I really must be mad, straight off the back I'm in to working on not 1 show but 2 of them! Jane Eyre and The Homecoming. I think I am now certifiably mad! It should be interesting as the plays are being presented as "rep". That is they are alternating each night. Its not strictly repertory as both shows have a separate cast, but with our limitations on time and such like thats not really practical. It does mean that the stage crew will have to do a complete change over of sets after every show.
October 2005 Archives
How would you like to be personally accountable for all the security flaws and bugs in code that you've written? It's a little scary, and of course has repercussions on any one who produces their own software. The minute that some one else uses and it breaks some thing (and there's a pretty high chance for that if its homebrew and quick and dirty) you're the one in trouble...uhoh...
Penultimate night and we're busier than ever, we have two full houses lined up and the standby list is growing by the medium. This has introduced a number of logistic issues, the first of which is trying to fit them all in a relatively short time. In the theatre we open the doors to the auditorium at 19:30, and we have to shoe horn them in as close to no-time as is possible. With small houses this isn't a problem, but 74 people is a bit more of a problem.
I think I'd like to see the doors opening just a bit earlier. As a stage manager I can have all of the actors ready slightly earlier, and we can get the audience in, with their bums on seats ready to watch at 19:30. And these 5 small minutes can make the difference between an audience coming out annoyed at 22:35 or happy at 22:25.
but all in all its been very good. We're now past the half way mark for the run, and its been very good. A couple of full houses (1 or 2) and one reviewer.
Our first night audience was full of friends of the cast and it was good for the first night to be so busy and full of sympathetic members. The second night was a very difficult crowd, they sat through the whole of the first act without cracking a smile. That said they apparently all enjoyed the show, and they did waken up in the second half (right when Silvio made his appearance).
And this show hasn't even finished its run and the planning for the next one has started (The Homecoming/Jane Eyre). Hopefully these shows will involve less work as I'm not stage managing either of them, more greasing the axles.
Pretty quickly too, what at the start of the week was looking like a rather large Himalayan mountain, is looking rather more like a series of speedbumps along the M8 (small and inconvenient). Of course this has only been possible through the hard work of everyone involved, which has been made all the more difficult by my somewhat shorter than normal level of tolerance. So sorry to anyone that I've growled at, or ignored or generally slighted, I'm grateful to everything that you're doing (shout outs to Jules, Sharon and Jackie).
Also BIG shouts to Jock, who's doing the sound for us at very late notice and with a lot on his plate the rest of the time...Huge Thanks (I'll keep trying to find some one else!)
Only a couple more days to go, and a couple of coats of paint to sort out and we'll be there...finally.
