Final Dress Notes
Gang, considering all the variables in play last night, the Final Dress went extremely well.
We have some things to tidy, but overall it’s a solid show and you have a great deal to be
proud of. I have a tendency to focus on what still needs to get done and not to celebrate
what has been accomplished so far. But you have all come a long way and your
accomplishments SHOULD be celebrated. I have no doubt that the audiences who come to
the production will engage in that celebration with you. Get ready to have some welldeserved fun!
Below are my notes from last night. Please read those notes that pertain to everyone and
find the notes that are yours further down. I likely will not have time to write each of you a
‘happy opening’ note, and I know I don’t have the money to purchase the flowers you
deserve. So I hope this will serve as my ‘Break a Leg’ cheer for you too. It’s a great show.
Let’s get these last details out of the way so that we can have some fun!
EVERYONE
BASICS – Come on time; go through a preshow check; be responsible for yourself, your
costume and props. If you missed something the previous night (a line, a transition,
a prop movement) do what you need to do to make it better.
CUES - There are moments of silence and stillness in the show, but they are very few and
far between and they need to be EARNED. So pick up your cues – think on the lines
and step in brightly.
LAUGHTER – Be aware that the audience WILL laugh, and you don’t want to step on the
laughs. Don’t EXPECT laughter – the resulting pauses can be painful. But BE READY
for laughter. You don’t need to pause for a little chuckle or one guy tittering in the
back row, but if the audience as a whole breaks into laughter you will want to pause.
The general rule is that you wait – maintaining focus and staying in character – until
the laughter has peaked and begins to fall, then you begin your line. If you don’t do
this you will make the audience dummy up and they will not laugh, even if they are
enjoying the show.
CURTAIN CALL – I have thought better of the curtain call and I have a plan to make it
quicker and cleaner. We’ll take 5 minutes and restage this tonight.
SUNDAY – be prepared to stay after the show on Sunday for a couple of hours. We need to
pack up the costumes, set, props, lighting, etc. We will need EVERYONE to help out
with this – and we’ll make it as fun as we can.
SEALS – There were some transition glitches, especially with the bed. Please work these
out – walk through them prior to the show if necessary.
BEN
You are doing terrific work and I appreciate the professionalism with which you attack not
just the acting stuff but the technical stuff. Thanks. As we move into performance keep up
the precision and keep your substantial energy directed. Keep the different character’s
bodies separate. And have fun.





Great dick bomb explanation at the top
‘Imagine Dick Cheney…’ – This is a GOOD prospect for the Boss, so take pleasure in
the idea
Don’t forget your donut
Please exit upstage right after the first scene of act 2 so you’re not in the way of the
seals entering. Also, I don’t think you’re needed to move the interrogation door in
this scene change, but please check with the seals.
You’ve memorized some pauses in the last scene – think about picking up the cues
especially between you and Maddy and Darryl
CODY
You are a funny man. Thanks for being a part of this. As we enter performance mode
please keep some restraint on your enthusiasm. You are fully capable of tearing up the
scenery and keeping the audience entertained while you do, but remember that there is a
larger story being told too. Keep your focus and be both energetic and precise. Variety is
better than pure energy. Use your tactical, not your nuclear. Enjoy.
 Build the Shakespearean bat dance – it got too big too soon again. Joshua sees you
and throws focus your way, so you don’t need to be so big. One leap at the end will
suffice.
 I have asked Neal to cross down center PRIOR to his OBL 3000 line to engage you in
conversation from center. I need you to open to the audience for this scene.
 Get ready (down) for the lullaby after your line and prior to J’s agreement – it’ll
speed things along rather than having us wait while you and J both get ready.
 Cheat out on “Oh, I get it” speech so audience can see your face.
 Laughter – when you take off your shirt and go at J it is a creepily intimidating
moment, so be ready to let the audience enjoy it before moving on. I have told
Robert to be ready to pause here, but you should too. The way to do it and stay in
scene is to see his reaction and stop because of it. Assess him in the silence
(laughter).
 Who brings in your shaving cream? We need a razor too. Can you ask the seals
about this.
 Clarity – you REALLY have to reign in your mouth on the hashtag line and navy seals
stuff, we can’t hear a thing.
DARRYL
It’s been great to have you in rehearsal and I look forward to seeing you in performance.
You have great, positive energy, both onstage and off. In performance try to keep your chin
up – we like to see your face and expression. Play intention not attitude and keep your
volume up. And you’ve shown that you can do it in rehearsal, but keep playing in
performance too. Have fun.
 When J mentions the teeter-totter you circle your torso. Yes. It’s funny and it makes
Joshua’s next line funny too.
 Great entrance as a seal when you push J to the ground.
EBRAHIM
You have brought a lot to the game this time, and it’s appreciated. Keep up the enthusiasm.
Be aware that you do have a tendency to take liberties. Resist this. Stick to the plan and
work on specificity rather than adding more to the performance. Sharpen your cues, stay
focused during the scene, play your intentions. But of course, have fun too.
 Transition into Bros scene was wonky – work it out.
 ‘Spanking a little bitch like Twig’ – Clarity. In your enthusiasm don’t lose the words.
 Wife Heads – at the Erickson these need to come out the side of the door rather than
the top. Please work out who will do which head at which level.
 Dick has power, he doesn’t need to work so hard or get so upset. They’re only punk
kids after all. Don’t let them get to you so much.
 Can you get just your seal helmet on for the next quick transition? If not, no big deal,
but it’d be funny.
EMILY
 Wife Heads – at the Erickson these need to come out the side of the door rather than
the top. Please work out who will do which head at which level.
 Work with Megan on the transition into The Breakfast Club and let Hannah know if
you need something to change to give you more time
 Can you get just your seal helmet on for the quick transition after the Breakfast
Club? If not, no big deal, but it’d be funny.
KELI
You bring a lot of talent and professionalism to this, which I really appreciate. As we move
into performance try to really sharpen those ‘acting’ moments and the ‘real’ ones.
Remember that you care for J too, so throw him a bone from time to time. Enjoy his
company in the live scene with him. Keep playing.
 Hear the transition music into your Yoga setup and use it
 Add the line “It’s open.” To respond to the knock. Don’t go over to the entrance,
don’t mime a door.
 Enter later in first phone scene – wait until Robert has left Osama and is moving SR
to dial
 As I said, the scene on the matt works well. You need to enter later though.
 Stronger ‘acting’ in the last phone scene so that when you drop it and tell J to get
real about waterboarding we can see the distinction more
 Don’t hit J to stop him humming under Uncle Sam until she gets to “I still love her.”
Just be incredulous and disgusted longer
MADDY
It’s been great to see you build a wonderful arc for this character. Your voice and your
body are both wonderfully expressive toward the end of this piece, and when you are
throwing your arms around and shouting it works wonderfully because you’ve laid the
right groundwork with your earlier performance. Well done. As you get an audience have
fun working the laughter. Stay sharp, but be ready to give space for the laughs too. And
enjoy.
 ‘Our authority melts steel’ – take this to Joshua – it’s not a general threat, it’s for him




He didn’t kill Osama – say “If the world knew how Osama really died”
Please exit upstage right after the first scene of act 2 so you’re not in the way of the
seals entering.
‘Did you just shit that out’ – Volume. The physical stuff works great now – excellent
punching. But you’ll need to sing that out to be heard. Just think gob-smacked,
unbelievable amazement.
‘YET’ has to come in sooner – prep the glove. In general you can tighten cues in this
last scene
MEGAN
You play such wonderfully diverse characters in this show, and the way you’ve
distinguished between them is great to watch. Keep this up and play with it. Don’t go too
far in the car – let the audience direct you with their laughter, but remember that you can
easily upstage the scene if you go too far. We do want to follow the story too, so again, use
your instincts. And have fun.
 Transition into Bros scene was wonky – work it out. The lighter needs to be quick
or we need to lose it.
 Shushing Bob in the car is working really well.
 Couldn’t see the blood at all – I think you need to not just slap but rub it around a
little too. If that doesn’t do it, let’s try the chin instead of the forehead.
 Wife Heads – at the Erickson these need to come out the side of the door rather than
the top. Please work out who will do which head at which level.
 Transition into Breakfast club was a problem. Emily seems to think you can work it
out with a new change area and doing things differently backstage. If it isn’t going to
work out, let Hannah know so that we can make other arrangements.
NEAL
It’s been great working with you during this run – seeing you explore this bizarre character
and make him your own. Keep it up. Keep the stakes high, despite the fact that Hackbad
usually keeps his emotions contained. When you open yourself to your manicorn, know
that this is unsual for Hack – wonderful and freeing and terrifying all at once. But it pays
off, and you end the scene with a real friend. As you work with the audience, have fun
playing their laughter. I think there will be a lot.
 ‘I need you’ – Volume – your scarf muffles you, so this whole scene needs to be
louder
 Off sooner when lights go out during electrocution of Joshua
 Volume – You need to boost your volume throughout – it was low all night.
 Position 7Moves panel at an angel, as per rehearsal
 Please cross down center PRIOR to your OBL 3000 line to engage Osama in
conversation. Placing yourself between Osama and Josh makes sense at this point
and it’ll allow Osama to talk across to you instead of upstage.
 Enthusiasm – You are the juice in the sequence when you get J to read your story.
Your excitement in the first part will fuel your ability to share your story with him,
then make an emotional connection with him, then give him advice. The enthusiasm
at the top is key though.


The plan to kill Osama is clearer now – keeping going in that direction. But it needs
more volume.
Volume – with Josh you will need to shout over the helicopters and seals
ROBERT
Once again, it has been a delight working with you. And your daughter! I hope the
experience has been rewarding for you too. You are tremendously talented and I know that
the audience will enjoy your performance – so you enjoy it too. There are probably
moments in the play when you can engage with the audience more directly – feel free to
find those. Explore that relationship with the audience – it’ll be fun.
 Off sooner when lights go out during electrocution
 Keli will add the line “It’s open.” To respond to your knock. Just come in after that.
 Acting out “I’m going to need a strong female” is great. More of this kind of
playfulness in this scene would be appropriate
 Volume – a rare note for your, but we lost ‘You made me watch a lot of porn last
night’ and when Osama went into his personal Shakespearean place you began
muttering the rest. The fact that he repeats what you say only lands as a joke if we
hear you say it first.
 I have asked Neal to cross down center PRIOR to his OBL 3000 line to engage Osama
in conversation from center – to open Osama to the audience. You can counter
further SR at this point to keep him between you and Osama.
 Please exit upstage right after the first scene of act 2 so you’re not in the way of the
seals entering.
 I think the line ‘We broke up 5 months ago’ will read better if you emphasize the
verb instead of the time frame, as you have been doing these last two times. The
pertinent point is that she took up with your brother just when you broke up with
her, not that this happened 5 months ago.
 Laughter – you stepped on our laughs a bit when Osama was taking his shirt off and
coming toward you. Be ready to let the audience enjoy the moment before moving
on.
 “I wasn’t crying. I wasn’t!” – the second, added part of this is funny, but I think you
can take it to the booth if you’d like – it’s about the music
 Volume – with Hack you will need to shout over the helicopters and seals
 ‘why did you say that then?’ – Don’t get angry or petulant here, stick with the
exhausted, beaten, emotional person you are. Go sad here – be the guy she
describes as emotional
 I have asked Keli to not stop you humming under Uncle Sam until she gets to “I still
love her.” Be ready to hum longer.
TECH
Hannah, you have put so much work into this show and I hope you know how much it is
appreciated. We’re almost there. (You’ll probably be glad to be rid of me.) You should be
really proud of the show and I hope you’ll get a kick out of the audience as they enjoy the
fruits of all our labors. Stay sharp, but have fun too.










Preshow – The compound door was open at the top of the show – it should be
closed. Please make sure set is correct prior to audience entry into house
Angry Birds Cue – Please don’t pull the music for this out until Ben puts his hand
over the phone.
Electrocution lights – perfect. Went out at just the right time.
Lights – problems going into scene following electrocution?
Lights – dick bomb strobe should begin when Hack starts for Joshua
Sound – Dick bomb sounds, like the strobe, should begin earlier
Props – Would tearing the bottom left corners of the 7 moves of doom make it easier
for Osama?
Cue – When Darrel comes in as a seal to push Robert to the ground please bring in
the transition lights and sound a bit quicker.
Banana – can we get a real one?
Backstage Lighting – we need more blues on the sides, if possible – glow tape would
help too
Act 2
 Who brings in the shaving cream? We need a razor too. Can you ask the seals about
this.
 Cue – The helicopters and seals works well, but it can come in 3 seconds sooner
 Hannah – please be ready to turn off the video projector as soon as you can after the
show. It gets hot and we don’t want to burst a bulb.