In-Line Notes

This page features examples of in-line notes written in scripts and sheet music. In-line notes are an integral part of learning, as they retain information relayed by coaches, directors, stage managers, and other actors/singers. Some of the symbols (especially seen in the sheet music examples) are what I call "singer short-hand," a code of easy-to-interpret shapes that take up less space on a page that is already packed with information. You may see the "eyeglasses," which mean "look at conductor for cue," or the comma, which means "breathe here."

Excerpts from a Prop Notebook

Below are a few pages of the prop notebook that I used while rehearsing and performing in “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie. Because my character was a detective, he was regularly writing down the information being relayed to him by the other characters. Sometimes, I used this to write hints about my lines in particularly difficult monologues (page 1). Sometimes, I doodled while other actors were running scenes (page 2). On the night of the performance itself, I chose to literally write “I am performing right now. This is going well.” while onstage (page 3).