That went better…

Nothing was knocked over so that’s good. Had to repair a few things, but nothing too severe.

There was an opening party in the lobby, but I haven’t had a day off from this show for over a week…..so I chose to just go home and take a nap.

Good choice.

Anybut, I’ll have 4 days off now until our next performance.

Hooray!

Well, that was an interesting performance…

Live theater is a unique beast. It doesn’t matter how many times you rehearse it, something new always seems to happen.

And sometimes…and actor slips and knocks the entire ground row over.

For those not in the know, a ground row is literally a background set piece on the ground up stage (the back of the stage) to simulate a landscape. Think of the hills of Oklahoma! or for those not in theater, a wooden cutout in the shape of hills, mountains, etc.

Anybut, the actor slipped and ran into the ground row, knocking it all over. Luckily, the show we’re doing is a comedy and our lead came right in with some lines to make the audience laugh….

But this wasn’t any old performance. This was our Press Opening. Which means reviewers were in the audience……well, at least we’ll stand out.

One more show tomorrow and then I get four days off.

Tonight was our first audience…

We had a short rehearsal this afternoon. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

And then we suddenly had an audience.

And then we made it through the show! The audience sounded very receptive and were very loud at the moments we expected…and a few we didn’t.

Can’t wait to officially open tomorrow!

Important rule for actors: Check your props before the show…

Yes, it should always be in the same place. Yes, someone else knows the track of your prop (though that also means that person knows the track of ALL actors’ props but whatever).

HOWEVER!! Shit happens. Things happen that may mean something interfered with the usual pre-show checklist. Crew members are at the theater working hard to make sure everything is ready for the performance.

Things happen.

Set pieces need repair, props need repair, props are being created from scratch, set pieces are being created from scratch, the stage needs additional care, and so on.

New things are thrown at us (the crew) on the daily if not hourly.

Yes, an actor has a lot on their plate for a show. However, part of that should be checking your props before  the audience ever enters the building. NOT one minute before you go on.

This issue I speak of was a unique situation where a prop was being repaired by a professional and we had a backup to use in its place. Apparently they returned the prop to the actress and not to me (the one in charge of props).

The actress didn’t tell anybody the prop was returned and though I asked everyone who saw the person hired to repair the prop, none of them saw the prop.

So I put the backup in place (the setup takes a good amount of time) but literally one minute before she goes on, she realizes she never brought the prop from her dressing room.

Now, I need to be clear about something: Props should rarely be in dressing rooms. There are a few exceptions, but those are case by case exceptions.

The actress ran to her dressing room (in the theater, a good distance away) and when she made it back….it was literally the line she was supposed to enter on. I told her there was no time to change out the prop. She argued with me. But I wasn’t about to hold the show for this.

Anybut, she went on with the backup and was upset. Sorry, not sorry. I did let her use the repaired prop later in the show (even though it messed up the continuity, but whatever it was a dress rehearsal runthrough).

But on the plus side: She’ll never do that again.

Short day, but a LOT got done…

Today was a short tech rehearsal (only 6:30p-11:30p instead of 11:30a-11:30p), but things that were giving us trouble yesterday were solved. Hooray.

However, I have discovered an unusual phenomenon that is costing me props. Apparently, down stage left of the proscenium of the stage….there is a black/worm hole that is swallowing props.

First, an onion was thrown into a box seat and was never seen again. Then a recorder was thrown (though I was sitting right upstate of the proscenium and heard it land on the floor) and disappeared!

I mean I checked everywhere, even the orchestra pit. And OF COURSE they’re two props that we don’t have backups or spares for..

Anybut, my hope is that I’ll go in tomorrow for our second 10 out of 12 (11:30a-11:30p) and both props will magically be back on my table….because house crew or custodial found them.

We shall SEE!!

Well, isn’t that JUST the way…

Today was our first 10 out of 12!! Such an early morning and lots to do.

There was rumblings among crew, designers, and actors that we wouldn’t make it to Act II. BUT we did and got through the first 2 musical numbers so HELL YEAH!

I mean that may have been a bit overdramatic, but sometimes we don’t even get through half a show the first 10 out of 12. I’m always suuuuuper excited when we get through the first act.

Although that wasn’t the only excitement today. It’s never a good sign with the Assistant Stage Manager actively finds you to tell you something instead of asking over the headset. But that’s what happened to me.

I was waiting to assist actors with a large prop and we were paused for spacing, lights, and rail (the people who fly flats and drops up and down on stage). The ASM crossed the stage to tell me that security said a tree branch fell onto a blue VW bug…..MY car. I’m the only one in the cast and crew who drives one so immediately everyone who heard this knew it was my car.

Unlike most people I didn’t freak out. I simply said, “of course it was my car.” The ASM suggested I check my car and move it. He covered for me while I ran to where my purse was, grabbed my car keys, and ran outside (also while I doing this, over the headset was a lot of chatter about the incident). A lot of the House Crew followed me out and (thankfully) one even made sure I took pictures in case I needed to call my insurance company.

LUCKILY, and by some miracle of karma…there was no damage. I and about five house crew members circled my car and found no damage. The branch wasn’t that big, but a huge branch was ready to fall from the tree. I moved my car to a spot under NO trees and went back to work.

The Stage Manager was still talking about the incident especially after our Crew Chief (who also followed me outside) suggested any cars near the tree should move. She decided it was a good time for a break and everyone ran out to make sure their car wasn’t one of the other three still parked under the tree.

And that was it. The first 10 out of 12….what, you thought I’d go into more detail? Now, now, you know I can’t….plus, soooooooo much happens during tech week it would take book lengths of posts to share all of them.

Anybut, tomorrow is only a half day of rehearsal, BUT we also have our first rehearsal with the orchestra which is honestly my favorite part!

Zero days until Tech Week…

Okay to be fair, today was more of an ease into tech week. We were in the theater for the first time and got to space some of the opening scenes and songs.

Tomorrow though…10 out of 12. 11:30 to 11:30. Full day of tech rehearsal.

Here we go.

One day until Tech Week…

Last day in the rehearsal hall. Last run through without the full set and costumes and lights and sound and everything else!

Tomorrow we’ll be in the theater for a short rehearsal before it all begins.

I’m very excited.