Rehearsal With Costuming

Spent most of the day typing up a portion of my Arsenic dialogue.  Having it on separate sheets is handier than the bound script we have and besides, it's an aid to memorizing.  Also viewed more of the DVD Eric had given me.  Went early to Manahawkin to run a few errands and was gratified to realize twilight is getting later and later. Hate driving in the dark; in fact, generally speaking, hate the dark.
Stopped at Kohl's to exchange the blouse I bought the other day--for a bigger size, I'm afraid--and at Staples for a desk calendar.  However, I got to rehearsal early, anyway.  Lou let me in and said John, who plays a policeman, was already there, so I went to the room while he waited for others.  (One of the annoying things about rehearsing here, aside from being in a "dance room" lined with mirrors, but with no chairs, is that the door locks automatically.)
Got acquainted with impossibly young John, who's in his first year at Ocean Community College--I peg him at 19--and we exchanged theatre stories.  Suddenly, the fire alarms in the hall started to flash and emit a siren loud enough to split your ear drums.  We went out there and found that the adjoining doors were closed--automatically, we found out later--and signs on them read "Do Not Open; Alarm Will Sound."  (It didn't occur to us to ignore this, as the alarm was already sounding.)
Well, the upshot was, other members of the cast didn't get in for another half-hour.  They had to wait in the cold at the locked entrance until a janitor came along.  Therefore, we started late and were delayed farther for a good reason: the two "wardrobe mistresses" were there.
Wowee, what a delightful contrast with LETCO!  When you perform with them, some unenthusiastic volunteer might make a stab at costuming, but for the most part, you do it yourself.  These girls (one is director Lou's daughter, Lindsay, a terrific singer herself, whom I saw in Beans, Biscotti, and Broadway a few weeks ago) called each of us over individually and recorded heights and phone numbers, then actually took a number of measurements. The other young woman, Noelle, had illustrations of appropriate costumes on her laptop to show and both asked for input from us.  I was blown away by their professionalism.
We didn't start rehearsing until almost seven, but so what, it was a good session.  Most of us are partially off-book, which is always more satisfying than holding a script.  We rehearsed until 9:00, so I was late getting home, but that was okay.
Busy day coming up today.