Lots of heavy lifting

This past week has been filled with delivering and picking up. Delivering scenery that was left from the last couple of shows to the warehouse and picking up tables, dressers, couches, platforms, walls, doors, windows, refrigerators, sinks and counter tops. Friday Jim and I dismantled all of the tables in the studio theatre and hauled in platforms in preparation for the Footlights show and the Secret Life of Girls. We are turning the front of the second tier seating platform into the actual front row seating and eliminating the chairs that were on the floor. April has requested all the stage area she can get for 35 kids in the footlights show that will perform in the studio theatre. We are building a 12 inch tall platform up on the third tier platform to create a 4th tier platform. This will make the back row of chairs at what I call "bar stool height" so the back row audience can see over the 3rd row people sitting in chairs directly in front of them. We hope that this works and will be comfortable. If it does work it will give us another 20 seats in the studio theatre.

I've been working with the cast of the Sugar Bean Sisters as we unravel the lines in the play. There are a couple of lines that are repeated whenever the characters are afraid that tell us a great deal about the characters. One of the lines is "Oh Lord help us and bind us... tie our feet and hands behind us.. throw us in the watchalahootchie river where the devil won't find us." I've been looking up hymns and scripture passages trying to find similar phrases. Another phrase is "Time is going. Tomorrow comes before you know it." Everyone in the show is pondering how their characters are entwined in the curse that has been placed on the family living in the swamp.

We have been having lots of fun discovering the Gothic and comic elements in the play. A dark storm is building all during the play. It is almost a horror movie in one sense. Just as the intensity builds to a peak the playwright releases the tension with a laugh line. For me this is the part that I enjoy the most. Working with actors to create memorable characters that have lots of levels. None of these characters are two dimensional. They all have their "quirks".

Jack and the Beanstalk is in rehearsal and I'm working on how to develop the couple of locations needed for the play to tour. The last time we did this years ago we built a small stage with roll drops that changed the locations. This time we don't have two strong actors with the show to load and unload a heavy set. We will find an alternate way to accomplish the same task. The show has to set up by the cast in a maximum of 45 minutes including the sound system. The actors perform the play which takes anywhere from 30-40 minutes and then the cast strikes the set and sound system in about 20 minutes. Some days this happen 3 times in the same day. Everyone on the tour volunteers their time.

The Wizard of Oz will have its first music rehearsal Tuesday night at 6:30 in the classroom with musical director Doug Arnold. While that is going on at 7:30 Tuesday night on the mainstage will be the Sugar Bean Sisters rehearsal. Also Tuesday night at 6pm is a performance of the Aristocats and Clark Elementary. This next week will be a crazy run up to Spring Break in which most of the shows are off for a couple of days before we come back in and hit it really hard before opening.

Also on sale are the tickets for MHT's annual Derby party! Tickets will be $40 again this year and the event will be catered by Kirchhoff's with a Derby spread of food. Two drink tickets are included in the ticket price for Mint Juleps, beer and wine provided by Max's. The event will happen in Max's courtyard with the viewing of the race on the big screen at the maiden alley cinemas. All proceeds go to benefit the MHT outreach programming.

The board of directors met last Wednesday and we worked through several issues invovling changes for next season in our season tickets. The renewal letter for season ticket holders will start showing up in mailboxes in the next two weeks.