March 10, 1998
I returned this afternoon with a slightly updated version of Fletcher. Taking Sally Stiner's advice, I played him with a touch more pep. He was still nasty, but not so morose about it all. One might say that before he was just unhappy and bitter and mean and this time he was bitter but trying to make the best of it by being rude to Carly. He also became a bit more like me (which made him more likeable? less likeable? Hmmmm...)
Both Sally Stiner and Barbie Block were in on this reading and a third gentleman who I would assume is the writer. He was very into the things I was doing and took pains to tweak certain moments and run the scenes again until it was to his liking. That's always a good sign. In the meantime, he kept saying what a wonderful job I was doing. Yeah, that's a good sign too. Another transformation occured, however, in Sally Stiner's response to the scene. She was much more vocal with her reactions, laughing on numerous occasions. I don't know if I was actually that much better or different than the initial reading but it was like night and day. And it helps so much to hear a little feedback. The scenes went well and I left a good impression.