Post Oz rehearsal

Last night we ran through Act One of Wizard of Oz. Tonight we worked scenes 1-5 of Act Two. We spent about 1 1/2 hours on the Merry Old Land of Oz dance. We are working with theMTpit to provide the music for the show. They sent a final version of the music without the cuts that Doug Arnold (Musical Director) and I had requested. This has made for a difficult transition. We have opted to cut out a couple of sections of music because our stage is small. Telling the dancers to freeze in place while a section of dance music plays and then pick back up again is very difficult. After the rehearsal tonight I took publicity photos of the witch, Dorothy, scarecrow, tin man, and cowardly lion. Since this was the first time the characters had tried on costumes it was a matter of trying to figure out how the hood for the scarecrow covered his hair and not his face. but we ultimately figured it out.

Each day seems like it is so long from 8 am to when I walk out the door at 11pm each night. Marsha Cash is at home recovering from some surgery she had last weekend. Alexis has been sick all week but has been in to work every day. Everyone is trying to pitch in to help each other out. Alexis's final day is next Friday. I really will be sad to see her go. I know the entire staff feels that way to. She has made a wonderful contribution to the theatre and is wonderful person to get to know personally as well. Because of getting the Wizard of Oz ready I'm often out of the office most of the day. When Marsha is gone that leaves Alexis in the box office by herself most of the day as other staff members run in and out. The job of box office manager is not an easy job. Alexis has done a great job running the box office at MHT. As she starts her last week we wish her lots of success as she moves into a new level of her career and we hope that she keeps in touch.

The Lowertown festival kicks off tomorrow. Tonight Jim Keeney, Chip Bohle, Bobbie Allen, and Renie Barger all went to help the Buzzard brothers setup for tomorrow. Our first crew starts work at 9:30 am tomorrow. We have 3 hours shifts of MHT volunteers all day long Saturday and Sunday. High School improv has a show tomorrow at 11am, the elementary age troupe will present 2 shows of the musical Character Matters tomorrow afternoon for family and friends. Katy Miller has called a dance rehearsal for 1 pm Sat. and Sun. for the Wizard cast. Jim and I will be working on the sets and lights all weekend. There is a great deal going on behind the scenes of the theatre at the present time.