Claire better and better. I found a boldness in her that I didn’t realize I already had in myself.
After months of semi-weekly rehearsals and a brief pause for Spring Break, we began the infamous week that all people in theater cannot hear without getting hives: Tech. Each day during tech week, starting at exactly 5 p.m., we ran, or more accurately, stumbled, through the show, slowly implementing sound, lighting, set and props, until we were eventually cut around 9:30 p.m.
I felt overwhelmed. Not only did we have to learn how to translate our previous work into the new, actualized environment, but we were also now fully off-book. Rumors is the most difficult show I have ever had to memorize lines for because most scenes are shared with seven other people, each with quick, snappy phrases, informed by both physical and verbal cues. That’s hard to memorize alone in your room. Well, I suppose not alone, because I do have an angelic roommate named Melissa Moon who graciously allowed me to manically murmur my lines to myself every night after rehearsal. Although, I apparently talk in my sleep, so this loony behavior is nothing new for her.
After a week of tech, we had three dress rehearsals, the final runs without an audience. Like everything else, this final phase of preparation changed the way I felt acting. For starters, I’ve never worn red lipstick in my life, and now I had to anxiously apply it before each show without smudging it or looking like Ronald McDonald. More importantly, acting in full costume, hair and makeup felt like the exact missing piece that I needed to fully embody Claire. I finally perfected her walk, her posture, her attitude. I wasn’t the only one who felt improvements. Deets gave arguably his most iconic note to Jacob Irons regarding his performance of Ken: “Jacob, you are diva-ing harder than any diva ever divaed this side of the Divassippi.”
Then, just like that, it was Friday, opening night. All day leading up to the show, I was jittery, nauseous and struggling to eat. I typically do not get this nervous before performing, and I am still unsure why I had such a physical reaction. Maybe I felt a unique pressure given this was my first production with a collegiate theater company. Or maybe, our cast and crew felt so close and tight-knit that it felt especially scary to exit this bubble and share our work with others. Regardless, the only time my body finally relaxed was the minute I walked out on stage.
In the end, opening night turned out incredible. We had so much fun, and the response from the audience was amazing. They were laughing. They were gasping. I was especially pleased when they all oooohed in disapproval when my character’s husband, Lenny Ganz, played by Danny Lang, aggressively yelled at Claire. I felt validated on behalf of my character, and I got to make fun of Danny about it during intermission.
Our next show was Saturday at 2 p.m. In general, matinee shows are known to be less energetic because the audience tends to be smaller and more composed. While I felt a slight decrease in energy, in comparison to our first show, we were sharper with our awareness of the audience and pauses for their laughter.
Then, at 7 p.m., we had our final show, which honestly was all a blur for me. My tiredness, nausea and nerves all caught up to me, and I felt faint during the entirety of the second act. At one point, the dizziness got so bad, I started eating prop pretzels in character to prevent myself from passing out. While it thankfully worked, and I remained conscious for the whole show, I really do not remember it. However, my castmates told me they loved this performance, and many think it was our best run, so I will choose to remember closing night that way.
And now it’s over. Three months of time, problems, successes, mistakes, improvements, exhaustion, laughs and unadulterated fun flashed before my eyes, all with that final bow. It was an absolute joy to be a part of Rumors. I adore my hardworking, hilarious castmates: Jacob, Lila, Danny, Emilio, Natalina, Josh, MC and David. I am endlessly appreciative of Ava, our heroic stage manager, and Izzy, our wildly talented costume designer. I could not be more grateful for our incredible leader, Deets, for single-handedly creating quite literally everything for this show. I loved every minute of playing Claire Ganz, and I will continue to carry her confidence and strength as my own.
SophieAnn DeVito is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, She can be reached at sgd56@cornell.edu.
