“安妮”音樂舞台劇——排練

Susan著 小哭譯

“安妮”這個音樂舞台劇曾經是我生命中持續了四個月之久的、最重要也是最持久的一件事兒。在四個月的時間裡，我每天課後都花幾個小時的時間參加“安妮”的排練。我要複印資料、做筆記、排位、畫標誌牌、以及完成大把做為副導演要做的其它雜事兒。它曾是我生命中最了不起的經歷之一。我交到了新朋友，了解了我以前所從不知道的同學們的事情，遇到了四個極棒的導演老師，還找到了一個神奇的“安妮”演員與劇組大家庭。我很高興自己做了這件事兒。

在“安妮”劇之前，我在獨幕劇中當過副導演，我的戲劇課老師推薦我在“安妮”中也當副導演。我以為這次也會是像在獨幕劇中似的，導演老師挑選自己的副導演。因為C老師喜歡我，我相當地確信自己能夠當選。然而，在那個信息發布會上，我發現這並非易事兒。有七個人想當副導演，所以我們每個人必須得給導演們寫一封信去解釋為什麼我們認為自己是最好的副導演。我並不認為自己是最好的副導演人選，但是我真的想得到這份工作，所以我努力地去思考C老師喜歡我的原因並由此展開說明。我認為自己的自薦信相當地好，所以當把信交給導演時我相當地自信。

後來，C老師讓我去試音，以便可以在劇中扮演一個角色，而這“只是以防萬一”我沒有被選上當副導演。從那時起我開始緊張起來。我不只是緊張於她的建議意味着當上副導演的可能性，我也為試音緊張。因為這是一個音樂舞台劇，試音意味着唱歌，我不知道怎麼去唱。然而，我不想讓C老師對我失望，不想她發現我甘願退出的理由僅僅是因為“不知所措”，所以我決定不管怎麼樣也要去試音。猜猜怎麼樣？結果並不像我以為的那麼糟。她說我唱得相當不錯，希望我加入她在下個學期授課的合唱班。然而，就算是我喜歡這一新發掘出來的唱歌天賦，得到副導演一職帶給我的歡喜與高興一點也不差。

我們從只是與幾個主角（六個主角兒）一起排練開始， 那種感覺就像是獨幕劇排練那會兒！音樂舞台劇中被選上的主角兒幾乎都是我們在獨幕劇中的演員；我們使用和獨幕劇那會兒同樣的房間排練；而我也做着和獨幕劇那會兒同樣的角色。唯一的不同是其它兩個副導演和我要花上三個小時的時間在放學後複印劇本並分發。

接下來，我們開始進行大規模的排練。剛開始的時候我並不喜歡。小規模排練期間，我和認識的人在一起，所以感覺上大家像是一家人；大規模的排練感覺很奇怪，到處都是陌生的臉孔和陌生的人。大概有六十多人，也許更多，跑來跑去地。這和獨幕劇時一點都不一樣，我不知道自己是否會喜歡這種改變。

學校似乎突然間就出現了黴菌，我們必須得撤離。而在撤離之前，我們基本上還沒有開始進行大規模的排練。看起來我們在一段時間內回不了學校了，但我們也得設法排練。我們曾經在社區中心練過幾次，也在CHMS(隔壁學校)練過幾次。雖然來來回回地去不同的地方排練有着諸多不便，但是我們還是練了。實際上在這段時間內我們搞定了很多事情，完成了多數歌曲的舞台舞蹈設計，導演們非常地為我們自豪。

當回到HMS上學後，我們開始每天在課後排練三到四個小時，而不是通常的一個半小時了。我們失去了十天的排練時間，而表演在三周后就要上演！此時的我們甚至還沒有最後排練完。在進行這些排練的過程中，我畫了幾個表演中要用到的道具牌，終於贏得了T老師的喜愛。以前，感覺上他似乎不認為我是一個好的副導演，但是在畫完那些招牌後，他對我比以前熱情。

經歷了整個黴菌事件後，演員中間發生了一些變化。我們之間開始形成了一股凝聚力，特別是在我和表演僕人的演員之間（演員被分成兩組——孤兒和僕人）。我負責表演僕人的演員們的出席情況。每天排練開始，他們要到我這裡來報到。剛開始，這事兒有點尷尬並且如例行公事般地，他們只是告訴我名字，我則點點頭，然後他們就離開了。在日復一日地重複着這件事後，我逐漸地記住了他們的名字、開始了解他們並且和他們說話。很快地，點名變成了一件友好並舒服的事情。“安妮”結束後，有一個傢伙（他真的很棒，“安妮”中我最喜歡的人之一）每次在學校看到我都會沖我喊“Susan，我到了！”

通過點名、幫助導演、一周和同一組人呆在一起二十個小時，我成為了“安妮”大家庭中的一員，並最終找到了自己在其中的位置。雖然有幾次我覺得排練很無聊，但卻再也不是陌生與奇怪了。多數時候，我盼望着排練。那是一個沒有什麼事兒讓我擔憂的地方；那是一個讓我覺得自己被熟悉的面孔包圍着的地方；那是我覺得自己被人需要着的地方。

最後，演出基本上就緒了。我們把整個的表演都過了一遍，即使導演不得不每幾分鐘就叫停一次去改變舞台場面設計（動作姿勢）或者給出一個建議，我們還是成功地將表演從頭到尾地過完了。那花費了我們兩天的時間。一周后，我們成功地用一天就過完了一遍，導演幾乎是每十分鐘左右就要打斷我們一次。如果表演的最後期限不是在一周之內就要到了的話，那真的是一個偉大的成就。我們還有五次不到的排練去把每件事兒都搞好。我不知道要如何才能完成這事兒，特別是在倒數第二次排練的時候。即使那次導演沒有叫停，但表演中存在着一些錯誤。在場景切換時，W老師大聲責備我們要大聲點兒。我開始為首演夜擔憂起來。

首演夜前一晚是彩排。簡直太棒了！我不相信他們就是前一個晚上舞台上的那一群人。演出服實在是太重要了。服裝不僅增加了表演的可信度，似乎還提升了演員們的自信心。歌曲唱得更有活力了，舞台劇組這時也正常起來了，每一件事兒都很完美。我已經為首演夜徹底準備好了。

然後，首演夜來臨了……

【小哭介紹背景】 這個系列三篇小文終於完成了！這個小系列不僅僅是一次簡單的記錄，也是我和Susan又一次探討如何進行寫作規劃的一次實踐。歷時四個月的活動，對於處在表演與聚會後的激動期中的Susan來說，寫作頗為困難。想寫的內容太多，一篇文章怎麼着也寫不完，寫不完又令她無法接受。她就是沒想到，其實可以寫成一個系列，分成幾篇文章來寫。有的時候，提醒的話只是一句，可是卻很重要。當我和她討論了不到十分鐘，關於總共寫幾篇文章，每篇文章的主題是什麼，有幾個主要內容一定要包括進去後，她的心情頓時就開朗起來了。之前剛一說要寫音樂舞台劇的作文，她就表現得極度抓狂，煩燥與糾結中的她五官都挪位了：（最後她說不是不想寫，其實是非常地想寫，可就是不知道如何寫才是好。想想雖然我英文遠不如她，寫作水平也不比她強多少，可是我至今還能夠在關鍵的時刻給她一些建議，就覺得自己對她的作用還沒有完全退化到僅僅在後勤這一方面。

她文中說的七個副導演競選人，我以前的文章中有記錄，當時她說的是五人，到底幾人其實也並不重要。她說的每天放學後的排練時間，其實也不準確，剛開始時並不是每天都排練，一周排練兩三次的頻率吧。後來因為今年冬天的惡劣天氣以及他們學校的黴菌事件，導致孩子們很多天沒有上學，排練也給耽誤了。而最後的演出計劃又不能改變，所以導演老師們急了，開始四處借場地排練，並在最後學校重新開門後，每天都加班加點地訓練。

Susan自從進入八年級，就整天喊作業多， 反正她的生活被作業綁架了。我並不認為對於每一個同學都是這樣的，我認為是Susan個人的問題，她不善長安排時間，又過於在意作業的分數，所以在作業上面花費的時間非常地不合理。但是，這不是我能輕易改變的。所以當她準備參加“安妮”劇的面試時，我在下發的一大堆文件中，看到了老師的提醒與要求，就是要判斷孩子是否會因為排練影響學習。這一判斷不僅僅有家長的角度，還有各科任課老師的角度。我嚴肅地與Susan談了一次，她說她認為以前老是說作業多其實是一種藉口，真正的原因不是作業多，而是她寫作業不專注。為了安妮，她願意有意地提高效率。我其實並不相信她能夠快速改變，但是我相信她這次會有一個動力去嘗試着改變。我知道“安妮”一定會帶給她混亂，但是也一定會帶給她改變，於是我簽字了。不過我有言在先，如果因為“安妮”寫不完作業或是影響正常的學習與生活，就必須退出劇組，她也答應了。

在這四個月的時間裡，還是有幾次她因着忘記這忘記那最後作業沒有寫完，不過她都通過晚上晚睡覺或者早晨早起來搞定了。看到她第二天明顯地精力不夠，我的內心其實相當地糾結。原則都懂，大道理都明白，可是我是否真的明白自己的孩子？給她壓下來的這些對她是恰當的？還是過度了？沒人在當時能夠告訴我答案，就算是告訴我，我也不會相信！我自己心揪揪着靜觀事態進展。慢慢地，排練的時間越來越長，她開始學會了在排練中寫作業了。這一點是我非常喜歡的，因為Susan的個性很難去做“一心兩用”的事情，讓她同時處理多任務，就只能看着她搞砸所有的任務。可是這次她必須得同時進行多任務處理，她把自己逼上了這樣的一個狀態中了，似乎也可以了。

二月份情人節期間，她參加了橡樹園的一個冬令營，回來後心情大壞，號啕大哭了幾天，哭哭泣泣地一整周，那一周，學業上的成績下滑是明顯的。不是這科沒寫作業，就是那科沒複習，非常少見的不及格及六七十分，成了那一周的常態。我控制住不滿意，不斷地告訴自己這個狀態和“安妮”的排練沒有直接的關係，主要的問題出自於橡樹園的冬令營，更深層次的問題來自於那個青少年組。不是那個小組不好，是Susan自己已經不適合呆在裡面了。於是在堅定了帶Susan從橡樹園教會退出的同時，我開始加緊動作，讓Susan順利並及時地加入了家門口C教會的技術團隊，參與崇拜時舞台上燈光與聲響方面的控制。結果Susan一下子就愛上了C教會 ，說是技術團隊讓她找到了當初在摩頓電視台時的感覺。另外我還幫她找到了一份在周六教小孩子中文的工作來分散她的注意力。很快地她就從那種頹廢的狀態中恢復了，並將心思投入到了“安妮”的排練中。事實上，如果沒有“安妮”，她可能需要更多的時間才能從冬令營的影響中恢復過來。對於這件事兒，我也為自己鼓個掌，因為脾氣急躁的我，沒有在Susan的眼淚中將這一不良狀態遷怒於“安妮”的排練，而那，其實於我是很有可能的。

關於大、小規模的排練帶給Susan的不同感受，她在平時與我的交流中從未提過。所以在她的文章中讀到這些，我很是感動於“安妮”帶給她的改變，特別是讀到那句“Susan，我到了！”，我的鼻子有點發酸，高興的：）我能夠感同身受地體會到那句話帶給Susan內心的快樂。我們觀看表演的那夜，表演結束後，我拉着Susan去和她畫的幾個道具牌合影，結果有三個七年級的男生衝進了鏡頭，把Susan擠在中間要我給他們照合影。那一刻，我的眼睛也是濕的，因為我從他們對Susan的態度中能夠感受到Susan內心的快樂。這些，是我這個媽媽一直盼望着的。

讀她的這篇文章，我印象深刻的一個部分，是她對自己屬於一個集體的那種感覺——沒有融入時、融入時、融入後，她對自己不同的心理狀態的描寫，都非常地打動我。也許，只是因為我是她的媽媽吧，才會那麼留意她在文中所表現出來的一絲絲不安的情緒吧。

正如她文中所說，通過“安妮”，她見識到了導演老師們的水平、學會了與另外兩個副導演配合、和主要演員及配角演員們都熟悉了起來，最後收穫了一個“安妮”大家庭！她說這四個月的經歷讓她非常地難忘，其實，這四個月的經歷也讓我非常地難忘！每次排練都意味着搭不上校車，我必須得放棄健身的計划去按她，難得的一次撞車也發生在學校出現黴菌期間、我去社區中心接她回家的路上！

按時間順序倒着寫的三篇系列小文至此就結束了。謝謝大家的閱讀，也真心地希望讀者們能夠喜歡。接下來可能會發表幾篇Susan的書評和大作業。在Susan眼裡可能寫什麼都差不多，她判斷不了讀者會對什麼內容的文章更感興趣兒。如果有讀者能夠給她一些具體的建議，將會對她的寫作選題有所幫助，希望Susan目前的讀者群能夠給她以具體的支持！謝謝了！！！另，她剛才說，回頭看自己從前的文章，最喜歡讀的也是那種篇幅不是很長、有具體的內容還同時有想法的那類。而那些羅里羅嗦的文章，她也不愛讀：）

附上英文原文：

Annie The Musical-Rehearsals

Annie the Musical had been one of the most important and time-consuming thing in my life for four months. For four months, I had spent hours every day after school, attending Annie practices. I copied papers, took notes, called places, painted signs, and did a bunch of other things as Assistant Director. It had been one of the greatest experience in my life. I made new friends, learned things about my classmates that I never knew before, met four wonderful directors, and found an amazing family in the cast and crew of Annie. I am so glad I did it.

Before Annie, I was involved in the 1-Act plays as an Assistant Director (AD), and my drama teacher recommended I AD for Annie also. I thought that, like in the 1-Acts, the directors would just pick the ADs. Since Mrs.C--- liked me, I was pretty sure I would get picked. However, I found out during the informational meeting that it wasn’t that easy. There were around seven people who wanted to be AD, so we each have to write a letter to the directors explaining why we thought we would make the best Assistant Director. I didn’t think I would be the best person for the role of AD, but I really wanted the job, so I tried to think of reasons why Mrs.C--- liked me and went on from their. I think I did a pretty good job with the letter, and I was pretty confident when I handed it in to one of the directors.

 Then Mrs.C--- asked me to audition for the play for an acting role, “just in case” I didn’t get picked as AD. That was when I got nervous. Not only was I nervous about what her suggestion meant for my possible role as AD, I was also nervous about auditioning. Since it was a musical, auditioning meant singing. And I didn’t know how to sing. However, since I didn’t want Mrs.C--- to think that I back down from things just because they might be embarassing, I decided to audition anyway. And guess what? It wasn’t as bad as I though. She said I actually sounded really good, and wanted me to join her chorus class next semester. As much as I like my newfound talent in singing, though, I was still very glad when I got the role of Assistant Director.

We started out by rehearsing scenes with just the leads (the main six characters), and it felt just like the 1-Acts! The people who got picked as the leads for the musical were mostly the same people who were in the 1-Acts, we used the same room for rehearsals, and I did the same work as I did in the 1-Acts.. The only different thing the other two ADs and I did was spend three hours after school to copy scripts to hand out people.

Then, we started rehearsing for the big numbers. At first, I didn’t like it. During the small rehearsals, I was with people I already knew, so it felt more like family. The big rehearsals felt alien, full of strange faces and strange people. There were sixty-something people, maybe more, rushing about. It was completely different from the 1-Acts, and I didn’t know if I would like the change.

We had barely began practices for our big musical numbers when we had to evacuate our school, HMS, due to mold problems. It seemed like we would not be getting back for a while, but we still had rehearsals. We had a few at the Community House, and at few at CHMS (a neighboring school). It was hard driving to the different locations and driving back, but we managed it, and we actually got a lot done during that time. We finished the choreography for most of the songs. The directors were really proud of us.

When we went back to HMS we started having rehearsals for 3-4 hours after school instead of the usual 1 1/2. We had missed ten days of practice, and the show was opening in three weeks! We were not even close to finishing. During those rehearsals, painted a few signs to use as props during the show, and I think I finally made Mr.T--- like me. Before, it felt like he didn’t think I would be a good AD, but after I painted the signs, he was warmer towards me.

After the whole mold experience, something was different within the cast. There was a bond that was starting to form between us, expecially between me and the servants cast (the cast was split into two groups-orphans and servants). I was in charge of taking attendance of the servants cast. Every day, at the beginnning of rehearsal, they would come to me and report their attendance. At first, it was awkward and formal, they would just tell me their name, I would nod, and they would leave. As I repeated this day after day, I started remembering their names. I got them know them and talk to them. Pretty soon, taking attendance became a friendly, comfortable thing. After Annie ended, there’s still this guy (he’s awesome, one of my favorite people in Annie) who says “Susan, I’m here!” every time we see each other at school.

Through taking attendance, helping the directors, and just being around the same group of people twenty hours a week, I became part of the big Annie family. I finally found my place there. Although their were a few times that I thought rehearsal was boring, it no longer felt strange and alien. Most of the time, I was looking forward to the rehearsals. It was a place where no worries could bother me, where I felt like I was surrounded by familiar faces, a place where I felt like I was needed.

Finally, the show began to come together. We ran through the whole thing, and even though the director had to pause us every few minutes to change the blocking (movement) or to make a suggestion, we managed to go through the whole show from beginning to end. That took us two days. A week later, we managed to get it down to one day, with the directors interupting every ten minutes or so. That would’ve been a great accomplishment, if the deadline for the show had not been less than a week away. We had less than five more rehearsals to perfect everything. I didn’t know how we were going to pull it off, especially when at the second-to-last practice. Even though the directors didn’t interupt that time, there were still some slip-ups, and during the transitions Ms.W--- screamed at us to be louder. I was worried for opening night.

The night before the opening was the dress rehearsal. And it was amazing. I could not believe those were the same people who were on that stage the night before. The costumes made all the difference in the world. It added believability, and seemed to boost the actors’ confidences. The songs were more energetic, the stage crew came right on cue, everything was perfect. I was completely ready for opening night.

And then opening night came.