I think Tony is a mad-man, a heretic and a genius for having his rehearsals via Skype with each actor individually. I won't say it's an objectively better way to go about making theatre, but I think for the purposes of Off-Off Broadway it's a gosh-darned revolution. You're an actor, but you also happen to work at the Pet Supply Store and Bar-tend on weekends, there's only so much you can make yourself available for. By having just one day (dress rehearsal) that everyone has to commit to to assemble the show, Tony can cast his show based on which actors he wants, not which ones are available to meet with all the other actors. He's essentially cut that headache out.

Of course, that means there's another headache that presents itself. I haven't met any of my cast members, in particular the one which I'll be doing about an hour's worth of improvisation with. Which means when we've gotta bust our asses by ourselves just to be sure that when we get in a room with each other, we've got each other's backs. The ensemble is bonding over a trust-fall, rather than time spent with each other.

I don't know yet whether or not I prefer it, for all I know this could crash and fail, but I honest-to-blog feel pretty good about it, and that's because of the kind of director we have at the helm. My rehearsals with Tony focus on making my side of the show as strong as I can make it so that when it gets put with likewise performances something really cool can happen.