crunching bean time

I have been out of town on the Gulf Shore beach for the last few days and haven't posted. When we returned home Friday it was time to hit the ground running at full speed to get ready for this weekends rehearsals and next weeks openings. In addition Katy Miller has been hard at work on the choreography for The Wizard of Oz while I've been away. I can't wait to see what great things she has developed for that show.

Today is the technical rehearsal for the Sugar Bean Sisters. I finished the lighting for act one last night a little after 11pm. I'm headed down to the theatre in just a few minutes to finish setting the cues for act two and finish designing the sound for the play. I spent a great deal of time yesterday hanging Christmas lights on the set and working with some of the prop elements. Jim and I spent time working through making the rocking chair rock by itself. It is in a location that has to move by itself and then be turned by the actors to remove the body of one of the sisters when she dies. It's always something complicated when ever you try to do something it seems. I've been scouring the web looking for music for the play. I occasionally create my own music using a PC software called mixcraft which is similar to garage band. We have a license agreement that we pay for with ASCAP and BMI for the sound we use in the shows for scene changes, pre-show, and intermission and post show music. However if you use music during the actual play itself that is a separate license that must be acquired for each piece of music. I use the mixcraft stuff so that I don't have to buy so many songs.

The cast rehearsed Friday evening after being off for 4 days during spring break. Saturday morning the cast rehearsed again at 9:30 am with no prompting (that means if they get stuck on lines they have to get themselves out of trouble without calling for lines.) Many parts of the play are coming along nicely. Each rehearsal is still a discovery process for the characters for this play. Yesterday after rehearsal we went to creatures of habit to look at the couple of special costumes that we are renting for the show. I hope that we can blend that delicious mixture of comedy and horror without losing that delicate balance.

This morning I received a wonderful email from the playwright of The Sugar Bean Sisters- Nathan Sanders who said he had been enjoying this blog and wishing the cast success on the opening of our production. What a great treat!

It's time for me to head off to the theatre to get ready for our 2 pm rehearsal today. Since the cast and crew will be at the theatre during lunch and dinner a group of volunteers are making an Easter Dinner for the company to enjoy after the rehearsal. Special thanks to Dick Holland, Stephanie and Ralph Young, and Don and Renie Barger for sharing their Easter dinner with the company of the Sugar Bean Sisters.