Ah, the joys of memorizing lines. It's really an odd thing, when you think about it: retaining a specific sequence of words in your mind for a definite period of time - or sometimes indefinite (I, for one, can still remember all the prepositions, a list I memorized when I was in 7th grade). But, odd or not, it's hard to put on a play without memorizing your lines.
Different actors use different methods to memorize lines. Some learn by reading them over and over, some by hearing them. When I was in high school, I'd gather my castmates around my karaoke machine (yes, I had a karaoke machine in the 1990s - you're jealous) to make a recording (on a cassette tape, of course), then listen to the recording over and over and over.
Sadly, I don't have that karaoke machine anymore, and thus cannot use my old method. Anyone got any great suggestions on surefire methods for memorizing lines? Seriously...we'd love to hear them!
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The inside scoop on Americus, Georgia's community theater.
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Welcome to the Sumter Players blog! We'll keep you up-to-date on the latest production news and announcements, audition notices, and more - plus give you a peek at what goes on off-stage. You can learn more about Sumter Players, Inc. at http://www.sumterplayer.org/.
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7 comments:
Lisa,
I used to use a tape recorder to memorize my lines. I only recorded the other folks lines and paused when my lines were needed. It worked really well until the batteries went dead.
Bill Bird
Hey Bill! Glad to know you also used the tape recorder method - I'm in good company!
My strategy is to learn the story and how my character fits into that. Once I've learned the story the lines fall into place. This is easier with some shows - Lend Me a Tenor and Oklahoma! come to mind here. It's more difficult with others - Into the Woods was a nightmare for this.
It also helps to be able to cover when things go off or get haywhire. Nobody is standing there in an odd silence on stage. If you know the story you can progress the story until you get back on track. Case in point - last night when Michael forgot his entrance and I had to stall for 30 seconds!
Yeah, Chris, you get mad respect for memorizing all those lines in Into the Woods - most of which came out of nowhere. I know what you mean, it's a lost easier when you know where the story is going and you can say to yourself, "I know he's supposed to leave the room next, so what do I say to motivate him to do that?"
I don't know about everyone else, but I'm a stickler for making sure I get my lines exactly right. Hearing them helps with that, because I end up memorizing the cadence on the lines, not just the words - kind of like memorizing song lyrics. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to musical theater - even straight lines are music to me!
yo yo...i feel like this is an extension of facebook. before long we won't be able to communicate in person!
and I can't stand memorizing as a cadence - maybe cause I don't have rhythm .
Deb Aziz here..
I used the same method as you Lisa. I took my ipod to a rehersal and recorded us doing the show. I then listened to it over, and over, and over. It worked very well for me. Because not only do you have to know your lines, but the others as well, in case you need to improv. I just figured the way I can memorize lyrics is to listen to the music over and over, so why not scripts?
If you have an ipod, you can get a microphone for it and turn it into a digital voice recorder. Or you can buy a digital voice recorder, download the file to your PC and burn it into a CD and listen to it again and again. A bit late for this show, but I hope it helps.
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