Opening weekend

We had a very successful opening weekend, and are expecting a positive writeup from the Tribune writer who attended Saturday afternoon's performance. The show gelled almost magically, the way well prepared shows do, on opening night, and we were greeted with great enthusiasm and applause. I could not have been more delighted; it was a huge high for all of us. Music director (and busy cast member) John and I are shown toasting our cast (picture) above at the after party.

Preview

I couldn't have been happier with our preview performance. Everybody focused and gave full energy, the transitions were smooth, and our audience smiled and laughed and watched with great attention throughout. I'm proud of this show and my company, and feel as if I've given and gotten back in equal measure. The rehearsal process is now behind us, and the performance process begins officially with our opening tonight. I know the show will grow and evolve as the run proceeds, and that is wonderful to watch, also, but my job is essentially done. Now I get to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Final rehearsal

Though arduous and sometimes trying, we went from the beginning to the end of the show tonight, trying to iron out all the wrinkles that arose in the past two dress rehearsals, and before then. The actors and crew demonstrated great patience, all things considered. So, to reward them, I presented them with my director's gift of Annie Get Your Gun tee shirts, which they received with delight and model here (Adrian--Little Jake--above, and a whole bunch of us--with my leading man, Jeff, planting one on me--below). Everyone went home feeling excited and ready for tomorrow. I am, too!

Photo opportunity

Before last night's second full dress rehearsal we had our official photo shoot. This pose, which includes me, was taken at the behest of the cast, both by the professional photog and various visitors on the scene (one such shot shown here). Our runthrough was full of holes and very sloppy, after Monday's really good rehearsal, so tonight, instead of having another full dress rehearsal we'll work on some loose spots and try to nail down most of the threads that continue to fly in the breeze. I am hopeful that finally having new eyes on the show (i.e., audiences) will pump up the adrenaline and take care of a lot of the flaws I saw in last night's performance. In any case, we'll find out plenty soon enough!

First full dress rehearsal

Our first full dress rehearsal last night went extremely smoothly, considering all the elements that had to come into place simultaneously. Sure, there were some mishaps, but since we struck the hazardous platform the day before, at least we didn't have that to concern ourselves with (four actors tripped over it before I got smart and yanked it). "The costumes, the scen'ry, the makeup, the props" . . . Now all we lack is "the audience that lifts you when you're down," and we'll have that, for our preview, on Thursday. We're on the train now, and there's no disembarking until June 24--whoo-hoooooo!

And then there were three

After finishing rehearsal an hour early on Saturday, we needed an extra hour to do everything scheduled for Sunday, which included our final runthrough without costumes and tech. After the runthrough I stayed an extra two and a half hours at the theatre, painting various flat braces, troubleshooting certain props, and trying to get a good assessment of what remains to do, technically, for Thursday's preview. Then I came home and spent two and a half hours writing up the notes from the runthrough. So many details (Ron and Lynn are shown above attending to some of them)--the more we nail down, the more there seem to be! However, I am accustomed to this pattern in the final days before an opening, so I am not discouraged, merely slightly more animated (even) than usual. Tonight we'll have our first full dress rehearsal; Rene reported yesterday that all the costumes are now complete, so it should be exciting to see them paraded on stage. The set is done, and we've cleaned up the scene changes with the deletion of a couple of superfluous (and potentially hazardous) set pieces. All told, we sit on the very edge of readiness for opening, and everyone is fully invested. I couldn't ask for more at this juncture.

From cue to cue

Thanks to being well organized and having a proactive and well organized lighting designer, today's cue-to-cue rehearsal was finished in record time--seriously, the quickest such rehearsal I've ever experienced. We got the lighting and sound cues programmed for the entire show in just over four hours, and then had time to rehearse three dance numbers. What a huge hurdle that was! And now we'll have six hours tomorrow to rehearse the scene changes, a couple of spots, and also do a complete runthrough--a total bonus day!

John returned from his long planned business week away, and we will all be delighted to welcome him back into the fold tomorrow, not only as music director but in his various roles in the ensemble.

Whoever is assigned to today's "Name That Moment" will have a chance to report on a classic director-as-clutz moment, when, during our break, I went out to the patio to join several people taking a little rest. The only problem was that I tried to walk through the plate glass window to get there. Oops. The janitors cleaned the theatre the night before last, including (apparently) the sliding doors. We all had a wonderful belly laugh over this, including me; I was unhurt and only slightly embarrassed, because I was laughing too hard to mind. I also stood in for the occasional missing actor in a scene or dance, which I always enjoy doing, to the great amusement of both cast and me. If I wasn't assured of their affection I might think they were laughing at me, but I know better. What a blast!

Hitting the punch lines

After last night's full runthrough (the last before we load in all the tech), I emerged with a double armload of notes--my own and the ones that Suzy provided while watching the entire show for the first time. In general, she felt the show was exactly where we want it to be with one week to go, and that we will reach a new peak on opening night, if the cast will tweak a few pacing moments, tie some loose threads here and there, tighten certain bits of the choreography, and just really own what they are doing. Honestly, I was nervous having Suzy watch the show, since at this point I am somewhat blinded by love and exhaustion. Her input was dead on, and extremely helpful! We do have very similar sensibilities, so incorporating the comments she made will flow naturally with the work I've already been doing. Tonight will give us our last chance to work on little bits and pieces. We're forced offsite again because of a performance in the theatre, and I will use the opportunity to maximum effect--I hope--by rehearsing a lot of very small moments. Then tomorrow it's on to the dry cue-to-cue rehearsal, followed by a wet one on Sunday (with any luck). Yvonne in the box office has reported that the show is already 58 percent sold, with a week to go before we open, so wa-hooo, and tick tock tick tock!

Close but no cigar

As our opening sneaks up on us--with eight days to go before the preview--more and more details seem to elude us. Tonight's runthrough of Act II made me laugh really hard in a few places and cringe with worry at several others. I am more and more imagining a house full of total newcomers to our show, responding and reacting to our work. It is so impossible to be objective about one's own work, but I am trying very hard to remain so as we go into our final rehearsals. One thing I can carry with me, which our whole company is holding on to, is just how dang much fun we're having, and how our collaboration on this show has brought a bunch of disparate people into a cohesive community. And that is a gift that will keep on giving, no matter what else happens.

The light at the end of the tunnel

Not that this has been a dark and scary tunnel--far from it--but we added some lights to last night's runthrough of Act I (Rebekah was just experimenting and presetting some cues), and oh, how a little light on the subject can turn it into a show! We're now on the final leg of our journey toward opening night, the curvy occasionally bumpy often exhilarating ride down a big hill that ends with what we hope will be the blessings by the theatre fairies on opening-night magic.

Everyone is pumped up and jiving and everyone has an opinion and a suggestion, as we effect so many of the technical details that until now have been only imagined. Last night I had to ask people to raise their hands and talk in order so I could process everything they had to offer. Little Adrian (age 7) raised his hand at the same time as a bunch of other (older) actors, so they were made to wait while Adrian talked. "Rachel, me and Kirsten [age 10] can do the double-time pattycake part now, so do you want us to do it tonight?" I said, "Excellent" and the entire company applauded. You should have seen the grins on Adrian and Kirsten's faces. Awwww! You could eat them up with a spoon!

The splinter brigade

Why is Lisa giving me the evil eye, you may ask. At yesterday's set work fest, we distressed the braces on the flats by dipping our hands in mud and rubbing them all over the wood. This was to make the flats look as if they've been "on the road" for a long time. Once four of our helpers caught splinters doing it this way, we graduated to brushing muddy brown paint (as Lisa is using in this picture) and then to dampened coffee grounds that we got by the bagful for free from Starbucks down the street. We also distressed the muslin for our tent flaps this way, and they are looking very well used at this point. Luckily, Mama Director was on hand to remove the splinters from the four afflicted workers--Kirsten (Jessie, age 10), Clancy (her sister, age 8, who would like to understudy every part in the show), Ramon (Tommy, age 21), and Sophia (ensemble, age 22). Everyone was very brave for the surgery, especially little Clancy, who was promised an extra special prize at the cast party for submitting to the needle, which she did and for which she was extremely pleased with herself!

Another banner day

Everyone in the cast (and then some) contributed to our work fest this weekend, and, as a result, we have more than 90 percent of the set built, all the lights hung and ready for the cue-to-cue rehearsals next weekend, and several rehearsals left during which to polish the scene changes and all the other details (in songs and scenes) that need it. Not to goose the gods, but I think we will be ready for opening night. I am pleased and satisfied going into our last week of regular rehearsals before tech week begins next Saturday. Pictured above is the banner that will be unfurled in the show-stopping opener and hang throughout the show.

Many hands make light work

Today we had a terrifically productive work fest at the theatre--building, painting, adding details, hanging lights, and generally making enormous progress in our technical production. In fact, we got so much done with so many helpers from the cast (and their families, in some cases) that tomorrow's agenda has shrunk considerably, and we should be in excellent shape to begin full runthroughs using the set by Tuesday or Wednesday. Since we don't open for another week and a day after that, we all consider this quite a gift. In these pictures (from top) we see Captain Ron (as we call Ron/Pawnee Bill, our construction chief) getting ready to cut some more wood for some platform or flat or other (that's our 7-year-old Adrian's grandpa Pat in the background); Laura and Jena mugging for the camera as they take a break from painting the bunks for the train scene (with Betsy, who is not in the show but who generously volunteered to help, in the background); Lacey (Annie) and me (whose pants were painted courtesy of the cast--those devils--today); Ramon (Tommy) as a monkey hanging lights; and Jessica (Winnie) taking a bite of stage manager Sharon's scrumptious coffee cake (Sharon brings fresh-baked cookies to every rehearsal--oh no, our waistlines!) as she gets ready to move some panels out from in front of the train scene. The way our cast and crew have bonded and get along is just beautiful. Even painting, hoisting, lugging, bending, kneeling, stretching, and bolting are part of the fun (and the three pizzas to which I treated everyone today didn't hurt either).

The hat trick

Yesterday we jumped over three hurdles, so I went to bed feeling really satisfied. First, we solved the problem of the too-big flats with a solution that will not only work great for our play-within-a-play conceit but will greatly reduce the amount of labor yet required to complete our set--from seven painted flats to four (three of which are already done)--yee-ha! Second, we decided to mic the two leads, and can do it without spending any money, thanks to Eric and his huge inventory of sound equipment. I think we're going to lick the perennial problem of the sound balance in the Little once and for all with our new sound design--yee-ha again! And finally, we blocked the scene changes for the entire show last night, a necessary if tedious and at times maddening exercise, and were out of there by ten--a total yee-ha!!

Coming to life

Tonight's rehearsal satisfied on every level more than last night's. All tasks on the agenda were accomplished (reviewing some choreography and running Act II), and we started to focus on the technical world of our show. Tomorrow night we will spend the entire rehearsal blocking the scene changes (moving set pieces from one scene to the next, which, in this show, will be done in full light since they are part of the play within the play) and the bows. Tonight John told me that he's heard it's bad luck to block the bows before the last tech rehearsal, which I've never heard before, but I must say it did give me pause. I will think about it over night and tomorrow before rehearsal. Maybe I'll wait, being just as superstitious as the next good theatre rat. Shown above are Jayne's flats, from top: a partial view of the Wilson Arms Hotel for Act I, Scene 1; both halves of the Pullman car on the Overland Steam Train for Act I, Scene 2; and the assembled flat for the Hotel Brevoort Ballroom in Act II, Scene 2.

The countdown begins

Now that we're in our ultimate performing space (for the most part), it's finally dawned on us that we'll actually be performing a show in 17 days. Today was huge. We loaded in three of the seven flats (must find a way to get the other four painted in just over two weeks, after Jayne spent the past several weeks doing just three . . .), and we rehearsed in our space for the first time tonight. It was a frustrating rehearsal--too much to bite off and chew all at once, and I think everyone was feeling the reality of the situation, that it's not just "sometime in the future anymore," but around the corner. This is a huge show in terms of costumes, music, choreography, and even sets (a simple concept has turned complicated in execution), and our time to get it all done is more finite by the day. On the other hand, we have a good number of willing contributors, and this weekend should see a great deal of progress on the technical front (let's hope and pray so, anyway). Pictures of the fabulous flats that Jayne painted for us will be posted soon . . . they are awesome!

On the verge of being home

Dancing at Lughnasa, the current Little Theatre show, will close and be struck tomorrow, and as of Monday the theatre will be (mostly) ours. (We still have to hold two more rehearsals offsite next week, to accommodate the Readers' Theatre series for its tech rehearsal and performance). But we can get started on Monday loading in the technical elements of the show, and it's a welcome landmark in our journey. Three of the four flats are complete, thanks to Jayne's wonderful labors, and I can't wait to see them when we go to pick them up Monday morning. And that will leave us with four flats to finish, the assembling of the flats, and a few other set pieces to construct. Not to mention painting the floor and hanging the lights and completing the props inventory, and setting the sound and light cues, and figuring out how to create the sound of gunshots live, and numerous other odds and ends that make the last three weeks before an opening such an exhilarating and slightly chaotic ride.

We're pretty well organized and know which tasks lie ahead, plus I've made it mandatory that everyone pitch in to help for at least four hours next weekend, which will enable us to finish a tremendous amount of work, with our big cast and all their relatives!

Wild West Show posters

Yesterday we held our photo shoot for the posters of Frank Butler and Annie Oakley that will appear in two scenes of the show. It's amazing what part of a costume and some work on hair and makeup can do to transform a civilian into a character. Here are some samples of the pictures we took, with the genuine article to the left, and Lacey, Jena, and Jeff below. Jena will play Annie for two performances, so we need a poster of her, too. Charlene will doctor the photos to make them look authentic to the period.

From the sublime to the ridiculous

Sunday night we held our ensemble recording session, a plan that grew out of our desire to augment the sound of our ensemble. The rehearsal was scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Little Theatre (which will be ours for keeps next Monday, hallelujah), and everyone understood that we would go until 10 p.m. or until we finished recording everything we had on our list. It was almost miraculous how well it went. We started at about quarter past seven--once all the recording equipment was set up and checked--and we were completely done by 9:15! The cast was focused like a laser beam on the task at hand, and the first take of the opening number (a huge, complicated, show-stopping kind of piece) was so fine that the second and third takes were just for good measure! We recorded a total of four ensemble numbers, and every song was the same way. There wasn't an extraneous peep, cough, or scuffle from a soul, including everyone from our little 7-year-old to our 72-year-old! After that rehearsal I decided that a night off would do us all good, and canceled Monday's rehearsal. If it hadn't been that we couldn't have our big space at the synagogue where we've held most of our offsite rehearsals, I probably wouldn't have made that decision, but it seemed like a good time for a break, and the cast really appreciated it.

So then tonight we held a full runthrough, our first in quite a while, and it disappointed in pretty much every way, not only me also the cast. The one really bright spot was Jena as Annie; she rose to the occasion beautifully. Otherwise, it was very low on energy, sloppy, slow paced, and generally discouraging, especially as compared with previous runthroughs and rehearsals. I realize that this poor runthrough is part of the process, and can almost be predicted, but that didn't take away from the sting of its deficiencies. I think, however, that the cast really understood where I was coming from in my little post-runthrough lecture, and I am fully expecting a total rebound recovery the next time we get together. And you could have heard a pin drop when I gathered them for my comments afterwards. There is no question but that each and every one of them wants the show to be good, and is fully invested in its success. And that is what I will take with me into the next rehearsal, and the one after that. It's a lovely group of talented people, and I do have confidence that our ultimate "product" will be quite wonderful.