As the theatre ends its first quarter we have already produced 3 shows and 4 shows are in rehearsal now for the second quarter. Last night was the first play selection meeting to look at next season. We discussed several shows and the possibility of their being produced on our stage.
Some shows are not available because they are touring professionally while other shows are available even though they are out on tour. Amateur rights are available for Market House Theatre to produce several musicals on tour including Sweeney Todd, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Producers, Avenue Q, South Pacific (which is the hit on Broadway at the moment), and many others. We are waiting on rights to become available in the next year or so for Hairspray, Mamma Mia, and a couple of other big touring show hits.
Looking at comedies and dramas there are several new plays which are available but most of our audience members have never heard of them.
One of the major challenges for the theatre is to select plays which attract not only audiences to buy tickets but actors to audition for the plays. A example that is a huge hit in most community theatres in larger cities is The Full Monty. We seriously looked at it last year but felt that most of our actors who were age appropriate would not audition because they are teachers and couldn't risk doing a show where they was even any hint of nudity. Part of the problem also stems from the lack of actors in their 20's to 30's . Today's world places a lot of demands on people in that age bracket. Jobs generally require 50 hour work weeks, family life is jammed into smaller time periods for many in that age group, gas prices are up and the commitment necessary to do a play isn't easy.
When I started at the theatre in the early 80's a group of 20-30 yearolds were the core of our acting pool. They came to the theatre as they moved to town and found it an easy way to make friends. They still socialize years after the plays they were in finished. Some of those friendships are still as strong today as they were 20 years ago. Performers who married and now their kids are acting in plays. Families of that early group that still go out to dinner together and some even go on vacations together.
As those actors are now in their late 40's and 50's we aren't seeing a new group replace them. We have a tremendous amount of talented young performers in grade school through high school. As soon as they hit college age they leave or they go to work in jobs that prevent them from rehearsing nights. Very few move back to Paducah after college and resume performing. Theatre's constantly lament the aging of the audience as it is harder and harder to get that 20's to 30's group to buy tickets. We are seeing that happen on the other side of the stage as well.
We are extremely fortunate to have a couple of very talented actors in their 20's-30's. You see their faces in quite a few shows. The challenge for the play selection group is to program plays that will allow opportunities for performers in that age group while not depending solely on the few performers we have to fill all those roles.
If you are in that age group I can promise that you will make life long friendships and experiences that you will remember for the rest of your life. I understand it requires a significant commitment of time and hard work, but the payoff is well worth it!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
what light through yonder high school breaks
The setting is not a balcony with the early morning light but a rooftop garden used by the horticultural club on top of a high school. But the words still float in the air.
I could not help but see the eternal story of young lovers repeated in a new form as I watched the scene from Disney's High School musical where our two star crossed lovers steal away from the world for a moment alone. The fact that a life size poster of William Shakespeare was on the wall next to Robert Sharkey(playing Troy) and Katy Miller (playing Gabriella) probably had some influence on my thoughts. In this case it is the friends that conspire against the young couple to keep them apart. However as with all things Disney this isn't to be a tale of tragedy and woe but a happy ending where our romantic couple are able to sing the song Breaking Free. Robert and Katy have beautiful voices and their acting is very believable in the scene.
I was also watching the scene as a designer who has to create this rooftop garden out of thin air. I had originally designed the space to be played on an isolated platform six feet above the stage floor at the back of the set. On Tuesday I had just spent the past hour and a half drawing on paper and taping out the stage floor in the main theatre to figure out this isolated platform in the air. I left Jim Keeney with a basic idea of what my design was so he could start working on the masking that had to be changed above the stage before we blocked it off and then went to tape out the space in the rehearsal room for April.
As I talked with April about the platform and taped out the space she didn't like the distance or the confined feel of the isolated platform. She wanted to really play the intimacy of the scene close to the audience. April and I discussed several options and we finally put the scene on the floor level at the front of the stage with some "magical scenery" that will create this rooftop garden location. April often uses the word magic in her requests for scenery and lighting as in "I need you to create something magic to happen here." My typical response is to reply "yeah, I'll just pull out my magic wand and wave it" then presto we have scenery or lighting that will make the audience go ooohh or aaaah... (There is an old theatre joke about sending a novice theatre student to go get the sky hook to hang a piece of scenery. Many a naive freshman has walked in the scene shop and asked where to find the sky hook. This hook would hang a piece of 500 pound scenery in mid air without any support.)
The way "my magic" works is for me to put some themes and feelings and words about what we want to do into a magic cauldron I have simmering in my head for about a day before a visual image slowly emerges. I then translate that image into a piece of scenery or a light color and shadow.
I left April and walked back across the street to tell Jim that we had just totally changed what I had designed and taped out not 30 minutes earlier. As I told Jim a little about the change he immediately started thinking of how to build something magical. The difference between a designer and a technical director is that the technical director will immediately start thinking of how to build something without looking at what it is we are trying to accomplish emotionally or visually in relation to the actor with the piece of scenery. I told Jim that I would let him know when I was ready to explore the possibilities after I simmered my ideas for awhile. I wasn't there yet. What he could do was start working on the much simpler build for the platforming at the back of the stage.
The deadline for us to build these platforms is tomorrow (Friday) at 4 pm. At 5 pm April has rehearsal on the main stage for the first time with the platforms.
I have a photo in my office taken by the cast of Oklahoma with me standing at the front of the stage with my head down looking into what seems like the floor. In reality that is me looking at all of the visual images or ideas swirling around in my brain trying to distill a direction or an image that will lead me forward from that point. Even as I write this my mind returns to that balcony scene I wrote about at the beginning of this blog and thoughts are bubbling up about making the rooftop garden using elements of a balcony reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. I can feel my mind already shifting into the creative brain mode to work on this.
I could not help but see the eternal story of young lovers repeated in a new form as I watched the scene from Disney's High School musical where our two star crossed lovers steal away from the world for a moment alone. The fact that a life size poster of William Shakespeare was on the wall next to Robert Sharkey(playing Troy) and Katy Miller (playing Gabriella) probably had some influence on my thoughts. In this case it is the friends that conspire against the young couple to keep them apart. However as with all things Disney this isn't to be a tale of tragedy and woe but a happy ending where our romantic couple are able to sing the song Breaking Free. Robert and Katy have beautiful voices and their acting is very believable in the scene.
I was also watching the scene as a designer who has to create this rooftop garden out of thin air. I had originally designed the space to be played on an isolated platform six feet above the stage floor at the back of the set. On Tuesday I had just spent the past hour and a half drawing on paper and taping out the stage floor in the main theatre to figure out this isolated platform in the air. I left Jim Keeney with a basic idea of what my design was so he could start working on the masking that had to be changed above the stage before we blocked it off and then went to tape out the space in the rehearsal room for April.
As I talked with April about the platform and taped out the space she didn't like the distance or the confined feel of the isolated platform. She wanted to really play the intimacy of the scene close to the audience. April and I discussed several options and we finally put the scene on the floor level at the front of the stage with some "magical scenery" that will create this rooftop garden location. April often uses the word magic in her requests for scenery and lighting as in "I need you to create something magic to happen here." My typical response is to reply "yeah, I'll just pull out my magic wand and wave it" then presto we have scenery or lighting that will make the audience go ooohh or aaaah... (There is an old theatre joke about sending a novice theatre student to go get the sky hook to hang a piece of scenery. Many a naive freshman has walked in the scene shop and asked where to find the sky hook. This hook would hang a piece of 500 pound scenery in mid air without any support.)
The way "my magic" works is for me to put some themes and feelings and words about what we want to do into a magic cauldron I have simmering in my head for about a day before a visual image slowly emerges. I then translate that image into a piece of scenery or a light color and shadow.
I left April and walked back across the street to tell Jim that we had just totally changed what I had designed and taped out not 30 minutes earlier. As I told Jim a little about the change he immediately started thinking of how to build something magical. The difference between a designer and a technical director is that the technical director will immediately start thinking of how to build something without looking at what it is we are trying to accomplish emotionally or visually in relation to the actor with the piece of scenery. I told Jim that I would let him know when I was ready to explore the possibilities after I simmered my ideas for awhile. I wasn't there yet. What he could do was start working on the much simpler build for the platforming at the back of the stage.
The deadline for us to build these platforms is tomorrow (Friday) at 4 pm. At 5 pm April has rehearsal on the main stage for the first time with the platforms.
I have a photo in my office taken by the cast of Oklahoma with me standing at the front of the stage with my head down looking into what seems like the floor. In reality that is me looking at all of the visual images or ideas swirling around in my brain trying to distill a direction or an image that will lead me forward from that point. Even as I write this my mind returns to that balcony scene I wrote about at the beginning of this blog and thoughts are bubbling up about making the rooftop garden using elements of a balcony reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. I can feel my mind already shifting into the creative brain mode to work on this.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Doubt
I've been working on Doubt and the preface to play written at the beginning of the script is something I find so interesting that I'm going to put it as my blog for today. I spend a great deal of time dealing with income and expenses, marketing plays, writing grants and promoting the theatre. But many times the real joy of my job is to work with the ideas and themes in a play. How that impacts us on a personal level. What questions it forces me personally to confront and how I can bring those questions to our community in a way that allows us as a community to explore these questions in a deeper way.
Here is an excerpt from the Preface to play Doubt written in the front of the script by playwright John Patrick Shanley.
What's under a play? What holds it up? You might as well ask what's under me? On what am I built? There's something silent under every person and under every play. There is something unsaid under any given society as well.
There's a symptom apparent in America right now. It's evident in political talk shows, in entertainment coverage, in artistic criticism of every kind, in religious discussion. we are living in a courtroom culture. We were living in a celebrity culture, but that's dead. Now we're only interested in celebrities if they're in court. We are living in a culture of extreme advocacy, of confrontation, of judgment, and of verdict. Discussion has given way to debate. communication has become a contest of wills. Public talking has become obnoxious and insincere. Why? Maybe it's because deep down under the chatter we have come to a place where we know that we don't know...anything. But no body's willing to say that.
Let me ask you. Have you ever held a position in an argument past the point of comfort? Have you Have you ever defended a way of life you were on the verge of exhausting? Have you ever ever given service to a creed you no longer utterly believed? Have you ever told a girl you loved her and felt the faint nausea of eroding conviction? I have. That's an interesting moment. for a playwright, it's the beginning of an idea. I saw a piece of real estate on which I might build a play, a play that sat on something silent in my life and in my time. I started with the title: Doubt.
What is Doubt? Each of us is like a planet. There's the crust, which seems eternal. We are confident about who we are. If you ask, we can readily describe our current state. I know my answers to so many questions, as do you. What was your father like? Do you believe in God? Who's your best friend? What do you want? Your answers are your current topography, seemingly permanent, but deceptively so. Because under that face of easy response, there is another You. And this wordless Being moves just as the instant moves; it presses upward without explanation, fluid and wordless, until the resisting consciousness has no choice but to give way.
It is Doubt (so often experienced initially as weakness) that changes things. When a man feels unsteady, when he falters, when hard-won knowledge evaporates before his eyes, he's on the verge of growth. The subtle or violent reconciliation of the outer person and the inner core often seems at first like a mistake, like you've gone the wrong way and you're lost. but this is just emotion longing for the familiar. Life happens when the tectonic power of your speechless soul breaks through the dead habits of the mind. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to reenter the Present.
The first rehearsal for Doubt is tonight.
Here is an excerpt from the Preface to play Doubt written in the front of the script by playwright John Patrick Shanley.
What's under a play? What holds it up? You might as well ask what's under me? On what am I built? There's something silent under every person and under every play. There is something unsaid under any given society as well.
There's a symptom apparent in America right now. It's evident in political talk shows, in entertainment coverage, in artistic criticism of every kind, in religious discussion. we are living in a courtroom culture. We were living in a celebrity culture, but that's dead. Now we're only interested in celebrities if they're in court. We are living in a culture of extreme advocacy, of confrontation, of judgment, and of verdict. Discussion has given way to debate. communication has become a contest of wills. Public talking has become obnoxious and insincere. Why? Maybe it's because deep down under the chatter we have come to a place where we know that we don't know...anything. But no body's willing to say that.
Let me ask you. Have you ever held a position in an argument past the point of comfort? Have you Have you ever defended a way of life you were on the verge of exhausting? Have you ever ever given service to a creed you no longer utterly believed? Have you ever told a girl you loved her and felt the faint nausea of eroding conviction? I have. That's an interesting moment. for a playwright, it's the beginning of an idea. I saw a piece of real estate on which I might build a play, a play that sat on something silent in my life and in my time. I started with the title: Doubt.
What is Doubt? Each of us is like a planet. There's the crust, which seems eternal. We are confident about who we are. If you ask, we can readily describe our current state. I know my answers to so many questions, as do you. What was your father like? Do you believe in God? Who's your best friend? What do you want? Your answers are your current topography, seemingly permanent, but deceptively so. Because under that face of easy response, there is another You. And this wordless Being moves just as the instant moves; it presses upward without explanation, fluid and wordless, until the resisting consciousness has no choice but to give way.
It is Doubt (so often experienced initially as weakness) that changes things. When a man feels unsteady, when he falters, when hard-won knowledge evaporates before his eyes, he's on the verge of growth. The subtle or violent reconciliation of the outer person and the inner core often seems at first like a mistake, like you've gone the wrong way and you're lost. but this is just emotion longing for the familiar. Life happens when the tectonic power of your speechless soul breaks through the dead habits of the mind. Doubt is nothing less than an opportunity to reenter the Present.
The first rehearsal for Doubt is tonight.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Post My Way
We finished up the final weekend of performances with My Way. The audiences were smaller than we had hoped but the audience enthusiasm more than made up for it. Sunday's final performance received a wonderful response from the audience. The cast of Cheri, David, Fowler and Victoria became a wonderful ensemble who you could tell by watching loved singing with each other. We had the cast party at Cheri's last night and everyone had a great time to celebrate the show.
Saturday night before the performance Fowler sang in a wedding at First Presbyterian that didn't get over until after 7:15 pm. Curtain for the show Saturday night was 7:30 pm. We joked before we opened the house that if Fowler wasn't there at curtain time I would have to stretch my curtain speech by doing trivia or stump the band. Fortunately for the audience Fowler was in place to start the show at the regular time-although I did hear that people at the wedding saw him tapping his foot during his final wedding song trying to pick up the tempo a little in the Lords Prayer!
Sunday we did the drawing for the 37" HD flat screen television. Paula Briggs from Southern IL was the winner who was contacted by telephone. A big thank you to everyone who purchased tickets to help the seat campaign. about 7 seats will be purchased from the raffle proceeds.
Today is a day to return equipment and to clear out My Way and prepare for High School musical to move in to the main stage this week. We have a board meeting Wednesday night to check on our progress so far this year on fundraising. It's hard to believe that we are already at the end of the first quarter. Year to date our income is below our projected budget. It is always difficult to cut back when we had cut the budget to bare bones to begin with. I'm trying to be creative in how to cut back without damaging the program. It's always that damned if you do and damned if you don't. Things like cutting back on marketing but then you sell less tickets which cuts your income even more. It always seems that any expense areas are always tied directly to income areas.
I often marvel at for profit theatres and how they make money. Like restaurants many big city theatres, I've worked at, turn to the bar at intermission or before the show, to turn a profit. I don't think that case can be made in Western Kentucky however. We did a survey a few years ago and asked if MHT audiences wanted bar services before the show and at intermission and the answer was an overwhelming no. We decided long ago not to have a "gift shop" because most of those weren't making much money either. Part of our mission to make theatre available and affordable for the community is to keep our ticket prices low. So I'm left to scour the financial data for the next few days and see where I can eek out a couple dollars here or there to trim our expenses.
Saturday night before the performance Fowler sang in a wedding at First Presbyterian that didn't get over until after 7:15 pm. Curtain for the show Saturday night was 7:30 pm. We joked before we opened the house that if Fowler wasn't there at curtain time I would have to stretch my curtain speech by doing trivia or stump the band. Fortunately for the audience Fowler was in place to start the show at the regular time-although I did hear that people at the wedding saw him tapping his foot during his final wedding song trying to pick up the tempo a little in the Lords Prayer!
Sunday we did the drawing for the 37" HD flat screen television. Paula Briggs from Southern IL was the winner who was contacted by telephone. A big thank you to everyone who purchased tickets to help the seat campaign. about 7 seats will be purchased from the raffle proceeds.
Today is a day to return equipment and to clear out My Way and prepare for High School musical to move in to the main stage this week. We have a board meeting Wednesday night to check on our progress so far this year on fundraising. It's hard to believe that we are already at the end of the first quarter. Year to date our income is below our projected budget. It is always difficult to cut back when we had cut the budget to bare bones to begin with. I'm trying to be creative in how to cut back without damaging the program. It's always that damned if you do and damned if you don't. Things like cutting back on marketing but then you sell less tickets which cuts your income even more. It always seems that any expense areas are always tied directly to income areas.
I often marvel at for profit theatres and how they make money. Like restaurants many big city theatres, I've worked at, turn to the bar at intermission or before the show, to turn a profit. I don't think that case can be made in Western Kentucky however. We did a survey a few years ago and asked if MHT audiences wanted bar services before the show and at intermission and the answer was an overwhelming no. We decided long ago not to have a "gift shop" because most of those weren't making much money either. Part of our mission to make theatre available and affordable for the community is to keep our ticket prices low. So I'm left to scour the financial data for the next few days and see where I can eek out a couple dollars here or there to trim our expenses.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
breathing
I've been working from home for the last few days recuperating from some minor outpatient surgery. With the beautiful fall weather I've been able to open the windows and doors, to feel the cool air of the mornings and the wonderful warm days. To stop and breathe.
Working from the office is always about what deadline is looming and what decision needs to be made right now. A salesperson is always stopping by to try to sell an ad or a community group wanting to get a donation for a fundraiser or something else. A staff member wants me to look at something or needs an answer to a question. There always seems to be something that prevents me from taking the time to fully explore an idea- appointments, telephone calls, emails.... It is creativity at 70 mph.
Working from home seems to be about taking time to notice possibilities. I've read almost 4 scripts while drinking my coffee and then think about how those themes reflect in our community. I've taken my sketch pad and tried out several ideas for sets and costumes. I've spent time thinking about how to solve the problems we are facing without the added pressure of others standing there waiting for an answer. (With the exception of a large 2 year old yellow lab with a blue squeak toy who always seems to want my attention!) Most Executive Directors of Arts organizations have a 5-7 year tenure. (That was a statistic from several years ago. It may be even shorter now.) It is not a job for someone who can't deal with long hours and stress.
As we end the first show of the 45th season we find ourselves dealing with many of the same problems that challenged our theatre at the end of the last season. Too much to do with not enough people. We are scrambling to find volunteers to usher and to auditions for roles in plays. Our staff is dealing with a dozen different competing demands all of which require time and money-both of which are in short supply. We keep turning to familiar solutions to solve problems which seem to have less and less ability to solve the problems. But how do you find new ways if you are constantly pressed for time. We seem to operate in perpetual crises mode. Sounds like the challenges facing our country doesn't it.
This week with the storm on Sunday that knocked out power for part of the day, everything stopped running for a short time and we stopped to take a breath. That breath for me continued during the week with my time away from the office. Even with the vacations this summer I never seemed to feel like I stopped to breathe. I had forgotten what it was like to stop to breathe. To make decisions without the pressure of a crises. It is the last week of My Way performances and then it is off to the races for the next three shows. Jim is building the scenery for High School Musical, April is teaching classes, Marsha is working on contributions, program ads and sponsors, Janice is working on High School Musical costumes, Alexis is working on getting tickets on sale for the next 3 shows, and I'm working on thinking about the future. This week has been a gift to me to open the windows and breathe in the fresh air to clear the mind.
Working from the office is always about what deadline is looming and what decision needs to be made right now. A salesperson is always stopping by to try to sell an ad or a community group wanting to get a donation for a fundraiser or something else. A staff member wants me to look at something or needs an answer to a question. There always seems to be something that prevents me from taking the time to fully explore an idea- appointments, telephone calls, emails.... It is creativity at 70 mph.
Working from home seems to be about taking time to notice possibilities. I've read almost 4 scripts while drinking my coffee and then think about how those themes reflect in our community. I've taken my sketch pad and tried out several ideas for sets and costumes. I've spent time thinking about how to solve the problems we are facing without the added pressure of others standing there waiting for an answer. (With the exception of a large 2 year old yellow lab with a blue squeak toy who always seems to want my attention!) Most Executive Directors of Arts organizations have a 5-7 year tenure. (That was a statistic from several years ago. It may be even shorter now.) It is not a job for someone who can't deal with long hours and stress.
As we end the first show of the 45th season we find ourselves dealing with many of the same problems that challenged our theatre at the end of the last season. Too much to do with not enough people. We are scrambling to find volunteers to usher and to auditions for roles in plays. Our staff is dealing with a dozen different competing demands all of which require time and money-both of which are in short supply. We keep turning to familiar solutions to solve problems which seem to have less and less ability to solve the problems. But how do you find new ways if you are constantly pressed for time. We seem to operate in perpetual crises mode. Sounds like the challenges facing our country doesn't it.
This week with the storm on Sunday that knocked out power for part of the day, everything stopped running for a short time and we stopped to take a breath. That breath for me continued during the week with my time away from the office. Even with the vacations this summer I never seemed to feel like I stopped to breathe. I had forgotten what it was like to stop to breathe. To make decisions without the pressure of a crises. It is the last week of My Way performances and then it is off to the races for the next three shows. Jim is building the scenery for High School Musical, April is teaching classes, Marsha is working on contributions, program ads and sponsors, Janice is working on High School Musical costumes, Alexis is working on getting tickets on sale for the next 3 shows, and I'm working on thinking about the future. This week has been a gift to me to open the windows and breathe in the fresh air to clear the mind.
Monday, September 15, 2008
dancing in the aisles
We just finished the second of three weekends of MY WAY. This past weekend I ran sound for the show. Saturday night I ran sound and stage managed the show. Denise the stage manager had purchased tickets long ago for the Bug Bunny Symphony concert. Bobby Grey the sound operator was at a sound workshop all weekend. Both the sound and stage managing are not something that anyone can walk in and handle. They have to understand the nuance of the show. For instance with sound it is important to know each voice on stage and how they blend. You need to know which voice is softer in a 4 part harmony so you can raise that level to even out the blend. In calling a "cue" you need to know when the downbeat in a song is that a light cue is designed for and be able to call not to early or too late in order to accent the music and the lights.
Friday night a little girl about 3 or 4 years old sat in the back row by her mother. She spent most of the second act dancing in the aisle right next to me at the sound board. It was fun to see her "interpretation" of the songs as she raised her hands and waved on tip toe in time to the music.
We have one more weekend to go. High School musical is in high gear. Tomorrow night the performers are off book for a large part of act one. That means they can't carry their scripts with them anymore. Jim is building the tables and chairs for the classroom scenes today and tomorrow. I'm working from home on drafting the sets for the show.
Rehearsals start this Thursday for Greetings. I start rehearsals next week for Doubt and play selection starts next week.
Friday night a little girl about 3 or 4 years old sat in the back row by her mother. She spent most of the second act dancing in the aisle right next to me at the sound board. It was fun to see her "interpretation" of the songs as she raised her hands and waved on tip toe in time to the music.
We have one more weekend to go. High School musical is in high gear. Tomorrow night the performers are off book for a large part of act one. That means they can't carry their scripts with them anymore. Jim is building the tables and chairs for the classroom scenes today and tomorrow. I'm working from home on drafting the sets for the show.
Rehearsals start this Thursday for Greetings. I start rehearsals next week for Doubt and play selection starts next week.
Friday, September 12, 2008
post script to running
Writing the blog this morning I almost forgot about what happened last week with Victoria's microphone.
Victoria has her microphone pinned inside the front of her low cut dress. Victoria was having a problem with the mic so Cheri was helping her right before she had to enter. The music is playing- David and Fowler are walking on stage they click their glasses to start the show which is the cue for Victoria to enter...no Victoria... they click the glasses again and offstage in the wings Cheri has her hand down the front of Victoria's dress trying to help her with the microphone. Cheri is try to pin the mic. Unfortunately she gets her glove pinned to Victoria's dress and now Victoria has this long white glove sticking out the front of her dress. With seconds to spare Cheri unpins her glove, gets Victoria's dress and microphone fixed and Victoria walks onstage as if nothing in the world has happened. Elapsed time probably about 15 seconds. Cheri runs around to the other side of the stage and enters on her cue.
That is the joy of live theatre and the legends that are made with moments of panic.
Victoria has her microphone pinned inside the front of her low cut dress. Victoria was having a problem with the mic so Cheri was helping her right before she had to enter. The music is playing- David and Fowler are walking on stage they click their glasses to start the show which is the cue for Victoria to enter...no Victoria... they click the glasses again and offstage in the wings Cheri has her hand down the front of Victoria's dress trying to help her with the microphone. Cheri is try to pin the mic. Unfortunately she gets her glove pinned to Victoria's dress and now Victoria has this long white glove sticking out the front of her dress. With seconds to spare Cheri unpins her glove, gets Victoria's dress and microphone fixed and Victoria walks onstage as if nothing in the world has happened. Elapsed time probably about 15 seconds. Cheri runs around to the other side of the stage and enters on her cue.
That is the joy of live theatre and the legends that are made with moments of panic.
off and running
This morning I will post the cast lists for Doubt, Greetings, and Southern Comforts. Director Phil Counts and I held auditions Monday and Tuesday and Phil had a brief call back on Wednesday night. Several of the actors auditioned for all 3 shows and several auditioned for only Greetings. Through all of the auditions however we were still short a male actor ages 20-30's. We had 3 roles for males that age and only had two audition. We cast both males and are still looking for a 3rd. We will continue to audition actors even after announcing the cast lists.
Last night My Way opened for the second weekend. At the very beginning of the show Cheri Paxton walked onstage to sing and her wireless microphone wasn't working. I was running sound for the show seated at the back row of the auditorium next to the exit door. In a split second I knew that Denise the stage manager couldn't leave the booth to hand Cheri the handheld without missing light cues which would create more problems. The actors wouldn't be sure enough to hand Cheri the hand held microphone because they were all focused on singing their songs. It was up to me to get that microphone to Cheri and yet leaving the sound board unattended would risk feedback to the audience if someones microphone got too loud while I was running backstage to fix the problem. What to do? In theatre you generally have to go with your gut feeling when something goes wrong. Fix the issue immediately and move on.
I immediately turned on the hand held wireless microphone, exited the auditorium, went through the lobby, around the outside of the building, walked in the stage door, walked up to the side of the stage. As I ran I was thinking if I could get one of the actors to hand the microphone to Cheri or if I was going to have to walk onstage pickup the microphone and hand it to Cheri myself. As I got to the side of the stage I say David sitting by the piano, as forcefully as I could whispered/yelled David.. David.. He looked at me startled to see me and I told him to give the hand held microphone to Cheri that we keep on the piano for just such a problem. He nodded and I ran back out the stage door, back around the building, through the lobby and into the theatre back to the sound booth and began to adjust the sound levels using the hand held. All of this took approx. 30 seconds.
The stage managers have a running joke that I can tele-port myself from the audience to the backstage instantly. In reality it takes me less than 5 seconds at a dead run from the lobby to the stage door. If you were outside the theatre last night you would have witnessed a man in a suit in an Olympic sprint running flat out alongside the building. Cheri used the hand held until a few moments later in the show when she isn't singing and can stand at the back of the stage. Victoria casually walked over and jammed her hand down the back of Cheri's dress onstage (there is really no other way to reset the transmitter gracefully- Cheri just stood there and smiled as if nothing was happening while Victoria did this) and Victoria reset the transmitter pack which was buried in the back of Cheri's dress so the microphone worked again. Then Cheri set the handheld microphone down and the show went on for the rest of the evening without a glitch.
I'm thinking they should make an Olympic event for directors. The backstage run. It is amazing what adrenaline will do.
Last night My Way opened for the second weekend. At the very beginning of the show Cheri Paxton walked onstage to sing and her wireless microphone wasn't working. I was running sound for the show seated at the back row of the auditorium next to the exit door. In a split second I knew that Denise the stage manager couldn't leave the booth to hand Cheri the handheld without missing light cues which would create more problems. The actors wouldn't be sure enough to hand Cheri the hand held microphone because they were all focused on singing their songs. It was up to me to get that microphone to Cheri and yet leaving the sound board unattended would risk feedback to the audience if someones microphone got too loud while I was running backstage to fix the problem. What to do? In theatre you generally have to go with your gut feeling when something goes wrong. Fix the issue immediately and move on.
I immediately turned on the hand held wireless microphone, exited the auditorium, went through the lobby, around the outside of the building, walked in the stage door, walked up to the side of the stage. As I ran I was thinking if I could get one of the actors to hand the microphone to Cheri or if I was going to have to walk onstage pickup the microphone and hand it to Cheri myself. As I got to the side of the stage I say David sitting by the piano, as forcefully as I could whispered/yelled David.. David.. He looked at me startled to see me and I told him to give the hand held microphone to Cheri that we keep on the piano for just such a problem. He nodded and I ran back out the stage door, back around the building, through the lobby and into the theatre back to the sound booth and began to adjust the sound levels using the hand held. All of this took approx. 30 seconds.
The stage managers have a running joke that I can tele-port myself from the audience to the backstage instantly. In reality it takes me less than 5 seconds at a dead run from the lobby to the stage door. If you were outside the theatre last night you would have witnessed a man in a suit in an Olympic sprint running flat out alongside the building. Cheri used the hand held until a few moments later in the show when she isn't singing and can stand at the back of the stage. Victoria casually walked over and jammed her hand down the back of Cheri's dress onstage (there is really no other way to reset the transmitter gracefully- Cheri just stood there and smiled as if nothing was happening while Victoria did this) and Victoria reset the transmitter pack which was buried in the back of Cheri's dress so the microphone worked again. Then Cheri set the handheld microphone down and the show went on for the rest of the evening without a glitch.
I'm thinking they should make an Olympic event for directors. The backstage run. It is amazing what adrenaline will do.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
surprise performers
We finished a great weekend of performances for My Way this past Sunday and had auditions for Doubt, Greetings, and Southern Comforts last night. On Sunday I went backstage at intermission and the cast immediately asked me if I had seen the newest addition to the show. Apparently we had an over zealous fly on stage during the performance. It insisted on landing on the faces of cast members while they were trying to sing. Cheri Paxton said that it landed on David Jernigan's nose while she was holding hands with him trying to sing a song and she couldn't look at him for most of the song. On one of Fowler's songs it landed on the side of his head and Victoria had to restrain herself from smacking Fowler's head trying to kill the fly. The fly didn't leave the theatre until the very end of the show. Even with the fly the audience response was great and the cast did an outstanding job with the first weekend of shows. Maybe the fly just wanted to audition for the next set of shows!
Which leads me to the auditions last night which had over a dozen people show up. We still need some men in their 20s-30s to play roles in Greetings. I will be calling some of the performers that age range today to remind them about auditions tonight. We had several good performers audition last night- mostly for the older roles in the shows. It is that age old problem in community theatre casting-trying to get the word out and people to audition for great parts that are available in shows without promising anyone anything. Sometimes people show up and tell others that "the director called them to come audition". The truth is in community theatres we call everyone who fits the character description.
I'm hoping that tonight will be a good turnout. Two more weekends to go with My Way. We have the piano rental person in today to give the piano a tuning and to fix a squeaky pedal that is driving Patt Lynch crazy.
Which leads me to the auditions last night which had over a dozen people show up. We still need some men in their 20s-30s to play roles in Greetings. I will be calling some of the performers that age range today to remind them about auditions tonight. We had several good performers audition last night- mostly for the older roles in the shows. It is that age old problem in community theatre casting-trying to get the word out and people to audition for great parts that are available in shows without promising anyone anything. Sometimes people show up and tell others that "the director called them to come audition". The truth is in community theatres we call everyone who fits the character description.
I'm hoping that tonight will be a good turnout. Two more weekends to go with My Way. We have the piano rental person in today to give the piano a tuning and to fix a squeaky pedal that is driving Patt Lynch crazy.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Whirlwind
It is Saturday morning and I'm in the office while my daughter Jade is in April's Footlights theatre classes for kids. I'm looking at the debris scattered over my desk and floors and bookshelves from the remnants of opening My Way and the even the show before that. Sometimes I feel like a hurricane victim except in my case it would be a show victim. Catalogs from theatrical supply companies that I used to order from for the show. Several CD discs that we used to record parts of the rehearsals on so that the musical director and I could listen to the music from that nights rehearsal and give notes the next day. Grant forms and folders that were used to get statistics from last season for copy for the program for My Way. Agendas and minutes and financial reports from board meetings last year getting ready for the audit which starts next Monday. Scripts that I've collected over the course of the past season to consider for next season. Photos of the summer shows and cast and crew shots from last season. Scripts and clue packets from the last murder mystery we just held at the end of August. Blank Cd cases that we collected from the photo Cd's that we put discs in for performers to purchase to remember shows they were just in. Fundraising magazines and flyer's from other theatres and companies that might be of interest to the theatre that came in the last couple of months. Under my desk is filled with digital camera bags and boom boxes and tape recorders, theatre magazines. Hurricanes "wedding from hell", "my way", "doubt", "greetings", "southern comforts" and "high school musical" remnants litter my office. Some of those shows are only in audition or early rehearsal phases and haven't fully made office fall yet but their effects are still present.
The My Way After Hours party was last night immediately following the show. Board members Sarah Bynum, Cindy Miller, Ann Counts, and Heather Dorr catered and bar tended the event. Sarah Bynum convinced me to try one of the three specialty martinis in these wonderful tiny glasses from Roof Brothers. Roof Brothers has been wonderful to work with on this event and we them a big thank you! Normally I'm a beer and wine kind of guy since I gave up smoking years ago. Sarah made me a pomegranate martini and it was excellent! Not at all what I expected. ( I may have to rethink my occasional after show cocktail at one of the local bars with the cast.) We have another event after the show next Friday night. If you are looking for something fun and different it give it a try. Our studio theatre makes a great night club.
My Way the show has received standing ovations both performances. The performers are really learning how to "play" the audience for laughs and tears. After the performance we all laugh about the word substitutions that come out unexpectedly. Last night it was Victoria who sings "I love Paris in the Springtime". Instead she sang I love Paris in the "summer". She said she wanted to turn to the other performers and shake her head and say "where did that come from?" Each performer had a moment when something like that happens almost every night. That is what makes theatre so engaging. It's live. You never know what will happen. You do your best and then see where it leads you. Just before the crew call last night our follow spot operator Kim Yocum cut her thumb while making dinner and had to go to the emergency room. Ten minutes for the house opened she was still in the emergency room waiting to get her paperwork processed. Jim Keeney jumped in on follow spot and ran act one. Bobby Grey a high school student who has been training in on lights, sound and spot ran act two. I'm switching out 3 of the microphones today because I'm not happy with the sound quality of a couple of songs. The microphones are picking up a little bit of static on some of the higher notes and that isn't a good sign early in the run. It could be a sign of trouble to come so we will fix that before it is a problem.
We have two shows today- 2:30 and 7:30. A Sunday matinee tomorrow and then the cast and crew has three days of rest before we do it again next weekend. Auditions for 3 plays are Monday and Tuesday night. I'm hoping we get a good turnout. There are some really great parts. April and Emily Hensel and Mary Kathryn Dorr are meeting right after Footlights classes today to work on the choreography for a song for High School musical. April called me about 8:30 this morning to tell me she needed a couple of basketballs for them to work with today.
It's time for me to go collect my daughter, hunt down basketballs and get ready for the shows today. I'll start the cleanup process from the show storms on Monday.
The My Way After Hours party was last night immediately following the show. Board members Sarah Bynum, Cindy Miller, Ann Counts, and Heather Dorr catered and bar tended the event. Sarah Bynum convinced me to try one of the three specialty martinis in these wonderful tiny glasses from Roof Brothers. Roof Brothers has been wonderful to work with on this event and we them a big thank you! Normally I'm a beer and wine kind of guy since I gave up smoking years ago. Sarah made me a pomegranate martini and it was excellent! Not at all what I expected. ( I may have to rethink my occasional after show cocktail at one of the local bars with the cast.) We have another event after the show next Friday night. If you are looking for something fun and different it give it a try. Our studio theatre makes a great night club.
My Way the show has received standing ovations both performances. The performers are really learning how to "play" the audience for laughs and tears. After the performance we all laugh about the word substitutions that come out unexpectedly. Last night it was Victoria who sings "I love Paris in the Springtime". Instead she sang I love Paris in the "summer". She said she wanted to turn to the other performers and shake her head and say "where did that come from?" Each performer had a moment when something like that happens almost every night. That is what makes theatre so engaging. It's live. You never know what will happen. You do your best and then see where it leads you. Just before the crew call last night our follow spot operator Kim Yocum cut her thumb while making dinner and had to go to the emergency room. Ten minutes for the house opened she was still in the emergency room waiting to get her paperwork processed. Jim Keeney jumped in on follow spot and ran act one. Bobby Grey a high school student who has been training in on lights, sound and spot ran act two. I'm switching out 3 of the microphones today because I'm not happy with the sound quality of a couple of songs. The microphones are picking up a little bit of static on some of the higher notes and that isn't a good sign early in the run. It could be a sign of trouble to come so we will fix that before it is a problem.
We have two shows today- 2:30 and 7:30. A Sunday matinee tomorrow and then the cast and crew has three days of rest before we do it again next weekend. Auditions for 3 plays are Monday and Tuesday night. I'm hoping we get a good turnout. There are some really great parts. April and Emily Hensel and Mary Kathryn Dorr are meeting right after Footlights classes today to work on the choreography for a song for High School musical. April called me about 8:30 this morning to tell me she needed a couple of basketballs for them to work with today.
It's time for me to go collect my daughter, hunt down basketballs and get ready for the shows today. I'll start the cleanup process from the show storms on Monday.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
48 hours
The gold rain curtain came in Tuesday. I took a risk that this curtain would make a bold visual statement. I did a lot of second guessing myself in ordering this curtain. Would it be too reflective, not reflective enough, should I have gone with a darker color as a compliment or go with a contrasting color to the dark drapes. Last night at rehearsal I looked at the drape under lights and it worked beautifully.
Adam Shull from the Paducah Sun interviewed me by phone Thursday about the article coming out Thursday. The article will feature the area arts groups and their upcoming seasons. The focus of his questions were about how celebrating our 45th season this year has impacted our planning. At first I had to think hard to think of an answer. As I reflected on this years shows a theme started to emerge that I hadn't really thought much about.
This season we have two of the most challenging shows we have ever produced. High School Musical and The Wizard of Oz. Beauty and the Beast had been the most expensive show MHT had ever produced before. This year we have two shows that are incredibly challenging for the theatre and yet are very familiar to most audiences. April and I constantly look at the shows we have selected and ask ourselves "how did we ever agree to do this on this tiny stage!" For dramas and comedies the theatre space can be ideal. For musicals it is always a nightmare for a director to stage large dance numbers and have everyone visible. April has cast 33 people for high school musical. Our stage is so deep and narrow and the audience sits below the stage. Which means that the further back you place actors on the stage the more blocked they are by actors at the front of the stage unless you raise them by using platforms. Our proscenium opening at the front of the stage is only 9' 6" tall. That means that any platform above 3 feet tall unless it is further towards the back of the stage starts to cut off the actors heads from the back row. It requires a great deal of creativity to stage large shows.
The other mainstage shows we selected are all new plays which have never been produced at the theatre. But the themes of the shows are familiar. Frank Sinatra music in My Way, A family setting for Christmas with Greetings, a romantic comedy for seniors with Southern Comforts, and a story about sisters with The Sugar Bean Sisters.
In the studio shows we are challenging our audiences to think about tough issues. With Doubt we challenge audiences to look at what is the truth and how a person's life can be destroyed by gossip. Having Our Say challenges audiences to look at American history from a different perspective- the eyes of two African American women over 100 years old. The Secret Life of Girls challenges us all as parents to see how young girls lives are destroyed by social bullying.
So what is the theme for our 45th anniversary? Challenging ourselves. Challenge as a theatre to produce works that will stretch our creativity to the max to present on a tiny stage. Challenge to our audiences to take a chance on new plays they have never seen before in the mainstage and in our studio to challenge our audiences to a community conversation about difficult subjects in our lives. Challenge to our performers to stretch themselves and grow their abilities to step up to some of the roles this season.
Tomorrow we officially open our 45th Mainstage season. Next week we audition the next three plays and start play selection for our 46th season. We never seem to get a chance to enjoy the accomplishments before rushing off towards the next challenges. Hopefully we as a theatre can take a moment as we approach Oct. 13, 2008 and remember a group of local residents who challenged themselves 45 years ago on that day, to create a theatre performed by local people for the benefit of others in our community. Some 45 years later we are the largest community theatre in Kentucky, nationally recognized, award winning, and have produced hundreds of plays with thousands of performers. During the performance of My Way the actors raise their glasses in a toast to Frank Sinatra and all he accomplished. As we open our 45th season tomorrow night raise a glass with me and toast MHT and its rich legacy in the lives of the people who have graced the stage and watched their friends, family and neighbors from the seats. We've matured quite a bit in 45 years and I believe that, to borrow a song from My Way, "The Best is Yet to Come".
Adam Shull from the Paducah Sun interviewed me by phone Thursday about the article coming out Thursday. The article will feature the area arts groups and their upcoming seasons. The focus of his questions were about how celebrating our 45th season this year has impacted our planning. At first I had to think hard to think of an answer. As I reflected on this years shows a theme started to emerge that I hadn't really thought much about.
This season we have two of the most challenging shows we have ever produced. High School Musical and The Wizard of Oz. Beauty and the Beast had been the most expensive show MHT had ever produced before. This year we have two shows that are incredibly challenging for the theatre and yet are very familiar to most audiences. April and I constantly look at the shows we have selected and ask ourselves "how did we ever agree to do this on this tiny stage!" For dramas and comedies the theatre space can be ideal. For musicals it is always a nightmare for a director to stage large dance numbers and have everyone visible. April has cast 33 people for high school musical. Our stage is so deep and narrow and the audience sits below the stage. Which means that the further back you place actors on the stage the more blocked they are by actors at the front of the stage unless you raise them by using platforms. Our proscenium opening at the front of the stage is only 9' 6" tall. That means that any platform above 3 feet tall unless it is further towards the back of the stage starts to cut off the actors heads from the back row. It requires a great deal of creativity to stage large shows.
The other mainstage shows we selected are all new plays which have never been produced at the theatre. But the themes of the shows are familiar. Frank Sinatra music in My Way, A family setting for Christmas with Greetings, a romantic comedy for seniors with Southern Comforts, and a story about sisters with The Sugar Bean Sisters.
In the studio shows we are challenging our audiences to think about tough issues. With Doubt we challenge audiences to look at what is the truth and how a person's life can be destroyed by gossip. Having Our Say challenges audiences to look at American history from a different perspective- the eyes of two African American women over 100 years old. The Secret Life of Girls challenges us all as parents to see how young girls lives are destroyed by social bullying.
So what is the theme for our 45th anniversary? Challenging ourselves. Challenge as a theatre to produce works that will stretch our creativity to the max to present on a tiny stage. Challenge to our audiences to take a chance on new plays they have never seen before in the mainstage and in our studio to challenge our audiences to a community conversation about difficult subjects in our lives. Challenge to our performers to stretch themselves and grow their abilities to step up to some of the roles this season.
Tomorrow we officially open our 45th Mainstage season. Next week we audition the next three plays and start play selection for our 46th season. We never seem to get a chance to enjoy the accomplishments before rushing off towards the next challenges. Hopefully we as a theatre can take a moment as we approach Oct. 13, 2008 and remember a group of local residents who challenged themselves 45 years ago on that day, to create a theatre performed by local people for the benefit of others in our community. Some 45 years later we are the largest community theatre in Kentucky, nationally recognized, award winning, and have produced hundreds of plays with thousands of performers. During the performance of My Way the actors raise their glasses in a toast to Frank Sinatra and all he accomplished. As we open our 45th season tomorrow night raise a glass with me and toast MHT and its rich legacy in the lives of the people who have graced the stage and watched their friends, family and neighbors from the seats. We've matured quite a bit in 45 years and I believe that, to borrow a song from My Way, "The Best is Yet to Come".
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Final Dress
Last night we began rehearsal at 6:30. First we worked on some of the choreography. Then Patt spent almost an hour and a half going over music notes from the night before. We are using a digital sound recorder to record the rehearsals. Patt then takes that recording home and analyzes the music from the rehearsal and then gives notes the next night. We finally started the run through at almost 8:30. All the pre-run through work helped a great deal. The run through went smoothly. The cast has worked extremely hard going over their music and dialogue outside of the rehearsal. If you see one of the cast chances are they have music constantly going on in their head. So don't worry if they seem a bit distracted. It's normal.
The week before opening most of the performers are probably having the actors nightmare. The standard nightmare is that you are performing in a show and you get out in front of the audience and you can't remember what you are supposed to say or do. My Executive Directors nightmare is that I have to be in the show, finish the set for the show, open the lobby to let the people in and keep everything going while I've forgotten what show it is that we are doing because we have so many going on at the same time. Even in our sleep we are still working on the show!
We still have a few spots to tweak here and there but overall the show is making progress towards opening night. We added slides to the set last night. Some of them worked great and others caused the tech crew to burst out laughing. During the "moon medley" I had gotten a slide of a beautiful landscape with a full moon. It had an odd title when I downloaded it but I didn't think anything of it. Unfortunately the moon in the slide was animated so it would blink on and then blink off like a giant firefly. Fortunately the performers didn't see this. But the crew thought it was hysterical. Needless to say I'm looking for a new slide. I've got my fingers crossed that the gold rain curtains show up today from New York. Once again after last nights rehearsal I have 2 pages of lighting notes. The notes just like the show keep getting more and more refined. Generally the first night the notes will be about someone standing in the dark. The second night it will be that some area is much brighter than another area and pulling the audiences focus. The third night is generally fine tuning the colors and the shading. I will still be taking notes all through opening night. Tweaking small things here and that. Working with the performers to get a bigger laugh on this part or to make another part a little more emotional. I need to thank Kim Yocum, Vickie Shelby, and Bobby Grey for their patience last night as we started so late. Patt and the musicians Joe Plucknett and Eddie Coreyl came in at 4 pm and rehearsed straight through to the end of rehearsal working on the music. Everyone has worked very hard on this production. After notes last night it was 11:00 pm when I finally locked the doors after the last person left.
During the afternoon I purchased a 37" flat screen HD TV for the raffle during My Way. We are raffling off the TV for $5 a ticket. All proceeds will go to the new seat campaign. You can buy them during the show or at the box office during business hours. We hope to raise about $4,000 from the raffle. The winning ticket will be drawn on Sunday Sept. 21 at the final curtain.
We are back at it tonight with actors arriving starting at 5 pm to work on individual songs and the full ensemble starting at 6 pm.
The week before opening most of the performers are probably having the actors nightmare. The standard nightmare is that you are performing in a show and you get out in front of the audience and you can't remember what you are supposed to say or do. My Executive Directors nightmare is that I have to be in the show, finish the set for the show, open the lobby to let the people in and keep everything going while I've forgotten what show it is that we are doing because we have so many going on at the same time. Even in our sleep we are still working on the show!
We still have a few spots to tweak here and there but overall the show is making progress towards opening night. We added slides to the set last night. Some of them worked great and others caused the tech crew to burst out laughing. During the "moon medley" I had gotten a slide of a beautiful landscape with a full moon. It had an odd title when I downloaded it but I didn't think anything of it. Unfortunately the moon in the slide was animated so it would blink on and then blink off like a giant firefly. Fortunately the performers didn't see this. But the crew thought it was hysterical. Needless to say I'm looking for a new slide. I've got my fingers crossed that the gold rain curtains show up today from New York. Once again after last nights rehearsal I have 2 pages of lighting notes. The notes just like the show keep getting more and more refined. Generally the first night the notes will be about someone standing in the dark. The second night it will be that some area is much brighter than another area and pulling the audiences focus. The third night is generally fine tuning the colors and the shading. I will still be taking notes all through opening night. Tweaking small things here and that. Working with the performers to get a bigger laugh on this part or to make another part a little more emotional. I need to thank Kim Yocum, Vickie Shelby, and Bobby Grey for their patience last night as we started so late. Patt and the musicians Joe Plucknett and Eddie Coreyl came in at 4 pm and rehearsed straight through to the end of rehearsal working on the music. Everyone has worked very hard on this production. After notes last night it was 11:00 pm when I finally locked the doors after the last person left.
During the afternoon I purchased a 37" flat screen HD TV for the raffle during My Way. We are raffling off the TV for $5 a ticket. All proceeds will go to the new seat campaign. You can buy them during the show or at the box office during business hours. We hope to raise about $4,000 from the raffle. The winning ticket will be drawn on Sunday Sept. 21 at the final curtain.
We are back at it tonight with actors arriving starting at 5 pm to work on individual songs and the full ensemble starting at 6 pm.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Labor
It is appropriate that this weekend is labor day because that is what I feel like I've done all weekend. On Thursday night we rehearsed My Way. Friday during the day was spent hanging and focusing lights. That means taking many of them down from the studio and putting them up in the main theatre. In addition we had the HVAC repair guys come in. Our air conditioning system has had continuing problems over the years with water condensation leaking into the dressing rooms below the unit. The bottom of the unit fills with water and then overflows onto the floor below it, which leaks through into the dressing rooms on the first floor. Last year we installed a float in the bottom of the unit so that if water rises above a certain level the unit will shut off to prevent the water overflowing. When the units were checked on Friday the floats were working properly but we still have water dripping. The repair guys will be back in on Tuesday to check for other causes.
Friday evening Denise Bristol and I set light cues. Denise is the stage manager for My Way. We started about 6:30 pm and worked until about 10pm. We finished only act one. I was too tired to finish act two. I left the theatre about 11:30 Friday night after closing up. Saturday morning started at 8:30 am with taking my daughter Jade to MHT's footlights classes . April taught until noon. While Jade was in class and for the rest of Saturday I spent working on the set design for High School musical. The challenge is to create the gym, the cafeteria and the theatre sets, that have lots of space and the ability for 30 people to sing and dance on. In our narrow stage that means trying to add levels so people can be seen behind others. The other sets call for small intimate spaces for 2-5 characters. Overall there are over 8 different locations called for in the play. Saturday afternoon, I built a rough wooden model of the set in the scene shop and then taped out the floor plan for the set on the floor up in the classroom space. I went home and spent the evening looking for images to project for the large screen at the back of the My Way set.
Sunday morning dawned early and I was back at. The day started about 6:30 am. I finished designing the lights. Then set up the sound system for the wireless microphones. Most of the plays at the theatre don't use microphones because the acoustics are so good in the theatre. However with a band onstage and the performers having to sing at the extreme ends of the highs and lows of their ranges they need vocal support to be heard over a bass, drums, and baby grand piano. When that was finished I set up the tables for the tech dinner and gathered the cups, plates, and napkins for the after the rehearsal dinner. We did the tech rehearsal. Kim Yocum is running followspot, Vickie Shelby is running the lights, and Bobby Grey is filling in at the both lights and sound. My biggest note to the performers was to nail down their their lines and lyrics. An example was when Victoria sang I like Paris instead of I love Paris. Small little words can really vex the performers. The night before David in one of his introductions was supposed to say "Patt lets light this candle" and instead said Patt lets light this puppy! Patt Lynch the musical director and pianist is still finding spots in the music that are driving him crazy. He found out last night that the bass and percussion music was missing two measures in the middle of a song. For the past two days they have been trying to figure out why there was always a problem when they reached that part. There were times in the past week when the show grinds to a halt and we have to stop and figure out why problems keep happening at that point. The next time we do it that part works fine. It is a messy process. The actors and musicians will walk out of rehearsal and all say "that was awful".
It is times like this that I'm reminded of a quote by Anne Lamont who was talking about the creative process. She said that if anyone ever read the early drafts of an authors work they wouldn't believe that it would ever amount to anything. It's that way in theatre too. Everything works fine until we move into that phase where you take away the scripts the actors have held in their hands since the beginning of rehearsal along with the fact that I quit yelling stop when they make a mistake. We are now at the phase where if they get into trouble they have to get themselves out of trouble. Somebody forgets a line or sings the wrong lyrics we keep going no matter what. That is the only way the show can move to the next level.
After the tech rehearsal Dick Holland and Renie and Don Barger and a couple of other volunteers had made food for the cast, crew, and orchestra. The food was great and very much appreciated!
Today (Monday) I have to climb into the Air conditioning space to clean out the drains again. If I don't the performers won't have air conditioning on stage or in the dressing rooms tonight. After that I have about 10 pages of notes from the rehearsal involving changing my light cues that didn't work that we set on Friday and Sunday. All this has to be done before 6:30 tonight. Just like the actors I have things I need to rework. Some cues look great, some cues need lots of work too!
We have 3 days until opening. Traditionally the week before opening is called Hell Week because it is a lot of long hours fixing and working through the process to make a polished and professional show for opening night. After 30 years of doing shows I would say we are right on track for opening night- if we all work like hell for the next three days- which is the norm for Hell week!
Friday evening Denise Bristol and I set light cues. Denise is the stage manager for My Way. We started about 6:30 pm and worked until about 10pm. We finished only act one. I was too tired to finish act two. I left the theatre about 11:30 Friday night after closing up. Saturday morning started at 8:30 am with taking my daughter Jade to MHT's footlights classes . April taught until noon. While Jade was in class and for the rest of Saturday I spent working on the set design for High School musical. The challenge is to create the gym, the cafeteria and the theatre sets, that have lots of space and the ability for 30 people to sing and dance on. In our narrow stage that means trying to add levels so people can be seen behind others. The other sets call for small intimate spaces for 2-5 characters. Overall there are over 8 different locations called for in the play. Saturday afternoon, I built a rough wooden model of the set in the scene shop and then taped out the floor plan for the set on the floor up in the classroom space. I went home and spent the evening looking for images to project for the large screen at the back of the My Way set.
Sunday morning dawned early and I was back at. The day started about 6:30 am. I finished designing the lights. Then set up the sound system for the wireless microphones. Most of the plays at the theatre don't use microphones because the acoustics are so good in the theatre. However with a band onstage and the performers having to sing at the extreme ends of the highs and lows of their ranges they need vocal support to be heard over a bass, drums, and baby grand piano. When that was finished I set up the tables for the tech dinner and gathered the cups, plates, and napkins for the after the rehearsal dinner. We did the tech rehearsal. Kim Yocum is running followspot, Vickie Shelby is running the lights, and Bobby Grey is filling in at the both lights and sound. My biggest note to the performers was to nail down their their lines and lyrics. An example was when Victoria sang I like Paris instead of I love Paris. Small little words can really vex the performers. The night before David in one of his introductions was supposed to say "Patt lets light this candle" and instead said Patt lets light this puppy! Patt Lynch the musical director and pianist is still finding spots in the music that are driving him crazy. He found out last night that the bass and percussion music was missing two measures in the middle of a song. For the past two days they have been trying to figure out why there was always a problem when they reached that part. There were times in the past week when the show grinds to a halt and we have to stop and figure out why problems keep happening at that point. The next time we do it that part works fine. It is a messy process. The actors and musicians will walk out of rehearsal and all say "that was awful".
It is times like this that I'm reminded of a quote by Anne Lamont who was talking about the creative process. She said that if anyone ever read the early drafts of an authors work they wouldn't believe that it would ever amount to anything. It's that way in theatre too. Everything works fine until we move into that phase where you take away the scripts the actors have held in their hands since the beginning of rehearsal along with the fact that I quit yelling stop when they make a mistake. We are now at the phase where if they get into trouble they have to get themselves out of trouble. Somebody forgets a line or sings the wrong lyrics we keep going no matter what. That is the only way the show can move to the next level.
After the tech rehearsal Dick Holland and Renie and Don Barger and a couple of other volunteers had made food for the cast, crew, and orchestra. The food was great and very much appreciated!
Today (Monday) I have to climb into the Air conditioning space to clean out the drains again. If I don't the performers won't have air conditioning on stage or in the dressing rooms tonight. After that I have about 10 pages of notes from the rehearsal involving changing my light cues that didn't work that we set on Friday and Sunday. All this has to be done before 6:30 tonight. Just like the actors I have things I need to rework. Some cues look great, some cues need lots of work too!
We have 3 days until opening. Traditionally the week before opening is called Hell Week because it is a lot of long hours fixing and working through the process to make a polished and professional show for opening night. After 30 years of doing shows I would say we are right on track for opening night- if we all work like hell for the next three days- which is the norm for Hell week!
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