Juggling two productions, a normal day for David Snider, actor at Rosebud Theatre, is usually a busy one. Performing in both Anne of Green Gables and rehearsing for the upcoming Tuesdays with Morrie, it is easy to see why Snider is kept on his toes. This is a glimpse into his Wednesday regime.
7:15 a.m
Rising with the sun, Snider gets his sons and himself ready for the busy day that lie ahead.
9:00 a.m
Rehearsal time for Tuesdays with Morrie begins.
“We have been doing a first staging of the whole play. We are working through it on our feet. A unique challenge for this show is that there is quite a bit of piano playing that my character does,” said Snider.
He said that although throughout his career he has been a very musical person, he has not been a very skilled pianist.
On top of everything else, Snider has been doing a lot of practicing in and out of rehearsal in order to prepare for the role.
“Thankfully I started practicing in the spring,” said Snider.
12:00 p.m.
Snider scurries home for lunch just before hitting the stage to perform.
“Thankfully I live pretty close to the theatre. I do try to be deliberate to eat something that is going to sustain me for quite a while. It can be tempting to grab something fast but I find it is important to watch what I’m stuffing into my face,” said Snider.
12:30 p.m.
It’s showtime for the cast of Anne of Green Gables. Snider said it is difficult, especially for the first show of the week, to refocus on the role being performed.
“I do a small scene at the beginning of the show, and then I wait off stage for a bit. I usually have a small costume change before my second scene. I forgot to change once, so as I’m walking across the stage I’m stripping off parts of my costume and throwing them down. I had to make that part of the scene,” said Snider.
“That was a bit of a wake up call where I thought ‘my head is not in this play.’”
The learning of the lines is one of the biggest questions from patrons said Snider.
“I understand from an outside point of view it seems like so much but what I find is when you live with the story, the world of that story becomes as unique as the people you connect with in the outside world,” said Snider.
He said he has never experienced those sort of jumbles while performing, but one thing he has been doing is going over his lines for Tuesdays with Morrie during his behind the scenes time while Anne of Green Gables is on.
“When it comes down to it, it’s a matter of working your memorization muscle,” said Snider.
“It’s also been a practical need, given the busy pace of the rest of my life. It’s good to make use of my waiting time,” said Snider.
During the matinee performance of Anne of Green Gables, Snider is at the theatre until 4:15 p.m.
5:00 p.m.
Having an early supper, due to the evening rehearsals, Snider said they actually had some friends host himself and his sons for supper.
