Sunday, July 25, 2010

Where Did My Oxygen Go?

7/24/10

Breathe? Who needs to breathe? Certainly not me.

So we left off at Tech of Gamma Rays. Tech was long, but no where near the length of a musical. So we got out around midnight. The set looked amazing, filled with all sorts of junk from the family's years of abuse. We spent the tech respacing our blocking (movement patterns) since there weren't a lot of sound or light cues.

So Tuesday night came and it was a great opening night! Many association members come on Tuesdays, and they're some of our biggest supporters. And mom was there. The energy was high, the lines were correct, and we got a standing ovation! It's difficult to get a standing O for a drama in Boji.

Wednesday and Thursday were our learning nights. We found great moment to moment work, which means that we found new interpretations of scenes and characters to play with, but the audiences were lower energy and we had to learn to not let it affect us. Thursday we also had 'the laugher' come. He's usually the person that laughs at really inappropriate moments, which we prepared ourselves for. What we didn't prepare ourselves for was his outrageous yawning! He was bored to death the whole show, and made sure his neighbors knew it. That was an interesting challenge to face.

Saturday and Sunday were our best performances. It was an amazing run of a show. I finally understood what it would be like to run a show consistently. By Sunday I could tell that I would be able to wake up and give the same performance the next day. There wasn't anymore blaming energy on the audience or saying we had an off day. I really didn't feel like a student giving a limited run anymore. I felt like I could have kept going. It's comforting to discover that I think I could sustain a professional theatre job.

I had so much fun with this play. I thought maybe doing a drama in such a short amount of time would be a downer since it was total immersion. But I just focused on character, and on the story we were trying to tell, and I felt like I was doing something right. I was so excited to open the show. I was excited to have a seizure every night just to bring a reality to the stage.

I wish I had more time to dwell on the performance I gave and the experience I had and really decide what it means to me, but time moves so fast here I've barely even thought about it. Maybe I shouldn't think about it.

Right after the show was done I went into rehearsals for Unnecessary Farce which I'm assistant stage managing. I was so excited to be ASM because I wanted to work with a guest director, which isn't something I've gotten to do this summer. And I would be working with actors that aren't in my other shows. First off Director B is phenomenal. He's the most amazing man I've ever worked with. He's a master of farce and he knows how to communicate exactly what he wants. He's one of the most unassuming, good natured people I've ever met and I truly hope I get another chance to work with him.

That being said--the play will be amazing. We actually open on Tuesday, and we tech tomorrow night, so I have a busy week ahead of me. I start Rebbit Hole rehearsals this week so it will be rehearsal morning and afternoon, and performance at night. Much the same as this past week has been. I've been the Light Board Operator for Company, so it was the same schedule. Company has been a blast as well. I've gotten to work with a very talented lighting designer and a great crew. I love learning about lights. I've taken a lighting design class in college and done a couple light crews, so I know some about the subject. Designers are always interesting people to talk to. They have such vision. And we had an interesting conversation about the pros and cons of New York vs. LA. Thanks JH.

I wrote this in two parts of my non-existent spare time. Here's the second:

Unnecessary Farce has opened now, and the run has gotten great audience feedback. We haven't had too much maintenance on the set yet, so that's nice. We've only broken 4 doors and the molding a couple times, which is better than we expected I think. With the energy and pace of the script, I honestly expected there to be even more upkeep. The cast is having a fun time being loved, and the audience energy is really making great things happen for them. We're planning on sending a copy of the show and photos of the show to our director as a present. I hope they find him well.

Rabbit Hole rehearsal has been a blast so far. As intimidated as I was by the depth of this script, I'm having so much fun jumping in and wading through the different emotions of this character. I've never been so challenged before, but I couldn't be surrounded by a more talented group of people. We're all striving to give this story the justice it deserves, so people can walk away from this play changed. The strength of these characters is uplifting and the way that they deal with their problems is so true to life. Everybody should see this play sometime in the life. Of course, it's being made into a movie this year, so at least they'll see it in some capacity.

So, as a wrap up: I've been involved in 4 plays in the last 4 weeks, most of them at the same time, and they've all been great. I'll reflect on that later though. After I breathe.

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