OK, awkward post for me.
I just got the part of Sarah Brown, which I am thrilled about! However, in the past 48 hours that I have now had this part to start preparing, almost all I can think about is the kissing that Sky and I have to do together. My show is a little different in that we are not performing the actual show since next May, so I have plenty of time to get to know the actor who plays Sky, but that's not the problem.

Actually there is no real problem. I don't have a problem with kissing him (personally, he's a cool guy and not revolting or anything), however, I am married and it's just the thought of kissing another guy that seems so strange right now. I know its not real, and my husband is OK with it, but I guess I just need some acting tips and mental preparation tips for this.

Also, I don't want our first stage kiss to be on-stage because I don't know if I could do it without laughing, so I was wondering what other people have done when they have had to do a stage kiss (in any show!). How did you "prepare"?

Thanks!

I feel for ya! I've had to do stage kissing for two shows, once before Iw as married, and once after. Both times were with a guy old enough to be my dad! Literally, they had kids my age. Anyway...
The first one was as Marian in The Music Man. The director was AWESOME, and my Harold and I had tons of time together to chat and explore characters and things, so when we got down to it, we really wanted it to look good and be right for the characters, and when we got that technical about it, it didn't seem like KISSING kissing, just another stage dicrection. Also, keep in mind that the way one kisses a husband is SO different from 'stage' kissing. You can keep your lips pursed and tight, and smoosh your lips together with the other person, but your body language and the way you tilt your heads conveys the passion. Most likely people wouldn't see your lips moving passionately like we're used to seeing in movies. REally, for stage, it gets very technical, and if the director lets you have private rehearsal time to get used to it, once you do it in front of the rest of the cast, you shouldn't get any flack or be emarrassed, since you'll be comfortable and relaxed with it already.
Haha, and the kissing time AFTER I was married... yeah, it was weird. It was for The Will Rogers Follies, and I was Betty Blake Rogers. Whenever our director couldn't think of blocking for us, the solution would be "... um, kiss". Most of them were just short pecks, but the first one was supposed to be long, one of those emarrassingly long ones that someone has to interrupt to get it to stop. For those types of long kisses (Which I think Sarah and Sky have) you have to build it with your bodies. Such as, make lip contact, bring bodies closer together, have full body contact, put arms around his neck, tilt head romantically (you can do it so the back of your head faces the audience!), show his hands holding your back or head... etc. Make sense?
For Sky and Sarah's first kiss, he is trying to- what? teach her a lesson? Show power/dominance? He's not exactly trying to be romantic, even though he thinks she's cute. He's trying to win a bet. So he should show some control over the situation by grabbing her shoulders or cupping her face for the kiss. Sarah's body language should be one of trying to pull away, but then conveying that she sort of doesn't want to. Maybe bending a little backwards from him or tilting the head back, but then straightening out/relaxing the shoulders... I think she slaps him because she is embarrassed that he made her want to be kissed. By him.
I hope all this helps. I love Guys and Dolls, and may be in the same situation myself in the next year or so, if I get Sarah. Oh, one thing I did to help my husband was demonstrate to him the kind of "Kissing " I was doing onstage, so he could see how technical and completely devoid of passion it was, and I think that made him feel better.

Wow that was incredibly helpful. Thank you so much!

Our school just had to do Guys and Dolls and My Boyfriend had to kiss one of my friends. I was more scared than he was so i dont think you should worry - It comes naturally as you turn into the character and forget that you are married or in a relationship as you are no longer you - If you understand what i mean. Your character actually loves Sky - she doesnt realise this st the beginning but she does - so You need to potray that in the way you act around him... Plus you get to slap him straight afterwards so if you feel guilty then the slap should make it better! It made me feel better Watching our sarah slap my boyfriend! lol! Good Luck with the show.
Miss Adalaide
xxx

Thanks, Brigantine, I'm playing Sarah too and I'm so nervous about the kissing. Not only is it going to be my first stage kiss, it's also my first kiss ever!!

Just try not to think about it. YOU ARE SARA BROWN ON STAGE. Nothing else matters. I recently saw a production of MacBeth in which the professor was playing MacBeth because the student with the title role became injured during the show the previous night and he had to "lay with" one of his students. We asked if this was akward and they said they never ever thought about it because they were acting, they were not being themselves.
I had to kiss a good friend of mine twice in Much Ado About Nothing and that was really akward, largely because I was i think 15...

hey..my first kiss was onstage..actually my first like 3 kisses..lol...anyway it was actually in Guys and Dolls..though I played Adelaide..and it was a prank...but it was adorable (then I got kissed AGAIN on the closing show of Fiddler by my motel) the other one was with a really good friend of mine in "Ah Wilderness"...that was only awkward because he's like my brother..I've known him since birth...anyway I count my first stage kiss as just that a stage kiss (even though it was not in the original show) and then my first real kiss as my first kiss....don't worry about it..it'll be totally fine...just make sure you have fresh breath also for everyone you guys are playing sarah....it might seem weird to kiss someone other than your significant other but it will be ok...I mean in the movies they do a lot more than just a quick kiss and it usually has to be real...anyway everyone sees the characters...just get into character and break a leg in the shows!

One of my best friends is playing Sarah Brown and she's having the same problems. But the thing is, the guy who is playing Sky all of a sudden decides he likes her and taking things way out of perportion. Everyone knows he only likes her because he gets to kiss her and he's always trying to get them to practice their kissing scenes. She knows she'll have to do it sometime and doesn't want their first time doing it on opening night but he's being very unproffessional about it and she doesn't like it. It's both funny and extremely annoying when things like this happen and I think she's going to rip her hair out if he keeps on being the way he is and I really hope it wont affect the show. I just feel so bad for her and I'm glad none of you ladies are having this problem but then again, I'm in highschool and highschool is filled with immature drama so this is kind of predictable.

Its theatre....have fun its the only place you can kisss and make out with other guys and have it not mean a thing!

Hey!
I'm having the same issue. The only thing is, I have a crush on the guy I'm kissing. We are in Taming of the Shrew and I'm Kate and he's Petruchio. We're only in eight grade so I don't really know what to do.
Help!

-emmabug

oh yes, I remember my first time doing a kissing scene. I was in the 8th grade (4 years ago) and I had a major crush on the guy who I had to kiss. I was so nervous about how awkward it's going to be. The key is going into your first rehearsal remembering that it's all business and nothing personal. You need to put your feelings aside when you get up on the stage. As you become more comfortable with the kissing, approach the scene thinking only about your character and the way she is feeling. You need to completely abandon your personal thoughts for that short while. And you know what? He's probably just as nervous as you are.... especially in the 8th grade.

Thanks so much for the advice!!! I know it will help. My nervous level just went down a ton so thanks!

-emmabug