What's In My Rehearsal Bag!

Hey everyone, I hope you're all having a great week!

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday! I'm still getting used to the whole blog thing. I'm going to wait until tomorrow to post about rehearsal updates.

So today I thought I'd give you guys a little peak into my rehearsal bag, so you can see what I bring with me to play rehearsal every day! I thought this might be helpful for everyone- whether you're just starting out with theatre, or if you've been in lots of shows! There are lots of little helpful tricks and tips that I have from line memorization to organization! I also cover from what I wear to rehearsal, to what I eat!

So cue the cheesy beauty vlogger ukulele music! Here we go!

The bag I bring to rehearsal is basically a purse: yes, I'm that girl at school who obnoxiously carries around a big purse instead of a backpack- but I have my reasoning! Last year, I went through three backpacks before I finally decided to switch to a different type of bag because the zippers kept breaking from how much stuff I had!

The most important thing I bring with me is obviously my script! I like to put my script in a binder as soon as I get it, so that I don't loose any pages! In the inside flap of my script I like to store my stationary, so I can grab things I need quickly if I'm in the middle of blocking a scene!

I can't stress enough how important it is that you use pencils and NOT pens while writing in your script! Blocking changes a lot in theatre, so it's important that you write in pencil and have an eraser so that you can easily make changes to your blocking. It's important to keep your script neat and tidy so that you can reference it quickly, and having lots of things scratched out in pen makes things super messy!

I have a highlighter for highlighting my lines. Something you can also do is bring two different colours and use one to highlight your lines, and one to highlight any stage directions that are already written in your script! I used to do this but I haven't really had the chance to in this script yet!

I also have reinforcement labels. I'm a super clumsy person so it's typical for me to accidentally rip out a page of my script, especially if I'm moving around a lot with it in rehearsal, but the last thing you want is to loose a page of your script! It's so important to have EVERY PAGE! Even if you're not in that scene, because you may have an unprepared cast member who needs a line reminder quickly while you're backstage. The reinforcement labels work like stickers that you can put overtop of the hole punches.

The next thing I have in my bag is my daily planner. I like to copy the rehearsal dates from the calendar they typically give us into my planner, because my planner is like an ongoing to-do list. I write down all of my homework and appointments. It helps to have your rehearsal dates in there too so you can see how busy your week is looking. So if I see have rehearsal and lots of homework coming up next Monday, I'll know to do my big English project on Sunday so I'm not scrambling after Monday's rehearsal! If you're still in school, lots of schools give them out at the beginning of the year, and those work great! I personally like to use my own because it includes summer dates.

The next thing I have is my phone, charger, and earbuds. Other than having your phone for obvious communication reasons, it can be a super great tool to help you stay organized and learn your lines! If you don't like using a planner like I suggested above, or you're super forgetful, the Calendars app that comes with most phones is super helpful for important dates! That way its like having a planner in your pocket that'll send you reminders of upcoming dates! The other app which I love to use is the Voice Memos app. It comes with every iPhone, and if you don't have an iPhone, there's plenty of similar things I'm sure you can find in the app store! I like to use the voice memos app to record the other character's lines in my scene so that way I can practice my lines and run through scene as many times as I want, all by myself! I like to use my earbuds so that I can practice my lines while I'm doing chores around the house, or so I can quietly practice to myself on the way to rehearsal. I also like to have my stage manager use my phone to record a video of me at rehearsal after we're done choreographing a dance, so that I can review it at home! The charger is just incase, because I don't like being stranded in the city with a dead phone at night!

Just one last thing about cellphones: its super unprofessional to be on your phone at all during rehearsal, and it is a sign of disrespect to your director, stage manager, and fellow actors. You should leave it in your bag with the ringer off, unless there's an emergency, which in that case you should quietly tell your director the situation before the rehearsal starts and leave your phone somewhere where you can reach it easily, but won't be in the way. Before you record a video of choreography like I suggested above, you should get permission from the director and any other actors that are going to be in the video before hand.

Next are my rehearsal clothes! I like to change out of my school clothes into comfortable pants and a top that I can easily move and dance in! Typically I wear my running shoes to rehearsal, but if I know we're doing a dance intensive or choreography that day, I'll bring my ballet shoes (jazz shoes work too!) or whatever shoes the director requests you wear for the show! While choosing what to wear for rehearsal, keep in mind what your costume is going to be like. For example, if your character wears a miniskirt in the show, it would be helpful to practice moving around on stage in a similar skirt, so you can get a feel of how not to flash the audience! In my current show, I'm going to be wearing dresses as costumes, so sometimes I'll wear a casual skirt or dress to rehearsal to practice in. I also have a pair of sunglasses because the drive down is super sunny!

The next thing I want to talk about is food! This is where a lot of people I know go wrong, even if they've been doing theatre all their lives, because its such an easy mistake to make! If you have a short dinner or snack break in the middle of rehearsal like I do, you have to be careful of what you're choosing to eat. I have four hour rehearsals so trust me when I say I get hungry! I love pizza and popcorn as much as the next person, but during breaks I typically only eat some fruit and a granola bar if I'm really hungry. Eating junk foods while your rehearsing- especially if you're dancing and singing- is going to make you feel sick. Fruit is a great snack because its light and has lots of natural sugars that will give you the healthy boost of energy you need! I try to avoid granola bars even, just because they're full of unnatural ingredients that drag me down while I'm trying to perform. That being said, its important that you have lots of energy while performing, so if you're super hungry, you need to eat so that you have energy! Make sure you eat a healthy meal with protein a few hours before rehearsal, and a big meal afterwards! Another thing you should watch out for during rehearsals is dairy. Yes, that means *sigh* no pizza. Dairy causes your throat to phlegm up (I know, gross) and will make singing a lot harder to do. I actually don't eat dairy at all during show week!

The next thing I have is a big ol' 1 litre reusable water bottle! I can not stress how important it is to stay hydrated during rehearsal is enough! YOU GOTTA HYDRATE OKAY! You need to take care of your body, and water is so important especially if you're moving around, speaking and/or singing! Within the four hour rehearsal, I try to drink the entire litre! Yes that means I have to take a few pee breaks, BUT HYDRATION IS MORE IMPORTANT!

The next thing I have is a mini hand sanitizer. Germs spread SO EASILY during rehearsals, especially if you're interacting with people a lot, touching props, or doing pretty much anything, and the last thing you want is to miss rehearsal because you got sick, or spread your germs to your cast mates. So make sure you stay sanitary kids!

I also have a hairbrush and some elastics in there so that I can fix up my hair and tie it back so it's out of the way while I'm rehearsing.

The next thing I have is a toiletry bag. I carry this thing around with me all day at school too, because its so handy! I'll take you through what I store in there too!

The first thing I have in there is a bottle of Midol and some tampons, because if you're a girl, let me just say, getting your period during rehearsal SUCKS and the last thing you want is to bleed everywhere or have really bad cramps! So always have those handy. Next I've got some throat lozenges, and I normally have a bottle of Advil in there too, incase myself, or one of my cast members is ever feeling under the weather. I also carry around some hand cream and chapstick for the cold months, along with a nail file and some solid perfume. Another important thing to have, especially if you're dancing, is some deodorant! Things can get sweaty and smelly!

Another thing that I normally have, but ran out of is breath mints! You don't want to feel self conscious worrying that you have bad breath while you're singing, or worse, if you're practicing a kissing scene! Another common mistake that I see is people using gum. DO NOT CHEW GUM AT REHEARSAL! You can't explore your voice properly, and breathe properly if you're chewing gum, and you don't want to choke on it while you're dancing or moving around- so opt for mints or breath strips instead.

The final thing I have in there is a little bit of makeup, so I can touch up while I'm at school or during break. I typically just bring my concealer (Maybelline Dream Brightening Creamy Concealer in 10 "Fair") , eyebrow pencil (Anastasia Beverly Hills Perfect Brow Pencil in Caramel), eyeliner (Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Intense Black), and some lipgloss (Elizabeth Arden High Shine Lip Gloss in 04 "Shimmering Pin

k") around with me. Obviously this isn't a full stage makeup bag, but that's for another day!

So that's pretty much everything I bring with me to rehearsal! I'm looking forward to making one of these blog posts about what I bring with me on show days, and what my stage makeup bag looks like, so stay tuned for that!

I hope this helped!

Rosalie <3