Sunday, November 27, 2005
I live.
Okay, I have really good reason for this extreme lack of blogage (or is it bloggage....) Because I've been in tech. And not just any tech. Christmas Show tech. And for the majority of people here who read my blog and actually work or have worked at Wayside I don't need to explain anything else.
For the rest of you it's not as bad as Camila was (remember the tango musical with the heart surgery, broken ankle and kamikaze cross that tried to take me out with it?) but about the same as working Midwest Theatre Auditions.
But we open today!!!! Previews went well yesterday. Our matinee was wonderful and our evening show was also great with a few more bumps but dealable. It was nice to hear an audience respond to the show and see that our hard work is paying off. And I think I could spend years watching Dahlke getting better and better and what he does.
It's an interesting format to the show that reminds me very much of the stage version of "To Kill A Mockingbird" where the adult version of the main character narrates and moves through the action of the show. Narration is a tricky thing. It's a memory that you can't wait to share with your audience, but you can't attack them you have to welcome them in from the beginning. And as Warner put it last night the narrator is the audience's ticket into this world.
And even though the children have been a challenge I've seen many of them take leaps over the last few days. The trick will be to keep it up. I've always been a big believer that for the tech crew, tech week is the hardest part of the show, but for the actors the hard part begins next week when the fear of having an audience begins to fade and the relaxation with the show sets in.
It will be nice after tonight to spend some much needed time with Abigail. We are going to Martinsburg on Monday to meet up with another couple (Kim and Katie) to have dinner and see Rent. (Though I've heard that they screwed the pooch on Angel's death, so we'll see).
For the rest of you it's not as bad as Camila was (remember the tango musical with the heart surgery, broken ankle and kamikaze cross that tried to take me out with it?) but about the same as working Midwest Theatre Auditions.
But we open today!!!! Previews went well yesterday. Our matinee was wonderful and our evening show was also great with a few more bumps but dealable. It was nice to hear an audience respond to the show and see that our hard work is paying off. And I think I could spend years watching Dahlke getting better and better and what he does.
It's an interesting format to the show that reminds me very much of the stage version of "To Kill A Mockingbird" where the adult version of the main character narrates and moves through the action of the show. Narration is a tricky thing. It's a memory that you can't wait to share with your audience, but you can't attack them you have to welcome them in from the beginning. And as Warner put it last night the narrator is the audience's ticket into this world.
And even though the children have been a challenge I've seen many of them take leaps over the last few days. The trick will be to keep it up. I've always been a big believer that for the tech crew, tech week is the hardest part of the show, but for the actors the hard part begins next week when the fear of having an audience begins to fade and the relaxation with the show sets in.
It will be nice after tonight to spend some much needed time with Abigail. We are going to Martinsburg on Monday to meet up with another couple (Kim and Katie) to have dinner and see Rent. (Though I've heard that they screwed the pooch on Angel's death, so we'll see).
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Harry Potter!!
Went and watched Harry Potter tonight. Simply said it is the best of the four movies out so far. I was one of those people who hated the third movie because of all the actual important stuff they left out and all the crap they made up. Whoever adapted this one from the book was amazing. you got all the story within an acceptable, though I agree long, time frame.
Other than that life continues as normal. Spent the day at the theatre getting ready for tech next week and then had rehearsal tonight. A little painful at some points, but we managed to muddle our way thru. A full day tomorrow, but only with one cast which does make things slightly more bearable. I got the majority of my lighting and sound cues today. Kris, my sound tech for this show, walked in at the end and started cursing both Teresa and myself when he heard us writing Sound YYY. So yeah, it's gonna be busy in the booth.
Other than that life continues as normal. Spent the day at the theatre getting ready for tech next week and then had rehearsal tonight. A little painful at some points, but we managed to muddle our way thru. A full day tomorrow, but only with one cast which does make things slightly more bearable. I got the majority of my lighting and sound cues today. Kris, my sound tech for this show, walked in at the end and started cursing both Teresa and myself when he heard us writing Sound YYY. So yeah, it's gonna be busy in the booth.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
It has been a bit of a long week. We've moved into the theatre for A Christmas Story and are continuing to figure things out. A day off tomorrow is well deserved by everyone.
It's a challenging show. Probably the most obvious is the fact that we have 14 children in the show under the age of 14. On one hand they are amazing and doing a great job and on the other....well they are 14 children under the age of 14. Let me put it this way, on the way home from rehearsal yesterday I called my mother and apologized for every bad thing I had ever done to her during my youth.
Our friend Beth is in town visiting so she will, as always, bring some relaxation and laughter into our life for awhile.
It's a challenging show. Probably the most obvious is the fact that we have 14 children in the show under the age of 14. On one hand they are amazing and doing a great job and on the other....well they are 14 children under the age of 14. Let me put it this way, on the way home from rehearsal yesterday I called my mother and apologized for every bad thing I had ever done to her during my youth.
Our friend Beth is in town visiting so she will, as always, bring some relaxation and laughter into our life for awhile.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
yes, I'm a slacker
JT has called me out and rightly so. I'm a total slacker who hasn't blogged in over a week.
So what's been going on....well I've been in rehearsal with 14 children for A Christmas Story. In all honesty it could be much worse. Many of the kids are very talented and very smart.
Sleuth has one more week to go and I will truly miss this show and this cast. They have made my job extraordinarily easy.
Other than that I have been doing a lot of knitting. Got a special order from Ray and Til for scarves and a bag from Maureen Limon's store. In addition the store I usually shop in, Frog Eye Emporium, has made a deal with me that I can't believe. The owner, Sue, has offered me an amazing discount in her store in exchange for knitting some samples. So basically I get to knit with amazing yarns and get a discount on stuff to keep. Very cool. I'm also working on a hat w/ Natalie for the Christmas show. Oh, and stuff to sell in the curtain call. Huh, I guess that's why my wrists hurt and my fingers are going numb.......
Oh, and in case you haven't heard the Democrat Tim Kaine won the governship in Virginia tonight. :)
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So what's been going on....well I've been in rehearsal with 14 children for A Christmas Story. In all honesty it could be much worse. Many of the kids are very talented and very smart.
Sleuth has one more week to go and I will truly miss this show and this cast. They have made my job extraordinarily easy.
Other than that I have been doing a lot of knitting. Got a special order from Ray and Til for scarves and a bag from Maureen Limon's store. In addition the store I usually shop in, Frog Eye Emporium, has made a deal with me that I can't believe. The owner, Sue, has offered me an amazing discount in her store in exchange for knitting some samples. So basically I get to knit with amazing yarns and get a discount on stuff to keep. Very cool. I'm also working on a hat w/ Natalie for the Christmas show. Oh, and stuff to sell in the curtain call. Huh, I guess that's why my wrists hurt and my fingers are going numb.......
Oh, and in case you haven't heard the Democrat Tim Kaine won the governship in Virginia tonight. :)